Jaime de Oteros forms Plans
If ever there were a rascal it was Jaime de Oteros, the Spaniard, who,
if his past history were but fully known, had left his own native
country, now many years ago, a fugitive from justice. Armed with
sufficient money to obtain an entrance into the United States of
America, he had quickly re-embarked upon the course he had been
following, and with the gang he had contrived to gather about him had
committed many burglaries. Then, the police being hot on his track, he
had left the country, and had begun operations again in southern
America.
"That is our information about the man," said the police major, as he
was discussing the matter with Phineas and Jim one Saturday evening,
when the latter was over at Gatun for the usual weekend stay. "The
rascal knew that the police in New York State were making anxious search
for him, and with his usual astuteness--for the man is astute without a
doubt, and is, indeed, well educated--he slipped away before the net
closed round him. Later we hear of him at various ports along the
Mexican Gulf, and then in the canal zone. Tom brings us news of great
importance."
The big negro stood before them, looking magnificent in his police
uniform, and with an air of authority about him which was entirely new,
and which caused Jim to struggle hard to hide his mirth; for he knew Tom
so well. Severity did not match well with the huge negro's jolly nature.
"I'se seed dis scum ob a man," he declared to them all, rolling his
eyes. "Yo tink Tom make one big mistake. Not 'tall; noding of de sort.
Me sartin sure. Him come out ob a house in Colon. Same man, but
different. No beard, face clean shaved; but scowl all de same. Tom know
de blackguard when he see um."
"But," said Phineas, "if you knew him why did you not arrest him? There
is a warrant out for his apprehension."
"And me try; but dat Spaniard dog quick, quicker'n Tom. Him slip back
into de house and clear out ob de back door. Not dere two second later,"
declared the negro. "And not dere agin when me and Sam go some hours
after. Not come all de time dat we hide up and watch. Him vanish into
thin air."
It was a pretty figure of speech for the negro, and brought a huge smile
to his jolly countenance. "Vanish right slick away into de mist," he
added, as if to give more weight to his words.
"And has not been seen by anyone else, before or since," said the Major,
his face become very serious. "But I believe Tom is right. Who else
could be the author of these many affairs along the line of canal
works?"
He looked closely at Phineas, and from him turned to Jim and then to
Tom. There was indecision on all the faces, though in the hearts of each
one there was not the smallest doubt that Jaime de Oteros was the
instigator, even if he did not actually carry out the work. The matter
was serious, very serious, without a doubt.
"It isn't as if there were one isolated case," said the Major. "There
have been many, and though so far the running away of spoil trains, the
upsetting of wagons, and so forth has not resulted in the killing of our
employees, it will do so, perhaps, next time, if we do not take steps to
put an end to such matters. The difficulty is to know where to begin. We
have men engaged in watching every mile of the track, but they do not
all know this ruffian, though we have circulated his photograph;
besides, he has altered his appearance. He is the most elusive criminal
I have ever had dealings with, and at the same time one of the boldest.
But a feeling of revenge cannot alone cause him to stay on here in the
canal zone, and risk arrest."
If only the Major could have known it, there was a good deal more than
the desire to pay off an old score to keep Jaime de Oteros in that
locality. The Spaniard had now put in at many a port along that part of
the world, and had discovered that the canal zone offered finer
opportunities to a man such as he was than any other place.
"Just because there's always money in plenty there," he told the four
companions he now had, for he had gathered two recruits to take the
place of those who had been lost on the launch. "It is like this, mates.
Here, on the canal, nearly every soul is at work during the hours of
daylight, and though the police have little to do, and therefore plenty
of time to watch for people such as us, yet the fact that there is so
little crime in the zone puts them off their guard. I'm tired of playing
off that score. Reckon I'm near even with the lot of them; but there's
still a little to do. There's that young fellow who ran the engine
aboard the launch, and who was the first to come upon our gang and split
it up. He's got to suffer."
He looked round at the ruffians assembled about him, and read approval
in their eyes.
"A grudge is a grudge," said one of them fiercely, dropping his hand to
the weapon he carried in his belt. "Where I came from an injury done was
never paid for till a knife thrust had been given. This young fellow
must suffer. How? What is the plan?"
Jaime shrugged his shoulders expressively, and shook his head. "That's
for the future," he said quickly. "I'm thinking it out. I've an idea, a
fine idea."
Into his eyes there came a savage flash which boded ill for our hero,
while the brows contracted and the lips slipped back from his sharp
teeth. At that moment Jaime de Oteros, in place of the polished,
smooth-spoken man he could pretend so well to be, was actually himself,
a villain who knew not the name of conscience, who would stop at
nothing, whose savage disposition was capable of carrying out any
atrocity. Then he smiled suddenly at his comrades, a crafty smile which
was meant to convey a great deal.
"Let it rest for the moment, this idea of mine," he said. "What we've
got to talk about is this cash. There's money due within a day or two,
money for the payment of the hands engaged on the canal. Well, we've
made one haul already; we can make another, and then clear for good.
This zone will be too hot to hold us once the work's finished. Now, let
me hear the report. A good general never enters upon an engagement
before he has made full arrangements to get clear off in case of things
going wrong. Well, things will go wrong here--not for us, but for the
officials. They'll be real mad, and will do all they know to follow. Let
me hear what has happened."
There was a snivel of delight on the face of the rascal who had formerly
spoken, and who now responded to his chief's invitation.
"I was to see what sort of a boat there was ready to put out from
Colon," he said. "I found one that was rather likely. The old pirate she
belongs to has been here all his life, and what he don't know of the
surroundings ain't worth knowing. He's ready to clear from the harbour,
with two of his sons and two others he'll hire, the instant we want him
to do so. Reckon it'll be nigh about sundown when the time for moving
comes."
Jaime nodded curtly. "About that," he agreed, "Well?"
"This old pirate likes fishing. He'll watch for a fire signal way up
over Gatun, and then he'll clear right off with his boat. Of course
he'll do it secretly, but not too secretly. People'll be allowed to
catch a glimpse of men getting aboard, and of the boat putting out.
She'll disappear."
"Ah!" Jaime rubbed his hands together, and then began to roll a
cigarette with the nimblest of fingers. A smile broke out over his face,
and for the moment the man looked almost handsome. "She'll disappear,"
he giggled. "Yes, where? I begin to follow the move."
"Where? That's for the police to decide. Ef they was to ask me at the
time I couldn't place a guess. But that old pirate knows a cove, quite
handy to Colon, where, once a man's lowered his topsail, he can lay hid
with his boat from all save those who care to come right into the cove.
Our man says he'll do a bit of fishing. He'll pass his time with that
and sleeping, while the police steam right on, searching for the boat
that left Colon so secretly. Ef they ain't bamboozled, wall, call me a
Dutchman."
There was a roar of merriment from the five ruffians. They lay back in
their chairs, and closed their eyes, as if thereby to help themselves to
imagine the spectacle of the Commission Police racing across the sea on
a wild-goose chase. Indeed it was one of the enjoyments of their
particular thieving profession to set the police at naught, and make
them look foolish by their own astuteness. And here was an astute plan.
"It licks creation," laughed Jaime, bringing a fist down with a crash on
to the table, and exposing a hand burned brown by the sun, and on the
fingers of which more than one ring glittered. "This old man of yours
will fool them nicely for us, and while the police are away on the sea,
we shall cut off in a different direction. That brings us to the second
report. You see I have to be very careful. Time was when I saw to all
these matters myself; but hereabouts I'm known, and badly wanted. In
spite of shaving off my beard I might easily be recognized, as by that
nigger. Gee! Ef he comes up agin me again I'll give him reasons to mind
his manners. Now, what about the horses?"
He turned to another of his comrades, to the second of the two new
recruits he had gathered to his band, and looked inquisitively at him.
The man was ready with his answer, and blurted it out eagerly, like a
schoolboy who longs to make his own voice heard before all others.
"Horses," said the fellow, a dusky South American, whose swarthy
features were deeply lined and pitted. "Trust me to pick the right sort
when they're wanted. You told me to seek mounts strong enough to carry
us across a rough country, and fix a rate to be paid for 'em. I went a
little better. There ain't many cattle in this place, so that one hasn't
to look far. But along over there," and he jerked his head over his left
shoulder, "there's a biggish farm, where there's a dozen mounts. We'll
want six, I guess, five for ourselves, and one for the dollars."
"Seven," corrected Jaime suddenly. "Seven, my comrade."
All looked at him curiously. Their chief was not wont to make mistakes,
but here it looked as if he were miscalculating. However, Jaime smiled
serenely back at them. "Seven horses without doubt," he said quietly,
blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips, and cutting it asunder with a
wave of his ringed fingers. "Precisely that number."
"I don't follow; six is the figure I put it at," came the answer.
"Unless----" and at the thought the rascal's face lit up with glee,
"unless you reckon the dollars'll be too many for one bag."
But the leader of the band shook his head, and smiled ambiguously.
"Seven horses will be required," he said slowly. "Tell us more of the
business. You arranged the payment?"
"I fixed the business in a different manner. I scouted round a little,
and soon found that, at nighttime, there were but one man and a woman
about the place. The stables are well away from the house, and easy to
get at. I fixed that there wouldn't be any payment."
There was a cunning expression about his face as he looked round at his
comrades, while the lines about his eyes were sunken deeper. Jaime
rewarded him with a loud "Bravo!" "You begin well with us, comrade," he
said eagerly. "The report is a good one. But one little matter occurs to
me: this farm is near the works, eh? It is connected by telephone?"
The other rascal at once relieved him of the doubt. "It lies packed away
in a hollow, just on the edge of the zone," he said. "The folks ain't
never seen a telephone."
"Then that matter is agreed upon. We can now begin to decide what each
one of us is to do. I'll tell you right now what I had intended. To call
away attention from the place where the money's banked we decided to
cause an upset pretty adjacent. Well, now, the Culebra cutting seemed to
be the most likely spot of all. I've been thinking and planning. A
ruction there could be heard way up and down the line, and would set
people running. The point was, how to cause that ruction."
There was more than passing interest on the faces of his followers. In
their opinion this leader of theirs was a fine fellow, a cunning man,
one whom it was an honour to follow. They awaited the details of his
plan with eagerness, not to say anxiety.
"And how did you fix it?" asked one of the men, proceeding to light his
cigarette by means of the candle burning before him. "Another train let
loose? A shot under the wheels of a passenger coach? A dozen diggers
sent scuttling?"
There was a snigger on his face, quickly copied by the others. Jaime
showed his pleasure by smiling broadly. After all, it was one of his
pleasures in life to have the praise and high opinion of his following.
He pulled at his cigarette thoughtfully, and then proceeded with his
plan.
"We've played too many of those games already," he said, with a short
laugh. "The officials of the canal are always on the lookout. But the
plan I fastened on to would have taken their breath away, if it didn't
manage to deprive some of them of the same for good and always. I'd been
watching those rock drills, and the powder men laying their shots. It
seemed to me that once the shots were wired, and connected to the firing
cables, a man had only to get to the firing-point and operate the
igniter. I got asking questions. I've done a bit on electricity works
before now, and I soon saw that the thing was possible. With a little
luck I could fire their shots for them."
The faces about him showed doubt and a lack of comprehension, for Jaime
was far more intelligent than any of the other members of his rascally
band. "What was the object of firing those shots?" they asked
themselves. But their leader soon explained the matter.
"It is like this," he said suavely, as if describing an everyday matter:
"the shots are laid ready for firing, and when the works are cleared the
man who operates the igniter gets to work and explodes them, one by one
or in batches, according to the wiring. Well, now, if the place is
cleared of workers, there's no damage done, though rocks and dirt fly
out in all directions. But if there was an accident--if, for instance, I
happened to meddle with the igniter before the works were
cleared--there'd be a tremendous ruction, and that's what we're
wanting."
The diabolical nature of his suggestion dawned only slowly upon the
minds of his following; but when it did so, when they fully comprehended
his meaning, their faces flushed with enthusiasm. Each of the five had
worked on the canal, and had seen those dynamite shots fired. Tons of
earth and rock spouted in all directions. That they had witnessed. To
remain in the neighbourhood meant certain death for many, injury for not
a few, and a commotion which the officials and workers had so far never
experienced. There was joy on their faces. They banged the table with
their fists, and stretched across to grasp the rascally palm of their
leader; but Jaime silenced them with uplifted hand.
"It sounded right, I grant," he said between the puffs of smoke; "but
there was a fly in the ointment. The igniter is kept under lock and key.
The place is guarded. These canny Americans know that those shots mean
danger, and they don't run risks. If I tried the game, the chances are I
should be disturbed or taken in the act of trying. So I wiped it out; I
started in to think out another plan, something noisy, something that
would draw all officials to the spot, away from the place where the
money is lying. And at last I fixed it. One of you men will change
places with a hand at Pedro Miguel, where they're building in their
foundations for one of the big locks at the end of the Culebra cutting.
You'll work with the rest till the whistles go at sundown, and then,
when the coast is clear, you'll sneak back to the workings. I'll give
you the rest of the plan later on; but you'll be the one to create a
most almighty ruction, you'll be the one to draw off every official, and
while they're busy we others'll get to work at the money. It'll be eight
o'clock before we can meet at this farm, and an hour later will take us
into the bush. Next morning we'll be right away in the swamps, with
friends about us, while the police will be following the old fellow, who
will put to sea the previous evening."
They sat in silence for a while, Jaime regarding each one of his band in
turn, scrutinizing their faces closely, as if seeking for something in
particular. Then he fastened upon one of them, and stretched across to
grip his hand.
"Juan is a brave man," he said impressively; "he will take the post of
which I have spoken. To him falls the honour of creating such a trouble
that those who go for the dollars may be able to take them easily. It is
a post worth the having."
The rascal greedily accepted it He was one of Jaime's old hands, and had
complete confidence in his chief. Moreover, he had now helped him in so
many risky operations that fear did not enter into his calculations.
Why should it, indeed, seeing that all others would be in ignorance? The
plot was being hatched in secrecy. None would know that anything was to
happen until the moment arrived. The hard-working officials of the canal
would be unable to recover from their astonishment before he and his
friends were gone. Juan drank deeply from the cup before him, and
replenished the vessel from a stone jar standing on the table.
"It is settled; whatever the plan, it is accomplished," he said with the
greatest assurance.
"Then we have merely to arrange the parts for the others. Miguel sees to
the horses. Our friend Alfonso, who made the arrangement with the
boatman, will be with Miguel, and will light a flare above Gatun at
seven in the evening, or sooner if he discovers that there is a
commotion. The two will then go to the farm, take the horses, and ride
towards Ancon. There is a spot at the bottom of a rocky hill, where the
road sweeps sharply round into the valley. My friends, we have all been
there before. It is there that we will meet when the work is finished.
Pedro and myself will take the money, then Pedro will carry it to the
horses. But I ought to have said that Alfonso and Miguel will not ride
towards Ancon with all the horses. They will leave three at the back of
Gatun, at a spot we can arrange upon. There Pedro will take the money
and load it on one of the horses. He will wait for me; I shall come, and
then we will ride to the place of meeting."
There were inquisitive glances thrown at the man by his comrades. The
question of the seventh horse again occurred to them. Jaime smiled when
he remarked their curiosity, and busily employed himself in rolling a
cigarette. It pleased him to watch his comrades as they endeavoured to
fathom his purpose.
"You ride to join Pedro after a while then?" queried the rascal Juan.
"What keeps you? Ah, I see it! A private grudge--that young fellow."
Jaime nodded easily, and smiled openly upon them all. "I have still some
work to accomplish," he said slowly. "You would not ask me to leave this
place allowing something to remain unfinished? Think for a moment. We
were comfortable and content here till that young dog pried into our
secrets. And what resulted? Three of us were arrested, and should have
been hanged perhaps by now had we not broken out of prison. Two of our
comrades were followed, and, though they were not killed, we have had
news that they were badly wounded. In addition, our game here was
spoiled for the time being. The officials locked their money up tighter
than ever, so that we had to move elsewhere in order to earn a living.
But that is all changed now; we are getting even with the fellows.
Already we have caused them much trouble, and now we will skin them of
every dollar, damage their works, and give this young dog such a lesson
that he will never interfere again. Good! It is fine to feel that the
day of reckoning has come at last. Juan, pass the bottle. With plans
like these to act upon a man requires a fillip."
Far into the night they sat discussing their rascally movements, and the
following day found all but Jaime abroad and active. That very
afternoon, in fact, Alfonso brought them information that a ship had
come into Colon bearing specie for the officials, money with which to
pay America's army of workmen.
"I watched it unloaded," said the rascal, glee on his face. "There were
boxes of silver and a huge mass of notes; for of course wages are paid
in paper. All the better for us, my friends. Paper is easy to carry, and
is still valuable. They can publish the numbers of the stolen notes as
much as they like, but still we can get value for them."
"And the destination of these boxes?" asked Jaime anxiously.
Alfonso told him with pride. He had followed the consignment, and had
seen it deposited at the door of one of the official offices. He had
seen it carried in, and drew a plan of the building.
"Then to-night," said Jaime, pulling at the inevitable cigarette. "Juan
has already gone across to Pedro Miguel. And you--you have made full
arrangements with the boatman?"
"Full and complete; there will be no hitch to-night," cried Alfonso,
banging the table.
A stranger happening to take rail at Colon on this day would have been
utterly astounded had he been informed that there was to be a commotion
that very evening. For the trip along the whole length of the Panama
Railway would have shown him armies of men and officials engaged
methodically with their work. The busy scene of smoking steam diggers,
of rock drills, and hustling spoil trains would have resolved itself
finally, when his eye was at last accustomed to the vastness of it all,
into a scene of order and method, into a gigantic undertaking which
occupied the wits and strength of all whom he saw. He would at last
have appreciated the fact that those vast works at Gatun, and between it
and Limon Bay, had a direct connection with that enormous cutting which
occupied the time of such an army of delvers at Culebra, though twenty
odd miles separated the two, and that throughout the length of the
Panama zone, stretching from north to south of the isthmus, the work
undertaken by any one man had some special relation to that appointed to
another. Moreover, that, in spite of distances, in spite of the fact
that the undertaking seemed to be progressing piecemeal at widely
separated intervals, yet each and every part was a portion of the whole,
a necessary portion, where the work in hand was conducted with a hustle
and method truly American, and with a swing which augured for success.
But of commotion there was not a sign. That traveller could not possibly
have guessed that the evening had a disaster in store for the people who
worked beneath his eye.
It was precisely half-past five on this special evening when a terrible
explosion shook every one of the wooden buildings at Ancon, and caused
the verandas at Gorgona to shake as if they would tumble. A vast flame
seemed to leap into the air, there came a thunderous report, that went
echoing down the Chagres valley, and then dust and debris obscured the
sky in the direction of Pedro Miguel. The serene face of this portion of
the zone, lit a second or so before by a wonderful moon, was obscured as
if by the work of a volcano.
Instantly men poured out from the Commission hotels, and stood in the
street of Ancon and the nearest settlement, asking what had happened.
"Guess it's the dynamite store gone off suddenly," cried one, his hands
deep in his pockets, a pipe in his mouth. "Hope none of the boys ain't
hurt, nor the works neither. It's been a bad blow-up anyway."
It was an hour later before details filtered through, then, all along
the line, it was learned that an attempt had been made to wreck the
foundation of the lock at Pedro Miguel.
"Another of them anarchistic attempts," growled one of the men. "Guess
this is too almighty queer fer anything. Here's spoil trains been sent
runnin' down from the cut, and the same with diggers. Sleepers and
suchlike laid on the rails in order to throw passenger trains off the
metals, fires, and what not. This is the limit."
"It's one of the most serious difficulties we have had to face, boys,"
said one of the canal officials, coming upon the group of men at that
moment. "I've just come along from the dock at Pedro Miguel, and there
isn't a doubt that some rascal endeavoured to blow the whole place to
pieces. It's Jim Partington's section, and he'd left everything safe and
sound. There wasn't a rock drill working there, and hasn't been this
three weeks past. Consequently there weren't any dynamite shots; but a
man was seen creeping down that way soon after sundown. Guess he'd fixed
to place his bomb right in the trench where the foundations are being
laid; but something went wrong with it. He was blown to pieces; there
were only scraps of him to be found."
There was a grunt of satisfaction at the news; the men felt that such a
fate was only just retribution.
"But what damage has been done, boss?" asked one of the men anxiously,
as if the success of the canal depended on the answer.
"None; in fact the explosion seems to have helped us. Young Jim
Partington tells me he was making a requisition for a rock drill this
coming week, as there was a heap of stuff to break down before the
diggers could get at it. Well, he's saved the trouble. That explosion
brought tons of stuff away, and now there's hardly need for a rock
drill. Of course you've got to remember that it's dark 'way over there,
and a man can't fix exactly what may have happened. But we made a quick,
and, I believe, thorough survey of the place, and I should say that I've
told you everything. This blessed cur who has been worrying us these
weeks past has come by his deserts at last."
There was, in fact, not the smallest doubt that the rascally plot of
Jaime and his followers had failed at the very beginning. Juan, who had
accepted the post of honour, had disappeared from the scene swiftly and
terribly. He had been hoist by his own petard, and, as the official had
stated, there was little left to show that he had actually existed.
But still there was Jaime to reckon with, Jaime de Oteros and his
fellows, and the reader need feel little surprise when he hears that,
later on in the evening, there was another disturbance. It was
discovered that the pay offices had been burgled, and that a vast sum of
money had been removed. Then came an urgent telephone message to Ancon.
The instrument at the club rang loudly and continuously, causing one of
the men to go to it instantly. Jim, who had just returned from an
inspection of his section, where the explosion had taken place, sat at a
table near at hand, and, though there was no reason why the telephone
should be calling him more than any other, he watched his comrade and
listened.
"What's that? Say, who are you?" he heard the man demand. Then he
suddenly looked over his shoulder, and if ever a man bore a startled
expression it was this one. "Say, Jim, there," he called out, "they're
ringing you from Gatun. It's Phineas Barton; there's trouble down there
as well."
Jim was beside him in a moment, the receiver to his ear; and at once he
recognized Phineas's voice, but strangely altered.
"Yes?" he asked as coolly as he could, though something set his heart
thumping. "It's Jim at this end."
"Then come right along without waitin'. We've trouble down this end.
Bring a shooter; I'll tell you about it when you arrive. The Police
Major is here waiting."
It was serious news, whatever it was, for Phineas's voice proved it. Jim
crammed his hat on to his head, raced back to his quarters and snatched
a mackintosh, a revolver, and a spare shirt, and then ran down to the
railway. He found a motor inspection car awaiting him, with a couple of
policemen in it, one of whom was Tomkins.
"You kin get along with it," said the latter curtly, addressing the
driver. "And we ain't nervous, so let her go as fast as you're able.
Jim, there's a regular upset from end to end of the zone, and I'm
beginning to get through with it. That explosion was a blind, meant to
occupy our attention while those rascals, for there's more than one of
'em, robbed the pay office. But that ain't all. They were up to some
other sort of mischief down Gatun way, and the Major 'phoned through to
us to come along that second. We were to bring you, too; so it seems
that you've something to do with the business."
Let the reader imagine how Jim fretted upon that quick journey. He
wondered why he should have been called, and how the matter could
specially interest him. A thousand ideas flashed through his busy mind,
and were banished as unsatisfactory. It was not until the motor raced
into Gatun, and he caught a glimpse of Phineas's face, that he realized
that the matter must be particularly serious. His friend took him by the
hand and held it.
"Jim," he said, and his voice broke ever so little, "those scoundrels
deserve hanging. We were right in thinking that Jaime de Oteros had to
do with the business, and I guess he'd made up his mind to get even with
you for finding the gang and getting it broken. He settled to blow up
your section, then he broke into the pay office, and last of all, to pay
you out properly, the ruffian slank down to my quarters. Sadie was
indoors, of course----"
Jim staggered backwards. He had never even thought of Sadie in
connection with this disaster. The fear that she had been injured,
perhaps killed, caused his cheek to pale even beneath the deep tan with
which it was covered.
"Get on," he said a moment later, pulling himself together with an
effort. "Sadie was indoors. Yes. That villain----"
"That villain had fixed to abduct her. We were all outside, watchin' for
another explosion. This Jaime, or one of his men, slipped in at the
back, seized the girl, and got clear off with her. Lad, it's a real bad
business."
Jim held to the rails of the station. His head swam; he felt giddy,
while the beating of his heart was almost painful. He was utterly
unmanned for the moment. He, Jim Partington, who had faced so many
dangers smiling, was utterly prostrated by the news imparted to him.
Then, like the brave fellow he was, he threw off the feeling of weakness
with a sharp shrug of his shoulders, and in a moment became his old
self, cool and self-possessed, as he asked shrewd questions shortly and
sharply.
"You will follow, of course?" he asked the Major.
"You can guess so. This time nothing shall turn me back."
"Then I can come?"
"Glad indeed to have you, my boy. We'll move the instant we get
information. I've men making enquiries down at the port, while your
negro, Sam, has gone off with a lantern. Better start on the right track
than start early. Let's get in and have some supper."
It was one of the most anxious meals Jim had ever attended. He was eager
to set out in search of his sister, but realized all the time that a
wrong start might be productive of great delay and failure.
"But Sam will hit their marks if anyone can," he told himself. "Then
I'll follow wherever the tracks lead. Sadie shall not stay in that man's
hands an instant longer than I can help it. And if I catch that Jaime
and his fellows----!"
His fingers came together; his two hands were clenched beneath the
table. At that precise moment good-natured Jim felt that he was capable
of anything.