the poor mon! Say it. Praise be to God, he is bleeding in the prison--"
"Yes, yes, certainly."
Allan reached clumsily this time to kiss the hem of her skirt, but she
stepped aside quickly, fumbling meanwhile in her purse for a bank-note,
while he exclaimed:
"God bless you, good mistress. He told me to find you and present his
recital."
"Here, take this money and go back to Colon by the first train. We may
need you. Now go! I'll be there ahead of you."
She picked up her white skirts and ran up the hotel stairs as if
pursued, bursting in upon her husband so impetuously that he rose in
surprise, inquiring:
"What is it?"
"Young Anthony is in jail in Colon," she panted. "He's been locked up
for three days, and they won't let him out."
"The devil! You said he'd gone back to New York. What is it about?"
"I thought he had. They arrested him for some silly thing, and he's
hurt." She hurriedly recounted Allan's story, adding, in conclusion,
"That black boy came all the way across the Isthmus to tell us!"
"I'll get the American consul by 'phone--"
But Mrs. Cortlandt interrupted. "Weeks is a fool! He wouldn't do
anything. Wait!" She stepped to the instrument and rang violently.
"Give me Colonel Jolson's office, quickly. If he is not there, find
him. I don't care where he is, find him; it is important. This is Mrs.
Cortlandt speaking.'
"What do you mean to do?" said Cortlandt.
"Go to Colon at once. This is young Alfarez's doing--the
whipper-snapper--you must lay him out for this. How dare he!"
"Better go carefully. Remember, General Alfarez is his father."
"I understand. But we are bound to come to a breach sooner or later."
"I hardly think so. I believe we can bring him around all
right--anyhow, I haven't lost hope." Then, as his wife made an
impatient gesture: "Well, if we precipitate a quarrel now, that will
end it." He paced the room feverishly. "Good heavens, Edith! Anthony
chose the worst possible time for this escapade. I suppose it will mean
diplomatic difficulties and all that, and once we lose old Alfarez--"
"We will lose him anyhow," snapped the woman. "I've seen it coming,
although you could not. I'll break Ramon for this."
"Then you'll break us." Cortlandt stared gloomily at his wife, who met
his gaze squarely. "Do you think Anthony is worth it?"
"My dear Stephen, they nearly killed that poor boy, and I sha'n't allow
it. Don Anibal Alfarez is not the only presidential timber in the
republic. If he breaks with us it will cost him dearly. You think he is
friendly, but I know that deep down in his crafty old heart he despises
all us Americans and is only waiting a chance to gratify his spleen.
The moment he dares, he'll turn against us."
Cortlandt's frosty countenance showed signs of unusual agitation as he
answered: "You're mad! You threaten to ruin everything. You understand
perfectly--there's no use of my explaining. Let me call on him this
afternoon. He will instruct his son."
"No! He would procrastinate, as usual. There would be the customary
delays and excuses, and meanwhile Anthony would be in jail at Colon.
They would have a defence all prepared. Besides, if it's to be a fight
we must have all the weapons possible--and this affair may prove a good
one. Anyhow, you mustn't ask a favor of him at this time; he must ask,
not you."
The telephone rang, and the speaker snatched the receiver from its hook.
"Hello! Colonel Jolson, I'm very glad I caught you. This is Mrs.
Cortlandt. Colonel Jolson, young Ramon Alfarez has arrested Kirk
Anthony, of whom I spoke to you. They have maltreated him, as usual,
and have hidden him for three days. Yes, yes! I discovered it quite by
accident while Mr. Cortlandt was down-town. Oh, this is serious, and
I'm furious. ... That will do no good; I have reasons for preferring to
handle it myself. ... Thank you for the compliment. We must go to Colon
at once, and I thought you might give us a special." There was a slight
pause, then: "Good! That will do quite as well. In fifteen minutes.
Thank you. Good-bye."
Turning to her husband, she explained, swiftly: "The Colonel's
automobile will be waiting at the station in fifteen minutes. Are you
ready?"
"I think you are going about this in the wrong way," he said, coldly.
"When will you learn--?" She checked her crisp words at the flush that
leaped to his cheeks. "I beg your pardon, Stephen. Please do as Colonel
Jolson has done and trust me to manage this affair."
He bowed and left her, saying, "I will have a coach waiting at the
door."
Fifteen minutes later a gasoline railroad motor-car with two passengers
in addition to its driver and flagman rolled out of the yards at Panama
City and took the main line, running under orders like a special train.
As it clanked over the switches with ever-increasing speed, Mrs.
Cortlandt leaned forward and spoke to the driver.
"We will have a clear track, and you may go as fast as you like."
The next moment the machine was reeling drunkenly around curves and a
fifty-mile gale was roaring past.
Senor Ramen Alfarez was considerably nonplussed when his two
distinguished visitors made known the nature of their errand. Cortlandt
did most of the talking, his cold hauteur serving a good purpose and
contrasting strongly with the suppressed excitement of his wife.
"Pardon me, there is no necessity for delay," he said, as the
commandant endeavored to formulate an excuse. "I trust I need not
insist upon seeing the prisoner?" He raised his brows with a stare of
inquiry that caused the other to reply, hastily:
"Of a certainty not, senor."
"Then take us to him."
"I will spare your lady the painful sight of the prison-house. The
prisoner shall be fetch' with all despatch."
"We will see him alone."
Again the commandant hesitated, while his bright eyes searched their
faces with a sudden uneasy curiosity. "I am fear soch t'ing is not
permit'."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Cortlandt, unable longer to restrain
herself. "We know the law quite as well or perhaps better than you,
Senor Alfarez. If you wish, Mr. Cortlandt will get permission from the
President. You have a telephone?"
"Oh, soch is farthes' remove' from my thoughts," quickly interposed the
commandant, with his most graceful bow. "If it is in my power to
oblige, w'at matter the law? Pouf! W'at I mean is this: Our prisoner is
not what you call seeck, nor is he ver' well. He is resis' the officer
by force an' he is injure'--oh, but only a leetle--it is not'ing. One
is truly foolish for resis' the policemans, yes?" He shook his dark
head sadly. "I am desolate to 'ear of soch t'ing; it is so useless to
stroggle wit' the officer in disbursement of duty; but you Americans
are so brave! I am force' to admire this prisoner; he is soch a strong
fellow."
"I think we understand the circumstances."
Instead of ringing for an orderly the commandant excused himself, then,
after a seemingly interminable delay returned with Anthony and several
policemen.
At sight of his friends the young man made for them eagerly, crying:
"Jove, I'm glad you came! I'd about given you up."
"Allan only found us to-day," Mrs. Cortlandt replied.
"Did he tell the truth? Have you been abused?"
The young man turned a pair of smouldering eyes upon his enemies. He
looked ill and haggard, although, except for the wound half concealed
beneath his hair, he showed no marks. Then he held out his hands with a
grim smile, and the woman uttered a low cry at what she saw. "They gave
me another good beating yesterday," he said.
"While you were in jail?" Cortlandt queried, incredulously. "God!"
"That's the fellow yonder." Kirk pointed to Alfarez, whose smile had
disappeared.
"Oh, the man is mistake'," the latter hastened to aver. "He is crazee."
"I gave you a wetting in public, and--"
"Si, si! That is correc', Senor Cortlan'. He insolt my person an' fight
my soldiers. He is ver' toff person."
"Did you know he had been maltreated in prison?" Cortlandt demanded.
"Oh, senor!" Alfarez raised his hands in horrified disclaimer of the
very thought, but his victim said, quietly:
"He's a liar. He ordered it, then sat there and enjoyed it."
The Panamanian's face was yellow as he managed to enunciate:
"Eempossible! It is terrible to conceive!"
Kirk made a threatening movement in the Spaniard's direction, despite
the half-dozen soldiers, but Edith Cortlandt checked him.
"Wait, please," she said. Then to the commandant: "This is a serious
matter, and if what he says is true, your government will find itself
in trouble."
"But we 'ave no idea he is frien' of yours. If he should only spik your
'osban's name, all would be different. For my part, I can prove he is
treat' with the 'ighes' courtesy an' kindness in my presence. Every man
in the prison will testify to those fac'. If soch indignity 'ave be'
shown, there shall be investigations." The unhappy officer's excitement
was increasing, and he turned upon his men as if to make good his word,
when Cortlandt interposed:
"Why did you keep him locked up so long? Why didn't you try him?"
"Ah! For that I shall inquire also. I shall conduct investigations in
that respect as well. I am inform', 'owever, that the w'at you call
jodge is seeck."
"We'll look into that later. We're here now to arrange for Mr.
Anthony's release."
"The alcalde will be please' to accommodate at the earlies'. I myself
shall see to it. To-morrow--"
"There will be no to-morrow about it," Mrs. Cortlandt exclaimed,
positively. "If you cannot arrange the bail yourself, my husband will
take up the matter with the Zone Government, and Colonel Jolson will
call upon the President of the republic within an hour. He is waiting
word from us now."
Senor Ramon Alfarez became suddenly galvanized. He broke into effusive
apologies for even so small a delay as had already occurred. He had not
understood the matter to be so urgent, it seemed; but the wishes of his
distinguished guests were his law, and perhaps he might hasten the
wheels of progress if he tried. While, to be sure, no power was vested
in him, and his willing hands were most miserably tied, nevertheless he
would so far exceed his authority as to promise instant freedom to the
prisoner. There were, of course, certain details to be observed, the
necessity of which filled him with unspeakable regret; but if he might
be excused--He hastened forth to set in motion the proper machinery,
and while he was absent Kirk told his story. It left the woman
white-lipped and incoherent, and roused even the icy Cortlandt to
genuine wrath.
"Of course," the latter said, "Alfarez will prove by his men that it's
all imagination on your part, and that your injuries were sustained at
the time of your arrest. He'll assume a righteous indignation and start
a Spiggoty investigation. You see, his father is the Governor of Panama
Province and one of the strongest men in the republic, so Ramon will
probably make good his position. Even so, you may recover damages."
"I don't want damages," Kirk replied. "I want to get that Dago out
alone some time."
"For Heaven's sake, don't think of it!" Mrs. Cortlandt exclaimed. "All
the American influence on the Isthmus wouldn't help you then. Fifty men
would perjure themselves to convict you, and if you succeeded in
getting our government to interfere in time, Ramen has fifty other men
who would lie to any extent to injure an American."
"No. That method doesn't work here," her husband agreed. "You're lucky
to escape so easily. He will arrange bail, never fear, and you will
probably not come to trial. I doubt if you will ever hear anything more
of the matter, provided you keep from further trouble. He'll never
forgive you, of course, but that won't matter to you."
The first part of Mr. Cortlandt's prediction was soon proved true, for
the sick alcalde recovered sufficiently to appear on the scene within
half an hour. Then, after much signing of official documents and
certain other formalities, Kirk Anthony walked out of the Colon jail in
company with his friends.
Allan was waiting at a safe distance from the municipal building, and
on seeing his late companion at large he broke into the wildest
rejoicing. He conjured a flow of tears, he fondled Kirk's hand in his
own, he laughed, he sobbed, he sang.
"Praise be to God!" he cried, loudly. "Free mon you, Master h'Auntony.
Glory, glory! My soul was in 'ell, sar. On my knees I h'implored that
fa-ast wretch to release you."
His emotion appeared so genuine, his service had been so great, that
the object of his adoration felt himself choke up. Of all the people
Kirk had met since leaving home, this one had most occasion to blame
him; yet the boy was in perfect transports of delight at his delivery.
"Don't carry on so," Kirk laughed, awkwardly.
"Oh, boss, I feared they would h'assassinate you again."
Anthony nodded grimly. "They did."
"Oh, oh!" Allan gave himself over to a shrill frenzy and shook his
clenched fists at the jail in a splendidly tragic attitude. "Wretches!
Murderers! 'Ell-ca-ats!"
"Sh-h! Don't make a scene on the street," Mrs. Cortlandt cautioned. But
the Jamaican would not allow the fine effect of his rage to be lost. He
clashed his white teeth, he rolled his eyes fearfully, and twisted his
black features into the wildest expressions of ferocity, crying:
"H'Allan will best them for that! Let 'im tear h'out their 'earts by
his fingers. So!" He made an eloquent gesture. "Blood! Blood!"
"Not so loud. A little pianissimo on the blood," smiled Kirk.
"H'Allan would die and kill himself for you," the excited negro ran on
in an excess of loyalty. "Master h'Auntony fought those wretches for I;
I shall fight them for he."
When he had finally been prevailed upon to exchange his martial threats
for a fresh paean of rejoicing, he fell in behind, declaring firmly
that he intended to follow his new-found hero wherever he might go,
though the course laid were straight for those infernal regions that
played so large a part in his fancy.
In the midst of Kirk's expressions of gratitude for the timely
intercession of Cortlandt and his wife, the former surprised him by
saying, in a genuinely hearty tone:
"My wife has told me all about you, Anthony, and I want you to come
over to Panama as my guest until you hear from your father."
When Kirk informed him of the cablegram that had cast him adrift in
Panama, leading indirectly to his entanglement with the dignity of
Ramon Alfarez and the Spanish law, Cortlandt replied, reassuringly:
"Oh, well, your father doesn't understand the facts in the case, that's
all. You sit down like a sensible person and write him fully. It will
be a great pleasure for us to have you at the Tivoli in the mean time."
Seeing a warm second to this invitation in Mrs. Cortlandt's eyes, Kirk
accepted gracefully, explaining: "You know this is the first time I was
ever up against hard luck, and I don't know just how to act."
"We've missed the four-thirty-five, so we will have to return the way
we came," said Cortlandt. "I'd like to stop at Gatun on a business
matter of some importance, and if you don't mind a half-hour's delay,
we'll do so."
Kirk expressed entire acquiescence in any plans that suited the
convenience of his rescuers, and the three pursued their way to the
station. But here an unexpected embarrassment arose. As they made ready
to board Colonel Jolson's motor-car, they were annoyed to find that
Allan insisted on going, too. He insisted, moreover, in such
extravagant fashion that Mrs. Cortlandt at last was moved to say: "For
Heaven's sake, let the poor thing come along." And thereafter the
Jamaican boy sat on the step of the machine, his hat in hand, his eyes
rolled worshipfully upon the person of his hero, his shining face ever
ready to break into a grin at a glance from Kirk.
Once more the little automobile took on the dignity of a regular train
and sped out of the network of tracks behind Colon. As it gained speed
Mrs. Cortlandt, to divert her guest's mind from his recent ordeal,
began to explain the points of interest as they passed. She showed him
the old French workings where a nation's hopes lay buried, the
mechanical ruins that had cost a king's ransom, the Mount Hope
Cemetery, whither daily trains had borne the sacrifice before science
had robbed the fever of its terrors. She told him, also, something of
the railroad's history, how it had been built to bridge the gap in the
route to the Golden West, the manifold difficulties overcome in its
construction, and the stupendous profits it had made. Having the blood
of a railroad-builder in his veins, Anthony could not but feel the
interest of all this, though it failed to take his attention wholly
from the wonders of the landscape that slipped by on either side. It
was his first glimpse of tropic vegetation, and he used his eyes to
good advantage, while he listened politely to his informant.
The matted thickets, interlaced with vine and creeper, were all ablaze
with blossoms, for this was the wet season, in which nature runs riot.
Great trees of strange character rose out of the tangle, their branches
looped with giant cables and burdened with flowering orchids or half
hidden beneath other parasites. On every hand a vegetable warfare was
in progress--a struggle for existence in which the strong overbore the
weak--and every trunk was distorted by the scars of the battle. Birds
of bright plumage flashed in the glades, giant five-foot lizards
scuttled away into the marshes or stared down from the overhanging
branches. A vivid odor of growing, blooming herbage reached the
nostrils.
Just as Kirk had made up his mind that he could sit and watch this
brilliant panorama forever, the jungle suddenly fell away, and the car
sped up through low, grass-clad hills into a scattered city flung
against the side of a wide valley. There was no sign here of Latin
America; this was Yankeeland through and through. The houses, hundreds
upon hundreds of them, were of the typical Canal Zone architecture,
double-galleried and screened from foundation to eaves, and they
rambled over the undulating pasture land in a magnificent disregard of
distance. Smooth macadam roads wound back and forth, over which
government wagons rolled, drawn by sleek army mules; flower gardens
blazed forth in gorgeous colors; women and children, all clean and
white and American, were sitting upon the porches or playing in the
yards. Everywhere was a military neatness; the town was like the
officers' quarters of a fort, the whole place spick and span and neatly
groomed.
Colon had been surprisingly clean, but it was an unnatural cleanliness,
as if the municipality had been scrubbed against its will. Gatun was to
the manner born.
"Yonder are the locks." Cortlandt pointed to the west, and Kirk saw
below him an impressive array of pyramidal steel towers, from the
pinnacles of which stretched a spider's web of cables. Beneath this, he
had a glimpse of some great activity, but his view was quickly cut off
as the motor-car rumbled into a modern railway station.
"I'd like to have a. look at what's going on over yonder," he said.
"You will have time," Cortlandt answered. "Edith will show you about
while I run in on Colonel Bland."
Out through the station-shed Kirk's hostess led him, then across a
level sward, pausing at length upon the brink of a mighty chasm. It
took him a moment to grasp the sheer magnitude of the thing; then he
broke into his first real expression of wonder:
"Why, I had no idea--Really, this is tremendous."
At his feet the earth opened in a giant, man-made canon, running from
the valley above, through the low ridge and out below. Within it an
army was at work. Along the margins of the excavation ran steel tracks,
upon which were mounted the movable towers he had seen from a distance.
These tapering structures bore aloft long, tautly drawn wire cables,
spanning the gorge and supporting great buckets which soared at regular
intervals back and forth, bearing concrete for the work below. Up and
out of the depths tremendous walls were growing like the massive
ramparts of a mediaeval city; tremendous steel forms, braced and
trussed and reinforced to withstand the weight of the countless tons,
stood in regular patterns. In the floor of the chasm were mysterious
pits, black tunnel mouths, in and out of which men crept like ants. Far
across on the opposite lip of the hill, little electric trains sped to
and fro, apparently without the aid of human hands. Everywhere was a
steady, feverish activity.
From the commanding eminence where the sightseers stood the spectacle
was awe-inspiring; for though the whole vast work lay spread out
beneath them in what looked like a hopeless confusion, yet as their
eyes followed it a great and magic system became manifest. The whole
organism seemed animate with some slow, intricate intelligence. The
metal skips careening across those dizzy heights regulated their
courses to a hand's-breadth, deposited their burdens carefully, then
hurried back for more; the shuttle trains that dodged about so
feverishly, untended and unguided, performed each some vital function.
The great conglomerate body was dead, yet it pulsated with a life of
its own. Its effect of being governed by a single indwelling mind of
superhuman capacity was overpowering.
Kirk heard Mrs. Cortlandt explaining: "The ships will steam up from the
sea through the dredged channel you see over yonder, then they will be
raised to the level of the lake."
"What lake?"
"That valley"--she indicated the tropical plain between the hills,
wherein floating dredges were at work--"will be an inland sea. Those
forests will be under water."
"Where is the Gatun dam I've heard so much about?"
She pointed out a low, broad ridge or hog-back linking the hills
together.
"That is it. It doesn't look much like a dam, does it? But it is all
hand-made. Those are rock trains out there, from Culebra."
"Oh, now I understand. Gee whiz, but this job is a whopper! Say, this
is great!" Mrs. Cortlandt smiled. "It does wake up your patriotism,
doesn't it? I'm glad to have a hand in building it."
"Are you helping to dig this canal?" Anthony regarded the woman
curiously. She seemed very cool and well-dressed and independent for
one engaged in actual work.
"Of course! Even though I don't happen to run a steam-shovel."
"Will they really finish it? Won't something happen?"
"It is already dug. The rest is merely a matter of excavation and
concrete. The engineering difficulties have all been solved, and the
big human machine has been built up. What is more important, the
country is livable at last. Over at Ancon Hospital there is a quiet,
hard-working medical man who has made this thing possible. When the two
oceans are joined together, and the job is finished, his will be the
name most highly honored."
"It must be nice to do something worth while," Anthony mused, vaguely.
"To do anything," his companion observed, with a shade of meaning;
then: "It is amusing to look back on the old Spanish statement that it
would be impious to unite two oceans which the Creator of the world had
separated."
Noting that the sun was setting beyond the distant jungles and the
canon at his feet was filling with shadows, Kirk remarked, "It must be
nearly time they quit work."
"This work doesn't stop. When it grows dark the whole place is lit by
electricity, and the concrete continues to pour in just the same. It is
wonderful then--like the mouth of a volcano. Batteries of search-lights
play upon the men; the whole sky is like a furnace. You can see it for
miles. Now I think we had better go back to the car."
In spite of his bodily misery, that night ride impressed itself
strongly upon Anthony's mind. The black mystery of the jungles, the
half-suggested glimpses of river and hill, the towns that flashed past
in an incandescent blaze and were buried again in the velvet blackness,
the strange odors of a new land riotous in its time of growth, all
combined to excite his curiosity and desire for closer knowledge. And
then the crowning luxury of a bath, clean clothes, and a good meal on
white linen and china! As he dropped asleep that night he reflected
contentedly that, after all, things have a way of coming right in this
world for those who accept them cheerfully as they come.
X
A CHANGE OF PLAN