CHAPTER VI
LISTER MEETS AN OLD ANTAGONIST
The hotel Catalina, half-way between Las Palmas harbor and the town, wasnot crowded, and a number of the quests had gone to a ball at theneighboring Metropole. Barbara, going out some time after dinner, foundthe veranda unoccupied and sat down. Mrs. Cartwright was getting betterand did not need her, and Barbara was satisfied to be alone. Herthoughts were disturbing, and trying to banish them for a few minutes,she looked about.
The veranda was long, and the lights from the hotel threw the shadow ofthe wooden pillars across the dusty grass. Barbara's figure was outlinedin a dark silhouette. She did not wear a hat and, since the night waswarm, had put nothing over her thin dinner dress. She looked slender andvery young.
A strip of parched garden, where a few dusty palms grew, ran down to theroad, across which the square block of the Metropole cut the shiningsea. Steamers' lights swung gently against the dark background of theIsleta hill. Beyond the Metropole a white belt of surf ran back to thecluster of lights at the foot of the mountain that marked Las Palmas.One heard the languid rollers break upon the beach and the measuredcrash of surges on the reefs across the isthmus. Sometimes, when thethrob of the surf sank, music came from the Metropole. A distant rattleindicated a steam-tram going to the port.
The long line across the harbor was the mole, and Barbara had thoughtthe small steamer, lying near its end, like _Terrier_. There was nothingin the soft blue dark behind the mole until one came to the Africancoast. Then Barbara firmly turned her glance. In a sense, she had sentLister to Africa, but she was not going to think about him yet. She mustnot think about him until she had weighed something else.
A few hours since she had got a jar. Walking in the town she saw a manwhose figure and step she thought she knew. He was some distance off,and she entered a shop and bought a Spanish fan she did not want.Perhaps her disturbance was ridiculous, but the man was very likeShillito, and their meeting at the busy port was not impossible. LasPalmas was something like an important railway junction. Numeroussteamers called, and passengers from all quarters, particularly SouthAmerica and the West Indies, changed boats. Then Barbara understood thata fugitive from justice was safer in South and Central America thananywhere else. She wondered with keen anxiety whether the man had seenher.
She knew now she had not loved Shillito. He had cunningly worked uponher ignorance, discontent, and longing for romance. Illumination hadcome on board the train, but although she had found him out and escaped,she had afterwards felt herself humiliated and set apart from happygirls who had nothing to hide. The humiliation was not altogetherearned, and the people who knew about her adventure were not numerous,but they were all the people for whom she cared. When she thought aboutit, she hated Louis Shillito.
The steam-tram stopped at the Metropole and went on to the port,trailing a cloud of dust. When the rattle it made began to die away,Barbara roused herself with a start from her moody thoughts. A man wascoming up the path, and when he reached the steps she shrank backagainst the wall. The light from the hotel touched his face and she sawit was Shillito.
Anger conquered her shrinking, for Barbara had pluck and her temper washot. When Shillito, lifting his hat, advanced, she got up and stood by apillar. Her skin had gone very white, but her eyes sparkled and herhands were clenched. Shillito bowed and smiled.
"It looks as if I was lucky!" he remarked, and Barbara imagined his notfinding Mrs. Cartwright about accounted for his satisfaction.
"I suppose you saw me in the _calle mayor_?" she said.
He nodded. "You went into a shop. Your object was pretty obvious. Iallow it hurt."
Barbara gave him a scornful glance. "The statement's ridiculous! Do youimagine you can cheat me now, as you cheated me in Canada?"
"In one way, I did not cheat you. When I said I loved you, I washonest."
"I doubt it! All was dishonest from the beginning. You taught me deceitand made me ashamed for my shabbiness. For your sake I tricked peoplewho loved and trusted me; but to you I was rashly sincere. I trusted youand was willing to give up much in order to marry you."
"You mean you thought you were willing, until you knew the cost?"Shillito rejoined. "Then you saw you couldn't make good and resolved toturn me down."
The blood came to Barbara's skin, but she fronted him steadily.
"I had _found you out_. Had you been something of the man I thought, Imight have gone with you and helped to baffle the police; but you werenot. You were very dull and played a stupid part. When you thought youhad won and I was in your power, I knew you for a brute."
Shillito colored, but forced a smile. "Perhaps I was dull; I wasdesperate. You had kept me hanging round the summer camp when I knew thepolice were on my track; and I had been put wise they might hold up thetrain. A man hitting the trail for liberty doesn't use the manners of ahighbrow carpet-knight. I reckoned you were human and your blood wasred."
"Ah," said Barbara, "I was very human! Although I was afraid, I felt allthe passion hate can rouse. You declared I must stay with you, because Idurst not go back; I had broken rules and my fastidious relations wouldhave no more to do with me. Something like that! In a sense, it wasn'ttrue; but you said it with brutal coarseness. When I struck you I meantto hurt; I looked for something that would hurt--"
She stopped and struggled for calm. To indulge her anger was somerelief, but she felt the man was dangerous and she must be cool. Therewas not much use in leaving him and going to her mother, because hewould, no doubt, follow and disturb Mrs. Cartwright. It was unlucky herstep-father had not arrived; he was coming out, but his boat was notexpected for a day or two.
"Oh, well," said Shillito, "let's talk about something else. I didn'tcalculate to meet you at Las Palmas, but when I saw you in the _calle_,I hoped you might, after all, be kind for old times' sake. However, it'sobvious you have no use for me, and if you are willing to make iteasier, I'll pull out and leave you alone."
Barbara gave him a keen glance. She had known he wanted something.
"How can I make it easier for you to go?"
"You don't see? Well, I've had some adventures since you left me onboard the train. I had money, but I'd waited too long to negotiate someof the bonds and my partner robbed me. I made San Francisco and foundnothing doing there. Went down the coast to Chile and got fixed for atime at a casino, in which I invested the most part of my wad. One nighta Chileno pulled his knife on another who cleaned him out, and when thepolice got busy the casino shut down. I pushed across for Argentina, butmy luck wasn't good, and I made Las Palmas not long since on board anItalian boat. On the whole, I like the dagos, and reckoned I might tryCuba, or perhaps the Philippines--"
"A Lopez boat sails for Havana in two or three days," Barbarainterrupted.
"That is so," Shillito agreed, smiling because he noted her relief. "Thetrouble is, I haven't much money. Five hundred pounds would help mealong."
"You thought I would give you five hundred pounds?"
"Sure," said Shillito, coolly. "You're rich; anyhow, Mrs. Cartwright isrich, and I reckoned you would see my staying about the town hasdrawbacks. For one thing, the English tourists are a gossiping lot. Itought to pay you and your mother to help me get off."
Barbara tried to think. The drawbacks Shillito indicated were plain, andas long as he stayed at Las Palmas she would know no ease of mind, butshe had not five hundred pounds, and Mrs. Cartwright must not bedisturbed. Moreover, one could not trust the fellow. He might take themoney and then use his power again. He had power to humiliate her, butunless she was willing to meet all his claims, she must resist sometime.
"I imagine you put your importance too high," she said. "You can stay,if you like. I certainly will not bribe you to go away."
He studied her for a few moments; Barbara looked resolute, but hethought her resolution forced.
"Very well! Since I can't start for Cuba without money, I must find anoccupation at Las Palmas, and I have a plan. You see, I know someSpanish and
something about running a gambling joint. The people hereare sports, and one or two are willing to put up the money to start aclub that ought to attract the English tourists. If I found the thingdidn't pay before you went back, I could quit and get after you."
"I think not," said Barbara, desperately. "If you came to England, acablegram to the Canadian police--"
Shillito laughed. "You wouldn't send a cablegram! If I was caught Icould tell a romantic story about the girl who helped me get off. No;I'm not going to bother about your putting the police on my trail!"
He turned his head and Barbara clenched her hand, for a rattle of wheelsin the road broke off, as if a _tartana_ had stopped at the gate. If thepassengers from the vehicle were coming to the hotel she must get rid ofShillito before they arrived.
"You waste your arguments," she declared. "I will not give you money. Ifyou come back, I will tell the _mayordomo_ you are annoying me and hemust not let you in."
"The plan's not very clever," Shillito rejoined. "If I made trouble forthe hotel porters, the guests would wonder, and when people have nothingto do but loaf, they like to talk. I expect you'd find their curiosityawkward--" He paused and laughed when he resumed: "You're embarrassednow because somebody will see us!"
Barbara was embarrassed. A man was coming up the path, and she knew herfigure and Shillito's cut against the light. When the stranger reachedthe veranda he would see she was disturbed; but to move back into thegloom, where Shillito would follow her, would be significant. Shethought he meant to excite the other's curiosity.
The man stopped for a moment at the bottom of the steps and Barbaraturned her head, since she imagined he would think she was quarrelingwith her lover. Then he ran up the steps, and when he stopped in frontof Shillito her heart beat fast. It was Lister, and she knew he hadremarked her strained look, for his face was very stern.
"Hallo!" he said. "Are you bothering Miss Hyslop again?" He glanced atBarbara. "I expect the fellow is bothering you?"
For a moment Barbara hesitated, but she had borne a heavy strain and hercontrol was going. Besides, one could trust Lister and he knew ... Shesigned agreement and he touched Shillito.
"Get off the veranda!"
Shillito did not move. His pose was tense and he looked malevolent.
"You won't help Miss Hyslop by butting in like a clumsy fool. Thething's too delicate for you to meddle--"
"Get off the veranda!" Lister shouted, and threw Shillito back.
He was highly strung, and worn by want of sleep and exhausting labor,but he had some notion of all Barbara had borne on Shillito's account.Although perhaps caution and tact were indicated, he was going to useforce. When Shillito struck him he seized the fellow, and rocking in asavage grapple, they fell with a crash against the rails. Lister feltthe other's hand at his throat, and straining back, jerked his head awaywhile he tried to lift his antagonist off the ground. He pulled him fromthe rails and they reeled across the veranda and struck the wall.
A neighboring window rattled with the shock, the heavy tramp of theirfeet shook the boards, and Barbara knew the noise would soon bring agroup of curious servants to the door; besides, all the guests had notgone to the Metropole. Yet she could not meddle. The men's passions wereunloosed; they fought like savage animals, driven by an instinctive furythat would not vanish until one was beaten. She looked on, trembling andhelpless, while they wrestled, with swaying bodies and hands that feltfor a firmer hold. Her face was very white and she got her breath inpainful gasps. There was something horribly primitive about thestruggle, but it fascinated.
In the meantime, Lister was conscious that he had been rash. Shillitowas muscular and fresh, but he was tired. It was plain he could not keepit up for long. Moreover, unless the fight soon ended, people would cometo see what the disturbance was about. This would be awkward forBarbara; he wanted to tell her to go away, but could not. He wasbreathless and Shillito was trying to choke him.
Afterwards he knew he was lucky. They had got near the steps and hethrew Shillito against the post at the top. The jar shook the other, hisgrasp got slack, and Lister saw that for a moment the advantage was his.Using a desperate effort he pushed his antagonist back and struck him asmashing blow. Shillito vanished and a crash in the gloom indicated thathe had fallen on an aloe in a tub by the path. Lister leaned against therail and laughed, because he knew aloe spikes are sharp.
Then he heard steps and voices in the hotel, and turned to Barbara. Hisface was cut, his hat was gone, and his white jacket was torn. He lookedstrangely savage and disheveled, but Barbara went to him and her eyesshone. Lister stopped her.
"Don't know if I've helped much, but you must get off!" he gasped."People are coming. Go in by another door!"
He turned and plunged down the stairs, and Barbara, seeing that Shillitohad vanished, ran along the veranda. A few moments afterwards she stoodby the window of her room and saw a group of curious servants and one ortwo tourists in the path at the bottom of the steps. It looked as ifthey were puzzled, and the _mayordomo_ gravely examined Lister'sbattered hat.
Barbara went from the window and sat down. She was horribly overstrainedand wanted to cry, but she began to laugh, and for some minutes couldnot stop. She must get relief from the tension and, after all, in asense, the thing was humorous.