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v INOGENGIO By REX BEACH _ World-Famed Author of Successful Fiction Copyright, 1984, dy The McClure Newspaper Syndicate. -- APTAIN INOCENCIO prepared to let himself over the side of the schooner. Outside, the Caribbean was all agleam, save where the coral-reef teeth gnashed it into foam; Inside, a sand beach, Yellow in the moonlight, curved east and west like a causeway until the distance swallowed it. Back of that lay the groves of cocoanut trees, their plumes waving in the undying undulations that had never ceased since first the trade-winds breathed uson them. Beneath the palms \hemaselves the jungle was ink-black, patched here and there with sliver. It was the sort of night that had ever wakened wild impulses in Cap- tala Inocencio's breast. It was on " such a night that he had first felt , the touch of a woman's lips; it was on such another night that he had first felt a man's warm blood upon bis hands. That bad been long ago, to be sure, in far Haytl, and since that time both of those sensatidns had lost much of their novelty, for he had lived fast and hard, and his exile bad plunged him into many evils. Ii was on such a night, also, that he had begun his wanderings, fleeing southward between moonrise add moousat; southward, whither all the scum of the indies floated, But, even to tals day, when the full of a February moon came round with the fragront salt trades blowing and the sound of = throbbing surf beneath it, the sated, stagnant blood of Captain Inocencio went hot, his thin mulatto face grew bard, and a certain strange exuitance blased within him. His crew had long since comé to recognize this frenzy, and had they ~ Bow beheld him, poised half nude at the rail, his flerce eyes bent upon the forbidden shore, they would have ventured no remark. As it happened, however, they were all asleep, all three of them. It was four years mow «ince he * had begun to sall this coast, and even though he was known on every cay and bay from Nombre de Dios to Tiburon, and even though it was recognized that Senor "Beel Weel- llams" paid proper price for cocoa and ivory nuts, his head trader had never beater down the people's dis- trust. On the contrary, their vigl- lance had increased, if anything, and now, after four years of scrupulous fair dealing, he, Captain Inocenclo, was still compelled to sleep offshore and under guard, like any common made the Haytlan laugh at who uld wish to harm ngry, then sullen, injury burned into REERNERL A g i £ § 5 g i % i $ i i : i 3 £ fs: { Es § fi g i s i : i ii eH i i i ¥f ! 8¢d it i { je § il i 5 iil £ g i ii i § i is i 5 if °K i g 145 : ; ] =F i Se. i A) fF Ed ix i g i f th; : iif i he. £ i i £83 g f i if fr and some few tense moments when only the shadows saved him from betrayal. Tonight he crouched behind the deck-house and ran his eye aver-the schooner In one final glance of cau- tion. He thrust his head through a loop of the leathern scabbard, and swung the huge knife back until it lay along the crease between his shoulders; then he seized the port stay and let: himself softly down- ward overside. The water rose to his chin. Without a ripple, he glid- ed Into the moonlight astern, and a moment later his round, black head was no more than a piece of hobbing drift borne landward by the current. Dewn- past the village he swam, noting the rows of dugouts on the beach. He saw a blot in the big mahogany cayuca, a great canoe hewn from one priceless trunk, and recognized it for the sentinel. On| he floated, then worked his way ashore behind the little point. Once he felt the hard, smooth sand be- neath his soles, he waited until a cloud obscured the moon, and when the light broke through again he was dripping underneath a wide- leaved breadfrult tree at the jun< gle's edge. The girl was at her father's house, tending a fire on the dirt floor. It was a large house, for the old man was rich In daughters, and, by the San Blas rule, their husbands had come to live with him. He had waxed fat long ago on their labors, and now only this youngest one re- mained unmarried. But the cere- mony was set. Inocencio had heard the news upon his arrival three days before, and grudgingly bought a big store of tortoise shell from the groom-to-be, knowing full well that the money , was Intended for the wedding celebration, Markeena was the fellow's name. The big thatched roof with its bark-floored loft stood on, posts blackened by the smoke of many feasts; there were no walls, The jungle crept close to it from the rear, and hence the watcher could witness every movement of the girl as she passed between the ham- mocks or stooped to her task. It was very hard to wait. For an hour he stood there. Once a dog came to him and sniffed, then, rec- ognizing a frequent visitor, returned to the house and resumed its slum- ber beside the fire. From the houses beyond came the sound of voices, of a child erying querulously, and of a woman quieting it. And then, before Imocenclo real- ized what she was up to, the girl had stolen swiftly out and past him, 80 clos® that he could hear the scuff of her sandals on the beaten path. The next instant he had glided from cover and fallen in behind.' Had he been a less accomplished bushman he might 'have lost her, for she plunged into the jungle unhesi- tatingly. It puzzled him at first to discover her reason for this unex- pected sally, but soon he decided she must be. bent upon some mission. Then, When he saw that she pur- posely avoided the village and was bending toward the open palm grove abreast of his anchorage, he knew she must be going to a tryst. So Markeena was the eentinel! That fellow in the mahogany cayuca was her lover! When, at last, his quar- ry emerged into the mysterious half-light under the high roof of palms, and paused, he strode after her. She gave the melanchaly call of the night bird that had sounded in the breadfruit tree over his head earlier in the evening: then, seeing him close beside her, uttered a little ery' of pleasure. Not until he was 00 near for flight did she discover her mistake, and then she seemed to freeze. It was the instant for which he had himself, so he spoke 16 her id Mer own tongue, "Make no outcry! I will not harm £ SEES] Hf that had made him an exile years before. "Before his antagonist could ery out twice he had slashed again: The next instant he hag seized the girl as she fled into thy' jungle. But she had found her voice at last, and he was forced to muffle her with his palm." When they were out into the moonlight, however, with the dry sand up té their ankles, he let her breathe; then, pointing with his machete to the Hspirita'lying white and ghostlike in the offing, he drove her down into the warm sea until it reached her waist. "Swim!" he ordered. and, when she would have renewed the alarm, he raised his blade, grimly threat- ening to call the sharks with her blood. "Swim!" he repeated, and she struck out, with him at her shoul- der. % But the village was roused. A confused clamor betrayed its bewil- derment, and before the swimmers had won more than half-way to the schooner, figures came running along the shore. Inocencio cau- tioned the girl to hold her tongue, and she obeyed, thoroughly cowed by his roughness. She turned upon her side and swam with her face close to his, her eyes fixed upon him curiously, wonderingly, Her easy progress through the water showed that her fright had largely vanished, and showed likewise that, had the Haytian been no uncommon swim- mer himself, she might have dis- tanced him. All the way out to the boat she stared at him with that same fixed look, maintaining her position at his side. The moon and the salt brine in his eyes played him ' "Swim!" he ordered, and, when she But at last, when the Jamaicans were fully awake to the state of af- fairs, they threatened mutiny, whereat the mulatto 'flung himself upon them so savagely that they scattered to arm themselves with whatever weapons lay at hagpd. Then they huddled amidship, rolling their eyes and praying, for out from the shore came a long mahogany cayuca, and it was full of straight- haired men. It takes a sailing craft some time to gain its momentum, and as yet the full strength of the trades had not struck the Espirita, hence the canoe overtook her rapidly. Ino- cencio called to one of his men and gave him the tiller, then took stand beside the girl, the naked blade of his weapon once more beneath his arm. The schooner' helmsman gave himself to God, while the' cordage overhead began to whine as the deck rose, It was upon the Haytian's lips to warn his pursuers off when one of them called to the girl, bid- ding her leap. Inocencio heard the breath catch in her throat, but she made no move, and the command was repeated. This time she answered by some exclamation that he did not under- stand, whereat the canocemen ceased paddling, as if her word had paral- yzed them. They hurled their voices at her savagely, but she remained motionless, the while the waters be- neath her began to foam and bub- ble. The Espirita's crew ceased their prayers, and in the silence that en- sued the sea whispered at the bow as the craft listed more heavily un- der the full force of the wind. SE would have renewed the alarm, to call the sharks with her blood. fnocencio could not "fathom the meaning of the subdued colloquy .{ among the San Blas men, 'so he pi gif i hill Bt Hit Fit BsEisg sk shouted a warning, but, strangely enough, they made no answer. They only crouched, with paddies motionless, staring at the dimming figures facing them, until the Espi- rita, "wing and wing" ahead of the trades, 3 ly?" queried Williams, incredulously. "Oh, yes! When her people com- manded her to jump from my schooner she refused them. I did not understand at the time, but by an' by she told me." ' He swelled his chest with pride. *"I guess she never seen so brave a man as me before. Eh, senor?" "Humph! I guess I never will sabe you niggers," acknowledged the American. Do you understand that ou've got me Into a hell of a fix? I've got to take a trip down there myself to square things." Inocencio lighted a black cigarette and blew the smoke through his nose. Evidently other people's trou- bles did not concern him. Recog- nizing the futility of reproach or indignation, the former speakér con- tinued: ; "But see here, now! This girl! You can't ceep her." "Eh? Who's going to take her away?" interrogated the Haytian, quickly. "Bah! One man tried that, and--I killed him with my machete. Senor, you told me onge that nobody had ever married a San Bilas female, eh?" "Yes. Even the old Spaniards tried It, but ,the blood is clean, so far; something unusual, too, in this country." Inocencio began to laugh silently, as If at a joke. you will see a San Blas halfbreed playing in the streets of Colon," said he. "I don't believe it." "I'll bet 'you my wages--two hun- dred pesos. Come! I'll show you." "You get out of here," said the he erican, roughly. "That's some- ing I don't allow anybody to joke about." Inocencio = strode through the Streets toward the swamp that lies behind the town, oblivious to the grilling midday heat that smote him from above, from the concrete walks beneath, and from the naked walls on every side. It was before the days of the American. occupation: and the streets were nothing more than n cesspools, the stench from which 'offended sorely. Buzzards flapped among the naked children at play in the mire beside the sewer ditches, Inocencio, whose last exploit was already a thing of gossip, received unusual attention, there being no color line in Colon town. ' White, yellow, and black women : fawned upon him and bade him tarry, but he merely paused to listen or to fan thelr admiration by a word, then idled onward, pleased at the notice he evoked. Once fairly out of the pest-hole, he. threaded his way through the swamp toward (the other shore of the island. "Here the sea breeze ban- * £3 raised his blade, grimly threatening RRA 4, ' shore was of powdered coral sand, a litter of huts drowsed beneath a grove of coco palms, while a fleet | With FEE Hy £38 "Some day, maybe, | and, thrusting the machete beneath his arm, took the trall out through the mangrove swamp. Straight to the Colon water-front he went, and there flaunted himself before the men from down the coast. Here and there he strolled, casting back their looks of hatred with a bravado that attracted all the idlers in the neighborhood. As for his enemies, they kept their silence. They bartered their stock and, having made their purchases, raised sall and scudded away down the coast whence they had come, In the months that followed Ino- cencio seldom lost an' opportunity of showing himself to the San Blas men when they came to town, but in time this pleasure palled as all others had, for the woman's kindred seemed incapable of resentment. Gradually, also, he became accus- tomed to her presence, and spetit much of his time among the women of Cash Street. Chancing to meet the Senor Wil- liqms on the street some time later. "Buenas dias, senor! You see, Cap- tain Inocencio is still allve and the woman has not run away," said the Haytlan, boastfully; then, with a grin, 'You remember our pet. senor?" "I never made you a bet" the American denied, hotly. "But I've a mind to. I've been here ten years, and I think I know those people." "Two hundred pesos!" "You'll never have a child by her. They won't allow it. They'll get her and you, too, in ample time. 'I tell you, their blood is' clean." "Two hundred pesos that she brings me a San Blas halfbreed within two months," smiled the Mu- latto, insoleatly And Willams exclaimed: "Il do. it. It's worth two hundred 'silver' to see a miracle." Thereafter Inocencio gave over beating the woman, Back at the little settlement be- yond the swamp the coming event did not pass without comment, and although the black women were kind to their straight-haired neighbor, she never made friends with them, 'nor did she ever accompany Inocen- clg'to town. On the contrary, she seemed obasaied by an ever-present dread, a whenever she heard that her own people were near she con- cealed herself and did not appear again until they were gone. And then, in the dark of 'the De- cember moon, the éxpected came. It was that season. when the rains were at their heaviest, when rust and rot might be felt by the fingers. A gray mold had crept over all things indoors; a myriad of insect pests burdened the air. Even the heavy animal slumber of the blacks was broken by the scream that issued from the hut of Captain Inocencio. And then the sound of such fighting! The ne- groes might have rushed to the as- sistance of their leader had it not been for thé "6H of "that awrul] woman-cry hovering over the vil- lage like a shadow. It filled the air and. hung there, saturating the breathless night with such unnam- able terror that the wakened chil- drop began to whimper and the women buried their heads in the 'ragged bedding to keep it out. At length they discovered that the night was dead again, save for the sudden tter of raindrops on the thate! "when the palm fronds stirred. Then, In time, they heard the voice of Inocencie himself curs- ing faintly, as if from a great dis. tance. A light showed through the cracks of a hut, and Nicholas, the least timid, emerged with a lantern held on high. He summoned the rest around him, then went toward the black shadow of Inocencio's dwelling with a score of w.ite-eyed, dusky faces at his shoulder. The door down, and from the threhold they could ase what the front room contained. It was Nich. olas who, with clattering teeth and nerveless fingers, dragged a blanket from the bed and covered the wom- ans figure. It was he who fraced the feeble voice to the wreck of a room behind, and strove to lift Ino- cencio out of the weiter in which he lay. But the Haytian blasted him for ning his #0. they propped him against the wall by his direction; and bound him about' 'with strips torn. from the mattress. "Then he and its ashes were upon when the French doctor ! from the hospital on the Point. When the white man's work was done, the mulatto addressed him weakly: rte "Will m'sleu' do me a great favor? : "Certainly." "M'slels' . out Senge Williams 7* : Inocencio. > RF i callpd "for 4] 18 acquainted with the|: "The child is dead," said the white man, simply. In the silence Inocencio rome to a sitting posture. His fierce eyes grow wild with a fright that had never been there until this moment, Then, before they could prevent him, he had gained his feet. He waved them aside and went into the room ot death, walking like a strong mam A candle guttering beside the.open window betrayed the utter naked- ness of the place. With one move- ment of his great, bony hands he ripped the planks of the bed asunder and stared downward, Then he turned to the east and, raising his rms above his head, gave a terri. @ cry. He began to sway, and even as the doctor leaped to save hima he fell with a crash. It was Nicholas who told the priest that the French doctor would ot let them move him, for he lay pon his face at the feet of the San Blas woman, his arms flung out- ward like the arms of a cross. MERE TRIBUTE By MORRIS SCHULTZ € ES, my deat Mrs. Elwes, but Y the price has gone up to seven thousand five hun- dred," smiled Colonel Lawrenfe, Mrs. Elwes stood before him dumbfounded. - "You---you told me five thousand," she stammered. "Three years ago," smiled the colonel, a "~--I've paid you that hundred a month all the time," she faltered desperately. "Mere tribute," smiled the colonel, leaning back in his chair. "I'l take the five thousand on account and debit you with the balance." Mrs. Elwes stood there, a pitiful figure that might have melted a heart of stone, but the colonel's heart was made of alabaster, for he was the editor of a notorious so- ciety paper which made a specialty of scandal. And there had been something in Mrs. Elwes' past life which the col onel had found out, three years be- fore. His threat of divulging it to her husband had kept her in constant terror, Jim and she adored each other. : If ever he found out he would leave her, cast her off; his anger would be terrible. She could not bear the thought of it. had saved every penny she could pe together to get that fatal letter that was the proof. And now the col- onel had calmly raised his price fifty per cent. She looked at him in despair. The colonel looked back at her. He didn't want to drive her too far; he had his own reasons, also an acute psychological dense which told him just how far he could go. ~T'll make it sixty-five hundred" hifl said, still smiling. "And that hundred a month until the debt is paid. Otherwise--that is to say, If L don't receive the whale amount within a ce ' "A month!" she gasped. "A month," he smiled. "Come, my dear madam, it is an easy thing to wheedle another fifteen hundred out of that complacent husband of yours." She bit her lip. That was the hardest thing of all to hear, the thought of having to deceive Jim, who trusted her so implicity. : "I'll do my best" she answered desperately. "Your very best" smiled the col- onel. "A nice little, juicy article' that story would make, laimed. "Why, Jim, T-g--r. But she conld think of n aa letter of mine, I've been paying him blackmail f § g 7 this EERIE EN ear RR atari Ry rE 3 F 8s fd 1 1 / gv A EYRE CERNE RTI EIN irae HER eae tnd rRRien NEE ER rear Faia as eae b pr hs