THE ESCAPE FROM THE BARRIO
In an incredibly short time Columbus was back, and this time he nursed a
large bruise on the side of his head where the General's cane had fallen
with no light force.
"If my father were able to fight he would kill that nigger," exclaimed
the excited lad. "But my father was crippled in the last revolution.
That general, he makes our house his own. He makes my mother to cook
for him and to wash for him. We could not leave my father when the
rebels occupied the barrio. We had to stay to look out for him. They
eat our food and kill our pigs and chickens, and never pay. They----"
"Is your name Columbus?" inquired Dick in order to cut short the boy's
tale of trials and tribulations.
"Si, Senor."
"Well, Columbus, here are two brand new Americano pesos for you, and
there will be many more if you do as I tell you," and Dick passed over
the silver coins.
"What must I do?"
"First of all tell me how many soldiers are in the barrio."
"Over one hundred, Senor."
"How far is it from here to Sanchez?"
"By the shore road it is nearly three kilometers. The shore road passes
through the barrio," said the lad.
"Is the road guarded by more soldiers than the group of men I could see
before dark on the outskirts of the town?"
"Oh, yes, Senor, they patrol the entire road every night. The big light
from the ship does not frighten them."
"Can you see the ship from the beach back of your house, Columbus?"
"No, a point of land prevents that, but it is not far by boat,--a little
over a kilometer."
"Who is in your house with the General?"
"The five soldiers who came with him this afternoon, my mother and
father and a little girl the general stole from her people. I do not
know her name. She weeps all the time, but makes no noise. He has told
her he will kill her if she tries to run away."
"Columbus, I want to get the little girl out of that house and return
her to her father and her mother. If you help me they will pay you
well."
"It is impossible, Senor. I overheard the General making plans to go to
Sanchez and attack the house of her father to-night, and he gave his men
orders to guard the child carefully. There are to be men both inside
and outside the house all the time."
"Would your father and mother help us?"
"No, Senor, they could not afford to. They would fear to go contrary to
General Gonzales' orders."
"At what hour does the General start for the town?"
"Very soon, for he expects to be there by ten o'clock, Senor."
"Are there any small boats on the beach?"
"Oh, yes, and the best canoe there is my own."
"Providing I get the little girl out of the house, will you go in the
canoe with me to the American ship?"
"No, Senor, I am afraid; but I will place paddles in my canoe and I will
do what else I can to assist you. My canoe is the last one on the beach
nearest the town."
"Describe your house, Columbus. Where are the windows and doors?"
"That reminds me, Senor--after all, I can help you. If you approach our
casa from the rear you will find a little cocina[#] which opens into the
middle room. My father and mother occupy the room on the right as you
enter from the cocina. My room was on the left, but it is now the
General's, and the little girl is lying in there now, weeping. Long ago
I loosened a board at the side near the cocina so that it will slide
back, and I used it to go out when my parents believed me asleep. I
will tell the child about you and the hole and she can escape that way.
First I will put my paddles in the canoe, and then you can take her in
it to your ship. Keep close to the shore until you are around the
point, then go direct to the vessel. There are no shoals to fear. The
only thing to be careful about is passing through the cocoanut grove.
Avoid the hut, for soldiers are guarding a prisoner there also."
[#] Cocina--Kitchen.
"Another prisoner? A native?" questioned Dick.
"No, he is a sailor who ran away from your ship and came here shortly
after noon to-day, and he told the General about the money and the
little girl. But the General had him imprisoned, for he distrusts him
and he had the sailor's pistol and ammunition seized."
"Did you hear the name of the sailor, Columbus?"
"Yes, Senor, his name is Jose. He is a dark man and very dirty, and
wears peculiar blue clothes."
"Joe Choiniski, or I miss my guess!" exclaimed Dick as he looked towards
the lights flickering through the grove on the far side of the road.
"Can you get me some meat, Columbus?" Dick asked, after a brief pause.
"Has the Senor hunger?"
"No, I don't wish it for myself, but there are many dogs in the barrio,
and when they discover me they will betray me to the soldiers if I come
near the houses. With the meat I could quiet them."
"Never fear, amigo mio; all the meat in this village would not be enough
to satisfy the appetite of the dogs in the barrio nor keep them quiet.
They are ever barking and fighting at night, so the soldiers would not
think it strange, especially in the early part of the evening. If that
is all, Senor, I will go, for the General may miss me. What time shall
I tell the nina to be ready for you?"
"Tell her to wait for three knocks on the wall of her room from the side
of the cocina, after the General leaves the house. Then she must slide
back the board and I will be waiting for her in the cocina. Make her
understand I am her friend and will take her back to her people. And,
Columbus, here is all the money I have with me, but I will see that you
are rewarded later on, if you carry out our plan," and Dick pressed all
his remaining currency into the hands of the boy crouching by his side.
"Thank you, Senor, but I cannot take this money. I am a common peon and
my people are poor, but they would not wish me to accept money to help a
little girl in distress," and Columbus bravely handed back the bills to
Dick, though his fingers were itching to keep them.
He made his little speech with such an air of pride, however, that Dick
did not insist and with a low whispered, "adios, amigo mio," the brown
boy was swallowed up a moment later in the shadows and darkness.
Impatiently Dick waited in his refuge for the departure of General
Gonzales on his proposed expedition. Finally becoming tired of such
long inactivity he arose and boldly stepped out into and across the
clearing. Dick reasoned that in the darkness of the night should he
pass anyone inside the camp he would not be recognized nor suspected. He
pulled his khaki shirt outside his trousers so as to appear more in
keeping with the native soldiers' costume should he happen to meet
anyone.
With rapid strides he was soon in the vicinity of the houses lining the
near side of the road. The barking of a dog at his approach caused him
a little nervousness, but he kept on, remembering what Columbus had told
him. Another dog came sniffing and growling at his heels. He paused
long enough to kick the canine and it scampered away with shrill yelps
of pain and fright.
The following moments were the most thrilling of Dick's life. Turning,
after delivering the kick which sent the cur scampering off in the
darkness, he almost ran into a man.
"Get out of my way, you spawn," said a voice which he recognized as none
other than that of General Gonzales. "Why are you on this side of the
road, anyway, when I told you to guard my quarters? Go over there where
you belong, and let the dogs bark as much as they please, but attend to
your duties, or it will fare badly with you in the morning. Obey me,
pronto!" and the rebel chief shoved Dick out into the wide street.
How grateful Dick was that no answers were required of him, otherwise he
might have been discovered. He did not know now whether or not Gonzales
was following after him, and he feared to turn and look. He could hear
no footfalls. Now directly in front of him and not fifteen feet distant
was the house where Soledad was held a prisoner. According to Columbus,
and this was already verified by the remark of Gonzales, there was a
sentry guarding the house, and somewhere in the shadows ahead that
native soldier was walking. What if he was waiting to attack Dick on
his nearer approach? Perhaps he had heard the chief talking to Dick on
the opposite side of the road and was watching his movements with
catlike eyes. Dick's ears detected no sound as he drew nearer the
house. Now he was within a few feet of the walls. The next moment he
dodged around the corner of the building, and just in the nick of time,
for, as he did so, the front door was thrown open and the light from the
interior streamed into the street. Flattening himself against the wall
Dick peered around cautiously. Before the door stood Gonzales, while
emerging from it were five men, presumably those who had accompanied
their leader from the outpost on Camino Real.
"Everything is ready," announced the General. "Come, let us go. The
others have already started, and we must not delay." The party moved
off down the road in the direction of Sanchez, and once again quiet
reigned in the immediate vicinity. Dick now knew the time for action had
arrived. Forgetting for the moment that he had to deal with the sentinel
who was supposed to be here on duty he was about to step out in the
direction of the cocina when he observed the dim moving figure of a
soldier coming from the rear of the house.
Slowly the soldier sauntered towards Dick until he arrived so near that
the boy could have touched him. Here the man stopped. Dick's heart
thumped so violently from the suspense that it almost seemed the soldier
could not fail to hear it. The noise pounded in his own ears like the
striking of a bass drum. It was so dark that he could not see what the
sentry was doing. Perhaps the eyes of the native, more accustomed to
darkness than Dick's own, were even then fastened on him and enjoying
his discomfort, perhaps----
A rattling noise assailed Dick's ears. It was the sound made by safety
matches shaken in a partially empty box. The sentry had seen him, but
now was going to strike a light in order to discover his identity.
The match scraped along the box, but made no spark. At the second
attempt the yellowish flame flared up. In its light the dark brown face
of the soldier stood out boldly in the Stygian darkness. A white papered
cigarette was between the fellow's lips and his dark eyes were bent
solely on the flame, seeing nothing else. The flame wavered, then there
was the sound of a dull blow, the light disappeared and the sentinel
sank to the ground. Once again Dick Comstock's hard fist had found a
victim, and once again he was binding and gagging a rebel soldier.
Dick used his own regulation belt to make fast his victim's arms, while
the soldier's belt sufficed to secure his legs. Pulling the native's
shirt over his head Dick stuffed part of it in his mouth and bound it
there with a handkerchief. In the darkness it was difficult work, but
he did the best he could, and after dragging the soldier to one side and
under a bush, the drummer boy began to feel his way towards the cocina
at the rear. A dim light, shining through the cracked walls of the
center room, saved him from stumbling into a collection of pots and pans
in the small lean-to, which Columbus had dignified by the name of
kitchen. Creeping cautiously to the wall of the building under the
lean-to, the lad rapped the boards three times, giving the signal agreed
upon. Then he waited breathlessly for some response. Finally he heard
the scraping of one board on another. The noise came from near the
floor where he was waiting. Then he saw the white figure of little
Soledad squirm through the opening. Quietly he assisted her to her feet
and without a word, hand in hand, the two stole from the house and out
into the grove in the direction of the bay.
They had gone about fifty feet when another figure suddenly confronted
them, and again Dick's heart seemed to jump to his throat while his
right hand sought the pistol hanging at his side.
"Silence, Senor, it is Columbus. I have come to help you find the
canoe. Follow me, carefully, for we are near the house where the sailor
is imprisoned," and on the little party went like flitting shadows
through the grove.
Soon came the soft rustle of waves on the shore, and emerging from under
the dense overhead foliage of the palms, objects were more
distinguishable. They found the canoe, and in it the paddles which the
faithful native boy had previously placed there. Dick took his place in
the stern, the little girl tremblingly, but with no hesitation, sat in
the bottom. Then with a whispered "buenas noches,"[#] Columbus shoved
the frail craft from the sands out into the waters of the great bay, and
with a happy heart Dick sent the canoe on its way with long powerful
strokes.
[#] Buenas noches--Good-night.