“Oh, no, Uncle!” I exclaimed warmly.
“Quite right, my lad—quite right, for it would not do. You see, Hal, she has money in her own right, and you are not worth twopence. The girl is in my care. I hold her from her relations, as it were, in trust; and it seems to me that it would be like taking advantage of my position if I encouraged anything between her and a poor relative of my own. You’ll have to go away, Harry, unless you can make me a promise, and keep to it.”
“What am I to promise?” I said gloomily; for he had ceased speaking; and I began to realise what going away meant. “What am I to promise?” I said again.
“Promise me, as a man of honour, that you will not in any way take advantage of your position here.”
“Is it likely,” I said bitterly, “when I am not worth twopence, and there is some one else in the field?”
“Don’t be spiteful, lad, because things don’t go as you wish. We all have to bear crosses in our time. But, as you say, there’s some one else in the field. Garcia is an old lover, and I am under obligations to him. You must not in any way cross his path, Hal, for he is rich, and possesses a good deal of power over the Indians about here. I should say, Hal, that in this lawless country that man’s life would not be safe who stood between him and his wishes. Don’t offend him, Hal—don’t offend him, Hal. He’s a good fellow, but, like all those half-bloods, very susceptible.”
“I’ll promise you anything you like,” I said gloomily, “but don’t send me away. Let me stay and do something so as not to be an encumbrance to you, but don’t send me away.”
“No one wants to send you away, Hal,” said my uncle kindly. “Look about you and see the country; shoot and fish a little, too. I need not say, beware of the caymen—the river swarms with them. See all you can of the place, and then you’ll have to try somewhere else. Texas or one of the States—those are the places for a young fellow like you.”
I sighed to myself, for it seemed to me now that there was no place on earth bearable but the one where Lilla dwelt; and then, clapping me on the shoulder, my uncle rose and went out.
I followed him at the end of a few minutes; and, so as to be alone, I wandered away from the house and heedlessly took one of the paths that led down to the river bank.