Chata and Chinita, Chapters XXXIII-XXXV [pp. 2-24]

1887.] Chata and Chintla. 19
Crislano,' he ejaculated again and again; ni)~a,' he muttered piteously`I have not beand once in the night, when the others trayed thee; and Dona Isabel, though you
slept, he muttered,`Win a, nina, forgive me! have taken from me the child you thrust upI am dying. You bade me protect the on me in such mockery, have I not borne
~child! Ah, even in life it has not been the torture meekly? No, even to this man,
possible! Is she not in the hands you bade so like the other that he needed not to tell
me defend her from?` his name and kin, I have told nothing to
"These sentences, murmured at inter- shame you!`
vals, kept me waking, while all others slept, "His words sprang from his lips in spite
hanging over him with entreaties to disbur- of the will that would have kept them back;
den his mind of the secret, which weighed for a time he was like a man under the inso heavily upon him, that it seemed under fluence of a maddening draught. Striving
it he could neither live nor die. to calm him by the assurance that I would
`Tell me at least,' I said,`who is this never use the knowledge he might give me
man called Ramirez, whom I saw this eve- to dishonor the family to which his whole
ning wreak upon you so terrible a revenge? life had been devoted, I drew from him little
How comes it that you are so hated by the by little his strange tale. It concerns neither
man for whom your foster daughter is plot- you nor me, Chinita, until in recompense
ting? Have you not been his fbllower in for secret service done her in the cause of
by-gone days? Surely it is not Chinita who her wretched brother Leon, Dona Isabel
has set such enmity between you!' Garcia made Pedro po~ero at Tres Herma`No, no; it began before she was born,' nos. There my unfortunate cousin gained his
he answered, shudderingly, his pale coun- good offices in his secret meetings with the
tenance becoming more ghastly still.`Bios young Herlinda. He seems in truth to have
de mi alma!' he continued, as if forgetful been conscious of no seTious offence against
of my presence.`Was it not enough that Dona Isabel in lending his aid to the tender
the child should fall again into the power of intercourse of the young people, although
Dona Isabel-she who tore it from its moth- he was cognizant of her plans regarding the
er 5 breast to cast it among the leperos who marriage of Herlinda and Gonzales. My
with the dogs feed at her gates-but that cousin claimed the right to visit his wifeher father's murderer, her mother's destroy- and Pedro took his gold and was silent, if
er, should wield this devil's witchcraft over not convinced.
her? My God, who will defend her? Who "`Ah, how joyously Ashley left his wife
will rescue her?'" -for the last time,' he exclaimed at length,
Chinita raised her head, her nostrils quiv- ceasing to expect my questions and taking
ering, the veins upon her neck and temples the tone of narrative.`Yes, he called her
swollen and palpitating. always his wife-what was the ~oriero to de "`Tell her the truth,' I said!" continued mand? Ah! Dona Isabel would know, or
Ashley. "`Then she will be her own de- the young Gonzales One cannot do worse
fender; and I-you know me; for what other than put his hand in a boiling pot, and wherepurpose am I here? Yes, Pedro, the secret fore do that when it hangs over his neighyou have kept so long is mine as well as bor's fire? Yes, never had he seemed more
yours. John Ashley died because he dared confident, more gay. ~~` I~sball not need to
love a woman named Herlinda; and that waken thee at midnig~ to let me pass like
Herlinda was the daughter of Dona Isabel a thief who leaves thee a bnb~," he said,
Garcia.' "tomorrow I shall be free to come and go as
"He stared at me in wild dismay,`A?ina, I will."