CHAPTER XVI
WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may bewell to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune whichled to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores.
His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men. Five were sailorsand firemen from the _Andromeda_; three were Germans from the _UnserFritz_. But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-armstrained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product.The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, andacquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of ahundred miles. They would fight anybody if well led, and here it maybe observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, hesaid, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!"these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction. The languagedifficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of oneof the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly bysigns, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader.
He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, andthey were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closedwith any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations.
About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sentoff a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions toarrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day. Instantly thetwenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted.From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fullya thousand men. The situation was critical. It called for prompthandling. Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselvesamong the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four riflesindulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded withmen and animals.
Nothing more was needed. It has been noted already that the Braziliansdisliked long-range shooting. There was a stampede. The scoutsoccupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely toreport the presence of the column, when they fell in with the firstbatch of fugitives from the valley. Forthwith, Philip became a generaland each scout an officer. They reasoned and whacked the runaways intoobedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough tofight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter ofsimple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in theescalade of a snow fort. But it was a near thing. Five minutes later,and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself.
And now, as to the night, and the next day.
Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus.Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and thenews spread like wild fire. Before morning, the Liberationists wereten thousand strong. Before night closed the roads again, thePesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointedout that he served the _President_, not any crank who said he wasPresident, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazilplaced their trust. Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, asthe newspapers say, the incident ended. The navy sulked for a while,because they held that Russo's treatment of the _Andorinha_ was notcricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Braziliansportsman. It was not even professional football, they said; but anacrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasurythat pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of aregrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery.
Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by twocircumstances not of national importance. San Benavides, never ademonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man. Hewas severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed himassiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb,and would remain there. The indications were subtle but unmistakable.Carmela even announced the date of their marriage.
Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughterhad said when they all met in the ballroom. It seemed to him thatSalvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on thatoccasion. But he let well enough alone. It was good for Salvador thathe should obey Carmela. He blessed them, and remarked that a really"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign atRio de Janeiro.
He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier. Hethought of it for at least five minutes next morning. Then he soughtDickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examiningthe rare shrubs that bordered the lawn.
"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voicevibrated with real feeling.
"First-rate, sir," said Dickey. "The bullet is extracted, and thedoctor says 'e'll soon be all right. Leastways, that's wot Iris tellsme. I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidgeain't fit to be repeated."
The President laughed.
"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?--a rough fellowwith the heart of a bull. But he saved my life, and that naturallycounts for a good deal with me. And how is your niece after lastnight's terrible experience?"
"My niece? D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhatannoyed.
"Yes."
"She's not my niece; she's----"
"Your grand-daughter, then?"
"No, sir. That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be mywife."
"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face.
"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey. "It was all cut an' driedweeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can makeout."
"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the _Andromeda_sailed?" said Dom Corria gently.
"W'y, of course. It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?"
"No--not as between you and her. I can vouch for that. Forgive me,Mr. Bulmer--I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and Ispeak as a parent--do you think that it is a wise thing for a man ofyour years to marry a girl of twenty?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it."
"But may it not be selfish?"
Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument.
"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a whiteheat of anger. He had yet to learn that the President preferred astraight-forward way of talking.
"I want you to forego this marriage," he said.
"Why?"
"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she isbound to you. I understand the position at last. Mr. Bulmer, youcannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, PhilipHozier, to despair. Come, now! Let you and me reason this thingtogether. Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know whatlove is. She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor. Whatother woman would have consented to be separated from her friends onFernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances ofsafety? How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assuredof a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutelydeny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?"
Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of DomCorria. Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he haddeliberately erected around his own intelligence. Certain facts hadfound crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down wholesections. But he was a hard man, and stubborn. Throughout his longlife he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris.
"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," hegrowled.
"Were I not, I would not have interfered. Take my advice. First, askyourself an honest question. Then ask the girl. She will answer. Ipromise you that."
"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey.
"Yes."
"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other."
"Possibly. One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the_Andromeda_."
"It's true, I tell you. David said----"
"Who
is David?"
"Her uncle."
"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not wooher uncle. Of course, these customs vary. Here, in Brazil----"
Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expectedfrom one of his staid demeanor. In fact, he regarded Brazil as thecause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelousland coincided with Hozier's. He turned and walked away, looking atrifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of thehouse.
An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor. They werediscussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris raninto them. Her face was flushed, and she had been crying. Much toCarmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck andkissed her.
"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," shewhispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away.
"Excellent!" said the President. "That old man is a gentleman. Hisfriend is not. Yet they are very much alike in other respects. Oddthing! Carmela _cara_, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?"
"Yes, father."
"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier. Tell himthat the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off."
Carmela's black eyes sparkled. That wayward blood of hers surged inher veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasmpassed.
"Yes, father," she said dutifully.
He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration onthose who had fallen during the fight.
"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes thatgirl. I wonder why?"
Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva. Wattsspoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bitflighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do oneminnit from the next?" And that was all.
It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when thesallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demureof manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Floresearly on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him.
She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite.
"My father sent me----" she began.
"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that shehesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so fewdoctors."
She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of featureby the singular charm of her smile.
"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said.
"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment,"said he, rather bewildered.
"He mends broken hearts," she persisted.
"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little.
"He is in demand to-day. He asked me to tell you of one mostsuccessful operation. The--er--the engagement between Miss IrisYorke--is that the name?--and Mr.--Mr.--dear me----"
"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil.
"Yes, that is it--well--it is ended. She is free--for a little while."
There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face. Ittouched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature.
"It is all right," she nodded. "You can go to her."
She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous seaor screaming bullet.
"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up theslope to the house. "It takes something to rouse them. What would hehave said were he in Salvador's place last night!"
It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been inSalvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as ofberries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they allhave their uses. And she might have modified her opinion of hiscoldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris.
Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visitedCoke. Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, andmuch altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road,Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door. She opened it.Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor. She had nooption in the matter. The tall young man who held her wrist proceededto squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed todeeds of violence that she did not even scream.
"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherentremark.
"I must ask my uncle," she gasped.
"No. Leave that to me. No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to mewhere you are concerned, Iris."
"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear. He was always good to me,and--and--I have grown a wee bit afraid of you."
"Afraid!"
"Yes. You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and Ilooked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the_Andromeda_."
"I was a boy then, Iris. I am a man now. I have fought, and loved,and suffered. And what of you, dear heart? We went through thefurnace hand in hand. What of the girl who has come forth a woman?"
There was an open window at the end of the passage. Watts had bought,or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine. Schmidt and he were in ashaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them:
"It is always fair weather When good fellows meet together . . ."
But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door whichIris had left ajar.
"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab. D--n your eyes, if you come courtin' mynurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all. Wot the----"
"Come in, dear," said Iris. "The doctor says he is not to excitehimself. And he will be so glad to see you. He has been asking foryou all day."
* * * * * *
At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazilwas waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who wasattended by an imposing armed guard. After compliments, the admiralstated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truthor otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul atMaceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certaindate, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided andabetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize andsequestrate the steamship _Unser Fritz_, the said steamship being theproperty of German subjects and flying the German flag.
Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its Englishtranslation, it only contained a dozen words. Its sound was fearsomein consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous. But DomCorria was unmoved.
"There is some mistake," said he.
"Exactly," said the admiral,"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable."
"On your part," continued Dom Corria. "The vessel you name is theproperty of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio.He purchased and paid for her on September 1st. Here is the receipt ofthe former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed toSenhor Pondillo's agents. You will observe the date of thetransaction."
The admiral read. He read again.
"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily. "There are somenever-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially inHamburg."
"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly. Carmela's memory was notquite of the hereditary order. She had forgotten, for three wholedays, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket.
* * * * * *
When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity andDickey Bulmer conveyed him home. They took with them drafts on aLondon bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for thesinking of the _Andromeda_. Judged by the compensation given to thevessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of themen who lost their lives would be well provided for. Even Watts vowedthat the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token ofregeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperr
its would cross hislips. Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of adifferent order. Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomaticstorm he had caused, seemed to be contented. He taught Watts "_Es gibtnur eine Kaiser Stadt_," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the_Alice_ brig and her marooned crew. But the latter effusion wasrehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mailsteamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the ladypassengers might complain.
At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership. Theyoung people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to comeinto the business.
"We're growing old, David," said Dickey. "I've got plenty of money,an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us canbuy, and that's youth."
"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go backjust a year or so--no more.
"Why?"
"Well, there's bin times w'en--w'en I'd 'ave acted different. Wot doyou say, Jimmie?"
Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer.
"Say!" he growled. "I say nothink. I know you, David."
Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon. Thecathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quiteinconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced theceremony by their presence. Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador SanBenavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride downthe central aisle.
She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband.
"Yes, I saw him," he whispered. "But I never feared him. It was youthat made me sit up. By the way, old girl, let us cut out thereception. I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the RuaGrande. You will be interested."
Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply. Tenthousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the servicesrendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total inmilreis. But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's,and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four gloriousdiamonds. Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times morevaluable; but this----
"For remembrance!" said Philip.
"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist.
THE END
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