Read Online The Girl of the Golden West by Giacomo Puccini, David Belasco - Free Book Online

answered:
    "From whom?"
    For a brief space of time the woman looked at him as if she
would ferret out his innermost thoughts; at length, she said with a
shrug of the shoulders:
    "Few here are to be thoroughly trusted. The woman you were
with—she knows you?"
    "I never met her but once before," was his laconic
rejoinder.
    Nina eyed him suspiciously; at last she was satisfied that he
spoke the truth, but there was still that cold, abstracted manner
of his to be explained. However, cleverly taking her cue from him
she inquired in business-like tones:
    "And how about The Polka Saloon—the raid on Cloudy Mountain
Camp?"
    A shade of annoyance crossed Ramerrez' face.
    "I have decided to give that up—at least for a time."
    Again Nina regarded him curiously; when she spoke there was a
suspicious gleam in her eyes, though she said lightly:
    "Perhaps you're right—it will not be an easy job."
    "Far from it," quickly agreed the man. "But the real reason is,
that I have planned to go below for a while."
    The woman's eyes narrowed.
    "You are going away then?"
    "Yes."
    "And what about me? Do I go with you?"
    Ramerrez laughed uneasily.
    "It is impossible. The fact is, it is best that this should be
our last meeting." And seeing the change that came over her face he
went on in more conciliatory tones: "Now, Nina, be reasonable. It
is time that we understood each other. This interview must be
final."
    "And you came here to tell me this?" blazed the woman, scowling
darkly upon him. And for the moment she looked all that she was
reputed to be—a dangerous woman!
    Receiving no answer, she spoke again.
    "But you said that you would love me always?"
    The man flushed.
    "Did I say that once? What a memory you have!"
    "And you never meant it?"
    "I suppose so—at the time."
    "Then you don't love me any more?"
    Ramerrez made no answer.
    For some moments Nina sat perfectly still. Her mind was busy
trying to determine upon the best course to pursue. At length she
decided to make one more attempt to see whether he was really in
earnest. And if not…
    "But to-night," she hazarded, leaning far over the table and
putting her face close to his, her eyes the while flooded with
voluptuousness, "you will come with me to my room?"
    Ramerrez shook his head.
    "No, Nina, all that is over."
    The woman bit her lips with vexation.
    "Are you made of stone? What is the matter with you to-night? Is
there anything wrong with my beauty? Have you seen anyone handsomer
than I am?"
    "No…"
    "Then why not come? You don't hate?"
    "I don't hate you in the least, but I won't go to your
room."
    "So!"
    There was a world of meaning in that one word. For a while she
seemed to be reflecting; suddenly with great earnestness she
said:
    "Once for all, Ramerrez, listen to me. Rather than give you up
to any other woman I will give you up to death. Now do you still
refuse me?"
    "Yes…" answered Ramerrez not unkindly and wholly unmoved by her
threat. "We've been good pals, Nina, but it's best for both that we
should part."
    In the silence that ensued the woman did some hard thinking.
That a man could ever tire of her without some other woman coming
into his life never once entered into her mind. Something told her,
nevertheless, that the woman with whom he had been conversing was
not the woman that she sought; and at a loss to discover the person
to whom he had transferred his affections, her mind reverted to his
avowed purpose of withdrawing from the proposed Cloudy Mountain
expedition. The more Nina reflected on that subject the more
convinced she became that, for some reason or other, Ramerrez had
been deceiving her. It was made all the more clear to her when she
recalled that when Ramerrez' messenger had brought his master's
message that she was to meet him, she had asked where the band's
next rendezvous was to be, and that he, knowing full well that his
countrywoman had ever been cognizant of his master's plans, had
freely given the desired information. Like a flash it came to