Chapter 8 A NOBLE BANDIT.

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There was, after this accusation, so energetically pronounced by the young girl, some minutes of deathlike silence in the tent.

Without, the wind lashed the trees, and intertwined the branches with sounds almost like human wailings; the leaves were whirled in the air, and fell quivering on the thicket; at short intervals the lugubrious note of the owl, concealed in the hollows of the rocks, was heard, repeated from the distance like a dismal echo. Vague and indefinable sounds arose, carried on the wings of the wind, dying away only to be continually repeated, and further adding to the mysterious horror of this sombre and moonless night, the thick darkness of which gave to the objects a fantastically deathlike appearance.

The marquis had risen, his arms crossed behind his back, his head reclining on his breast; he strode about the tent, a prey to an agitation which he made vain efforts to conceal.

Do?a Laura, half lying on the sofa, her head thrown backwards, followed him with a fixed and mocking look, waiting with anxiety the approaching explosion of that anger she had not been afraid to excite.

At last, after some minutes, which appeared an age to the young girl, the marquis stopped in front of her, and raised his head.

His face was pale, but his features had resumed their careless and mocking expression, only a light nervous quivering of his eyebrows-an index with him of a furious rage, mastered with difficulty-bore witness to the efforts he was compelled to make to subdue himself.

"I have allowed you, have I not, Se?orita," said he, "to speak without interrupting you; I have in this interview-you will at least render me that justice-given proof, not only of patience, but of good taste. In fact," added he, with an ironical smile, "of what use is it to discuss an accomplished fact? Nothing that you can say will change your actual position; you are in my power; no human aid can succeed in modifying my intentions towards you. This conversation, that I should wish to have been conducted more amicably, you yourself, of your own accord, have placed on the unfriendly footing on which it now is."

He stopped; the young girl coquettishly supported her head on her right hand, and surveying him with a look, in which contempt and raillery were equally mingled, she answered him with a careless voice-

"You make a grave mistake, caballero. This conversation, which you value so much, I care very little for. Now that I have explained myself clearly, and without reservation, I will allow you to speak as much as you please, since it is impossible for me to impose silence on you, and I am condemned to hear you; only, I warn you beforehand, in order to avoid the expenditure of useless eloquence, that whatever you may say to me, whatever may be the threats you offer me, you will not obtain the honour of an answer."

The marquis bit his lip with so much violence that he drew blood, but answered with a sneer-

"In truth, Se?orita, is this resolution firmly fixed in your mind? You will not deign to answer me? I shall be deprived of hearing the harmonious music of your gentle voice resounding in my ear; but, in spite of yourself, I am convinced, you will fail in your heroic vow."

"Try it," answered she with disdain. "The occasion is suitable for me to give you a denial."

"I shall take care not to allow it to escape, Se?orita."

The marquis approached a butaca, placed a few paces before the young girl, sat down, and assuming an attitude full of grace and carelessness, he continued in a tone as peaceable as though he had been commencing a confidential communication-

"Se?orita," said he, "you have, I admit, perfectly defined our respective positions; that secret you possess has been revealed to me by chance by a former servant of your family, who sold it me very dear. It was, then, with the fixed intention of obtaining the information necessary to the success of my plans, that I presented myself to your father. You see that I imitate your candour. I did not love you, and, to say the truth, I do not love you now. A woman like you, seductive as you are, would not suit me; your disposition is too much like my own. I should have probably married you had you consented to give me your hand-pardon me this rude candour-but, resolved to seize the treasure that I covet, I should, to assure myself of its possession, have accomplished what I consider as the greatest sacrifice, that is to say, the act of alienating my liberty forever in favour of a woman whom I did not love."

The young girl bowed with a mocking smile, and clapped her hands two or three times.

Almost immediately the curtain was drawn aside, and the slave appeared.

"Phoebe," said do?a Laura to her, "as probably I shall not be able to take the repose which I need till very late, and as I feel, in spite of myself, my eyelids drooping, and sleep overcoming me, bring me the maté, my child, and bring me at the same time papelitos; perhaps these two stimulants combined, and taken in a strong dose, will triumph over the sleepiness which oppresses me."

The slave went out laughing, and the marquis remained an instant, overcome by the superb coolness of the young girl, and her heroic indifference.

Some minutes passed away, during which they both maintained silence; there the light step of the Negress was again heard, and she reappeared, holding in her hands a silver platter, on which were the maté, some cigarettes of Indian maize straw, and a silver braserito, containing fire.

Phoebe presented the maté to her mistress, and made a movement to withdraw.

"Remain, chica," said do?a Laura; "what the marquis has to tell me cannot be too serious for you to hear."

The young servant placed on the table the platter she held, and came incontinently to lie at the feet of her mistress, exchanging with her a mocking smile, which redoubled, if that is possible, the rage of the marquis.

"Let it be so," said the marquis, bowing, "I will continue before your slave, Se?orita; it is little consequence to me who hears or who listens to me; moreover, I have but a few more words to say."

Do?a Laura sipped her maté, without paying any attention to the speech of the marquis.

"You never put sugar enough in the maté, chica," said she; "this is bitter."

"I was saying, Se?orita," continued the marquis, "that, repulsed by you, but not wishing to renounce projects for a long time ripened and fixed in my mind, I at last resolved to carry you away. I will not weary you with the recital of the means employed by me to succeed in deceiving the restless vigilance of your family. Since you are here alone in my power, at several hundred leagues from the residence of your father, it is not only that I have succeeded in making you fall into the snare laid by me under your feet, but also that I have so well guarded against the suspicions of those who interest themselves in your fate."

"Decidedly, Phoebe, this maté is too bitter," said the young girl; "give me a cigarette."

The slave obeyed.

"Now, Se?orita," continued the marquis, still impassable, "I am coming to the end of this conversation, of which all that has been yet said is to a certain extent only a preface-a rather long preface, perhaps, but one which you will pardon me, for it was indispensable, to make myself well understood by you. I have carried you away, it is true; but reassure yourself, as long as you remain under my protection, your honour shall be safe; I give you the word of a gentleman for it. You smile; you are wrong. I am honest in my way. Give me the exact indications that I expect from you, and immediately I grant you, not only liberty, but, moreover, I engage to send you back safe and sound, without your honour being suspected, into the hands of your family. Strange as this proposition may appear to you, it is nevertheless serious, and appears to me to merit your consideration. Answer me one word-one word only, 'Yes' and on the instant you are free."

The marquis paused; do?a Laura remained mute, and appeared not to have heard.

"You are obstinate, Se?orita," replied Don Roque, with some animation "you are wrong; you are staking, I repeat, your fortune and your future happiness at this moment."

"Another cigarette, Phoebe," interrupted do?a Laura, shrugging her shoulders.

"Beware!" cried Don Roque, with ill-suppressed irritation; "Beware, Se?orita we must finish once for all these continual evasions."

The young girl rose, took a step towards the marquis, measured him for an instant from head to foot, covering him, so to speak, with a look charged with all the contempt which she felt for him, and turning towards Phoebe, who was motionless and mute by her side-

"Come, chica," said she to her, placing her hand on her shoulder; "the night is far advanced, it is time for us to retire, and go to sleep."

And without granting another look to the marquis, mute and stupefied with this audacious procedure, the young girl quitted the room.

In spite of himself, the marquis remained an instant in the place which he occupied; his eyes firmly fixed on the curtain, the folds of which still preserved a scarcely perceptible vibration. All of a sudden he recovered himself, passed his hand across his forehead, moist with perspiration, and darting a look of hatred towards the spot where do?a Laura had disappeared-

"Oh!" cried he, with a voice stifled by fury, "What tortures will I pay for so many insults!"

He left the tent, staggering like a drunken man.

The cold air of the night, fanning his face, brought him wonderful relief; little by little his features regained their serenity; calmness returned to his mind; an ironical smile played upon his slender lips, and he murmured in a low voice, as he strode towards his tent:

"Fool that I am to allow myself to be carried away thus by a foolish child! What in reality are her insults and contempt to me? Am I not master to subdue her pride? Patience, patience! Nay, vengeance, if it be long in coming, will only strike her the more cruelly, and will be only the more terrible."

The marquis re-entered his tent. After having regulated the wick of a lamp the flickering light of which feebly illumined the surrounding objects, Don Roque approached a round stool, which served him for a table, and drawing from his breast a yellow and stained paper, on which was rudely drawn, by an unskilful hand, a kind of rough plan, he proceeded to study it with the greatest care, and was not long in becoming completely absorbed.

The entire night was passed away without the marquis quitting the position he had taken, and without his eyes closing for a single instant.

The plan, rough and incomplete as it appeared to be, was that of the diamond country, which concealed those incalculable riches so ardently coveted by the young man.

But this plan-made from memory a long time after having seen the country, and that in superficial manner, by an ignorant man-could unluckily only be a feeble aid to the marquis. He felt it in spite of himself, and this certainty redoubled his fury.

But what could be done with a woman more than he had done with do?a Laura? How was he to vanquish her resistance, and constrain her to speak?

For more than three hours the sun had already risen; the marquis, still plunged in his thoughts, had not appeared to perceive the return of the light, when the gallop of a horse which approached rapidly, caused him suddenly to raise his head.

At the same instant the curtain of the tent was withdrawn, and the captain entered.

The Indian was covered with dust; his flushed features, and his forehead covered with perspiration, showed the velocity of his journey.

"Ah, it is you, Diogo!" cried the marquis on perceiving him. "Welcome, what news?"

"Nothing, my lord," answered the captain.

"How nothing? Have you not been able to succeed in discovering the track of that Malco?"

"Pardon me, my lord; I have, on the contrary, followed that track for more than three hours."

"Then you have news to give me?"

"I have, my lord, but not what you expect."

"Explain yourself, my friend; my head is a little fatigued."

"Here is the fact, in a few words, my lord. After having, as I have told you, followed for three hours, without the slightest deviation, the track of Malco-a track, let it be said to his honour, thoroughly devious, and as to which everybody but myself would inevitably have been deceived, so skilfully was it made-I arrived on the borders of a forest, into which I did not hesitate to enter. Absorbed by the care I took in not losing this frightfully involved track, I did not care to look much around me, so that I suddenly found myself in an Indian encampment."

"An encampment of Indians so near us!" cried the marquis, with surprise.

"Yes, my lord, of Indian bravos, and moreover, the bravest of this country."

"H'm-already!"

"Yes, I found myself suddenly face to face with three Indians, of whom one was a Guaycurus, the other a Payagoas; as to the other, he was simply a Monduruka slave."

"Oh, oh! That is serious for us."

"It could not be more serious, my lord."

"And how did you escape from this trap?"

"These savages have honour. Although my uniform revealed me as one of their most deadly enemies, they, nevertheless, received me in a friendly way, and invited me to sit near their fire."

"That is strange," murmured the marquis.

"Seeing that they received me thus, I accepted their invitation frankly, and sat myself near them. My design was to make them talk, in which I succeeded."

"Aha! What did they say?"

"They informed me that Malco had come to seek them some hours before me; that he had had a long conversation with them, and that he had informed them of your arrival, the number of men at your disposal, and even the very spot where you encamped."

"The wretch! The double traitor!" cried the marquis.

"This revelation, I admit, made me reflect seriously, and placed me in great embarrassment, from which I did not know how to escape, when the Indians themselves furnished me with the means to make an honourable retreat."

"How is that?"

"The Guaycurus chief informed me that the truce concluded with the whites had been broken."

"Oh!" exclaimed the marquis, "What fatality! To fail so near the end."

"Permit me to finish, my lord."

"Speak! Speak!"

"The chief added, that probably as you had for a long time left the plantations, you were ignorant of this rupture, and that consequently it would not be right to abuse your good faith by attacking you."

"Ah!" said the marquis, breathing heavily.

"As they do no not wish to be wanting in the laws of hospitality, they give you two days to go away."

"H'm," cried the marquis, whom these last words plunged more profoundly into the perplexity from which, for an instant, he thought he had escaped; "What did you say then, Diogo?"

"The most strict truth, my lord, on my honour."

"I believe you, my friend; but finish."

"Oh, I have nothing much more to add, except that they informed me that, in case you refused to accept this condition, you would be inevitably attacked."

"And about Malco? Did they tell you nothing more about him?"

"Not a word, my lord."

"So that you are completely unaware where this wretch hides himself?"

"Absolutely, my lord; I thought that what the Guaycurus chief had told me was of such great importance, that you would desire to be informed of it as soon as possible, so I have returned as rapidly as I could."

"You have done well, my friend; I thank you. But in such circumstances as these," he asked, "how would you act?"

"I should beat a retreat."

"Beat a retreat; never!"

"Then we shall be massacred to the last man."

"No matter, I will push ahead. You will not abandon me?"

"I, my lord? My duty is to follow you; wherever you go I will follow. What is it to me to be killed?"

And after having respectfully saluted the young man, the captain withdrew with as tranquil and careless a step as though he were not certain beforehand that the order just given him was equivalent to a condemnation to death.

When he was alone the marquis remained an instant motionless; then, stamping his foot with rage, and darting to heaven a look of defiance-

"Oh!" cried he, with a stifled voice, "These cursed diamonds; I will have them, although it were necessary, in seizing them, to walk in blood up to the girdle."

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