Ramirez

“ That the General José Ramirez had entered Tres Hermanos in a mood to seize any pretext to assume toward it and its people the rôle of an injured and desperate man, was to be seen at a glance. The very soldiers had already divined as much, and were leading their horses and mules to drink at the fountain, and invading the arbor and lower rooms; the sound of their jests and laughter was mingling with the crash of the great flower-pots, carelessly pushed from their stands, and the sharp crack of jars of the quaint black and gilded ware of Guadalajara, which ornamented the corridors. ”

“ His words were like a blow in the face to the Captain. For an instant the world seemed to swim before his eyes, but only for an instant. Had he rushed upon Don Felipe then and there as he felt impelled, it would have been what the latter most wished him to do. He would have then had sufficient provocation to kill him on the spot. But a lion never springs before he has taken the measure of his leap.
"Don Felipe Ramirez," said Captain Forest at length, in a hoarse, half-audible voice, "unless you give me instant proof of what you say, either you or I shall never leave this place alive! ”

“ Señor Ramirez might live on indefinitely, and when he ultimately died, if indeed he ever died, they would both be old.
“Courage, amigo!” Señora Isabella had whispered to Don Antonio in her deep contralto, seizing his hand in a powerful clutch as they sat before the nesting flamingos. “It is the only way. Better that both of us should be dead than eating our hearts out. Pah! Ramirez will last ten—twenty—who knows how many years!”
“Thou art right, dearest heart,” Don Antonio had answered. “A great love justifies all things.” ”

“ No matter," he went on, with the shadow of the old magnificent carelessness in his voice. "One kiss is enough, if there is no time for more. An airy soul, señora! Bright and warm, like sunshine—soon clouded, and soon serene. They would crush it there between them. Señora, cast the eye of your compassion, as far-famed as the courage and daring of the man who speaks to you, from one end of the land to the other. She will console herself in time. And even Ramirez is not a bad fellow. I am not angry. No! It is not Ramirez who overcame the capataz of the Sulaco cargadores." ”

“ These were times when no prudent man should talk unnecessarily, and especially to such a listener as the adventurer General José Ramirez.
The neighing and whinnying of the horses, the hollow ringing of their unshod hoofs upon the road-way, the shouts of the men, the shrill voices of the women, all combined to fill the air with unwonted sounds, and brought the family of the administrador early from their beds. As Vicente Gonzales, after shaking hands coldly with Don Rafael, rode away at the head of his band, he half turned in his saddle to glance at Doña Isabel’s balcony. ”

“ The ardent youth railed at the mocking chances that had combined to suffer Ramirez to escape him in the unpremeditated struggle in which they had clinched with a 298deadly enmity. In such a struggle he could have found himself the victor without remorse, or could have died without regret; but it was not in his nature to follow a man for blood. Yet neither could he shut his ears to that cry for vengeance, for justice, which seemed ringing through the sultry stillness,—the more importunate as the possibilities of their attainment shaped themselves in his mind. ”

“ An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly.
"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don Ramirez, "and with it your enemy."
"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise.
"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her beauty and her fortune. ”

“ Then one comes riding down to meet us in the trail, a great tall man with a thick mustache that reaches below his chin. He is alone, and so we let him come right on. I see him shaking Ramirez by the hand.” He flung out his own hands in a wide gesture. “I hear a shot and see Ramirez fall. This big man spurs his horse away, and it is like the Apaches; every rock is spitting the bullets upon us. ”

“ It cannot be said that a lingering trace of honor influenced him, or any genuine disapproval of the character or convictions of Ramirez, for Ruiz was in the widest sense a man to be bought and sold, a creature influenced by every turn of advantage; but in spite of all that had passed between him and Reyes, he doubted the good faith of Ramirez. The good fortune that was to give him Chinita at so slight a cost seemed to him incredible. ”

“ The name was on every lip with those of Juarez, Ortega, Degollado, Miramon, and a score of other popular chieftains who of one party or another, or of independent factions, attracted to themselves a host of followers, more by their own personal magnetism than for the sake of any principles they represented. In that time of anarchy any head that rose above the common herd led enthusiastic multitudes, who followed a nod and applauded to the echo even one deed of daring. But Ramirez held his prestige by no such recent and uncertain tenure ”

“ Lor. Spirits! ever gay, ever sprightly, cheerful as a lark—but how shall I forget my Florence lover, my dear Ramirez?
Isab. I request, my dear, you'll not think of this Ramirez—even from your own account of him, he must be a person of most dissolute principles—fortunately he knows you only by your name of Lorenza. I hope he won't find you out here.
Lor. Then farewell, beloved Ramirez! In obedience to your commands, madam, I shall accept of this Don Fernando; and as a husband, I will love him if I can—
AIR VII.—LORENZA.
Love! ”

“ Feliz smiled. “What, that Indian?” she said. “It is a new thing for a gentleman of pure Spanish blood to choose such a leader. Ah, Vicente, you disappoint me! It must be this Ramirez, who has in his every movement the air of a guerilla, a free-fighter, who has infected you.”
95“No,” answered Vicente, sullenly, “Ramirez has no influence over me; only the fortune of war has thrown us together,—a blustering fellow on the surface, but so deep, so astute, that none can fathom him. He is not the man I could make my friend.”
“Where does he come from?” asked Doña Feliz with interest. ”

“ The saints must have blinded me that I was so easily deceived upon your last visit; but you had always the power to mask your face at will.”
“Bah! every man has a dozen countenances at his command, if he but know how to summon them,” replied Ramirez, carelessly, “and a touch of art to fix their coloring, and twist the eyebrows or moustache. Why, even your mother was deceived! Where is she now? Ah! that woman was like Isabel herself; I swear she would have killed me, even when she seemed to love me most. It is the way of women, like serpents, to twine and sting at the same moment.” ”

“ That this must be a personal matter between himself and Ramirez was clear. At any time it would probably have been useless for an alien to have denounced so popular and influential a man as the proud and daring revolucionario. To attempt his arrest for a murder committed years before and probably in rivalry for a lady’s favor, would be but to throw a new mystery about him, and add a fresh legend of romance to those which already made him rather a character of ideal chivalry than of mere vulgar, every-day lawlessness and semi-barbarity. ”

“ Ramirez will soon be prepared to attack Gonzales 398in force; his mind was set on regaining El Toro, but that can be deferred. ‘When the loaf is cut the crumbs may be soon eaten!’ Be you prepared to pass over to your rightful commander at the last moment with all your men. The rest of the troop will follow like sheep. Bah! what is the name of Gonzales to that of Ramirez! With the forces we could then combine, what might we not attempt! I promise you in the name of Ramirez, on his honor as a soldier and his faith as your godfather, a free pardon for all that has passed. ”

“ Ramirez has his own purposes, and is not to be thwarted. He is already angry against Rafael and Doña Feliz for their attempted and long successful deception. He is a man of great and mysterious power, and knows not the meaning of the word forgive; and as sure as you stand there, if you disobey his commands sent you through me he will separate you at once from your home and friends, and bring ruin upon those who have cared for you.”
Doña Rita spoke with that impressive eloquence and fire which upon occasion seems at the command of every Mexican. ”

“ By this time the garden was full of people. A man forced his way through the throng.
“Reyes! Reyes!” cried Ramirez, “Villain, did you not as I commanded give my child to Isabel, my sister; or was yours the accursed hand that brought her to this pass?”
Reyes gazed at the dying girl in horror. A suspicion of the misapprehension under which Ramirez had acted, and which had confirmed Ruiz in his treachery, had haunted him for days, since in a remote village he had met the administrador of Tres Hermanos and heard from him the tale of the carrying away of Chata. ”

“ The flocks and herds I can’t defend; and what are a few hundred beeves or horses? But the money; no, by God! if Doña Isabel herself should command it, I would not suffer that another coin should touch your bloody hand!”
Ramirez started up with an oath. Involuntarily he glanced at his hand. It would not have surprised him to have seen it literally red,—and, strangely enough, the blood gushing from the fatal wound he had dealt the American, just from the arms of Herlinda, rather than that of his nephew or Don Gregorio, was that which presented itself to his mind. ”

“ Pedro cannot get anybody to work.’
“‘But you can send other men,’ said Rafaela.
“‘Bah,’ said Don Ferdinand. ‘You are just a girl. What do you know about such matters? If Ramirez takes some men, will he not take others?’
“Rafaela shrugged and spread out her hands. ‘But you are rich, father. You need not worry about the mine.’
“‘Foolish child,’ said Don Ferdinand, and he appealed to me. ‘Women do not know,’ said he. ‘Why does Ramirez lure my men away, if not to make revolution? And revolution will upset everything again. ”

“ Most of them fell to conversing again in low, excited mutterings.
Only one among them seemed to have the courage—or the avarice—to defy his chief. This seemed, like most of them, to be a mixture of two nationalities, half-English, half-Spanish. He talked in broken English.
“I say to you,” he cried with a menacing gesture toward Ramirez who looked at him stolidly, “that we will not wait longer. Always you say ‘wait, wait.’ The treasure, the gold, is there, you tell us that. We go get it to-night, now. Is it not so?” ”

“ And for Ramirez there waits for him a doom more just than death on the battlefield,—though you, who warned Pepé to save him, are but a faint-hearted weakling.”
“Would you have him die without knowing the revenge that followed him?” cried Chinita. “What would death alone be to such a man as he? ”

“ El Alferez shouted in a thundering voice; "Surrender, or you are dead men!"
Don Cristoval and Don Serapio were standing on the right and left of the young man, holding a pistol in either hand. Ramirez, for his part, had lost no time; by his care two of the bow carronades had been dragged from their ports and trailed on the stern, and two sailors, match in hand, were standing motionless by them, only awaiting the signal to fire. Ramirez and the fourteen men left him were aiming at the Mexican sailors. The crew was taken between two fires; two hundred and fifty men were at the mercy of twenty. ”

“ Forgetting to give the expected order for the execution of the other prisoners, Ramirez turned away. In another moment he had placed himself at the head of the party and continued the retreat. “At the next halt it can be done as well,” remarked the lieutenant, philosophically. “There are plenty of horses; bind the prisoners well and bring them along.”
And thus for that day at least Pepé Ortiz among others knew he had escaped a fate of which the very idea—with the remembrance of Ruiz to intensify its horror—made his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth and his knees quiver with terror. ”

“ Ramirez heard it also. “Ah! it came from the kitchens, from some scullery-maid,” he commented after a moment. “Now, Don Rafael, you see and hear for yourself what a crew of devils I have with me,—just the riff-raff of the mountains, whom that cursed Pedro failed to wile away from me. Caramba! never was a surprise greater. It would not have happened but that like a fool I lingered near El Toro waiting for a chance to pounce upon Gonzales. Never let a private vengeance sway the judgment,” he added sententiously. “A thousand devils! It seems as if the hacienda were tumbling about our ears! ”

“ A young man yet." In one way or another a good deal of talk about Ramirez had reached him of late; and his contempt and dislike of that man who obviously was not what his son would have been, had made him restless. He slept very little now; but for several nights past instead of reading or only sitting, with Mrs. Gould's silver spectacles on his nose, before the open Bible—he had been prowling actively all about the island with his old gun, on watch over his honor.
Linda, laying her thin, brown hand on his knee, tried to soothe his excitement. Ramirez was not in Sulaco. ”

“ Through sparsely settled country, where the only human inhabitants were a few lonely sheepherders, led the chase. Now and then Don Ferdinand obtained word of Ramirez’s passing. Once, about fifty miles west of Nueva Laredo, they came upon a camp which Ramirez had made along the Rio Grande that was only a day old. The American town of Carana, a Texan village inhabited by Mexicans, was not far distant across the river. Then they pressed on toward Nueva Laredo, hopeful of meeting Ramirez before he could gain sufficient strength to attack the town. ”