XVIII
Don Mike's assumption that Pablo would seek balm for his injuredfeelings at the expense of the potato baron was one born of a veryintimate knowledge of the mental processes of Pablo and those of hisbreed. And Pablo, on that fateful day, did not disappoint his master'sexpectations. Old he was, and stiff and creaky of joint, but what helacked in physical prowess he possessed in guile. Forbidden to followhis natural inclination, which was to stab the potato baron frequentlyand fatally with a businesslike dirk which was never absent from hisperson except when he slept, Pablo had recourse to another artifice ofhis peculiar calling--to wit, the rawhide riata.
As Okada emerged from the dining-room into the patio, Pablo enteredfrom the rear gate, riata in hand; as the Japanese crossed the gardento his room in the opposite wing of the hacienda, Pablo made a deftlittle cast and dropped his loop neatly over the potato baron's body,pinioning the latter's arms securely to his sides. Keeping a stiffstrain on the riata, Pablo drew his victim swiftly toward the porch,round an upright of which he had taken a hitch; in a surprisingly briefperiod, despite the Jap's frantic efforts to release himself, Pablo hadhis man lashed firmly to the porch column, whereupon he proceeded toflog his prisoner with a heavy quirt which, throughout the operation,had dangled from his left wrist. With each blow, old Pablo tossed apleasantry at his victim, who took the dreadful scourging without anoutcry, never ceasing a dogged effort to twist loose from his bondsuntil his straining and flinching loosed the ancient rusty nails at topand bottom of the upright, and, with a crash, the Oriental fellheadlong backward on the porch, as a tree falls. Thereupon, Pablokicked him half a dozen times for good measure, and proceeded to rollhim over and over along the porch toward his room. Eventually thisprocedure unwound him from the riata; Pablo then removed the loop, andOkada staggered into his room and fell, half fainting, on his bed.
His honor now quite clean, Pablo departed from the patio. He had beenless than five minutes on his mission of vengeance, and when JohnParker and his wife came out of the dining-room, the sight of theimperturbable old majordomo unconcernedly coiling his "twine" roused inthem no apprehension as to the punishment that had overtaken Okada.
Having finished their luncheon--a singularly pleasant_tete-a-tete_--Don Mike and Kay joined Mr. and Mrs. Parker. At onceFarrel's glance marked the absence of the porch column.
"I declare," he announced, with mock seriousness, "a portion of myveranda has given way. I wonder if a man could have been tied do it.I heard a crash, and at the time it occurred to me that it was a heavycrash--heavier than the weight of that old porch column would produce.Mr. Parker, may I suggest that you investigate the physical conditionof our Japanese friend? He is doubtless in his room."
Parker flashed his host a quick glance, almost of resentment, and wentto Okada's room. When he returned, he said soberly:
"Pablo has beaten the little fellow into a pitiable condition. He tiedhim to that porch column and flogged him with a quirt. While I cannotdefend Okada's action in releasing Loustalot, nevertheless, Mr.Farrel--" Don Mike's black eyes burned like live coals."Nevertheless--I--well--" Parker hesitated.
Don Mike's lips were drawn a trifle in the ghost of a smile that wasnot good to see.
"I think, sir," he said softly, distinctly, and with chill suavity,"that Mr. Okada might be grateful for the services of the excellentMurray, if the potato baron is, as I shrewdly suspect he will be,leaving within five minutes."
"Good Heavens, man, I believe it will be an hour before he can walk!"
Farrel glanced critically at his wrist-watch and seemed to ponder this.
"I fear five minutes is all I can permit, sir," he replied. "If heshould be unable to walk from his room, Murray, who is the soul ofthoughtfulness, will doubtless assist him to the waiting automobile."
Five minutes later, the potato baron and the potato baron's suitcasewere lifted into the tonneau of the car by Murray and William. Fromover by the blacksmith shop, Don Mike saw Parker bid his Japaneseconfrere adieu, and as the car dipped below the mesa, Parker came overand joined them.
"Thought you were going in to El Toro this afternoon," the young mansuggested.
"I had planned to, but changed my mind after beholding that Nipponeseruin. To have driven to El Toro with him would have broken my heart."
"Never mind, pa," Mrs. Parker consoled him; "you'll have your day incourt, will you not?"
"I think he's going to have several of them," Don Mike predictedmaliciously, and immediately withdrew the sting from his words byplacing his hand in friendly fashion on Parker's shoulder and shakinghim playfully. "In the interim, however," he continued, "now that ourunwelcome guests have departed and peace has been reestablished on ElPalomar (for I hear Pablo whistling 'La Paloma' in the distance), whatreason, if any, exists why we shouldn't start right now to get some funout of life? I've had a wonderful forenoon at your expense, so I wantyou and the ladies to have a wonderful afternoon at mine." He glancedalertly from one to the other, questioningly.
"I wonder if the horses have recovered from their furious chase of thismorning," Kay ventured.
"Of course. That was merely an exercise gallop. How would you alllike to come for a ride with me over to the Agua Caliente basin?"
"Why the Agua Caliente basin?" Parker queried casually. "That's quitea distance from here, is it not?"
"About seven miles--fourteen over and back. Suppose William followswith the car after his return from El Toro. You can then ride backwith him, and I'll bring the horses home. I realize fourteen miles istoo great a distance for inexperienced riders."
"Isn't that going to considerable trouble?" Parker suggested suavely."Suppose we ride down the valley. I prefer flat land to rollingcountry when I ride."
"No game down that way," Farrel explained patiently. "We'll take thehounds and put something up a tree over Caliente Basin way before weget back. Besides, I have a great curiosity to inspect the dam you'rebuilding and the artesian wells you're drilling over in that country."
"Confound you, Farrel! You realized the possibilities of that basin,then?"
"Years ago. The basin comes to a bottle-neck between two high hills;all you have to do is dam that narrow gorge, and when the Rio SanGregorio is up and brimming in freshet time, you'll have a lakea hundred feet deep, a mile wide, and five miles long before youknow it. Did you ever consider the possibility of leading a ditchfrom the lake thus formed along the shoulder of El Palomar, thatforty-five-hundred-foot peak for which the ranch is named, and givingit a sixty-five-per-cent. nine-hundred-foot drop to a snug littlepower-station at the base of the mountain. You could develop thirty orforty thousand horse-power very easily and sell it easier; after yourwater had passed through the penstock and delivered its power, youcould run it off through a lateral to the main ditch down the SanGregorio and sell it to your Japanese farmers for irrigation."
"By Jupiter, I believe you would have done something with this ranch ifyou had had the backing, Farrel!"
"Never speculated very hard on securing the backing," Don Mikeadmitted, with a frank grin. "We always lived each day as if it werethe last, you know. But over in Siberia, far removed from all myeasy-going associations, both inherited and acquired, I commenceddreaming of possibilities in the Agua Caliente basin."
"Well then, since you insist, let's go over there and have yourcuriosity satiated," Parker agreed, with the best grace possible.
Here amidst the golden romance of the old mission, thegirl suddenly understood Don Mike.]
While the Parkers returned to the hacienda to change into theirriding-clothes, Miguel Farrel strolled over to the corral where PabloArtelan, wearing upon his leathery countenance the closest imitation ofa smile that had ever lighted that dark expanse, joined him and, withFarrel, leaned over the corral fence and gazed at the horses within.For a long time, neither spoke; then, while his glance still appraisedthe horses, Don Mike stiffened a thumb and drove it with considerableforce into Pablo's ancient ribs. Carolina
, engaged in hanging out theParker wash in the yard of her _casa_, observed Don Mike bestow thisinfrequent accolade of approbation and affection, and her heart swelledwith pride. Ah, yes; it was good to have the child back on the ranchoagain.
Carolina and Pablo had never heard that the ravens fed Elijah; they hadnever heard of Elijah. Nevertheless, if they had, they would not haveenvied him the friendship of those divinely directed birds, for theFarrels had always fed Pablo and Carolina and their numerous brood, nowraised and scattered over the countryside. At sight of that prod inthe ribs, Carolina dismissed forever a worry that had troubled hervaguely during the period between old Don Miguel's death and the returnof young Don Miguel--the fear that a lifetime of ease and plenty hadended. Presently, she lifted a falsetto voice in a Spanish love-songtwo centuries old.
I await the morrow, Nina mia, I await the morrow, all through the night, For the entrancing music and dancing With thee, my song-bird, my heart's delight. Come dance, my Nina, in thy mantilla, Think of our love and do not say no; Hasten then my treasure, grant me this pleasure, Dance then tomorrow the bolero!
Over at the corral, Pablo rolled a cigarette, lighted it, and permitteda thin film of smoke to trickle through his nostrils. He, too, wascontent.
"Carolina," he remarked presently, in English, "is happy to beat hell."
"I haven't any right to be, but, for some unknown reason, I'm feelinggay myself," his master replied.
He started toward the harness-room to get the saddle for Panchito, andPablo lingered a moment at the fence, gazing after him curiously.Could it be possible that Don Miguel Jose Maria Federico Noriaga Farrelhad, while sojourning in the cold land of the bewhiskered men, lost amodicum of that particularity with women which had formerlydistinguished him in the eyes of his humble retainers?
"Damn my soul eef I don't know sometheeng!" Pablo muttered, andfollowed for a saddle for the gray gelding.