There nestled their boat with no sign of having been visited during
their absence. Its prow was drawn well up the bank, and the sail
lay in a roll on the boom and at the foot of the single mast with
everything snug. Martella hastily examined every portion of the hull,
stepping into the water to do so, and finally said with a grin:
"None of them saw it."
"That is better fortune than I expected. Providence has been kind to
us, but where is _their_ boat, Martella?"
They listened for the blowing off of steam, but, save for the never
silent sounds from the forest and jungle, all was silent.
"It is not far away; General Yozarro made the landing above and passed
up the other trail to where it joins this one. It was lucky, for, had
he come here, as he did last night, he must have seen our boat. He
would have crippled it, and when he met the horse along the trail, he
would have known we were near. There is no need of undue haste, and if
you do not care, I will visit the gunboat."
"Are you not running great risk?"
"The only ones there are the engineer and two firemen; I have nothing
to fear from them."
"You have my permission."
The vegetation and foliage were so intricate that, instead of taking
the shorter distance, the native loped back over the trail to the
forking, and then went down the other to the river's edge. As he
expected, he found the tug lying against the shore. In a country where
wood is superabundant and coal almost unknown, the former was used
exclusively on the craft. A large quantity was always piled at the
front, some of the kinds belonging to the most valuable exports, with
such a close grain that it gave out as fervid heat as the mineral
itself. Instead of maintaining a high pressure of steam, the engineer
allowed it to sink. The return of General Yozarro was not looked for
under several hours, and with so much resinous wood at hand, the
furnace could be quickly fired up. It was a saving all round to let
the steam moderate, which explains why our friends heard nothing of
the craft sleeping less than thirty rods away.
Despite the confidence of Martella, he knew his venture was not wholly
free from risk, and in the face of his comradeship with the crew, it
was not unlikely that they would seek to win the good will of the
Dictator by delivering the deserter to him. If there were others
beside the engineer and firemen on board, it would be imprudent to the
last degree to entrust himself to them. He therefore spent
considerable time in reconnoitering.
Moving stealthily here and there, and peering out from the shadows, he
soon made out the form of a man seated on the gunwale at the front,
doubtless in quest of coolness. He was smoking a cigarette and
something in his appearance was so familiar that the deserter called,
in a guarded voice:
"Valentin, is that you?"
The man looked sharply around and removed the cigarette from between
his lips.
"Martella!" he replied in the same careful voice.
"Who else is on the boat?"
"Only Juarez and Dominguez."
He had mentioned the names of the two firemen.
"Is it safe for me to join you in a smoke?"
"For a little while only."
Martella came out in the moonlight, moved softly up the plank which
connected the boat with the shore, and seating himself beside his old
acquaintance, lit a cigarette. They talked for some minutes, as if no
cloud had come between them, and then the visitor, heeding the warning
of the engineer, bade him good bye and hurried back to his friends,
who were becoming impatient over his absence.
Major Starland and the others noted that the deserter was in high
spirits, but no one could understand why this should be the case.
"It is as I thought," said Martella; "the gunboat landed General
Yozarro and the officers who have gone to the Castle."
"We knew that before."
"And he did not dream of the presence of our boat so near. Things
would have been different had he known it."
"I may add, Martella, that that information is not new to us."
"But some things are new. The only ones on the boat are the engineer
and two firemen. There will be no trouble about it."
"Trouble about what?"
"Capturing the boat; the crew will make no resistance, for it is not
intended that they shall do any fighting. If they do, we can defeat
them easily."
"So you have a plan for capturing that old tug of General Yozarro?
What do you think of it, Captain?"
"It can be done with little trouble as Martella says. I was thinking
of the same thing while he was away. It would be a fine trick to play
on General Yozarro."
"And I should be glad to help, but it will not do."
"Why not?"
"Despite what General Yozarro said, the two republics are not at war.
If they were, the capture would make your fortune. As it is, it would
bring your ruin. General Bambos would be obliged not only to disavow
the act, but to punish you for the offence."
"I was thinking," said Martella, "that perhaps the Major would be
willing to take the responsibility."
"I admit that the temptation is strong, and, were not Miss Starland's
interests at stake, nothing would please me more than to capture that
wheezy tug and scuttle it, but it may bring unpleasant consequences to
her and therefore is not to be thought of."
Captain Guzman said these words were wise, and Martella was compelled
reluctantly to accept the situation, though it irked him. The sail of
the boat was hoisted, Miss Starland was given a seat at the stern, and
the men united to shove the craft into deeper water.
"There is little wind," observed the Captain, "but it is favoring and
we ought to be at Zalapata soon after daylight."
The two natives placed themselves at the bow, and the Major as usual,
took charge of the tiller, thus bringing himself close to his sister.
The wooded shore so blanketed the catboat, that Martella took up a
pole to push the craft out into the stream. Soon, enough impulse
caught the sail to give headway, and they moved slowly out toward the
middle of the river. Martella laid down the pole, and seated himself,
still grinning.
"Major, I have pleasing news for you," he chuckled.
"I am listening."
"The engineer gave my message to General Yozarro."
"He did! It is fortunate for you that you and he did not meet."
"More fortunate for _him_ than for _me_," was the significant comment.