A JOURNEY
A FEW days after the earthquake, early in the forenoon, there came a
rap at the door of Vasco's home. Inez, always alert, ran to the door,
and, throwing it open, saw Harlan Andrews standing there.
"Good morning, Inez," said the young American.
Inez had become quite well acquainted with Harlan because of his many
visits to Vasco, and was always glad to see him. So she gave a cheerful
smile and hearty response to his greeting, and invited him to enter.
"Is Vasco at home?" asked Harlan, as he came into the living-room.
"Yes, he is out in the courtyard. If you will sit down I will call
him."
Harlan thought he was quite fortunate to find Vasco. Generally at this
time of day he was out upon the streets with other boys of his age.
In a moment Vasco came into the house, and, boylike, Harlan stated his
errand without any preliminary conversation.
"Father is going to make a trip to Colon in connection with his canal
work, and will spend some time on the way, particularly at the Culebra
cut. Perhaps, too, he will go up the Chagres River to the place where
it is proposed to build the big dam. He is going to take me with him,
and says I may invite you to go along."
"Oh, that will be fine!" exclaimed Vasco, and he fairly jumped up
and down with glee. In fact, he was so overwhelmed by the thought of
the proposed journey that he nearly forgot to thank Harlan for the
invitation. When he did come to his senses, his gratitude was profuse,
and his tongue could not begin to express his thoughts.
Then again, after a few moments, he remembered that this trip was
for more than a day, perhaps for more than a week, and it might be
necessary to consult his parents before accepting the invitation. At
once he turned to his mother, who had overheard all the conversation.
"Are you willing I should go with Harlan?" Vasco inquired.
For a moment his mother did not reply, and the boy was very anxious for
fear that when she did give her answer it might not be favourable.
Finally the señora said, "If your father has no objection, I think I am
willing to let you go."
"Then I'll go now to ask him. Come on, Harlan," said Vasco.
The lieutenant was stationed in the city at this time, so the boys had
not far to go. Vasco did not anticipate any great difficulty in gaining
his father's consent to the journey. As the result proved, his hopes
were well founded, for Lieutenant Barretas was quite willing his son
should go anywhere, provided he was in Mr. Andrews's care.
"It's all right, then," said Harlan when the matter was decided. "Meet
me at the railway station next Monday morning at eight o'clock." This
was Friday.
For Vasco, the two days between Friday and Monday passed--oh, so
slowly! It seemed as if they would never go by!
Meanwhile, his mother gave him a bit of information which later turned
out to be of value. "You say you may go up the Chagres River?" she
asked her son.
"Yes, so Harlan told me," was Vasco's reply.
"I have never told you that I have a brother living in that part of
the country--your Uncle Francisco Herreras. The last I knew of him
he had a plantation not far from Palo Grande. I hope, if you go near
there, you may be able to call upon him. I am sure he will be very
hospitable to you all."
At last Monday morning came. Very early Vasco awoke, ate the breakfast
his mother made ready for him, and long before the hour appointed was
ready to start for the railway station. He was so impatient to be on
his way that he left home a full hour earlier than was necessary.
Consequently, he had to wait a long time at the depot.
But time flies, even for the most impatient lads, and in due time
Harlan and his father made their appearance.
"What do you think, Vasco?" said Harlan. "We are going to have a
special train!"
"Where is it?" asked Vasco, who saw no sign of anything of that sort in
the depot.
"Oh, it's not in here. It's outside in the train-yard. We are going out
there to get aboard."
Vasco thought this a little strange, but felt that he could ask no
questions. In a moment Mr. Andrews called to the boys to follow him,
and led the way outside the station.
Directly they came in sight of an engine, to which was attached a box
car and a flat car such as are ordinarily used for freight. On the
flat car were fixed several seats, and an awning had been erected
as protection from the fierce rays of the sun. In the box car were
well-equipped bunks, where the members of the party might sleep at
night when better accommodations were wanting.
"This is our special private car," said Harlan. "What do you think of
it?"
"I think it will suit me all right," said Vasco.
Mr. Andrews explained to the boys that he was on a tour of inspection
in connection with the canal work, and this train had been placed at
his disposal. He was glad, in connection with his work, to give a
pleasure trip to the boys. He hoped it might also prove an instructive
and beneficial one to them.
While Mr. Andrews had been talking to the boys they all had climbed
upon the flat car and taken seats. Then, with a wave of the hand to
the engineer, the signal was given, the throttle opened, and the train
began its journey.
Slowly it moved until away from the city, but when it had passed out
upon the beautiful broad savannahs, or grassy plains, which lie near
Panama it moved with greater speed. To Vasco it seemed very fast
indeed, though it was far otherwise to Harlan, who had ridden on the
rapid express trains in his own country.
As the train drew farther from Panama they came to a more hilly region.
In turn they passed through Corozal, Rio Grande, Miraflores, Pedro
Miguel, and Paraiso. Most of these places were small settlements. Near
the little railway stations would be seen a few wretched houses. What
few inhabitants were in sight appeared to be of native Indian descent
and wandered about in scanty clothing, with no apparent occupation.
At Paraiso the train was run on to a side-track.
"We shall have to wait here awhile for the regular passenger-train for
Panama City to pass us," said Mr. Andrews.
"How long shall we have to wait?" asked Harlan.
"Oh, I'm sure I don't know. The trains on this road come when they
please and go when they get ready. You may as well take it easy till we
can go on again."
"How long does it take to run across the Isthmus?" asked Vasco.
"Generally about three hours for the forty-mile trip, but as I just
told Harlan, you can't be sure of anything on this road. They ought to
give better service, for they carry nearly one hundred thousand people
a year."
Fortunately our friends did not have to wait very long, and when they
again had a clear track they proceeded on their way.
"It must have been a big job to build this road," said Vasco, as they
rode on.
"Yes," replied Mr. Andrews, "it was a great triumph of American genius.
During its construction multitudes of men were killed by the deadly
fever, but finally Chinese labourers were imported and successfully
completed the work, though even many of these Oriental coolies died."
The train whirled on through rocky hills and valleys luxuriant with
tropical foliage. As it approached Culebra Mountain Vasco's eyes opened
wide at the sights he saw. From the main track various spurs were
laid, on which stood giant steam-shovels.
[Illustration: "'THAT SCOOP WILL DIG OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN A TON OF EARTH
AT A TIME'"]
Pointing to one of them, Mr. Andrews said: "That scoop will dig out
of the mountain a ton of earth at a time. Then it is swung around and
its load emptied into a gravel-car. In this manner train-load after
train-load is taken from the sides of the mountain each day and hauled
away and dumped either into a valley or into the sea at Colon."
Vasco also saw large gangs of men at work on the side of the mountain.
Most of them were negroes from Jamaica. As the boys watched them at
their labour Harlan said to his friend: "Well, those fellows can't be
accused of trying to work themselves out of a job. I reckon they would
move livelier than that if they were at work on some of our American
railroads."