Rose Orchid | Page 4

were alligator pears, broiled ham, a spiced omelet, black steaming coffee, and several kinds of fruit.
When he had finished Rita appeared and, after asking if he smoked, cut off the end of a cigar and lighted it for him! He lay back on the couch and puffed away in glorious content, thinking of nothing.
The morning passed. Rita tripped in and out, lightly, her little sandaled feet gliding noiselessly over the bare floor, stopping now and then to inquire if the se–or was comfortable.
She arranged the rose orchids in a red jar and placed them near him, on the bamboo table. Once she appeared in the doorway to say that her husband had found the se–or's pony, unharmed, m the grove of tillandsias over near the trail. She had forgotten to tell the se–or before.
"Ah!" said the lieutenant-commander. He ought to have been pleased by this information, and perhaps he was. But he made no comment.
Early in the afternoon Rita, having completed her household tasks, sat down in the wicker rocking chair and began to talk. She had brought in a pitcher of pineapple juice and offered a glass of it to the se–or, who leaned back against a heap of cushions and sipped luxuriously.
"The se–or was going to San Juan?" said Rita abruptly
The lieutenant-commander nodded.
"Ah! It is a wonderful city--San Juan. I used to live there." She sighed, and clasped her hands back of her head. Her form, small and wonderfully graceful, was outlined against the back of the chair like the "Sibyl" of Velasquez.
"It was very gay. The music at night, and the promenade, and the little chairs that used to fall under the weight of the big Americans. And how we would scowl when we were forced to stand while they played the--what you call it?--the 'Star Spangle Banner'!"
The lieutenant-commander sipped away in silence, watching her.
Rita sighed again.
"Oh, it all seems so very long ago! And yet it is only a few months. And perhaps, some day I shall see it again."
"Are you lonely--out here?"
The lieutenant-commander realized with surprise that he was really interested to know her answer.
He read it in her eyes. They grew large, and glowed with eloquent negation.
"No, no! How could I be, with Tota?" Involuntarily, as she pronounced the name, her voice softened with tenderness "That is my husband," she continued proudly.
"You have not seen him. He is an American, too. And one thing is hard--it is that I never can talk about him. Even my mother--she was angry when Tota took me away. I suppose that is why," she threw at the se–or a glance at once ingenuous and reserved, "I want to talk to you."
The lieutenant-commander felt uncomfortable.
"So you are married," he observed foolishly.
Rita frowned. Then the frown gave way to a little, amused, happy laugh.
"Why, what does the se–or think? But then, you Americans are all alike. That is, all except Tota! He will be here soon; he wants to see you. He is a very wonderful man, and so good, se–or."
"I have no doubt of it," the lieutenant-commander said dryly.
"Yes. We came here but nine, ten months ago, and already we have many acres of coffee trees. There were some--that was m May--already in bloom. Have you ever seen them, se–or? The little white blossoms that look like tiny stars, they are so very white? Tota says he prefers them brown, like my face," and she laughed delightedly at her Tota's stupid joke.
Of this chatter the lieutenant-commander was heanug very little; but he was looking at Rita--her soft brown, slender arms, her lithe form, full of nervous grace, her dark, glowing, ever-changing eyes. I have not attempted to describe her, and I shall not; you must use your imagination. You may judge a little of her charm by the fact that, as he sat and looked at her and listened to her voice, Lieutenant-Commander Reed, for the first time in his life, had emotions.
For an hour she rattled on, mostly of Tota, and the se–or sat and sipped pineapple, now and then interposing a nod or a word. He became utterly unconscious of everything in the world but her presence and his delight in it, and he felt a distinct and disagreeable shock when the door was suddenly opened and a man appeared in the room.
It was Hurley.
Rita sprang from her chair and ran to him.
"Tota!" she cried.
Hurley folded her in his arms and kissed her.
"Well, little one, I kept my promise." Then he turned to th' se–or, "You must excuse us," he smiled, utterly unabashed.
Rita had an arm about his neck and was clinging to the lapel of his jacket with the other hand.
The lieutenant-commander was experiencing a curious and hitherto undreamed-of sensation. A lump in his throat was choking him, and he felt a tight gripping in his