The Dead Command

than the Little Chaplai

's work, became as insensible as a dead man. The other members of the family had spent a night of anguish. His mother, after several attempts to arouse her husband, with no better success than to draw forth incoherent mumbling, followed by ye

everything, she had flung her arms about, lifting her hands to her head. "They have killed Don Jaime! My heart tells me that they have!" She

r pistol at once, and so I said to Margalida. I remember that afternoon yo

ght rush to the tower. Pepet would accompany her. Then, suddenly becoming timid, she refused to go. She di

vously. Then Margalida, suddenly tranquilized by her brother's words, had become silent, but during the whole night the Little Chapla

s, they expected to behold a terrifying picture-the tower in ruins, and the Majorcan's corpse lying above the wreck. But the Little Chaplain had laughed on seeing

en's terror. No one living could kill his Don Jaime

ore, screwing up his eyes with the expression of a very wise per

was here, where

atry, for this wonderful man, whose life h

ttle Chaplain smiled with an air of importance. He had heard the war-cry. It was the Minstrel's manner of howling; many mi

l he would be free to say 'Yes,' just to give himself importance. But it w

t the Majorcan's mettle, he spoke of the silly fear of the women

Jaime? That would be foolish. The

ug of the shoulders with which Feb

are a foreigner-you are right; every man should defend himself; that

call attention to the powerful aid on which

p, it would be impossible for his father to refuse. It would be well for Don Jaime to have him near; then there would be two for the defense; and, to strengthen his petition, he recalled his father's

door and looking out when someone was there with weapon prepared, challenging him? It was a miracle that he had not been killed. What about t

Jaime, really ashamed

ing the effect of this advice, started wit

fath

y he was very cross over the latest news; it would not be well for them to meet just now, and repeating once again the advisability of Febrer's having h

ore, as if this were a normal event which but slightly altered the monotony of country lif

is thumbs, to the brief tale. Then he went

n Jaime, a gen

nless a long time, as if it cost him a gr

I told you so. When a man makes up his mind to have the imp

eyes on Don Jaime. They would have to notify the alcal

No, this was an affair between m

gmatically on the se?or, as if

" said the phle

r said the same as would his poor father (may he rest in peace!). E

ome. He had not used it for some time, but when he was young, during the lifetime of his famous father (may he rest in peace!) he had

ed to be offended by the proposition. He was a man, not a boy, needing compan

toms. Febrer seemed a true son of the island. Then, softened by the admiration this courage of Don Jaime's inspired in him, he proposed another ar

one of weakness in which the father gave the invitation, and the a

ere in the tower. They might think I had mov

e situation. But Pèp would try to sleep less at night, and if he heard

skin in defense of his old-time patron broke the calm in which he had maint

ord! O

ieving what I told you, for going against the current of old customs, which have been es

he had intended to keep concealed. Pèp might rejoice. He was going to

vely that Jaime hesitated. He seemed to see in the peasant's little eyes a certain malice.

am not sure when. Later-when it suits my convenience. I can

he was about to assent to these words also, adding that thus

Little Chaplain by the farmhouse, and this recalled the boy's desire to his mind. If the

ived this suggestio

vil was let loose, and it was high time to impose his authority so that order should be mai

eached boat with tow and pitch. Lying in it as if it were an enormous coffin, with his weak eyes h

r leaning over the edge, the old man smil

a, Don

im to step outside the tower? He, he, he! The same thing had happened to him in times gone by, when, between voyages, he was making love to the girl he married. A certain comrade who had become a rival had howled at him; but he had gotten the girl, because he was the more clever; to sum it all up, he had given his friend a stab i

stabbing affrays, and provocations in the night. Alas! No one challenged him any more! This was only for young bloods. His accent b

er eating, Jaime went out again to examine the two holes which the projectiles had made in the wall. Now that the excitement of the danger was over, and he coldly appreciated the gravity of the situation, he felt a vengeful anger, more intense than that which had impelled h

the offensive, of making his appearance, serene and threatening, in th

revious afternoon. As he passed Can Mallorquí the barking of the dog brought Margalida and her mother to the door. The men were in a

ime! Do

ida, silent, her eyes extraordinarily wide open, gazed at Febrer, revealing admiration and anxiety. She did not

h, looking after him anxiously. The se?or was going hunting, as he had done before, but, a

e man-slayer should appear at the door of his house, he would let him have the two shots from his gun. He, Jaime Febr

me! The Ironworker had disappeared; neither was the old woman

as only a trick. A long time passed. The wild doves, emboldened by the stillness of the surrounding forge, fluttered about in the little clearing

emy of whose active hostility he had only vague suspicions? Perhaps the Ironworker had locked himself in his house on seeing him approach, so that f

case he should meet the enemy, h

lking with violent gesticulations. When he recognized the se?or of the tower, before his comrades could prevent him, he bent down to the hardened furrows of the earth and picked up two stones and flung them at him. These missiles, thrown by a forceless arm, did not ma

he one who had come to the Pirate's Tower to kill h

against it. He did not intend to be surprised while he was asleep. He blew out the light and sat smoking in the dark, amusing himself by watching the tiny brand on the end of his cigar widen and shrink as he drew upon it. His gun was near him and his revolver was in

hought he recognized the dog of Can Mallorquí. Perhaps it indicated the passing of someone on his way to the tower. Now t

he should hear a cry of challenge, or a voice near the door, he would climb out o

rd cries of challenge, shots, curses, but it was in his dreams, as if in another world, where insults and attacks do not arouse one's sensibilities. Then-nothing! A dense shadow, a night of profound sleep. He was awakened by a ray of sunsh

The women of Can Mallorquí had worked upon his nerves with their fears. Who would be likely to seek him in his tower, knowing that he was on the alert and would meet a trespasser with shots! The I

e repaired it year after year, not a splinter of its original construction being left in it. They fished in the shelter of t

scraping along the gravel, the boy called to hi

er, Don

letter. Febrer turned it over in his hands, examining it as something strange and rare. He looked at the seal, then at the address on the envel

postman in the middle of the morning. It had come by the mail steamer from Palma, arriving in Iviza the night befor

recollection grew clear and a name surged to his mind-Pablo Valls! Captain Pablo had written to him after

ant personality, turbulent, kindly, and aggressive. Febrer almost saw in the page before him his enormous, heavy nose, his gray w

s, fellow;" and the opening parag

he murmured, smiling. "I

who sharpens a pleasure by deferring it. Jaime c

ssed verbosity. He flung into Febrer's face his origin and his pride, which had impelled him to run away without telling his friends good-bye. "In the last analysis you are descended from a race of inquisitors." His ancestors had burned the ancestors of Valls; let him not forget that! But the good must distinguish themselves from the bad in some way, and so he, the

that I'm a practical man, a regular Eng

rothers, timid and humble, who covered the hand of the enemy with kisses; at the descendants of the old-time persecutors; at the ferocious Padre Garau, of whom not even dus

d clarity! Above all let us write practically.

ns. Sometimes the good lady thought him in Iviza; again she declared she knew for a certainty that her nephew had been seen in America, engaged in the meanest employments. "Anyway, whelp of an inquisitor, your pious aunt will not remember you, and you need not expect the slightest assistance from her." It was now being whispered about the city that, definitely renouncing the pomps of this world and perhaps even the pontifical Golden

ime at the time of his leaving Majorca, burdened with all manner of incumbrances and mortgages; then a list of his creditors, which was longer than that of his properties, followed by lists of interest due and o

and comparatively insignificant. There only remained to Febrer some thousands of duros; perhaps it would not amount to fifteen thousand, but this was better than to live in his former position as a gran se?or without anything to eat, and subjected to the persecution of his creditors. "It is time that you come home! What are you doing there? Are you going to spend the rest of your life like a Robinson Crusoe, in that pirate's tower?" He could live modestly; living is

life, stood out now with the same vividness as if they were the events of yesterday. The cafés on the Borne, his friends in the Casino! How strange to return there, passing at a bound into city life afte

yes, which seemed to conceal the dark ardor of her pupils as if it were a sin. Should he leave her? Never see her again? Then she would become the wife of one of those rough

rious tears were the only response he had succeeded in eliciting by his declarations of love. Why should he persist in trying to conquer that whi

when the African whiteness of Can Mallorquí should fade from his view, but, once he had shaken himself free of the atmosphere of the island, no longer living among rustics, and had gone back

ne. Back to Majorca, then! He would not live in a palace; the Febrer mansion he would lose forever, according to the arrangement made by his friend Valls; but he would not fail to have a neat little house in the ward of Terreno or somewhere near the sea, and in it the motherly care of Mammy Antonia. No sorrow, no shame would await him there. He would even be rid of the presence of Don Beni

news, the boy's eager eyes roved about the room to see if he could discover the letter which had so piqued his curiosity. Nothing was in sight. The

him a present, an extraordinary gift, he could never guess what; compared to it the knife

da in which he had come to Majorca. He would put them on in the morning. He thought with a kind of terror of the torture of the boots and the torment of the stiff collar after his long season of rustic freedom, but he intended to leave the island as he had come to it. Everything else

as dwelling on the good news. His loyal friend Pablo! How timely was his advice! It called him from Iviza at the most opportune instant, when he was in open war with all these rude people, who were eager for the

, challenging him to a barbarous duel in the solitude of the forest, as if all the life of the planet were concentrated on this little island and one must kill in order to live! As if there were no life nor civilization beyond the sheet of blue which surrounded this bit of land, with its

which made objects flicker and tremble, he seemed to return from the long journey on which his imagination had drawn him. He was still living in the Pirate's Tower; h

, more stifled, more indistinct. Jaime received the impression that the cry came from

night, but low, repressed, hoarse, as if he who uttered it feared that the cry would scatter too much,

did not intend to stir. What did primitive customs matter to him now, thes

joying with particular zest the long list of creditors, many of

cy pierced the silence Febrer thrilled with impatience and choler. Must he

cing a sensation of comfort at being in the dark, with his back sunk into the soft, yielding mattress. That barbarian might howl for hours, or until he lost his voice. He did not intend to stir. What did the insults matter to

outs continued he knew that he was in no danger. Suddenly, by a supreme effort, he sat up, flinging off a stupor which preceded sleep. He no

g of wood, something like the insignificant weight of a cat creeping from step

The weapon seemed to tremble between his fingers. He began to feel the a

a voice meant for him alone. It was the voice of the Ironworker. It invited him to step outside, it called him

orn for his challenger. Why heed him? It were better to go back to bed. There was a long pause, as if the enemy, when he heard the creaking springs, stood waiting for the inhabitant of the tow

His mother, his poor mother, pale and sick, and as sweet as a saint, whose

framed by the dark wall. Jaime had opened the window. The starry light faintly illuminated the contraction of his countenance, a cold grin, desperate, cruel, which gave

over the sill, and cautiously began to descend,

ad bared, and which sunk in the earth like a tangled skein of black serpents. Each time that he was stopped by a mesh of roots, each time that a stone rolled down or made a sound, he stopped, holding his breath. He

er end of the stairway, then the upper steps, and finally the door, whic

irway. Suddenly a red serpent, a streak of flame, followed by a tiny cloud and a thunder clap, leapt from out the tamarisks. Jaime

hing!" he

found himself lying on th

o himself that it was nothing; but suddenly his body almost refused to obey his will. He seemed to be glued to the ground. He saw the bushes move, as if stirre

l his former life, Febrer thought of his youth, when he used to fire off his pistol while lying on the ground in the gard

his deadly work. Then Febrer pulled on the trigger, once, twice, and again, believing that the weapon did not work, failing to hear the detonations, telling himself in his desperation that his enemy was going to fall upon him while he was without means of defense. He no longer saw the enemy. A white haze

his marvel. Really was it he

and he also found it wet by something warm and thick, dripping ceaselessly in slender streams. He tried to contr

hat he was drinking something warm and strong, but that he was drinking it wrong way about, by a caprice of the mechanism of his life, the strange liquor reaching his palate from the depths of his vitals. The black bulk whic

man beings dissolved this phantom of soli

ime! Do

his? Where had he

ands. He saw a man holding back another smaller one who carried in his hand a white

ce, the same one he had heard a moment ago, tremulous and tearfu

e! Alas,

m with a silky sensation; gradually the contact pressed more cl

he recognized near his own a pair of eyes tea