THE ESCAPE
It was sometime before the boys recovered from the unpleasant effects of
the scene they had witnessed in the jail yard.
"I wonder who he was?" said Bert, after a long silence.
"Probably an insurgent. But whoever he was, he was a brave man."
The door of their cell quietly opened at this moment and a man brought
food and set it on the table. The boys, who had not eaten anything for
many hours, disposed of the porridge and some mysterious sort of meat
stew with relish. They had scarcely finished their meal when the cell
door opened again and the gentleman with the genial smile, who had acted
as interpreter, appeared.
"Good morning," he said, cheerily. "Did you sleep well?"
"Very well, thank you," replied Harry, wondering what the purpose of the
man's visit might be.
"Thought I would drop in and see if there was any message you would like
to send to the general or to Consul Wyman."
"You mean that you were sent to see if we were ready to talk yet, don't
you?"
"Just a different way of putting it."
"Well, you may tell General What-You-May-Call-Him that we have nothing
more to say than we said yesterday; and you may also inform him that our
situation is known to our friends by this time, and that he will be held
to a strict accounting by Uncle Sam for this outrage upon two American
citizens."
"You have communicated with your friends--how?"
The genial smile on the man's face faded into a look of surprise and
anxiety. He glanced quickly around the room to see if there was any
means by which they could have communicated with the outside world.
"That is another one of those questions that we claim the privilege of
refusing to answer."
"I will deliver your message, but I warn you that it will not be well
for you to arouse the anger of General Serano. He fears no one."
"It is entirely up to the general whether he gets angry or not. I really
do not see any necessity for it."
"Will you send any message to Consul Wyman?"
"No--yes, come to think of it, I should like to speak to Mr. Wyman.
Will you ask him if it will be too much trouble for him to see us here?"
"General Serano will be pleased to furnish you with an escort to the
consul's. The air will do you good this morning."
"When I go to the American consul I shall go without an escort, as you
call it--guard I think would be more like it."
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"I will send your message to the consul," he said.
"What do you want of the consul, Hal?" asked Bert, when the man had
gone.
"He is a part of my secret-passage plot, but I do not know whether he
will be game or not."
Mr. Wyman did not keep them waiting long. He bustled in behind the
turnkey and greeted them heartily.
"Good morning, boys," he said. "I understand you want to see me. I hope
you have changed your minds and will now sensibly answer the general's
questions and set yourselves at liberty."
"No, Mr. Wyman, we will never do that--at least not until we know that
the one we might injure by so doing is quite safe. We did think,
however, sir, that we would like to take you into our confidence."
"The best thing you can do, boys. I may be able to help you out of your
trouble; at least, I can act with more intelligence in your interests."
"Yes, sir, so we thought," answered Harry meekly, glancing at Bert, who
sat open mouthed, utterly in ignorance of Harry's plans. "Do you think
there is any chance of our being disturbed?" he continued, looking at
the door.
"None whatever. The man with the key will not open the door until I rap
three times."
"Very well, sir, if you will take that chair I shall be quite
comfortable here on the bed."
The consul drew his chair up close to Harry and sat down. Bert also
seated himself on the bed. Beginning with the wreck of their sail boat,
Harry then told Mr. Wyman in sequence the events that had led up to
their present incarceration in a Spanish jail in Cuba.
"Now, sir," he said, as he concluded, "you can understand why we cannot
tell anything that will in any way bring harm to Captain Dynamite."
"Yes, yes," said the consul, who had been deeply interested in the boy's
story. "A marvelous man, and there are many more like him in the service
of Cuba. I believe they will win. I--I hope they will win."
Mr. Wyman lowered his voice and looked around the room as if to see
whether there was anyone to overhear him. Harry looked at him in
surprise.
"I thought you were a Spanish sympathizer, Mr. Wyman," he said.
"Diplomacy, my boy, only diplomacy."
"I am very glad to hear you say so, sir; you may fall in with my plan
quicker."
"What plan?" asked the consul, suspiciously.
"I will tell you presently, but I have not finished my story yet. You
see that wall?" Harry pointed to the wall between their cell and the one
occupied by Miss Juanita. The consul nodded. "Behind that wall is a
young woman--a Cuban sympathizer--who is awaiting torture, perhaps
death, at the hands of her captors, because she will not betray the
cause. And that young woman is Miss Juanita, the sweetheart of Captain
Dynamite."
"How do you know this, boys?" asked Mr. Wyman, springing to his feet in
excitement.
"Do you see that big slab in the wall?"
"Yes."
"That closes a secret passage between this room and hers. Last night we
accidentally touched the spring that rolls back the stone, and we talked
to her. If you can depend upon our not being disturbed, I will open it
now and you can see for yourself."
"I will answer for the man with the key. He now and then gets a little
present from me. I find it convenient to be in touch with all hands.
Diplomacy, my boy, diplomacy."
Harry stepped to the wall and pressed the diamond-shaped stone. The
groaning and creaking of the rusty mechanism of the revolving stone
began and in five minutes the passage was open. Harry peered through and
started back with a cry.
The young woman lay face downward on the stone floor of her cell.
"Miss Juanita," called Harry, softly. "What is the matter? Get up. It is
your friends again."
She did not stir.
"She may be dead," said Harry, in fear, as he climbed through the
passage. He kneeled down beside her and turned her limp body over so
that he could see her face. "No, she still breathes."
"Perhaps she has fainted," said Mr. Wyman from the other side of the
passage. "Take some water from that pitcher there and bathe her face."
Harry did as directed and soon a faint sigh escaped from her pallid
lips, and in a moment more she opened her eyes and looked up, dazed and
frightened.
"Do not be afraid, Miss Juanita," said Harry, nervously. "It is the
American boys again. What has happened?"
"I think I fainted," she said, weakly. "Oh, it's all so terrible."
Painfully she dragged herself to her feet and sank into a chair that
Harry placed for her.
"What is so terrible?" he asked.
"First the shooting in the jail yard this morning. Did you see it?"
Harry nodded his head. "I cried out. I tried not to, but the horror was
too great. They laughed. They had wrung from me the first sign of
womanly weakness. Then they came to me and repeated their demands for
information. But I was strong again and they left me with curses.
To-morrow I shall stand where he did in the jail yard. I must have
fainted when they left me. But do not mind. It is soon over. Tell him
when you see him that I died bravely for--for him and the cause."
The woman buried her face in her hands and sobbed softly.
"Do you mean, Miss," asked Mr. Wyman anxiously, through the opening,
"that they told you that to-morrow--that to-morrow----" He could not
finish the sentence, but she understood him and nodded her head.
"Yes--to-morrow--at dawn."
Harry stooped down and whispered:
"Do not fear, Miss Juanita, it will not be at dawn to-morrow, nor any
other day. But much will depend upon yourself, so dry your eyes, Miss,
and be ready to do your part when the time comes."
The woman looked up at him wonderingly.
"Have you heard from him?" she asked.
"Not yet, but you will if you will only arouse yourself a bit and be
ready to do as I tell you when I come back."
Harry turned from her quickly and hastily climbing through the passage,
touched the spring that closed it.
"Now, Mr. Wyman," he said, as the stone rolled into place. "You have
seen and heard."
"What an outrage--what a horrible outrage," murmured the consul, gazing
blankly ahead of him.
"Will you listen to my plan now, Mr. Wyman?" said Harry.
"Yes, yes," replied the consul, eagerly. "What is it?"
Harry drew him down on the bed beside him and in a whisper that even
Bert could not hear, unfolded the scheme that had come suddenly into his
head in nebulous shape when they had discovered the secret passage.
"But think of the sacrifice," said the consul in an uncertain tone when
Harry had concluded.
"Never mind that, sir--that is for me to consider, and I have done so. I
am willing to take the chance."
"But if you come to my house I shall be at once connected with the
escape and that would bring my office into disrepute. I do not care for
myself, but the United States must not be brought into the case."
"But if I never reach your house you cannot in any way be responsible.
Listen--all you have to do is to tell General What's-His-Name that I
have promised you to tell the whole truth in regard to our landing, but
that I insist that I shall be paroled and permitted to visit you alone
and without guard. Bert will remain as hostage, so that there can be no
suspicion."
"Say, Hal," said Bert, nervously, "you are not going to leave me here
alone?"
"Not for long, old man. What do you say, Mr. Wyman? Think how you would
feel if these men carried out their threat, and they are quite capable
of it."
"I'll do my best, my boy. Your risk is the greater, but it is a noble
act."
Mr. Wyman rose and shook Harry's hand vigorously. He rapped three times
on the door and as the jailer opened it he turned again and said: "You
will hear from me shortly, when I have laid your case before General
Serano."
"Say, Hal," said Bert, as soon as the door closed, "what is this plan of
yours, and why am I kept in the dark like an outsider?"
"Because I want to take all the responsibility and do not want to have
you mixed up in it if it should fail."
"But I am willing to take equal chances with you, old man. It isn't
fair."
"Oh, yes, it is. You will understand later."
Bert moped for a time in resentment, but as Harry refused to be affected
by his mood, he soon cheered up and determined to watch for developments
that might enlighten him as to the plot that Harry and the consul were
hatching. But nothing developed. A guard brought in their dinner and it
was nearly nightfall before their door opened again and the smiling
interpreter entered.
"So you have thought better of it, after all, young gentlemen?" he said.
"I do not know whether it is better or worse, but we have thought
differently, if that's what you mean," answered Harry.
"I mean that you have decided to tell the general what he wants to
know."
"No, I have decided to tell Consul Wyman."
"Yes, but he will tell the general."
"That will be his concern."
"Very well. Here is a pass from General Serano through the guards. When
you are ready to go, rap three times on the door and it will be opened.
Only one of you is to leave this place; the pass is for only one. Should
both of you attempt to use it you would be at once arrested. I simply
warn you."
"Thank you. We have no intention of trying to escape. We enjoy your
hospitality too much and the longer we board with you the longer the
score you will have to settle with Uncle Sam."
Harry took the pass from the man, who then left the cell.
"Now to work, Bert," said Harry, eagerly, as the door closed. "Listen!
When it is dark I am going through the passage. You must close it at
once, so that in case any one should come in it will not be discovered."
"But suppose the jailor should come in; how can I account for your
absence?"
"You cannot understand him nor he you, and he would probably rush off to
make a report of my escape. Before his return I will be back. But that
will not be very likely to happen. When I have been in the other cell
ten minutes, open the passage again, and when I come through do not
speak, no matter what you may see or hear. Then close the passage at
once. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"And after I have left this room see to it that the door is safely
closed again, and then once more open the passage."
"What for?"
"Never mind that now. Do you know what you are to do?"
"Yes; close and open the passage twice and say nothing."
"That's it."
They did not have to wait long for darkness. Night was now falling
rapidly. They sat in silence as the dark shadows began to fill the room.
Harry was in a serious, thoughtful mood and talked but little. Finally,
when the room became so dark that they could not see one another's
faces, he rose.
"It is time now, Bert," he whispered. "Remember your part."
He stepped to the wall and groping around until he found the spring,
pressed it and the stone began to revolve. When the passage was fully
open, he peered through into the darkness of the other cell, and
whispered:
"Miss Juanita, do not be afraid; it is the American boys. Are you
there?"
"Yes," came a soft answer.
Harry climbed through the passage and Bert promptly touched the spring
that closed it. The heavy stone moved slowly back into place and Bert
was alone.
He had no watch, so he counted the seconds. The ten minutes seemed an
hour to him. At last they passed and he opened the passage again. For
some reason he expected to see Harry and the young woman climb through,
but only the form of the boy appeared in the gloom. He waited a moment
to be sure that the girl did not follow, and then closed the passage. As
the stone settled into place, the form moved quickly to the door and
rapped three times. Almost instantly it swung open and the jailor with
his lantern stood without. As the boy's form glided silently out past
the stolid turnkey, Bert started back and with difficulty suppressed a
cry of amazement. For a moment the light of the lantern had fallen on
the face of the form in the doorway.