"It was done purposely!" added the American, placing his hand on his
revolver. Glancing up from where he stood, the head and shoulders of
Captain Ortega were in fair sight through the lowered slide at the
front of the pilot house. He made no attempt to elude the bullet that
he must have expected.
But prudence told the American to wait. The services of the other were
too valuable for the time to be thrown away, even though the man was
under suspicion. Besides, there was one chance in a hundred that the
mishap was unintentional.
Hardly had the motion of the boat ceased, when the double clinking of
the gong in the engine room sounded, accompanied by the jangling of
the bell, which called upon the engineer to reverse instantly at full
speed. The water at the stern was threshed into muddy foam, but the
craft did not slide off the incline up which it had partly glided.
"Give her full head!" called Major Starland.
"We are doing so, Senor!" replied the placid Captain.
"Your life depends on getting the boat off."
The other made no reply, but with the hand on the pulse of his
patient, as may be said, he noted all the symptoms. He was seen to
turn and look in the direction of the catboat, as if he expected
something from that. He was not disappointed.
General Yozarro and his friends were quick to note the mishap that had
befallen the tug and they headed their craft toward it. They meant to
board, and, despite the bravery of the defenders they were quite
certain to succeed, since, as has been shown, the "house was divided
against itself."
The American dashed to the stern, calling upon Guzman to follow. It
took them but a moment to turn the muzzle of the gun so that it bore
directly upon the catboat.
"If you come any nearer, I'll blow you out of water!"
Then the Major added a bit of information which perhaps was
superfluous:
"We Americans always hit what we aim at."
General Yozarro saw that it would never do. He was heard to speak
sharply to the man at the tiller, and the small boat immediately
veered off. Daring as some of the inmates might be, they had not the
courage to advance straight against the throat of a gaping
six-pounder.
"Martella, take charge of the other gun!" called the Major to the
deserter, who, as quick as himself to note the danger, had stepped
to the side of the second piece of ordnance. The two half-circles
commanded by these included the whole horizon, a fact which General
Yozarro and his comrades were not likely to forget.
It would seem that it was impossible for Captain Ortega, with the aid
of the engineer, to effect any change in the position of the tugboat,
while it stuck to the submerged bank, like a bull ramming its head
against a stone wall. Instead of staying motionless the stern swung
slowly to the right and then to the left, as if trying to wriggle its
nose out of the mud. This caused the muzzle of the cannon to wabble,
sometimes being directed straight at the sailboat, and sometimes to
one side of it. But the gun was so easily shifted that the American
could readily perfect the aim whenever he chose, and that would be
done the instant the enemy tried to run in upon him.
There was a fighting chance for the Atlamalcans. They were so near
that by fiddling back and forth they might by a sudden dash close in.
Most likely, had the wind been strong they would have tried this, but
the breeze remained so soft that quick action was impossible. The
situation was so critical that Major Starland warned the others of
what was certain to follow an attempt to board.
"General Yozarro, I hold a repeating rifle in my hand; you are in
clear view; just before firing the cannon, I shall shoot you, and when
I pull trigger, you'll drop!"
The Dictator was on his feet about to summon the others to surrender,
with threats of the consequences that would follow a refusal. The
words of the American threw him into a panic and in his haste to
scramble back, he tumbled over the man directly behind him, not
ceasing his frantic efforts till he was cowering at the stern.
The laugh of the American was heard, before he called out:
"I'll pick you out, no matter where you are in the boat, but I sha'n't
fire till you try to run in on us. We'll rake you fore and aft, and if
you don't believe what I say, all you have to do is to test me."
The General could be heard consulting with his officers. Evidently the
counsels were divided and some favored making the rush, despite its
danger, for, as has been shown, not all of them were poltroons, but
that awful threat of the American had done what it was intended to
do. Had General Yozarro followed his own promptings, he would have
withdrawn, but he lacked the courage to do that, and in his dilemma
tried diplomacy.
"Major Starland, I have naught against you, though you have stolen my
property, but I have the right to demand that you surrender the
deserter with you. Do that, and we will trouble you no more."
"You are not troubling me in the least; I'm enjoying this, though it
doesn't seem to give you much amusement. However, you may as well save
your words regarding the noble Martella, who has served us so well. He
has cast his fate with us and I consider him worth a thousand such as
you."
There was really no call for the General to keep up the conversation
and he subsided. The action of the current steadily bore his boat
forward, but the helmsman shied off toward the northern bank, and bye
and bye, was farther down stream than the tug. Either one or the other
of the six-pounders carefully followed the relative change of
position, and an eighth of a mile below the smaller craft glided out
of sight around a sweeping bend in the river.
All this time the screw of the tugboat was viciously churning, but the
prow held fast. Once or twice a trembling of the hull seemed to show a
partial lessening of the hold, but nothing more.
The danger of boarding having passed for the time, Major Starland
returned to the cabin to speak to his sister. She had understood
everything that had taken place and needed no cheering. Then he
rejoined Captain Guzman and Martella at the front.
"We are free of the General for awhile."
"But there is no saying for how long," remarked the Captain.
"What do you think he means to do?"
"I cannot guess, unless it is to keep on to Zalapata and to appeal to
General Bambos."
"Which is likely to be bad for you, Captain, unless Bambos is anxious
after all to go to war, as he pretended the other day."
"I think," said Martella, "he means to get more men and attack the
boat."
"But where will he get the men from? He is a long way from Atlamalco."
"Yet not very far from _Castillo Descanso_, where he has quite a force
as you know."
"That will take many hours and we shall not stay here forever."
"There is no saying how long it will be."
"I must have a few words with the Captain."
Major Starland immediately left the lower deck and climbed to the
pilot house, where the executive of the tugboat, having nothing
pressing on his hands, had sat down on the stool placed there for his
convenience and was smoking another cigarette. Looking around, as he
heard the footsteps, he touched his forefinger to his hat and said:
"_Buenas noches_, Senor! We are still fast."
"That cannot be disputed."