Under the Andes

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UNDER THE ANDES
by Rex Stout

Chapter I.

THE SWEETHEART OF A KING.

The scene was not exactly new to me. Moved by the spirit of
adventure, or by an access of ennui which overtakes me at times,
I had several times visited the gaudy establishment of Mercer, on
the fashionable side of Fifth Avenue in the Fifties. In either
case I had found disappointment; where the stake is a matter of
indifference there can be no excitement; and besides, I had been
always in luck.

But on this occasion I had a real purpose before me, though not
an important one, and I surrendered my hat and coat to the
servant at the door with a feeling of satisfaction.

At the entrance to the main room I met Bob Garforth, leaving.
There was a scowl on his face and his hand trembled as he held it
forth to take mine.

"Harry is inside. What a rotten hole," said he, and passed on. I
smiled at his remark--it was being whispered about that Garforth
had lost a quarter of a million at Mercer's within the month--
and passed inside.

Gaudy, I have said it was, and it needs no other word. Not in
its elements, but in their arrangement.

The rugs and pictures and hangings testified to the taste of the
man who had selected them; but they were abominably disposed, and
there were too many of them.

The room, which was unusually large, held two or three leather
divans, an English buffet, and many easy chairs. A smoking-table,
covered, stood in one corner.

Groups of men were gathered about each of the three roulette
wheels ranged along the farther side. Through a door to the left
could be seen the poker tables, surrounded by grave or jocular
faces. Above the low buzz of conversation there sounded the
continual droning voices of the croupiers as they called the
winning numbers, and an occasional exclamation from a "customer."

I made my way to the center wheel and stood at the rear of the
crowd surrounding it.

The ball rolled; there was a straining of necks amid an intense
silence; then, as the little pellet wavered and finally came to a
rest in the hole number twenty-four a fervent oath of
disappointment came from some one in front of me.

The next moment, rising on tiptoe to look over the intervening
shoulders, I found myself looking into the white face of my
younger brother Harry.

"Paul!" he exclaimed, turning quickly away.

I pushed my way through and stood at his side. There was no
sound from the group of onlookers; it is not to be wondered at if
they hesitated to offend Paul Lamar.

"My dear boy," said I, "I missed you at dinner. And though this
may occupy your mind, it can scarcely fill your stomach. Haven't
you had enough?"

Harry looked at me. His face was horribly pale and his eyes
bloodshot; they could not meet mine.

"For Heaven's sake, Paul, let me alone," he said, hardly above a
whisper. "I have lost ninety thousand."

In spite of myself I started. No wonder he was pale! And yet--

"That's nothing," I whispered back. "But you are making a show
of yourself. Just now you were swearing like a sailor. See how
your hand trembles! You were not made for this, Harry; it makes
you forget that you're a gentleman. They are laughing at you.
Come."

"But I say I have lost ninety thousand dollars," said the boy,
and there was wildness in his eye. "Let me alone, Paul."

"I will repay you."

"No. Let me alone!"

"Harry!"

"I say no!"

His mouth was drawn tight and his eyes glared sullenly as those
of a stubborn child. Clearly it was impossible to get him away
without making a scene, which was unthinkable. For a moment I was
at a complete loss; then the croupier's voice sounded suddenly in
my ear:

"You are interrupting us, sir."

I silenced him with a glance and turned to my brother, having
decided in an instant on the only possible course.

"Here, let me have your chair. I will get it back for you.
Come!"

He looked at me for a moment in hesitation, then rose without a
word and I took his place.

The thing was tiresome enough, but how could I have avoided it?
The blood that rushes to the head of the gambler is certainly not
food for the intellect; and, besides, I was forced by
circumstances into an heroic attitude--and nothing is more
distasteful to a man of sense. But I had a task before me; if a
man lays bricks he should lay them well; and I do not deny that
there was a stirring of my pulse as I sat down.

Is it possible for a mind to directly influence the movements of
a little ivory ball? I do not say yes, but will you say no? I
watched the ball with the eye of an eagle, but without straining;
I played with the precision of a man with an unerring system,
though my selections were really made quite at random; and I
handled my bets with the sureness and swift dexterity with which
a chess-master places his pawn or piece in position to demoralize
his opponent.

This told on the nerves of the croupier. Twice I corrected a
miscalculation of his, and before I had played an hour his hand
was trembling with agitation.

And I won.

The details would be tiresome, but I won; and when, after six
hours of play without an instant's rest, I rose exhausted from my
chair and handed my brother the amount he had lost--I pocketed a
few thousands for myself in addition. There were some who tried
to detain me with congratulations and expressions of admiration,
but I shook them off and led Harry outside to my car.

The chauffeur, poor devil, was completely stiff from the long
wait, and I ordered him into the tonneau and took the wheel
myself.

Partly was this due to pity for the driver, partly to a desire to
leave Harry to his own thoughts, which I knew must be somewhat
turbulent. He was silent during the drive, which was not long,
and I smiled to myself in the darkness of the early morning as I
heard, now and then, an uncontrollable sigh break through his dry
lips. Of thankfulness, perhaps.

I preceded him up the stoop and into the hall of the old house on
lower Fifth Avenue, near Tenth Street, that had been the home of
our grandfather and our father before us. There, in the dim
light, I halted and turned, while Evans approached from the inner
rooms, rubbing eyes heavy with sleep.

Good old Evans! Yet the faithfulness of such a servant has its
disadvantages.

"Well?" said Harry in a thin, high voice.

The boy's nerves were stretched tightly; two words from me would
have produced an explosion. So I clapped him on the shoulder and
sent him off to bed. He went sulkily, without looking round, and
his shoulders drooped like those of an old man; but I reflected
that that would all be changed after a few hours of sleep.

"After all, he is a Lamar," I said to myself as I ordered Evans
to bring wine and sandwiches to the library.

It was the middle of the following afternoon before Harry
appeared down-stairs. He had slept eleven hours. I was seated in
the library when I heard his voice in the hall:

"Breakfast! Breakfast for five at once!"

I smiled. That was Harry's style of wit.

After he had eaten his "breakfast for five" he came in to see me
with the air of a man who was determined to have it out.

I myself was in no mood for talk; indeed, I scarcely ever am in
such a mood, unless it be with a pretty woman or a great sinner.
You may regard that sentence as tautological if you like; I
sha'n't quarrel about it.

What I mean to say is that it was with a real effort I set myself
to the distasteful task before me, rendered necessary by the
responsibility of my position as elder brother and head of the
family.

Harry began by observing with assumed indifference: "Well, and
now there's the deuce to pay, I suppose."

"As his representative I am not a hard creditor," I smiled.

"I know, I know--" he began impetuously and stopped.

I continued:

"My boy, there is always the deuce to pay. If not for one thing,
then for another. So your observation would serve for any other
time as well as now. The point is this: you are ten years younger
than I, and you are under my care; and much as I dislike to talk,
we must reach an understanding."

"Well?" said Harry, lighting a cigarette and seating himself on
the arm of a chair.

"You have often thought," I continued, "that I have been trying
to interfere with your freedom. But you are mistaken; I have
merely been trying to preserve it--and I have succeeded."

"When our father and mother died you were fifteen years of age.
You are now twenty-two; and I take some credit for the fact that
those seven years have left no stain, however slight, on the name
of Lamar."

"Do I deserve that?" cried Harry. "What have I done?"

"Nothing irremediable, but you must admit that now and then I
have been at no small pains to--er--assist you. But there, I
don't intend to speak of the past; and to tell the truth, I
suspect that we are of one mind. You regard me as more or less of
an encumbrance; you think your movements are hampered; you
consider yourself to be treated as a child unjustly.

"Well, for my part, I find my duty--for such I consider it--grows
more irksome every day. If I am in your way, you are no less in
mine. To make it short, you are now twenty-two years old, you
chafe at restraint, you think yourself abundantly able to manage
your own affairs. Well--I have no objection."

Harry stared at me.

"You mean--" he began.

"Exactly."

"But, Paul--"

"There is no need to discuss it. For me, it is mostly
selfishness."

But he wanted to talk, and I humored him. For two hours we sat,
running the scale from business to sentiment, and I must confess
that I was more than once surprised by a flash from Harry.
Clearly he was developing, and for the first time I indulged a
hope that he might prove himself fit for self-government.

At least I had given him the rope; it remained for time to
discover whether or not he would avoid getting tangled up in it.
When we had finished we understood each other better, I think,
than we ever had before; and we parted with the best of feeling.

Three days later I sailed for Europe, leaving Harry in New York.
It was my first trip across in eighteen months, and I aimed at
pleasure. I spent a week in London and Munich, then, disgusted
with the actions of some of my fellow countrymen with whom I had
the misfortune to be acquainted, I turned my face south for
Madrid.

There I had a friend.

A woman not beautiful, but eminently satisfying; not loose, but
liberal, with a character and a heart. In more ways than one she
was remarkable; she had an affection for me; indeed, some years
previously I had been in a way to play Albert Savaron to her
Francesca Colonna, an arrangement prevented only by my
constitutional dislike for any prolonged or sustained effort in a
world the slave of vanity and folly.

It was from the lips of this friend that I first heard the name
of Desiree Le Mire.

It was late in the afternoon on the fashionable drive. Long,
broad, and shady, though scarcely cool, it was here that we took
our daily carriage exercise; anything more strenuous is regarded
with horror by the ladies of Spain.

There was a shout, and a sudden hush; all carriages were halted
and their occupants uncovered, for royalty was passing. The
coach, a magnificent though cumbersome affair, passed slowly and
gravely by. On the rear seat were the princess and her little
English cousin, while opposite them sat the great duke himself.

By his side was a young man of five and twenty with a white face
and weak chin, and glassy, meaningless eyes. I turned to my
companion and asked in a low tone who he was. Her whispered
answer caused me to start with surprise, and I turned to her with
a question.

"But why is he in Madrid?"

"Oh, as to that," said my friend, smiling, "you must ask
Desiree."

"And who is Desiree?"

"What! You do not know Desiree! Impossible!" she exclaimed.

"My dear," said I, "you must remember that for the past year and
a half I have been buried in the land of pork and gold. The
gossip there is neither of the poet nor the court. I am ignorant
of everything."

"You would not have been so much longer," said my friend, "for
Desiree is soon going to America. Who is she? No one knows. What
is she? Well, she is all things to some men, and some things to
all men. She is a courtesan among queens and a queen among
courtesans.

"She dances and loves, and, I presume, eats and sleeps. For the
past two years she has bewitched him"--she pointed down the drive
to where the royal coach was disappearing in the distance--"and
he has given her everything.

"It was for her that the Duke of Bellarmine built the magnificent
chalet of which I was telling you on Lake Lucerne. You remember
that Prince Dolansky shot himself 'for political reasons' in his
Parisian palace? But for Desiree he would be alive to-day. She is
a witch and a she-devil, and the most completely fascinating
woman in the world."

I smiled.

"What a reputation! And you say she is going to America?"

"Yes. It is to be supposed that she has heard that every
American is a king, and it is no wonder if she is tired of only
one royal lover at a time. And listen, Paul--"

"Well?"

"You--you must not meet her. Oh, but you do not know her power!"

I laughed and pressed her hand, assuring her that I had no
intention of allowing myself to be bewitched by a she-devil; but
as our carriage turned and started back down the long drive
toward the hotel I found myself haunted by the white face and
staring eyes of the young man in the royal coach.

I stayed two weeks longer in Madrid. At the end of that time,
finding myself completely bored (for no woman can possibly be
amusing for more than a month at a time), I bade my friend au
revoir and departed for the East. But I found myself just too
late for an archeological expedition into the heart of Egypt, and
after a tiresome week or so in Cairo and Constantinople I again
turned my face toward the west.

At Rome I met an old friend, one Pierre Janvour, in the French
diplomatic service, and since I had nothing better to do I
accepted his urgent invitation to join him on a vacation trip to
Paris.

But the joys of Paris are absurd to a man of thirty-two who has
seen the world and tasted it and judged it. Still I found some
amusement; Janvour had a pretty wife and a daughter eight years
old, daintily beautiful, and I allowed myself to become soaked in
domestic sentiment.

I really found myself on the point of envying him; Mme. Janvour
was a most excellent housekeeper and manager. Little Eugenie and
I would often walk together in the public gardens, and now and
then her mother would join us; and, as I say, I found myself on
the point of envying my friend Janvour.

This diversion would have ended soon in any event; but it was
brought to an abrupt termination by a cablegram from my New York
lawyers, asking me to return to America at once. Some rascality
it was, on the part of the agent of my estate, which had alarmed
them; the cablegram was bare of detail. At any rate, I could not
afford to disregard it, and arranged passage on a liner sailing
from Cherbourg the following day.

My hostess gave me a farewell dinner, which heightened my regret
at being forced to leave, and little Eugenie seemed really
grieved at my departure. It is pleasant to leave a welcome behind
you; that is really the only necessary axiom of the traveler.

Janvour took me to the railroad station, and even offered to
accompany me to Cherbourg; but I refused to tear him away from
his little paradise.

We stood on the platform arguing the matter, when I suddenly
became aware of that indistinct flutter and bustle seen in public
places at some unusual happening or the unexpected arrival of a
great personage.

I turned and saw that which was worthy of the interest it had
excited.

In the first place, the daintiest little electric brougham in the
world, fragile and delicate as a toy--a fairy's chariot. Then the
fairy herself descended. She cannot be described in detail.

I caught a glimpse of glorious golden hair, softly massive;
gray-blue eyes shot with lightning, restless, devouring,
implacable, indescribably beautiful; a skin wondrously fine, with
the purity of marble and the warmth of velvet; nose and mouth
rather too large, but perfectly formed and breathing the fire and
power of love. Really it was rather later that I saw all this; at
the time there was but a confused impression of elegance and
beauty and terrible power.

She passed from the brougham to her railway carriage supremely
unconscious of the hundreds of eyes turned on her, and a general
sigh of satisfaction and appreciation came from the throng as she
disappeared within her compartment. I turned to Janvour.

"Who is she?"

"What?" he exclaimed in surprise. "But my dear Lamar, not to
know her argues one a barbarian."

"Nevertheless, I do not know her."

"Well, you will have an opportunity. She is going to America,
and, since she is on this train, she will, of course, take the
same boat as yourself. But, my friend, beware!"

"But who is she?"

"Desiree Le Mire."

Chapter II.

BEGINNING THE DANCE.

It developed, luckily for me, that my lawyers had allowed
themselves to become unduly excited over a trifle. A discrepancy
had been discovered in my agent's accounts; it was clearly
established that he had been speculating; but the fellow's
excessive modesty and moderation had saved me from any serious
inconvenience or loss.

Some twenty thousand or so was the amount, and I did not even put
myself to the trouble of recovering it. I placed a friend of
mine, a plodder and one of those chaps who are honest on account
of lack of imagination, in the position thus vacated and sighed
with mild relief.

My experiment with Harry had proved a complete success. Left to
the management of his own affairs, he had shown a wisdom and
restraint none the less welcome because unexpected. He was glad
to see me, and I was no less glad to see him.

There was little new in town.

Bob Garforth, having gambled away his entire patrimony, had shot
and killed himself on the street; Mrs. Ludworth had publicly
defied gossip and smiled with favor on young Driscoll; the new
director of the Metropolitan Museum had announced himself an
enemy to tradition and a friend of progress; and Desiree Le Mire
had consented to a two weeks' engagement at the Stuyvesant.

The French dancer was the favorite topic of discussion in all
circles.

The newspapers were full of her and filled entire columns with
lists of the kings, princes, and dukes who had been at her feet.

Bets were made on her nationality, the color of her eyes, the
value of her pearls, the number of suicides she had caused--
corresponding, in some sort, to the notches on the gun of a
Western bad man. Gowns and hats were named for her by the
enterprising department stores.

It was announced that her engagement at the Stuyvesant would open
in ten days, and when the box-office opened for the advance sale
every seat for every performance was sold within a few hours.

In the mean time the great Le Mire kept herself secluded in her
hotel. She had appeared but once in the public dining-room, and
on that occasion had nearly caused a riot, whereupon she had
discreetly withdrawn. She remained unseen while the town shouted
itself hoarse.

I had not mentioned her name to Harry, nor had I heard him speak
of her, until one evening about two weeks after my return.

We were at dinner and had been discussing some commonplace
subject, from which, by one of the freaks of association, the
conversation veered and touched on classical dancing.

"The Russians are preeminent," said I, "because they possess both
the inspiration--the fire--and the training. In no other nation
or school are the two so perfectly joined. In the Turkish dancers
there is perfect grace and freedom, but no life. In Desiree Le
Mire, for example, there is indeed life; but she has not had the
necessary training."

"What? Le Mire! Have you seen her?" cried Harry.

"Not on the stage," I answered; "but I crossed on the same ship
with her, and she was kind enough to give me a great deal of her
time. She seems to understand perfectly her own artistic
limitations, and I am taking her word for it."

But Harry was no longer interested in the subject of dancing. I
was besieged on the instant with a thousand questions.

Had I known Le Mire long? What was she like? Was it true that
Prince Dolansky had shot himself in despair at losing her? Was
she beautiful? How well did I know her? Would I take him to see
her?

And within half an hour the last question was repeated so many
times and with such insistence that I finally consented and left
Harry delighted beyond words.

My own experience with Desiree Le Mire had been anything but
exciting. The woman was interesting; there could be no doubt of
that; but she possessed little attraction for me. Her charms, on
close inspection, were really quite too evident.

I require subtlety in a woman, and so far as I could discover Le
Mire knew not the meaning of the word. We had spent many hours
during the trip across in pleasant companionship; she had done me
the honor to tell me that she found my conversation amusing; and,
after all, she was undeniably a pretty woman. She had invited me
with evident sincerity to call on her in New York; but I had not
as yet taken advantage of the invitation.

I did not then think, and I do not now believe, that I acted
foolishly when I took Harry to see her. In any event, he would
have seen her sooner or later, and since all temptations meet us
at one time or another, it is best to have it out with them at as
early a date as possible. At the time, indeed, I gave the subject
no thought whatever; but if I had I should not have hesitated.

We took tea with her the following afternoon in her apartment,
and I must confess that I myself was more than a little impressed
when I entered. I realized then that on the ship nothing had been
in her favor; she had been completely out of her element, and she
was not a good sailor.

Here all was different. The stiffly ostentatious hotel rooms, by
her own genius or that of her maid, had been transformed into
something very nearly approaching perfection. I was amazed at the
excellent taste displayed in her furniture and its arrangement,
for it was clear that these were no hotel properties. Certainly a
woman is at her best only when she is able to choose or create
her own surroundings.

Harry was captivated, and I can scarcely blame him. But the poor
lad betrayed himself so frankly! Though I suppose Le Mire was
more or less accustomed to immediate surrender.

On that day, at least, she had reason to expect it. She
satisfied the eye, which is saying a great deal and is the
highest praise possible for a woman's beauty, when you consider
the full strength of the word.

She was radiant, adorable, irresistible; I had to own that my
first impression of her had been far too weak.

We talked for an hour. Harry had little to say as he sat
devouring Le Mire with his eyes, and whenever she turned to him
for an answer to a question or confirmation of an opinion he
stammered and kept his composure with difficulty. Never, I
suppose, did woman have clearer evidence of her power, nor
sweeter, for Harry was by no means a fool to be carried away by
the first pretty face that came in his way.

She simply overwhelmed him, and I repeat that I do not wonder at
it, for my own pulse was not exactly steady. She asked us to dine
with her.

I pleaded an engagement at the club and signed to Harry to do
likewise; but he was completely gone and paid no attention to me.

He accepted the invitation gratefully, with frank delight, and I
left them together.

It was about ten o'clock when he came home that evening. I was
seated in the library and, hearing him enter the hall, called to
him.

What a face was his! His lips trembled with nervous feeling, his
eyes glowed like the eyes of a madman. I half started from my
chair in amazement.

"I have no time," said he in answer to my invitation to join me
with a bottle. "I have a letter or two to write, and--and I must
get some sleep."

"Did you just leave Le Mire?"

"Yes."

I looked at my watch.

"What under the sun did you find to talk about?"

"Oh, anything--nothing. I say, she's charming."

His essay at indifference was amusing.

"You find her so?"

"Rather."

"She seems to have taken a fancy to you."

Harry actually grew red.

"Hardly," he said; but there was hope in the word.

"She is hardly your kind, Harry. You know that. You aren't
going in for this sort of thing?"

"This sort--I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do, Hal. You know exactly what I mean. To put the
thing plainly, Le Mire is a dangerous woman--none more so in all
the world; and, Harry boy, be sure you keep your head and watch
your step."

He stood for a moment looking at me in silence with a half-angry
frown, then opened his mouth as though to speak, and finally
turned, without a word, and started for the door. There he turned
again uncertainly, hesitating.

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