AT THE MISSION
Half an hour after the boat pulled away, Marston and Wyndham mounted the
horses Larrinaga had sent. The mission was some distance off, but
breakfast would not be served until about eleven o'clock and they rode
slowly up the hill behind the town. Two soldiers followed thirty or
forty yards in the rear, but Marston had found out that they knew no
English. Wyndham was quiet and preoccupied.
"The horses are the best I've seen, and I suppose Don Ramon's sending an
escort is something of a compliment," Marston said presently. "We are
going to the mission like honored guests; I don't know about our coming
back. Yet we must get back to-night."
"We calculated the tug would sail with the lighters to-morrow after dark
and we need twenty-four hours' start," Wyndham replied. "It ought to be
enough, if the breeze is strong; landing the troops will be a long job.
However, we must not be late."
Marston agreed. Larrinaga was using every precaution to keep the
dispatch of the expedition secret, and no doubt hoped to surprise the
Bat. If they were too late, they might be captured with him. If,
however, they brought him warning long enough beforehand, he might make
a stubborn defense, and this would involve them in fresh entanglements.
"I'd feel happier if I knew the President's plans for to-day," Marston
resumed.
"So would I," said Wyndham, smiling. "I imagine they will, to some
extent, depend on the line we take. On the whole, his object for sending
for us is plain; he wants to keep us away from the port as long as
possible."
"If he thought we were spying for the Bat, he might lock us up."
"I think not. He would then have to inform the consul and state the
grounds for our arrest. All the same, if he's not satisfied, he may tax
us with cheating the customs or something of the kind and keep us until
the tug has sailed. In the meantime, perhaps it's lucky we are not about
the port, because I think Peters won't offer his help to the Government
until he has seen us. If Larrinaga knew what Peters knows, we wouldn't
reach the lagoon."
"I expect that is so," said Marston gloomily. "Well, it will be a big
relief when all this intrigue is done with and we leave the coast for
good."
For the most part they were silent until they reached the mission. The
building was old and falling to ruin, but it had a touch of stateliness,
for its foundations were laid when the Spanish conquerors were
influenced by the austere beauty of Moorish art. The front was pierced
by Saracenic arches that led to a cloistered walk on one side of the
patio, from which an outside stair went up to the officers' rooms. The
rest of the building was plainer and was now used for a barracks. Palms
grew round the square in front and in the background dusky forest rolled
back to the mountains that cut the sky. Two or three companies of
_cazadores_ were drawn up in the square.
The President and Larrinaga received their guests at the central arch,
where chairs had been put in the shade. There was another gentleman,
whom Wyndham imagined belonged to the President's cabinet, and he
thought the minister quietly studied him and Marston. It was possible
Senor Villar had joined the party with this object. If so, it looked as
if the others had not yet decided if they were dangerous or not.
"Now you have arrived, we will go on with the drill," the President
remarked. "Afterwards, Senor Marston will tell us what he thinks about
my soldiers."
"My opinion is not worth much; I am a sailor," Marston replied with some
awkwardness, because he thought the President was amused.
"You are modest," the latter rejoined. "Well, we cannot ask what you
think about our fleet. Our gunboat, the _Campeador_, has stranded, and
this only leaves us the tug."
"I have seen the tug," said Marston, and stopping for a moment, went on:
"A very fine boat! She looks powerful and ought to steam fast."
Wyndham wondered whether the others had noted Marston's pause. It was
not long and perhaps his frank admission would satisfy them.
"Let us try to turn kilometers into what you call knots," said the
President. "It is a complicated sum; you must help me, Don Ramon."
"About twelve knots," Wyndham interposed when they began the
calculation. "However, you must not indulge my comrade by letting him
talk about ships. We came to see the soldiers."
The President signed to an officer, who shouted, and the _cazadores_
wheeled and formed on a new front. The bands and muzzles of their rifles
sparkled in the searching light and dust rolled about them as they
moved. They were little, wiry men, and although they did not drill
remarkably well and their white uniforms were not clean, Wyndham noted
that their rifles were good. Moreover, their equipment was up to date
and new.
The officer, shouting savagely, kept the men moving about, and when at
length he dismissed them came back, hot and sprinkled by dust, with a
look of disgust. Wyndham, allowing something for the German character,
thought the disgust was rather marked.
"Then you are not satisfied yet?" the President asked.
"They are your Excellency's subjects," the other replied with a shrug.
"I do my best, but we do not make much progress. Perhaps, with extra
drill for two or three months----"
The President laughed. "One must use patience, and in this country one
goes slowly. Besides, I do not know if speed is needed." He turned to
Wyndham. "Now we will leave you to Don Arnoldo for a few minutes. I
promised Senor Villar I would examine the quartermaster's books. There
are people who grumble about our military extravagance."
He went off with the others and the officer sat down. Wyndham imagined
him a soldier of fortune whose main object was to earn his pay. For all
that, it looked as if he had been given a part in the plot and had
played up well.
"I expect you find drilling these fellows a tiresome job," Marston said
in English.
"It is so," the other agreed. "The President is too ambitious; I think
he wastes his money. His people have no military feeling; they are
stupid individualists and one cannot give them mass-consciousness. One
might make them brigands, but not soldiers. Yet I think they would
fight, and after all, the best school for soldiers is war."
"You don't want a war for the sake of drilling your men!" Marston
exclaimed, and the officer laughed.
"In my country, we are no longer sentimentalists and I do not pretend to
be humanitarian. In the meantime, there is no war, and I am satisfied to
draw my pay. Playing with soldiers is expensive, and some of the people
grumble, but so far the pay is regular. When it stops I give up my
post."
Soon afterwards, the President came back and breakfast was served behind
the pillars. For a time he talked to Marston about the soldiers and then
remarked: "I understand you do not stop long."
"Our business is nearly finished and we expect to sail very soon,"
Wyndham replied. "Now our visit to the coast is over, I feel there is
much for which we must thank you and Don Ramon."
"We hope your visit has been prosperous enough to bring you back,"
Villar interposed. "You paid us some duties. All foreigners are not so
honest."
"I expect foreigners are something of a nuisance. It is strange, but
when one goes abroad one feels justified in breaking rules."
Villar smiled. "This is illogical. Have you broken our rules?"
"Not many; my partner is scrupulous, and if I have given way to
temptation, it was not from greediness."
"Then what persuaded you?"
"Perhaps it was British impatience with other people's regulations. In a
way, we are rather an arrogant lot, and it flatters our self-importance
to know that if we do get into trouble our Consuls will probably save us
from the punishment we deserve. You cannot lock up a drunken British
sailor without inquiries being made. Don Arnoldo's people are proud of
their army, but our fleet is ubiquitous."
"Senor Wyndham is frank, although I doubt if he is just to himself," the
President remarked with a twinkle. "I will confess it is sometimes hard
to bear with foreigners philosophically, but we make the effort. My
country is poor and we need the trade and money they bring. If we do not
always love them, we make allowances." He paused and gave Wyndham a
thoughtful glance. "There is, however, one thing about which we are
firm; no stranger must meddle with our politics. It is our Monroe
doctrine and is sternly enforced."
"A good rule," Wyndham agreed. "After all, your people do not need much
help from strangers; they have some talent for political intrigue. How
many antagonistic parties have you just now?"
"Six," said the President dryly. "They hate each other, but to gain an
advantage all will combine against my Government. Moreover, in this
country, the vote is not the only way of marking one's disapproval. But
we will let this go. You will stop with us to-night and Don Ramon will
give you some shooting when the evening gets cool."
Wyndham thought quickly. He had expected something like this and it was
obvious that much depended on his reply.
"We ought to go back," he said, with pretended hesitation. "You see, we
want to sail as soon as the wind is fair and must get water and stores
on board. It might, however, help if you would let us leave port at
night. The land-breeze would carry us some distance off the coast before
it dropped when the sun got up."
"Very well," said Larrinaga. "I will send the port-captain orders, and
if you tell him when you want to sail he will let you go."
Wyndham allowed himself to be persuaded, and soon afterwards the
President went off and Larrinaga took them to a shady room. He said
dinner would be served at four o'clock and then they would go to a lake
and shoot. When he left them Marston looked at Wyndham.
"Why did you agree to stop?"
"I did not think there was much use in refusing. Their urging us to stop
was an experiment. If I had insisted on going, they'd have known why."
"Then, d'you imagine they'd keep us by force?" asked Marston.
"It's possible. I studied the President when I made my boast about our
British citizenship. He stated they would allow no meddling with their
politics, and he meant this. Anyhow, if I'd shown him his suspicions
were well-grounded, he would have found a plausible excuse for keeping
_Columbine_ in port."
"All the same, we have got to get away," said Marston in a resolute
voice.
Wyndham nodded. "That's plain. Well, if we go to bed soon after shooting
and are lucky, they won't miss us until somebody brings our early
breakfast. I don't know if we can get the horses. Now I'm going to
sleep."
He got into a hammock and Marston lay down in a long chair. They had
been strenuously occupied all night and did not expect much rest the
next. Nobody would bother them until dinner, and although they were
disturbed and anxious they went to sleep.
After dinner Larrinaga took them to a lake, where they shot some ducks.
The President was occupied when they returned at dark, and for a time
they sat on the arcade, playing cards. The cards were Spanish and
Marston could not remember their value and the rules of the game.
Mosquitoes hovered about them, the night was gloomy and very hot.
Something in the still air made one strangely languid. Moreover, he was
tired and anxious, and he did not feel much relief when Villar put the
cards away and they began to talk.
Marston suspected the others' remarks were not as careless as they
looked and might lead him to some awkward statements. It was like
fencing with a clever antagonist when all one could do was to stand
clumsily on guard. For the most part, he left the talk to Wyndham, and
although Harry played up well, Marston thought the effort was difficult.
He wondered whether their companions saw this. There was one comfort; in
the tropics, people got up early and he imagined their hosts would not
sit very long.
At length Larrinaga pushed back his chair. "Time goes and my duties
begin at sunrise. Then I think you would like to make an early start?"
Wyndham said they must get off as soon as possible, and Larrinaga
nodded.
"Don Arnoldo will give the necessary orders about the horses. They
belong to the soldiers and nobody else is allowed about the stable. I
believe he posts a guard at night. The Germans are like that, and the
mission is now under military rule. It has drawbacks, but the army is
the President's hobby and we submit."
The officer laughed and said the horses would be ready soon after
daybreak, and when the others went off Marston and Wyndham climbed the
outside stairs to their room.
"Looks as if they meant to keep us. Don Ramon's hint was plain," Marston
observed.
"It's lucky white men don't walk much in this country," Wyndham replied.
"A _pasear_ round the plaza while the band plays is about all the
exercise people take, and I don't imagine anybody above the rank of a
_peon_ has ever walked from the mission to the port. In fact, it's very
possible Don Ramon hasn't calculated that we might set off on foot." He
paused and went to the window. "The night's dark but very calm. A noise
would carry; we must wait for some time."