Unlike Agua Caliente and some of the other small settlements we had passed, I found Santa Fe a town widely scattered4 in the outskirts5. Many of the low adobe6 buildings which made up the bulk of the place stood each in its tiny patch of field, which, early as was the season, the people were beginning to cultivate with their rude ploughs and mattocks. Within these suburbs, however, the houses crowded closer and closer together, until they were for the most part separated only by streets that were no less narrow and crooked7 than dirty. A more striking difference between this two-century-old settlement and the ones up-country was the presence of the two huge adobe churches which towered among the hovels, all the more imposing8 for the contrast. Their windows, like those of the better houses, were glazed9 with sheets of thin, transparent10 talc.
I was at once taken past the rectangle of the soldiers' barracks to the great open court, or plaza11, in the midst of the town, where we came to the house of the Governor. By this time I and my escort were surrounded by a number of mestizos and tame Indians, all of whom, however, drew away when we entered the palace through an open, brick-paved portico12, or shed. After the plainness of the exterior13, I was astonished by the ornate furnishings of the rooms within, whose limed walls were hung with bright-figured drapes and whose floors of beaten clay were spread with skin rugs.
Little time was given me to wonder at what to my unaccustomed eyes seemed most magnificent decorations. I was quickly shown on into a large apartment, at the upper end of which sat a sallow-faced, corpulent Spanish don. I had no need to look at the secretary and the other attendants grouped about his high chair to realize that I was in the presence of Don Joachin Allencaster. The harshness of his glance as I was led before him was enough of proof; for until now, all whom I had met, even to the most ignorant and dogmatic of the priests, had treated me with the deference14 of true hospitality.
Not until this moment had I fully15 realized the wretchedness of my appearance. Though the kindness of the commandant at Agua Caliente had provided me with a bath and a cotton shirt, I still wore my tattered16 buckskins; upon my head was my old coonskin cap, which had been half singed17 by a fall in the fire; my limbs and feet were clad in moccasins and leggings of fresh buffalo18 hide, the raw surface outward; while about my shoulders my unkempt hair fell down in loose and shaggy locks, as barbarous as the eight months' beard upon my lean, starved face.
"Por Dios!" exclaimed His Excellency. Having doubtless been informed in the despatches that I claimed to be a Frenchman, he addressed me in that language: "Sacre! You have come here, the second American in two years, to spy upon my province!"
"Your Excellency," I replied, "I had thought the Commandant of Agua Caliente wrote you regarding the purpose of my visit to New Spain. As to this Pursley, if it is to him you refer as my fellow spy, I had never before so much as heard of the man until told at Agua Caliente. The Commandant can tell you how astonished I was when he informed me of Pursley's exploit in penetrating19 the wilderness20. For my part, I should surmise21 that he is no more than one of our venturesome fur-hunters. But if you insist upon your suspicions, why not include Baptiste Le Lande with us in a trio of spies?"
Throughout this the Governor had continued to regard me with great austerity. Quite unmoved by my attempt at lightness, he now signed to his secretary, and spoke22 to me in a most peremptory23 tone: "Your papers, fellow!"
I drew out the documents relating to the Le Lande claim and handed them over to the secretary. His Excellency demanded their purport24, which I gave as clearly and briefly25 as my French would permit.
"We shall see," he commented, when I ended my account. "Your papers will be examined, and I will send for Le Lande. Meantime you will consider yourself under arrest. You will be given quarters in the rooms assigned for officers in confinement26, but you are at liberty within the bounds of the town, if accompanied by your guard."
With this, he appointed a corporal of the regular dragoons to attend upon me both as guard and waiter, and I was promptly28 led out. During the short delay which followed, I had no cause to complain of my treatment. The corporal proved a most accommodating servant, and my meals were sent to me from His Excellency's own table. In addition, the hospitality of the leading people of Santa Fe was so cordial that I should have enjoyed greatly the two days I had to wait, had it not been for my fears that the Governor might detain me for an indefinite period, or send me eastward29 out of the province, into the country of the Comanches.
When, therefore, he again called me before him, and stated that he had inquired and found that Le Lande was incapable30 of discharging the claim presented by me, I declared boldly that I knew this to be a mistake, and that it appeared to me His Excellency was seeking to shelter a refugee debtor31 of my country, in violation32 of the treaties between Spain and the United States.
"Look to it, Your Excellency!" I concluded, with all the heat and indignation I could affect. "Look to it! This is no light matter. The man is an outright33 thief, and the treaty rights of Monsieur Morrison are clear. I insist upon the payment of this claim. If I cannot obtain justice of Your Excellency, I will appeal to the Governor-General."
This last stirred him out of the daze34 of astonishment35 into which he had been thrown by the audacity36 of my heated protest. Governors of Spanish provinces are not accustomed to being bearded by their inferiors in rank, much less by lone37 foreigners suspected of espionage38. But at my mention of his superior, he found his voice.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, and I marked the change in his tone. "Madre de Dios! You would go to Chihuahua?"
"No offence to Your Excellency," I hastened to protest, affecting to believe him alarmed for himself. "It may well be that your authority is so limited that you cannot satisfy my claim. My complaint against your refusal will be purely39 formal. In truth, I prefer to have the decision of the Governor-General, if only to obtain a precedent40 in the adjudication of similar claims which may be presented in other provinces under his rule."
"Por Dios! You wish to go to Chihuahua!" he repeated. I believe he would have been less amazed had I urged him to let me go to the gallows41. "To Chihuahua! to Salcedo!" he murmured.
"Why not, Your Excellency?" I inquired.
His sallow cheeks darkened with a sudden return of his suspicions, and he sought to transfix me with his glance.
"Caramba!" he muttered. "Tell me clearly how you came across all that vast desert. You came from the northward42. Did you then cross the mountains?"
I described briefly that terrible march south and west from the Grand Peak. He listened with growing wonderment.
"Poder de Dios! It is impossible!" he cried. "Malgares has told me of that gigantic peak and the sierra you crossed. It is not possible! The Sangre de Cristo, and in midwinter—afoot!"
"Yet it is true, Your Excellency."
Again his eye sought to pierce me with its suspicious stare.
"Your party?" he demanded. "You have spoken of hunters. Who are they?—and where?"
Having now some of the details of Pursley's adventures to copy, I told a connected tale of having accompanied some Osages from St. Louis to the Pawnee country, in search of the recreant43 Le Lande, when, learning of his flight to New Mexico, I had wandered westward44 with a small party of hunters to the Grand Peak and then southwest over the mountains, until we came to what was supposed to be the Red River, where my companions had stopped to hunt.
At the end of my recital45, he sat for some moments studying me. Then, with a most disconcerting suddenness: "Señor, you will honor me with your presence at table."
He rose at the words, and leaving all the others gaping46, conducted me down a corridor to his dining-room. It was now high noon, and we found the table already spread for the midday meal, which is the principal repast of the day among the Spaniards in Mexico.
A plate was laid for myself opposite His Excellency's, and we sat down in civilized47 fashion to a meal which would have graced the table of the richest Spanish creole in all Louisiana. There were trout48 from the neighboring streams, a variety of meats and fowl49, good wheaten bread altogether unlike the unappetizing corn tortillas of the commonfolk, chocolate and dulces, fine raisins50 from the Paso del Norte, and a bottle or two of most excellent wine.
Throughout our repast His Excellency addressed himself to me as one gentleman to another, so that I found myself continually in a stress of excitement between apprehension2 and hope. Our conversation was for the most part directed to European topics, dwelling51 much, as must every discussion of transatlantic affairs, upon the career of that most marvellous of men, the Emperor of the French.
But with the wine and the cigarros, His Excellency seemed to recollect52 for the first time the small but none the less important affairs of our own personal concern.
"I begin to be convinced, señor physician, that you are indeed a man of genteel breeding," he said. "If, however, you will pardon the remark, I have grave doubt whether a Frenchman of your education would commit so many errors in the use of his native language."
I smiled. "Mon Dieu! Your Excellency, we of St. Louis have not the facilities for visiting la belle53 France possessed54 by our fellow creoles of New Orleans. It is a century or more since my ancestors came to the New World."
"And you have dwelt much among the Anglo-Americans," he insinuated55.
"It is true," I replied with candor56. "I obtained my diploma as a physician from the college of Columbia in the city of New York."
He stiffened57 with a sudden return of austerity. "Señor, I no longer doubt that you are a caballero—a gentleman. I will not press you to confess your ulterior motive58 in coming into the domains59 of His Most Catholic Majesty60. Yet, if you carry secret documents (I am disinclined to have you searched), I ask you to give me your word whether or not you carry such despatches."
"Your Excellency," I answered, "I give you my word that I do not. The documents I handed over into Your Excellency's keeping were all I brought with me."
"Satanas!" he cried, his face flushing with sudden violent anger. "Such duplicity! Such treachery!"
"If you will be so kind as to explain, señor," I said with unaffected astonishment.
"That?" I exclaimed, at once perceiving the cause of his continued suspicion. Some one had spied upon me and seen the packet. I reached my hand into my hunting-shirt, only to hesitate and draw it out again, empty. It seemed a profanation62 to expose my treasures to his gaze.
"You pause! You dare not produce the packet! In it lies your condemnation63!" he cried.
The folly64 of my course flashed upon me. Why should I set a mere65 fanciful sentiment against the lulling66 of his suspicions? If I did not myself hand over the packet, he would have it taken from me by force.
He started to rise, but I caught the little bundle from my bosom and reached it across the table. Instead of rising, he bent67 forward, and, with forced deliberation, began to open the folds of the waxed parchment cover. First exposed was the corner of the flag.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, his eyes flashing across at me in fieriest68 anger. "Explain that, if you can!—a malicious69 desecration70 of the flag of His Most Catholic Majesty!"
"Not so!" I flung back at him. "Look what is marked upon it. Those letters were a message to me. I found it within the undisputed boundaries of my country, at the town of the Pawnee Republicans. It was a message to me, and I took it, for it was mine."
"Ah! ah! a message! You confess, señor spy!"
I pointed27 to the last unwrapped fold. He turned it open, his face keen with exultant71 expectation. The now powdered leaves of the magnolia bloom puzzled him for the moment. Not so the handkerchief. His eye was instantly caught by the initials in the corner. Without a second glance, he averted72 his gaze until he had drawn73 up the edge of the snowy damask cloth over my stained and crumpled74 treasures.
"Perdone, hermano!" he murmured, with a most apologetic bow. "Be pleased to regain75 your property."
With that he left the table and stood with his back to me until I had folded up the packet and replaced it within my bosom.
"Your Excellency," I said, "the world has heard much about the chivalrous76 gallantry of your people. I am now convinced the half has not been told of it!"
"Muchas gracias, señor!" he returned. "You pardon my stupid error? Yours is the act of a true caballero! If the question does not trench77 upon delicate ground, may I venture an inquiry78 as to the possible relation of your daring journey—?"
"I have reason to believe that the lady is at Chihuahua, Your Excellency," I explained.
"Ah! ah! now I perceive! Yet what an amor to bring any man across the vast desert!—above all, over the Sangre de Cristo in midwinter!"
"It was the barrier which lay between myself and my lady, Your Excellency."
"Por Dios! You Americanos! You will yet be flying to the moon! Malgares told me fully of the perils79 of the desert, and he had six hundred men, and it was in the pleasant season. But one man or a mere handful, however brave—Santisima Virgen!"
"Malgares?" I repeated.
"Lieutenant80 Malgares, who led the expedition to the savages81 of the East and North. On your way to Chihuahua you will have opportunity to learn that he is a true caballero."
"Chihuahua?" I exclaimed. "Your Excellency will then permit me to go to Chihuahua?"
"Quien sabe?" he smiled. "God alone knows the future! But I will send despatches, and it may well happen that they will not be in disfavor of your going. But as for the decision, that is with His Excellency, Don Nimesio Salcedo, the Commandant-General."
A sudden thought aided me to rally from my disappointment.
"Your Excellency," I asked, "if I should seal and address one article contained in my packet before your eyes, might I not ask the favor that it be delivered at Chihuahua to the lady addressed?"
"Santa Maria!" he returned, "it is always a pleasure to aid a lover. Come now! We will seal your message with my own seal. There are those between us and your Dulcinea who might otherwise peer within the cover. The address you shall write upon it in private with my own quill82, and none shall see the name of the señorita. She is not married?" (I signed that she was not.) "None shall see her name except my messenger when he opens the despatch-pouch for delivery at Chihuahua."
"Muchas gracias, Your Excellency!" I murmured, overcome.
"Ah! ah!" he murmured, leaning upon my bony shoulder as we started. "The years pass, but I, too, once had my romance, señor!"
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收听单词发音
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1
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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debtor
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| n.借方，债务人 | |
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violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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recreant
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| n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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46
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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raisins
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| n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 ) | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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profanation
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| n.亵渎 | |
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condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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fieriest
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| 燃烧的( fiery的最高级 )； 火似的； 火热的； 激烈的 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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70
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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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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74
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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75
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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76
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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77
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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78
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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79
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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80
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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81
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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82
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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