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Was it not better, then, to prevent words being said which might cause sorrow and regret in the future? But as regarded Isabel's father, no such reason existed. The happiness of his children was to him a more sacred thing than his own prejudices. He liked Don Luis, and his friendship with his mother, the Senora Alveda, was a long and tried one.
But Luis Alveda and Lopez Navarro received an unlimited furlough; and about a dozen Mexican prisoners of war belonging to San Antonio were released on Navarro's assurance, and permitted to travel with the party as camp servants.
About three o'clock I received a message from the Senora Alveda, and I visited her. She is in great trouble, and she had not been able to bear it with her usual fortitude. She bad fainted." "Ah, the poor mother! She has a son who will break her heart." "She made no complaint of Luis. She is distracted about her country, and as I came home I understood why.
And though the poor women had not dared to whisper to each other what it said to them, they knew in their own hearts that it meant, if the Americans failed, the instant and brutal massacre of every prisoner. The husband and father were under its inhuman shadow. So most probably were Darius Grant and Luis Alveda.
He has committed every crime under heaven, but I think he will not cut the Americans in pieces." "And if the Americans should even make him go back to Mexico!" "I think that is very possible." "What then, Juan?" "He would pay for some of his crimes here the rest he would settle for in purgatory. And you, too, Iza, are you with the Americans?" "Luis Alveda says they are right." "Oh-h! I see!
Perhaps even her Roberto might arrive; it would not be more wonderful than the visit of Luis Alveda. But very early in the day she saw the father hurrying up the oleander avenue. The wind tossed his gown, and blew his hat backward and sideways, and compelled him to make undignified haste. And such little things affect the mental poise and mood!
For this reason, when it was necessary to give Lopez Navarro certain instructions, I volunteered to bring them. By the Virgin of Guadalupe! I have had my reward," he said, lifting the Senora's hand and kissing it. "But, then, even you are in danger." "Si! If I am discovered; but, blessed be the hand of God! Luis Alveda knows where he is going, and how to get there."
Cannot you imagine it?" Isabel sighed again, but the sigh was for the gay, the charming Luis Alveda. And when she thought of him, she forgot in a moment to envy Dorette Valdez, or the senoritas of the noble house of Trespalacios. And some sudden, swift touch of sympathy, strong as it was occult, made the Senora at the same moment remember her husband and her sons.
Then she permitted Lopez to let her old acquaintances know of her presence in her native city; and she was comforted when she began to receive calls from the Senora Alveda, and judge and Senora Valdez, and many other of her friends and associates. They encouraged her to talk of her sufferings and her great loss. Even the judge thought it worth his while, now, to conciliate the simple little woman.
Besides which, the Senora Alveda resented bitterly the visits of her son Luis to Isabel. None of the customs of a Mexican betrothal had taken place, and Rachela did not spare her imagination in describing the scandalous American familiarity that had been permitted. That, this familiarity had taken place under the eyes of the doctor and the Senora only intensified the insult.
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