Rose Orchid | Page 4

saying that she had work in the next room, instructed him to call if he
needed anything. Then, struck by a sudden thought, she bent over the
table and cut his meat into little squares, broke the hard bread into
small pieces, and separated the sections of grapefruit, saying:
'Y forgot about the se–or's arm. Of course, you are helpless--like a
baby."
Despite the difficulty of eating with one hand, he found the meal
incredibly good. There 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