SUSPENSE
Romana did not return to Mr. O'Hagan's house. He guessed that every
member of the household would be under suspicion; and though his part
with the Mollendists was not known, Pardo, if he came on the scene,
would not hesitate to trump up a charge against him. So he hung about
until nightfall, and then slipped into the town and took shelter with
Pedro Galdos, the agent who had dogged Pardo's messenger to San Juan.
Galdos was a strange illustration of the irony of circumstances in
Spanish America. At one time, under another name, he had been
sub-prefect of a provincial town; but he lost his office with a change
of government, and drifted into poverty. He now earned a scanty
livelihood by selling lottery tickets and doing any odd jobs that came
his way. No one in San Rosario had known him in his official career;
none would have suspected that the thin, shabby, down-at-heel old man
who haunted the street-corners, pestering folks to buy his grimy lottery
tickets, had formerly held a post of authority. As agent and spy of the
Mollendists he was quite trustworthy. Since his dismissal he was always
against the government; and his services were at the disposal of any
opponent of the present prefect, whether Mollendo or another.
He lived alone in a little two-roomed mud cottage at the east end of the
town. Here Romana sought a temporary lodging. Galdos already had some
news for him. Mr. O'Hagan had not been taken to the capital, but was
imprisoned in the town jail.
"I will tell you why, senor," said the old man. "The Prefect wishes to
manage things quietly. There is too much sunlight in San Juan! The
Senor Ingles has many friends and a few compatriots there, and they
would agitate if the thing were known. The Prefect's own party would be
uneasy, for it is no light matter to oppress an Ingles; the British
Government would say hard things at Lima, and the Prefect might find
himself in hot water. He is a hotheaded, reckless imbecile; but some of
his supporters are more prudent, and they would hesitate to provoke the
anger of the government. But here, in this out-of-the-way town, many
things can be done without making a noise. The Prefect has many
creatures who will do just as he bids them. He needs much money; his
troops are clamouring for arrears of pay, and he lacks arms and
ammunition for the campaign he is meditating against our party. The
Senor Ingles is known to be wealthy; that is his crime."
"What will the Prefect do with him?" asked Romana.
"Who knows?" replied Galdos with a shrug. "We shall see. There was
trouble at the hacienda to-day. When the Japanese workers heard that
the caballero was arrested, they marched to the house and threatened
mischief to the gendarmes. It was only the intervention of the senora
that prevented a fight. She pled with the people to go back to their
work for the senor's sake. The Inglesa is a clever woman. Where is the
boy?"
"He is in a safe place, where he will remain until we know what is to be
done. If the worst happens he must take refuge with Senor Mollendo until
we can convey him and his mother to Lima. I shall go back to him
to-morrow."
Meanwhile Tim had eaten his supper--a tin of beans which he found in the
cupboard--and made himself as snug as possible among the rugs in one of
the box beds. He was not frightened, but he would not have denied that
he felt miserable. For a long time he lay wakeful, wondering how far
the Prefect's tyranny might go, and taking a good deal of unnecessary
blame to himself for having wished for a motor-bicycle. The machine, of
course, was no more the cause of recent events than a ball of worsted is
the cause of a kitten's playfulness. Just as a kitten's native energy
makes the ball the occasion of leaps and gambols; so the Prefect had
seized on Tim's adventure with the gobernador as a pretext for squeezing
the gobernador himself, and for venting his spite on the man who would
not be squeezed.
Romana came back on the following afternoon. The news he brought was
not calculated to lighten Tim's heaviness. Mr. O'Hagan was closely
confined; gendarmes were flocking into the town, to overawe any who
might be disaffected, Romana supposed. He left again at dusk, begging
Tim to be patient.
Next day his information was even more serious. The Prefect had
arrived, accompanied by a number of officers, and it was rumoured that
the prisoner was to be tried by court-martial. The ordinary process of
law was evidently too slow for the dictator; it left, perhaps, too many
loopholes for escape. With a court composed of his own particular tools
he might depend on the proceedings being short and swift.
"But it is utterly illegal to try a civilian by court-martial in time of
peace," Tim protested.
"The Prefect makes his own law," said Romana. "He has proclaimed
martial law in the town."
"He means Father to be condemned; what will the sentence be? A big
fine?"
"Probably, with a term of imprisonment also," replied Romana. In his
heart of hearts he expected a much more terrible punishment. The
Prefect would not be satisfied with a fine, however large; nor with a
term of imprisonment, however long. Nor would he even stop at
confiscating Mr. O'Hagan's property, and let him go. There is only one
safe way in which tyranny can walk, and that is a road stained with
blood. But Romana did not impart his anticipations to Tim; there was no
need to wring his young heart before the time.
He durst not go into the town next day, but waited in the wood for
Galdos to bring him news of the trial. It confirmed his gloomiest
forebodings. Pardo was the principal witness against his master. He
repeated authentic fragments of Mr. O'Hagan's talk, which, harmless
enough in themselves, might be construed as treasonable by prejudiced
minds. He swore, falsely, that he had heard his master declare that he
would not pay the taxes, which were mere extortion. He declared that
the L250 which Mr. O'Hagan had sent to Mollendo was not a ransom, but a
contribution to the brigands' funds. Similar testimony was given by two
former servants of the prisoner. Mr. O'Hagan's denials were scouted. He
was not allowed to employ counsel, and in two hours the sorry farce was
over. He was found guilty, condemned to forfeit his estate and to be
shot in the plaza, three days later.
Romana shrank from conveying this heavy tidings to the boy awaiting his
return in the cavern. But there was no help for it. He walked back
slowly, and broke the news as gently as he could.
Tim was at first utterly overwhelmed. In his most despondent moments he
had never looked for anything so bad as this. When his stupor passed, he
cried out that he must go to his mother; that he would himself seek the
Prefect, and plead with him to annul the sentence; that he must and
would do something, he knew not what.
"It would be useless, senorito," said Romana sadly. "You would yourself
be arrested; you might suffer the same fate; then the gracious lady
would be doubly bereaved, left without a protector, and that would
embitter your father's last moments."
"But I can't sit still and do nothing," cried Tim, walking up and down
in his misery. "Suppose it were your father! Won't your Mollendists do
something? There's a lot of them; wouldn't Senor Mollendo lead them to
the town if I begged and prayed him?"
"He is not strong enough," answered Romana. "The town is full of
gendarmes. I don't know the caballero's plans, but he cannot alter them
for a foreigner."
"He will only send his men to pounce on solitary travellers like the
gobernador," said Tim bitterly.
"Remember, senorito, that he is himself outlawed, in hiding. The men
you saw in his camp are not numerous enough; they are ill-armed. There
are a crowd of gendarmes and several troops of mercenaries already in
the town, and another thousand men can be summoned from San Juan, and
would arrive within a few hours."
"But I could get our Japs to join. They would fight like demons for my
father."
"What arms have they?" said Romana patiently. "It is useless, senorito.
But there are three days. Perhaps the Prefect will think better of it.
No doubt he is uneasy at not having captured you; he will never feel
safe while you are at large; and he may delay the extreme step. We must
hope for the best."
As he became calmer Tim recognised the force of all that Romana had
said, and his own helplessness. He could but wait and hope.
Very early next morning they were standing near the mouth of the cavern.
Romana was about to go again into the wood a few miles nearer the town,
to receive any further information that Galdos might have for him.
"Ask him to go to my mother, and bring word how she is," Tim was saying.
"Look, senorito; what is that?" said Romana suddenly, pointing down the
track in the direction of the town. A mounted party of four was
approaching, too far off for the individuals of which it was composed to
be distinguished.
[Illustration: HORSEMEN ON THE TRACK]
"They are after me!" said Tim at once.
"Back, senorito!" cried Romana, drawing him behind the screen of
foliage, through which they peered anxiously at the advancing party.
"There is a lady!" said Romana presently. "They are riding very fast."
"Is it Mother?" said Tim. "I believe it is! And, Romana, look; I
believe it's Father too! Isn't it? Isn't it?"
"For Dios, senorito!" exclaimed Romana, "you are right! It is the senor
himself. He has escaped! Praise to our Lady and Sant Iago! Come! Let
us meet them."