WE HEAR STRANGE NEWS.
An hour later we were bivouacking on a tree-shaded plateau, not far
from the outskirts of the forest of which the native guides had spoken.
We all required rest, and it had become absolutely necessary to refresh
the inner man, marching and fighting having somewhat exhausting effects
on the systems of even the strongest men. We had also to await the
arrival of Mr. Triggs and his escort, before pushing on into the depths
of the jungle. Meanwhile, the gunnery lieutenant sent out spies, with
orders to try to ascertain the line of retreat taken by the flying
cavalry, and to obtain any other news they could pick up regarding the
whereabouts of other bodies of the enemy. The baggage-animals were
resting under the shade of a clump of trees—if a constant warfare with
swarms of teasing flies can be called rest. Sentries with loaded rifles
were posted at various points of vantage in order to guard against any
surprise by the enemy.
As soon as tiffin had been disposed of, the officers lit their pipes
or cigars, trusting that the tobacco smoke would drive away the insect
pests, which seemed unusually plentiful in the vicinity of the jungle.
We midshipmen were not allowed to smoke, and suffered a good deal in
consequence.
“This jungle will be a nasty place to march through,” said the captain
of marines to Mr. Thompson. “Can’t we avoid it in any way by making a
detour?”
“We shall have to traverse it,” answered the gunnery lieutenant; “but
it isn’t so bad as you might think. A broad track has been cut through
it, and where this route runs the majority of the trees have been
felled. The forest itself is not very dense in any part—at least, so
the guides assure me.”
“I hope these guides are trustworthy fellows,” observed Dr. Grant as he
lit a cigar. “They look to me the greatest villains unhung.”
“Perhaps they’re treacherous scoundrels,” said Fitzgerald, who had been
bandaging his injured foot, an operation in which the flies seemed to
take a lively interest. “We shall have to take care that they don’t
lead us into an ambush.”
“Don’t croak, youngster,” said Mr. Thompson; “we’re paying them too
well for that sort of thing to happen.”
“One thing I feel pretty well sure of,” said the marine officer, “and
that is, that if we follow up the enemy too closely, we shall miss
finding the cargo altogether.”
“What do you mean?” demanded the lieutenant.
“Why, that the booty is hidden away securely in caves in some
inaccessible place, and that the enemy will do their best to entice us
away from the spot,—the plover’s strategy when she sees people entering
a field to search for her eggs.”
“Your theory may be quite correct,” remarked the lieutenant, “but my
primary object is to arrest these mutineers and have them punished.
Doubtless we shall make them confess where the cargo has been stowed
away.”
“And meanwhile the insurgents will go and make a clean sweep of the
whole concern,” laughed the surgeon. “Of course they are all in the
secret.”
“Here come some of the spies,” said Mr. Thompson, knocking the ashes
out of his pipe and recharging it. “Now, perhaps, we shall hear some
news.”
Two swarthy fellows came running to the spot where we were sitting.
They seemed breathless and excited, and their appearance not
unnaturally raised our curiosity to the highest pitch.
“Well,” said the lieutenant, “what have you got to say for yourselves?”
“Hab found ’em, sah,” one of the spies gasped out; “dey de oder side ob
de jongle, just awaiting to be killed by Englishmans.”
“How many of them?” demanded Mr. Thompson eagerly.
“Two, tree hundred; can’t say exactly, sah. All ob dem are der, but not
de horsemen.”
“Are they intrenched?” asked the captain of marines.
“Wal, no, I tink not, sah, if you mean eating der lonshon.”
“The man’s an idiot!” exclaimed the lieutenant angrily.—“How far is the
enemy from here?” he demanded, turning to the other spy.
“Tirty mile, I say.—What you tink, ole Moses?” addressing his
confederate.
“I tink him twenty-sheven—no, tirty-tree—no, by gum, I can’t count him
in dis fashion,” slapping his forehead despairingly with one brown hand.
Mr. Thompson stamped his foot angrily upon the ground.
“These fellows would try the patience of Job,” he said, turning to us.
“I wish that polite old Spanish interpreter was to the fore; he might
get some sense out of them.”
“It is quite impossible they can have gone twenty or thirty miles
and back,” laughed the captain of marines. “Don’t you see the utter
absurdity of it all, old man?”
“Of course I do; but you can’t get any sense out of pigheaded
numskulls.”
“How you go twenty mile and back, Johnny?” I asked the spies. “You no
have time for him by any chance.”
Both men opened wide their mouths as if they were about to swallow
a couple of mince-pies at a gulp. This was their mode of laughing
decorously.
“We no _see_ dem, sah,” one of them answered at length; “but in de
jongle away der we met one ole shentleman, one shentleman ob colour,
dat we hab known in Santiago tree year ago, and he tell us all about de
enemy cos he meet him on de way like.”
“This is hopeless,” said the lieutenant in despair. “It is a
consolation at any rate to know that the other spies are not quite so
crack-brained as these.”
At this moment Mr. Triggs and his detachment returned, and the former
reported that all had gone well with the wounded and the prisoners, who
had been safely conveyed on board the _Rattler_.
As it was not advisable to delay any longer, and as the remaining
spies had not come in, we resumed our march under the direction of the
guides, who were really competent men. The torrid heat was now tempered
by a cool refreshing sea-breeze, but in half an hour we had entered the
forest and were under the grateful shade of the giant trees.
We found ourselves on a rough cart-track, seamed with ruts, which
wound its tortuous way through the jungle-depths; but as the trees
obstructing the route had been felled and removed, the way was fairly
clear, though here and there a few rotting trunks lay by the wayside
in the last stages of decay. There was little or no underwood, and
therefore no cover for a lurking enemy—a fact we were very grateful
for. Nevertheless our armed scouts and advance-guard never relaxed
their watchfulness; and we were all on the alert more or less, having
our rifles and revolvers loaded and ready for use.
We saw numerous monkeys springing about from tree to tree. Parrots
and macaws flitted about hither and thither, the sun’s rays, which
fell through the vistas in the trees, glinting on their plumage with
beautiful effect.
Quaint and innumerable insects filled the air with their drowsy hum;
the agile little lizards darted about amid the stones and rocks which
rather plentifully strewed the ground; and the ants were working away
methodically and with wondrous energy at their pyramidal dwellings.
Mr. Triggs came to my side as we marched along.
“I’ve got a message from Mr. Balfour for you, sir,” he said.
“What is it?” I asked; “he is going on all right, I hope.”
“Oh, yes, there’s nothing wrong with his health. Bless you, a
midshipman has nine lives like a cat, and can never come to much harm!
This is what he told me, and very emphatic he was about it, that I was
to take you under my special charge because he wasn’t with the force to
look after you himself.”
“I’ll punch Charlie’s head directly I get back to the ship,” I said
with a laugh; “he wants taking down a peg or two and no mistake!”
“I told him how badly you and Mr. Fitzgerald served me over that sponge
and towel business,” said the gunner with a chuckle, “and I thought
he’d make himself ill with laughing, for he’s not over-strong yet.”
“Well, it was enough to make a cat laugh to see you getting ‘cold pig,’
Mr. Triggs, so I’m not surprised that Charlie went into fits over it!”
“Ah, that’s just where you make the mistake, Mr. Darcy, and I can flap
my wings and crow a bit. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Balfour
laughed at the way I laid into you and Mr. Fitzgerald with the towel,
_not_ at your achievement with the sponge. He’s a sensible young
gentleman is Mr. Balfour; I’ve always thought so.”
I was about to make some severe remark on my friend’s treachery, when
Fitzgerald came running up.
“The gunnery lieutenant wants you, Mr. Triggs,” he said.
The gunner hurried off.
“Would you like to go scouting, Darcy?” asked my brother-middy.
“Of course I should, old chap; why do you ask?”
“Well, I don’t know really,” said my messmate teasingly; “something to
say, I suppose.”
“Don’t chaff a fellow,” I cried, “but let the cat out of the bag as
quickly as you can.”
“‘Let slip the dogs of war’ would be a more appropriate expression,”
said Fitzgerald. “I’m going to try to make a drawing of the brigade
marching through a Cuban forest, and I’ll put you in the foreground
with a drawn sword in your hand and a disdainful look upon your noble
brow.” And so saying he drew a sketch-book out of his pocket.
But at this moment I saw Mr. Thompson beckoning to me, so giving Fitz a
sly dig in the ribs with the hilt of my sword, I ran off in the gunnery
lieutenant’s direction as fast as I could put my feet to the ground.
“Some more spies have come in, Mr. Darcy, and they report that there
is a small party of the enemy encamped in a ravine about two miles
from here. The spies think there are caves in the neighbourhood, and
that this body of mutineers or insurgents may be guarding the booty.
It’s rather an inaccessible place, and the spies themselves only came
upon it by accident. Mr. Triggs is going to take command of a scouting
party, and will reconnoitre the enemy’s position. If necessary he
will attack it, and then rejoin the main body in the evening at a
camping-ground well known to all the guides, and where we shall bivouac
for the night. I wish you to join this force as second in command, for
I know that I can trust you to do your duty.”
My joy was unbounded. I was not only delighted at the prospect of
an adventure, but was proud to find that my commanding officer had
confidence in me.
The brigade was halted, and a small force of twenty picked men was told
off for Mr. Triggs’s expedition. Amongst them I was glad to find Ned
Burton.
One of the spies who had brought the news was selected as guide, and
away we went in the highest spirits, every one in the main body wishing
us good-luck and a speedy reunion.