Pepe

“ If there is gold gained by the adventure, he will not be forgotten; and if heaven is made any nearer to us, by our dangers and hardships, Pepe will not be a loser. At the last great reckoning, woman, we shall not be asked who is poor, or who is a Genoese."
"This is true, Señor; and yet it is hard for a young wife to part from her husband. Dost thou wish, in truth, to sail with the admiral, Pepe?"
"It matters little with me, Monica; I am commanded to serve the queen, and we mariners have no right to question her authority. ”

“ Still, looking at the ingot of silver, she shook her head at Don Pépé's remark:
"If it had not been for the lawless tyranny of your government, Don Pépé, many an outlaw now with Hernandez would be living peaceable and happy by the honest work of his hands."
"Señora," cried Don Pépé, with enthusiasm, "it is true! It is as if God had given you the power to look into the very breasts of people. You have seen them working round you, Doña Emilia—meek as lambs, patient like their own burros, brave like lions. ”

“ What was most remarkable was, that under all this misfortune Pepe was always cheerful. As the beautiful Spanish proverb says, he was like the sandal-wood, perfuming the axe which strikes it [250] low1. He not only never complained, and continued at his toil steadily day by day, but he was always praising God for what He had given him—his wife, his children, his humble hut, his strong arms. “Put your trust in God, and your feet diligently along the road2;” so he used to say, and so he used to act.
One day he had gone out as usual, and, as often happened, had taken nothing. ”

“ Pepe, the vaquero, had spoken truly when he described the stranger as a “wild, rough-looking man.” He was such a man as one would instinctively shun if in a lone place, and feel more at ease when he was out of sight. ”

“ I have faith in no woman, not even my mother.”
“I have fear? I?” said Maria, “I have fear?”
“But do you believe myself so blind,” interrupted Pepe, “as not to see what is passing? Do I not know, from a good source, that you put on a good face before the duke, because you have got it in your head to obtain for your imbecile husband the position of surgeon to the queen.”
“’Tis a lie!” cried Maria.
“Maria, Pepe Vera does not mistake bladders for lanterns. Know that I understand as well the ruses of the rude bull of the mountains as those of the less ferocious bull of the plains.” ”

“ The venerable ecclesiastic rose and took leave of every one, treating Rey with as much amiability and kindness as if they had been old and dear friends. The canon, after offering his services to Pepe for all that he might require, promised to present his nephew to him in order that the young man might accompany him to see the town, speaking in the most affectionate terms and deigning, on leaving the room, to pat him on the shoulder. Pepe Rey, accepting with pleasure these formulas of concord, nevertheless felt indescribably relieved when the priest had left the dining-room and the house. ”

“ Observing attentively, Pepe Rey perceived that these noises proceeded from an enormous balcony with blinds which displayed its corpulent bulk in front of the window at which he was sitting. Before he had concluded his observations, a member of the Casino suddenly appeared beside him, and accosted him laughingly in this manner:
“Ah, Señor Don Pepe! what a rogue you are! So you have shut yourself in here to ogle the girls, eh?” ”

“ Pepé glanced at the Canadian as though to ask whether he had calculated these terrible chances when he wished to make Fabian share their adventurous career. For the first time, at such a crisis, the intrepid hunter looked deadly pale. An eloquent but sad glance was his reply to the Spaniard’s mute interrogation.
“A too great affection in the heart of the bravest man,” thought Pepé, “makes him tremble for him who he loves more than life; and adventurers like us should have no ties. There is Bois-Rose trembling like a woman!” ”

“ So, the result being satisfactory, the Paras brandy was brought forth again, and toasts were drunk to Pepe’s and Pancha’s long happiness. And these were followed by toasts to the success—though that was assured in advance, of course—of a great venture in which Pepe was about to engage; a venture that infallibly was to make him a rich man. ”

“ It is hard, my little one—but—it—must—be.” Then he was silent, and clenched his teeth—this brave Pepe—that his face might not show to Pancha his mortal agony.
Manuel held Pepe’s hand and wept: the silent, forlorn weeping of an utterly desolate old man. Pancha could not weep. She clutched Pepe’s hand in both of hers, as though forcibly she would hold him back to life. Pepe understood her thought.
“It may not be, my Pancha, my Panchita. It is very, very near now. Give me one little kiss, my heart,”—it was almost in a whisper that Pepe spoke,—“one little kiss to tell me of your love before I go.” ”

“ And then, slowly but strongly, the thought came into her mind that she must go to Pepe; that, if living, she must bear to him words of comfort and of hope; that, if dead, she must cast one last loving look upon his face.
[Pg 41]
So she passed out into the darkness—for only a faint, hazy light beyond the Mitras showed where the young moon had sunk away behind the mountains—and walked along the path that she and Pepe had trod together but five days before. This time she did not pass beneath the arch of the causeway. ”

“ Should Pepe be harmed, Pancha would hate him; should Pepe be killed,—and the chances favored this issue, for Pepe was a man who far rather would die than surrender,—Pancha would turn from him in horror, as a loathsome creature too base even to die. [Pg 30] These thoughts went whirlingly through Pedro’s mind, and there came to him no safe issue from his perplexity. Toward whichever of the two paths before him he turned, he saw standing a figure with a drawn sword: Love barred the way of Honor; Honor barred the way of Love. ”

“ George said that Pepe had been one of the best boatmen on the river until canya, the fiery white liquor to which the natives were addicted, had ruined his reputation. Pepe wore an old sombrero, a cotton, shirt and sash, and ragged trousers. He was barefooted. Ken noted the set of his muscular neck, his brawny shoulders and arms, and appreciated the years of rowing that had developed them. But Pepe's haggard face, deadened eyes, and listless manner gave Ken pause. Still, Ken reflected, there was never any telling what a man might do, if approached right. Pepe's dejection excited Ken's sympathy. ”

“ Pepe came close up to the skipper, who flung his hands round the harponeer’s waist and plucked from inside his shirt a long keen knife, which he threw aft. “Now stand back, harponeers,” the skipper cried; “Mr. Merritt is going to teach Pepe a lesson man fashion.” The ring widened instantly, and like a leopard Merritt sprang at the harponeer. ”

“ For, as it happened, the transcendent superiority of Pepe Castro was one of the few truths which dwelt in his mind as absolutely indisputable. There might be doubts as to Homer's, but as to Pepito's—none. The certainty of never rising, however much he might try, to the supreme height of elegance, indifference, contempt, and sovereign scorn of all creation, which characterised his admired friend, humiliated him and made him miserable.
Esperanza had laid her finger on the wound which was threatening his existence. He could not reply; the shock was so great.
Clementina was depressed and uneasy. ”

“ A soldier discipline, a poet verse,
And each mechanic his distinctive trade;
Yet bring him to his motley, and how wide
He shoots from reason! We can understand
All business but our own, and thrust advice
In every gaping cranny of the world;
While habit shapes us to our own dull work,
And reason nods above his proper task.
Just so philosophy would rectify
All things abroad, and be a jade at home.
Pepe, what think you of the Emperor's aim
Towards Hungary?
PEPE. A most unwise design;
For mark, my lord—
LANCIOTTO. Why, there! the fact cries out. ”

“ The matadores and their substitutes commanded all these combatants, and wore the most luxurious costumes.
“Pepe Vera! here is Pepe Vera!” cried all the spectators. “The scholar of Montés! Brave boy! What a jovial fellow! how well he is made! what elegance and vivacity in all his person! how firm his look! what a calm eye!”
“Do you know,” said a young man seated near to Stein, “what is the lesson Montés gives to his scholars? he pushes them, their arms crossed, close to the bull, and says to them, ‘Do not fear the bull—brave the bull!’ ”
Pepe Vera descended into the arena. ”

“ Don Pépé, when "down from the mountain," as the phrase, often heard in Sulaco, went, could also be seen in the drawing-room of the Casa Gould. He sat with modest assurance at some distance from the tea-table. With his knees close together, and a kindly twinkle of drollery in his deep-set eyes, he would throw his small and ironic pleasantries into the current of conversation. There was in that man a sort of sane, humorous shrewdness, and a vein of genuine humanity so often found in simple old soldiers of proved courage who have seen much desperate service. ”

“ Our noble admiral may have the truth of his side, Pepe; but, as yet, he hath no other evidence of it than is to be found in his reasons."
"And dost thou, too, take sides against him, Sancho, and say that he is a madman who is willing to lead others to destruction, as well as himself, so that he die an admiral in fact, and a viceroy in fancy?"
"I take sides against no man whose doblas take sides with me, Pepe; for that would be quarrelling with the best friend that both the rich and poor can make, which is gold. ”

“ She motioned him to a seat beside her, and said, hurriedly:
“The capitan Pepe will bring three great trains of contrabando on Friday night into Monterey.”
“Yes. He is your lover?”
She flashed her glittering black eyes on him savagely. “It is no affair of yours who my lover may be. But I will tell you this: Pepe is the lover of Tobalito’s Pancha—the girl whom you love.” ”

“ Hearing these words and seeing his kind aunt’s deprecating attitude, Pepe felt ashamed of the sternness of his last words, and he made an effort to recover his serenity. The venerable Penitentiary extricated him from his embarrassing position, saying with his accustomed benevolent smile:
“Señora Doña Perfecta, we must be tolerant with artists. Oh, I have known a great many of them! Those gentlemen, when they have before them a statue, a piece of rusty armor, a mouldy painting, or an old wall, forget every thing else. ”

“ Those who write anonymous notes are not admirers, but envious women. Shall I meet him face to face and give him a fright?"
"How can you ask such a question!" exclaimed Clementina, indignantly. "Listen Pepe, you are a man of feeling, and have plenty of intelligence, but you sadly lack a little more delicacy to enable you to understand certain things. You should give rather less time to your club and your horses, and cultivate your mind a little." ”

“ Augustissima, I call it now; for now, as then, high-mindedness, generosity, valor, magnanimity, are the patrimony of all. Well, good-night, dear Pepe. But I fancy you are not well. Has the supper disagreed with you?—Alonzo Gonzalez de Bustamante was right when he said in his ‘Floresta Amena’ that the people of Orbajosa suffice in themselves to confer greatness and honor on a kingdom. Don’t you think so?”
“Oh, yes, señor; undoubtedly,” responded Pepe Rey, going abruptly toward his room. ”

“ The young men, as well as most of the feones, had gone off to attend a festa at some distance, leaving Don Cirilo, his eldest son Pepe (José) , and the youngest at home. The old man was rather unwell. He was now over eighty, and age, added to sickness, had somewhat soured his once even temper. Pepe wished to retain a guard of picked men in the house, understanding the danger they would be exposed to in being left thus solitary, but his father would not hear of such a thing. "Who," said he, peevishly, "is likely to come and harm us? Have I ever done ill to any one? ”

“ Pepe said. He went to the foot of the stairs leading into the foyer. "Hola! It's Delgado! Hola! Don Manuel, it's Delgado!" His shouts would have roused the dead. He turned around and winked to Hall. "Abajo Anibal Tabio!" he shouted. "Viva Gamburdo! Viva Segura! Abajo Tabio!"
Upstairs there was the sound of a book or a heavy shoe dropping to the floor. "Bandit!" someone shouted, and then a tall graying man in his stockinged feet shuffled to the head of the stairs, rubbing his eyes and cursing Pepe with a mock cantankerousness. "Bulto," he shouted. "Give a man a chance to put on his shoes. ”

“ His name was Don Pepe. He looked like a dull-witted rustic, and not at all like a nobleman entitled to the appellation of Don. But Doña Carolina, as Mrs. Perry was called by her friends, told me that he was one—that there were villages in Spain where every inhabitant was noble, and Don Pepe had come from such a village. But he had to work like any other poor peasant. ”

“ Why a battleship? Why all the trouble and years of work to get a ship that two people could just barely manage? With a tenth of the effort Pepe could have had a cruiser that would have suited his purposes just as well.
Just as good for space piracy, that is—but not for his purposes. He had wanted a battleship, and he had gotten himself a battleship. Which meant he had more in mind than simple piracy. What? It was obvious that Pepe was a monomaniac, an egomaniac, and as psychotic as a shorted computer. ”