Show I How Don Q Paid for His Cigarettes THE TH CHRON CHRONICLES CLES OF DON Q a aBY BY K AND HESKETH PRITCHARD LX IX From an expedition Don Q was re returning returning returning 1 turning on a brilliant morning in the thelast thelast thelast last days of Marchand March and had halted for forthe forthe forthe the noonday heat in a cave that over overhung overhung overhung hung a forest of cork trees No reflection reflection reflection tion of the sunshine entered his mood which was ras one of ot the blackest For Forno Forno Forno no less than three days d ys had elapsed since he had run outs out of material for cigarettes and almost six since he had sent Robledo down to the plains to bring flim the necessary supply Don Q sat therefore and stared vindictively at the fire fir which was al always always always ways kindled to warm his chilly blood oven even when whon winter vinter had loosened its grip gripon on the bleak heights hei The sun was about to set gorgeously in the silence of the sierra when a robber came camo to the door of or the cave and und crossed himself as he saw the at attitude attItude attitude of his chief He waited for the usual command of or Don Q Speak Gaspar Caspar Don Q scarcely turned t his head hed The big lowering rascal was about to reply when from outside came a pat patter patter patter ter of light feet and the next moment a tall panting girl stood in the mouth of ot the cave The men who had been running after to detain her paused on the threshold I will see s e my lord of the moun mountains mountains 1 Senor let me speak with you alone she ahe he cried These men tried to prevent me meDon meDon meDon Don Q let hs his eyes rest upon his vis visitor vIsitor visItor Don Q motioned with his hand Sit down he said indicating a rough chair chait which had been contrived from a barrel barre Then turning to his followers You will retire he added but first what hat does your brawling mean Am I to be disturbed in this fashion f The orders replied Gaspar in a alow alow alow low voice were that my lord would not ot be troubled until the return of Robledo This woman Go TO snarled gnarled the chief the senorita would see me alone The men tIed lied hurriedly out of or sight and Don Q with his head sunk be between between between tween his shoulders waited till tm the thelast thelast thelast last footstep died away You have never seen me before she burst out You do not know who I am Go on dear She started violently You know me ne meI neI I 1 fear I know nearly everything replied r plied Don Q with an air of regret regretting regretting regretting ting an awkward circumstance UI I know for instance that when I send Robledo on special errands to the plains he nearly always wastes an hour or two for which he does not ac with a guitar At the mention of the name of Rob Robledo ledo l do the girls eyes filled with tears He will never sing under my win window window window dow any more she sobbed This is exceedingly sad news re remarked remarked remarked marked Don Q coldly I beg you to tell me the whole story the true story Oh my m lord do not be angry a she pleaded Four days ago Robledo came from the town charged with a mission from my lord When Then it was growing dark he went out upon that mission and presently in the dark he ho re returned re returned returned turned With his guitar questioned the hief serenely In order to avert suspicion Isabel Isabella IsabelIa Iu la protested Pray proceed It is not for you to toive ive dve me reasons Give me facts very simply I will do the rest He uHe was singing O a sweet song went on the girl in a broken voice vol e ewhen when there was a sound of men run running runnIng running ning down the street His music cased teased and he swung himself up into the embrasure of the window where it was as very ery dark The men stopped and searched the shadows under my win window window window dow and one said He was here but a moment ago when I warned you for forno no one dreamed he was in the window above clinging to the bars What is isto isto isto to be done they said and one who seemed the leader answered We will remain here without noise in the shad shadows shadows ons for of a surety this man whom hom we have seen this evening in the company of smugglers and thieves will come presently with the tobacco he received to see this woman and he added words my lord that should not be bespoken bespoken spoken of a woman she paused for forshe forshe forshe she was crying cr very bitterly Ah commented Don Q And af after after after ter Robledo heard the words and they hurt his heart for he loves me He dropped from the window on the mans shoulders and before he had finished speaking and Robledo had a knife ii in his hand So the fellow died who maligned you y u No NoI I have heard so lord He lay upon the ground and I saw Robledo run very ery swiftly up the street and there were five yelping at his heels They were ere re out of sight in a moment And doubtless Robledo would have es escaped for he ho is the bravest and the swiftest of all men but they chased him into the he arms of a patrol who were stationed at the end of the street near nea neathe the plaza Ho wounded two but there ther wore verc Gre ten against him What would you jou y u uSo So he permitted himself to t be made mad mada madea a prisoner The chiefs thin smile pointed hi his Comment bitterly Yes for there were many Isabel lila ilia deprecated then h n resumed in mua much agitation Next day my mother mode mad inquiries at the prison on after her wont None suspect her And they the say h lie be will be taken out to the Alameda o on 01 Sunday morning and If you ou were afraid why did you come into the mountains The question took the girl aback visibly uTo To tell my lord she stammered But what have I to do with the matter My lord will deliver eUver Robledo My lord never deserts his bis people she said proudly Was it while upon my business that Robledo was captured Had it been so o doubtless I r should have re released leased him But but O my lord you cannot moon mom you OU will let him die I 1 am afraid dear that you have fathomed my meaning said Don DOll Q with Indifference It would be subversive of the discipline which I maintain among my m men were I to re release release lease Robledo who was taken prisoner while whilo disobeying my commands But he lie loves me she urged That also aiso I did not cCmmand command him to do stared at Don Q She cc uld not riot believe her bel ears That the chief upon whom all an her world relied Mt should forsake Robledo and leave him hi hito to his fate was yas ras absolutely unbelievable able abl In hor her misery she stepped nearer lo 10 him hint but she could see no sign of relenting In his fierce eyes or upon the sinister lips But is the most faithful of or all my lords lar s followers she slie sl e cried UIn In I f prison he is waiting the aid of my I lord Jord Shall he expect in vain There was still no answer Carried beyond herself herselt with the sorrow SOlTOW of the theom moment om nt she turned on him They will say in the plains that the arm of my lord of the sierra is grown grO short hort because it cannot stretch far farenough farenough enough to pluck the most worthy and brave of his men from death They will not say that replied the brigand gently Why not Because my good I shall take ake care are to avenge avene Robledo when he hes heid heis is id s dead The girl looked at him In horror Then she burst out Since I could walk she stormed I have been I too in the service of my lord Who Vho sent sont the news to the mountains that Don Luis was coming comin carrying poison polson in his Ills hat It was wasI wasE I E I Who did her part when my lord came down into the city by night to enter the palace of Don Felipe FeUpe Majada It t was I But why do I talk in vain vainly My ly lord knows rhey They say he cannot forget But that is not true He has altered and can forget us now Then listen isten my m lord to You have changed hanged her from a friend into a foe foeShe foeShe foeShe She will go down the mountains and not lot smile again until she has done the thing hing that Is in her mind But she will laugh augh when she sees the lord of the sierra ierra on the Alameda even as Robledo As she turned to go she flung a pack packet et upon the ground at the chiefs feet Stop At sound of the masterful word the girl halted involuntarily What mat is this Robledo even in the prison did not forget his lord she returned furious furiously ly y He bade me fetch this and send it t by a sure hand to she faced him and met his glance my lord For his sake ake I brought it not she ended abruptly So Robledo sent me this said Don DOll Q 5 thoughtfully Pardon me Isabel lla iIla He opened the packet and fin fingered fingered fingered and smelt the tobacco it con contained tamed It is good Know then girl that my lack of cigarettes has been a avery aery avery very ery harrowing trial to me You will take ake a message from me mc to Robledo Yes lord You will say that as Robledo was wasso wasso wasso so criminal as to waste his time under your our window instead of coming straight back ack to me I am determined to leave him ilm to die Ah she wailed Availed striking her hands together in despair And you JOU will add that as he had the good sense even when he was lying under sentence of death to remember the he horrible privation I was undergoing without cigarettes I have for that rea reacon reason reason son con and that alone changed my intention intention tion ion and resolved to forgive him and take him out of on Saturday sprang to Don Qs side and covered his slender bony hand with kisses kisei That will do said the chief with withdrawing withdrawing withdrawIng drawing his fingers from hers Go Goose lose ose no time or Robledo will begin to fear that I intend to punish him ac according according according cording to his deserts Lord he sent also this she drew out another packet It Is a plan of the prison of Castelleno I ro rio o not suppose it will be necessary for foi me ne to consult it the chief said with a strange smile of remembrance hut but leave it here It was wise to send it And these newspapers added adde the girl with a sly sl pleased glance TRob TRobo Rob o did not forget these either Then she departed radiant and full of joy praying incoherent blessings from all the saints on the head of Don Q Don Q returned to the Boca de Lobo Lobe and was sitting in his accustomed place with his lamp bes de him and the papers sent by bythe the thoughtful Robledo hanging across his knee Something he read ar arrested arrested arrested rested his attention He it carefully then letting the sheet fall faU he sat staring into the fire in his hunched birdlike absently rolling cigarettes with deft fragile fin fingers fingers fingers gers memories had evi evidently evidently dently been awakened in his brain for he sighed once or twice as does a man who half regrets a vanished decade We Ve have altogether in our por portraiture portraiture of the great brigand if the reader does not by this time understand the dominant quality of freakish hu him humor humor mor compounded of lust of action in incredible incredible incredible credible vanity and fantastic courage which led Don Q into the ch of his exploits Although perhaps he valued Robledo more than any other of his followers he was quite capable I of allowing him to die for a small diso disobedience disobedience disobedience as he regarded the most tri trifling trifling fling deviation from orders as a studied insult The fellow realizes rightly enough that his life Ufe is a small matter com corn compared compared pared with the vexatious fact of my lick of cl he had murmured to himself more than once during the last four days He looked down at the paragraph again hs sinister laughter broke out as he struck his hand upon his knee with the air of a man who had found what he ho sought But Don Q never acted on the spur of a thought If he could spare time for reflection Thus cigarette after cigar cigarette cigarette cigarette ette burnt Itself out in a flare tIare between his thin lips Ups before he called Ramon Gaspar and Felipe up from the fires in the valley valIe Gaspar he began you know kno the inn nt it t Colaro on the road to Castel Caste Castelleno Castelleno leno Yes lord lordS Proceed there and order an excel excellent excellent lent supper for 10 tomorrow night nigh Yes tYes t lord I Go You Felipe will proceed to the I Castillo Negro below the mountains and see there Valentia Valenti who waits up upon upon on the maid of the Duquesa You know I her herThe The rhe young man reddened and glanced up with a furtive look of fear Yes lord The chief met his eyes with a con contemptuous contemptuous smile The robber crossed himself but made madeno no reply uGo Go down clown and bring the girl to the grove of Hex ilex near to Colaro She shall say that her grandmother is dying The grandmother who brought her up you yoi understand She need fear nothing She has pleased me He add added added added ed some further instructions And you Ramon pick with care ten of the least repulsive looking of your comrades saddle my mule and wait for me at the head of the pass The rhe brigands trooped off and the chief dropped his eyes once more upon the paragraph that had bad given him in inspiration inE I E It merely stated that high festivities were to be held in Castelleno on oil that evening of Saturday and that the ball bal would be graced by the presence of the Duquesa dOrava who happened to be staying at her country house the Cas Gas thIn tillo Negro some twelve t lve miles distant distan I from the town It was situated In J in fact upon the upper reaches of ot that thit th t I river that murmured so dismally below betow the prison grating behind which Rob Robledo Robledo Robledo ledo was lying Beneath the sierra which rose stark and threatening in the moonlight ran the narrow country road connecting the Castillo Negro with the highway Down this road the carriage of the old Du Duquesa Duquesa quesa must pass as she drove from her house to the ball to be given that night in the city but the deep dust remained undisturbed in the windings of the lane as late as 7 on the Saturday evening Perhaps the world held no rio more sur surprised surprised surprised woman than the old Duquesa esa dOrava when her carriage pulled up with a jerk in the shade of the ilex hex grove Perhaps also she was fright frightened frightened frightened ened but she was a old lady and she showed no symptom of fear as she called out her strident com corn commands commands mands to the coachman to go on Report says she was Avas adding some remarks when the door opened and a man in a cloak stood hawing bowing before her his pallid palUd face and bald head gleaming white in the dusk At the sight of him the elderly maid began to scream Peace fool One slits the throat of ofa ofa a 3 screaming hen The sharp sibilant tones cut across the womans shrieks May I beg of you ou Duquesa to order this person Derson to descend I must speak with you alone Certainly nott noU I am In a hurry Drive on Joaquin Pardon me m said the figure at the thedoor thedoor thedoor door and before the occupants of the carriage had any idea of his intention he laid a grip of steel on the maids arm and swung her adroitly out into the hands of a man behind him It grieves me to the heart h art to put you to this inconvenience but for the sake of performing a hu humane humane mane action one would venture to plead for your our forgiveness The old lady listened amazed This robber had the accent the bearing of her own class Oddly enough the fact further incensed her What does this mean she cried fiercely Who are you A footpad Hardly Duquesa Your eyes deceive you in this dimness Believe me no noman noman noman man has a more profound 1 horror of footpads than myself To the honorable brigand the footpad is unspeakably ab abhorrent abhorrent |