CHAPTER VIII. MOTHER AND PRIEST.
. . . . "witness,
When the dark-stoled priestly crew, Came swift trooping where the trumpet Of foul Santa Anna blew." * * * * *
"Rouse thee, Wrath, and be a giant; People's Will, that hath been pliant, Long, too long;
Up, and snap the rusty chaining, Brittle bond for thy restraining, Know the hour, the weak are reigning Thou art strong.
* * * * *
"Rise and right the wrongs of ages; Balance Time's unequal pages With the sword."
It was nearly two o'clock when Don Luis mounted his horse and left theWorth residencia. The storm still raged, the night was dark, the coldintense, but the home of Lopez Navarro was scarce a quarter of a mileaway; and he found him waiting his return.
"You have still an hour, Luis. Come in and sit with me."
"As you say; and I wish to show you that I am capable of a great thing.You do not believe me? Well, then give me again my own clothes. I willresign these."
"You are most welcome to them, Luis."
"But no; I am in earnest. The fight is at hand--they are too fine."
"Yes, but I will tell you--I can say anything to you--there is to be agrand day for freedom; well, then, for a festa one puts on the best thatis to be got. I will even lend you my Cross of Saint James, if you wish.A young hero should be dressed like a hero. Honor my poor clothes so faras to wear them in the fight."
"Thank you, Lopez. I will not disgrace them"; and he bent forward andlooked into his friend's eyes. His glance prolonged his words--wentfurther than speech--went where speech could not reach.
"Listen to me, Luis. As a matter of precision, where now are theAmericans?"
"At the mission of Espada."
"La Espada?--the sword--the name is ominous."
"Of success, Lopez."
"Is Houston, then, with you?"
"Until a few days ago. He and General Austin have gone to San Felipe."
"For what? Is not San Antonio the most important point?"
"It was decided by the vote of the army to send them there to frame aprovisional government. There are plenty of fighters with us, but notone statesman but Houston. And now it is necessary that we should havelegal authority to obtain loans, maintain the army in the field, andmany other such things vital to our cause. Austin is to go to the UnitedStates. He will bring back men and money. Houston must draw up ourdeclaration and manifestoes; direct the civil government; forwardtroops; and, in fact, set a new government in motion."
"He is the loadstone in the bosom! [2] I wonder that the Americanspermitted that he should leave them."
"He, and he only, was the man to go. Ere he left, he said some strangewords. I shall not, as a Mexican, forget them. In the midst of the menhe stood like a god, with his great stature, and his bright, strongface. One cannot think of him as of a common mortal. Indeed, I willconfess that I could only compare him with the Efreet in the Arabiantale, 'whose nostrils were like trumpets, his eyes like lamps, and whohad dishevelled, dust colored hair'"
"But, to proceed; what were the strange words?"
"Thus he spoke, and his voice rang out like a clarion:
"'You will fight as men fight for their homes, and their wives, andtheir children, but also--remember this--the idea of Texas is in theAmerican heart! Two generations they have carried it there! It is yourdestiny to make the idea a fact! As far back as eighteen nineteen, Adamswanted Texas. When Adams became president, he told Poinsett to offerMexico a million of dollars for Texas. Clay would have voted threemillions. Van Buren, in eighteen twenty-nine, told Poinsett to offerfive millions for Texas. I went to Washington that year, and proposed torevolutionize Texas. I declare to you that the highest men in the landwere of my mind. Only last July President Jackson offered an additionalhalf million dollars for the Rio Grande boundary; and Mr. SecretaryForsyth said, justly or unjustly, by hook, or by crook, Texas mustbecome part of our country. We have been longing for it for fifty years!Now, then, brothers-in-arms!' he cried, 'You are here for your homesand your freedom; but, more than that, you are here for your country!'Remember the thousands of Americans who have slipped out of history andout of memory, who have bought this land with their blood! We have helda grip on Texas for fifty years. By the soul of every American who hasperished here, I charge you, No Surrender!'
"You should have heard the shout that answered the charge. Jesu, Maria!It made my heart leap to my bosom. And ever since, the two words havefilled the air. You could see men catching them on their lips. Theyare in their eyes, and their walk. Their hands say them. The up-toss oftheir heads says them. When they go into battle they will see Houston infront of them, and hear him call back 'No surrender!' Mexico cannot holdTexas against such a determined purpose, carried out by such determinedmen."
Lopez did not answer. He was a melancholy, well-read man, who hadtravelled, and to whom the idea of liberty was a passion. But thefeeling of race was also strong in him, and he could not help regrettingthat liberty must come to Texas through an alien people--"heretics,too"--he muttered, carrying the thought out aloud. It brought othersequally living to him, and he asked, "Where, then, is Doctor Worth?"
"At Espada. The army wished him to go to San Felipe with Houston, buthe declined. And we want him most of all, both as a fighter and aphysician. His son Thomas went in his place."
"I know not Thomas."
"Indeed, very few know him. He is one that seldom speaks. But his riflehas its word always ready."
"And Jack?"
"Jack also went to San Felipe. He is to bring back the first despatches.Jack is the darling of the camp. Ah, what a happy soul he has! One wouldthink that it had just come from heaven, or was just going there."
"Did you see Senorita Antonia to-night?"
"Si! She is a blessing to the eyesight. So brave a young girl, so sweet,so wise; she is a miracle! If I loved not Isabel with my whole soul, Iwould kneel at Antonia's feet."
"That is where I also would kneel."
"Hark! how the wind roars, and how the rain thrashes the house! But ourmen have the shelter of one of the Panchos. You should have heard thepadre threaten them with the anger of heaven and hell and General Cos.Good-bye, Lopez. I have stayed my last moment now."
"Your horse has been well fed. Listen, he is neighing for you; to DoctorWorth give my honorable regards. Is Senor Parades with you? and PerezMexia? Say to them I keep the vow I made in their behalf. Farewell,Luis!" and Luis, who had been mounting as his friend talked, stoopedfrom his saddle and kissed him.
It was just dawn when he reached camp, and he found Doctor Worth waitinghis arrival. Fortunately there was nothing but good news for the doctor.Luis had seen everything through the medium of his own happiness, and hedescribed the midnight meal and the Senora's amiability with the utmostfreedom from anything unpleasant. Rachela's interference he treated withscornful indifference; and yet it affected Worth's mind unpleasantly.For it went straight to the source of offence. "She must have had FrayIgnatius behind her. And my poor Maria, she will be as dough for them toknead as they desire to!"
And, in fact, as he was thus thinking, the Senora was lying awake in herbed, anticipating her confessor's next visit. She was almost glad thenorther was still blowing. It would give her another day's respite; and"so many things happen as the clock goes round," she reflected. Perhapseven her Roberto might arrive; it would not be more wonderful than thevisit of Luis Alveda.
But very early in the day she saw the father hurrying up the oleanderavenue. The wind tossed his gown, and blew his hat backward andsideways, and compelled him to make undignified haste. And such littlethings affect the mental poise and mood! The Senora smiled at the funnyfigure he made; and with the smile came a feeling of resistance to histyranny, and a stubborn determination to defend her own conduct.
He
came into her room with a doleful countenance, saying, as he crossedhimself, "God be here!"
"And with you, father," answered the Senora, cheerfully--a mood she hadassumed at the last moment, by a kind of instinct.
"There is evil news on every hand my daughter. The heretics are swarminglike wolves around the Missions. Several of our holy brothers haveendured the last extremity. These wolves will even enter the city, andyou will be in danger. I have come to take you to the convent. There,Holy Mary will be your safety."
"But these wolves might attack the convent, father!"
"Our Blessed Lady is stronger than they. She has always kept her own."
"Blessed be the hand of God and Mary! will trust in them. Ah, Antonia!Listen to Fray Ignatius! He says we must go to the convent--the hereticsare coming. They have even slain some priests at the Mission."
"Fray Ignatius has been misinformed, dear mother. When a man wears agown and has no arms Americans do not molest him. That is certain. Asfor the convent it is impossible. My father forbade it. If the Americansenter the city, he is with them. He will protect us, if we should needit, which is not likely."
"Disobedient one!"
"Pardon. I wish only to obey the commands of my father."
"I absolve you from them."
"They are between God and my soul. There is no absolution from duty."
"Grace of God! Hear you, Senora! Hear you the rebellious and disobedientone! She has defied me to my face! She is near to being anathema! She isnot your daughter! She is bewitched. Some evil spirit has possession ofher. Let no one touch her or speak to her; it shall be a mortal sin."
Antonia fell at her mother's knee. "Mi madre! I am your daughter, yourAntonia, that you carried in your breast, and that loves you better thanlife. Permit me not to be accused of sin--to be called a devil. Mother,speak for me."
At this moment Isabel entered. Seeing the distress of her mother andsister she hastened to them; but Fray Ignatius stepped between, andextending his arms forbade her nearer approach.
"I forbid you to speak to your sister. I forbid you to touch her, togive her food, or water, or sympathy, until she has humbled herself, andobtained the forgiveness of her sin."
Then mother love stood up triumphant over superstition. "I and mydaughter are the same," said the Senora, and she gave her hand toAntonia. "If she has sinned, we will bear the penance together; she andI together."
"I command you to stand apart. For the good of Antonia's sinful soul, Icommand you to withdraw yourself from her."
"She is my daughter, father. I will bear the sin and the punishment withher. The Holy Mother will understand me. To her I will go."
The door of her room was at hand; she stepped swiftly to it, and puttingher daughters before her, passed in and turned the key.
The movement took the priest by surprise, and yet he was secretlysatisfied with it. He had permitted himself to act with an imprudencemost unusual. He had allowed the Senora to find out her own moralstrength, and made a situation for her in which she had acted not onlywithout his support, but against his authority.
"And yet," he muttered, "so much depends upon my persuading her intothe convent; however, nothing now is to be done to-day, except to seeRachela. Saint Joseph! if these American heretics were only in my power!What a long joy I would make of them! I would cut a throat--just onethroat--every day of my life."
The hatred which could contemplate a vengeance so long drawn out was onhis dark face; yet, it is but justice to say, that he sincerely believedit to be a holy hatred. The foes of the church, he regarded as the foesof God; and his anger as a just zeal for the honor of the Lord of Hosts.Beside which, it included a far more tangible cause.
The accumulated treasures of the Missions; their gold and gems, theircostly vestments and holy vessels, had been removed to the convent forsafety. "These infidels of Americans give to women the honor they shouldgive to God and Holy Church," he said to his brethren. "They will notsuffer the Sisters to be molested; and our wealth will be safe whereverthey are."
But this wealth was really so immense, that he believed it might bewell to secure it still further, and knowing the position Dr. Worth heldamong his countrymen, he resolved to induce his wife and daughtersto seek refuge within the convent. They were, in fact, to be held ashostages, for the protection of the property of the Church.
That he should fail in his plan was intolerable to him. He had beenso confident of success. He imagined the smile on the face of FraySarapiam, and the warning against self-confidence he would receive fromhis superior; and he vowed by Saint Joseph that he would not sufferhimself to be so mortified by three women.
Had he seen the Senora after the first excitement of her rebellion wasover, he would have been satisfied of the validity of his authority,at least as regarded her. She flung herself at the foot of her altar,weeping and beating her breast in a passion of self-accusation andcontrition. Certainly, she had stood by her daughter in the presence ofthe priest; but in her room she withdrew herself from the poor girl asif she were a spiritual leper.
Antonia at a distance watched the self-abasement of her mother. Shecould not weep, but she was white as clay, and her heart was swollenwith a sense of wrong and injustice, until breathing was almostsuffocation. She looked with a piteous entreaty at Isabel. Her littlesister had taken a seat at the extremity of the room away from her. Shewatched Antonia with eyes full of terror. But there was no sympathy inher face, only an uncertainty which seemed to speak to her--to touchher--and her mother was broken-hearted with shame and grief.
The anxiety was also a dumb one. Until the Senora rose from her knees,there was not a movement made, not a word uttered. The girls waitedshivering with cold, sick with fear, until she spoke. Even then herwords were cold as the wind outside:
"Go to your room, Antonia. You have not only sinned; you have made mesin also. Alas! Alas! Miserable mother! Holy Maria! pray for me."
"Mi madre, I am innocent of wrong. I have committed no sin. Is it a sinto obey my father? Isabel, darling, speak for me."
"But, then, what have you done, Antonia?"
"Fray Ignatius wants us to go to the convent. I refused. My father mademe promise to do so. Is not our first duty to our father? Mother, is itnot?
"No, no; to God--and to Fray Ignatius, as the priest of God. He says weought to go to the convent. He knows best. We have been disobedient andwicked."
"Isabel, speak, my dear one. Tell mi madre if you think we should go."
There was a moment's wavering, and then Isabel went to her mother andcaressed her as only Isabel could caress her, and with the kisses, shesaid boldly: "Mi madre, we will not go to the convent. Not any of us. Itis a dreadful place, even for a happy child. Oh, how cold and still arethe Sisters! They are like stone figures that move about."
"Hush, child! I cannot listen to you! Go away! I must be alone. I mustthink. I must pray. Only the Mother of Sorrows can help me."
It was a miserable sequence to the happy night, and Antonia was reallyterrified at the position in which she found herself. If the Americansshould fall, nothing but flight, or uncompromising submission to FrayIgnatius, remained for her. She knew only too well how miserableher life could be made; what moral torture could be inflicted; whatspiritual servitude exacted. In a moment of time she had comprehendedher danger, and her heart sank and sickened with a genuine physicalterror.
The cold was still severe, and no one answered her call for wood. Isabelcrouched, white and shivering, over the dying embers, and it was she whofirst uttered the fear Antonia had refused to admit to herself--"Supposethe servants are forbidden to wait upon us!"
"I will bring wood myself, dearest." She was greatly comforted bythe word "us." She could almost have wept for joy of the sympathy itincluded. For thought is rapid in such crucial moments, and she haddecided that even flight with her would be a kinder fate for Isabel,than the cruel tender mercies of the Sisters and the convent.
They could not talk much. The thought of their mother'
s anguish, andof the separation put between them and their household, shocked andterrified them. Vainly they called for fuel. At dinner time no table waslaid, and no preparations made for the meal. Then Antonia went into thekitchen. She took with her food, and cooked it. She brought wood intothe parlor, and made up the fire. Fortunately, her northern educationhad given her plenty of resources for such emergencies. Two or threesavory dishes were soon ready, and the small table set upon a warm,bright hearth.
The Senora had evidently not been included in the ban, for Rachelaattended with ostentatious care to her comfort; but Isabel had rolledherself up in a wadded silk coverlet and gone to sleep. Antonia awakenedher with a kiss. "Come, queridita, and get your dinner."
"But is it possible? I thought Fray Ignatius had forbidden it."
"He cannot forbid me to wait upon you, my darling one. And he cannotturn the flour into dust, and the meat into stone. There is a gooddinner ready; and you are hungry, no doubt."
"For three hours I have been faint. Ah! you have made me a custard also!You are a very comforter."
But the girl was still and sad, and Antonia was hard pressed to findany real comfort for her. For she knew that their only hope lay in theimmediate attack of the American force, and its success; and she did notthink it wise to hide from her sister the alternatives that lay beforethem if the Americans failed.
"I am afraid," said Isabel; "and so unhappy. A very sad business islife. I cannot think how any one can care to live."
"Remember Luis, and our father, and Jack, and Thomas, and our dearmother, who this morning stood between us and Fray Ignatius. Will youlet this priest turn the sky black above you?"
"And also, men will fight. What for? Who can tell? The Americans wantso much of everything. Naturally they do not get all they want. What dothey do? Fight, and get killed. Then they go into the next world, andcomplain of people. As for Luis, I do not expect to see him again."
Fortunately, the norther moderated at sunset. Life then seemed so muchmore possible. Adverse elements intensify adverse fortune, and thephysical suffering from the cold had also benumbed Antonia's spirits,and made her less hopeful and less clear-visioned. But when she awokeat the gray dawn of the next day, she awoke with a different spirit. Shehad regained herself. She rose quietly, and looked out towards the city.The black flag from the Alamo and the Missions hung above it. She lookedat the ominous standards, and then the tears sprang to her eyes; shelifted her face and her hands to heaven, and a few words, swifterthan light, sprang from her soul into the ear of the Eternal Father ofSpirits.
The answer came with the petition--came with the crack of rifle shots;precise, regular, unceasing.
"Oh God! I thank Thee! Lord of Hosts, Thou art a great multitude!Isabel! Isabel! The Americans are attacking the city! Our father willfight his way back to his home! Fray Ignatius can not come to-day. Oh,I am so happy! So happy! Listen! How the Mexicans are shouting! They arecheering on the men! What a turmoil!"
"Jesu, Maria, have mercy!" cried Isabel, clasping her crucifix andfalling upon her knees.
"Oh, Isabel, pray for our father, that his angel may overshadow him withstrong wings."
"And Luis?"
"And Luis, and Thomas, and Jack, and Dare. There are prayers for themall, and love enough to make them. Hark! there are the drums, and thetrumpets, and the gallop of the cavalry. Come, dearest, let us go to ourmother. To day, no one will remember Fray Ignatius."