Page:James Hopper--Caybigan.djvu/261

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CAPTURE OF PAPA GATO
245

And throwing himself upon the cot, he turned his face to the wall.

But as his chief left the cabin, he sprang up like one possessed, rushed to the door and peered maliciously outside.

Indistinct in the gloaming, a feminine form could be descried, regally erect, upon the high-borne chaise. Gato approached with beating heart.

"Do not fear, señorita; we shall not harm you," he said softly. "You are our guest; the house is yours——"

He was very near now.

"The house is yours, and——"

There was a sudden movement of the enigmatic figure upon the chaise. A furious slap sent his sombrero whirling to the ground.

"You boorish little boy, you," rasped the voice of the widow; "you little brute! What do you mean, what do you mean by standing with your hat on, before an American lady!"


IV

"Gomez," said Papa Gato disconsolately; "Gomez, I can't stand it any longer!"

This was in the commandante's hut, during the burning hours of the siesta, and ten days after the arrival of the widow. Gato and Gomez were lying