The Camera Chap stared at the girl with as much incredulity written on
his face as if she had just told him that she had been present when
Columbus landed in the New World. “You have seen him!” he exclaimed.
“Surely you can’t mean that you have been inside El Torro?”
“Yes, I do!” the girl declared, smiling slightly at the effect her
announcement had upon him. “I mean just that. I have been inside El
Torro, and I have seen President Felix.”
“When was this?” Hawley demanded.
“Several months ago. I saw him only once--and then only for one brief
second. Since then I have been trying my hardest to get in there again,
but I haven’t been able to manage it.”
“How did you manage it that time?” the Camera Chap inquired, his manner
still slightly incredulous, although he did not intend it to be so. “I
shouldn’t imagine that it was an easy thing, even once.”
Virginia hesitated. She was debating with herself as to whether this
prepossessing, frank-looking young man from her own country could
safely be taken into her confidence. “I feel that I can trust you, Mr.
Hawley,” she said suddenly. “If I didn’t I shouldn’t tell you what I
am going to tell you now. For if it were to become known to others the
consequences might be serious.”
She glanced around her in all directions, and even when she had
ascertained that there was nobody within earshot, lowered her voice
almost to a whisper. “There is a certain young man of my acquaintance,”
she began, “who is an officer in the Baracoan army. His name is
Reyes--Captain Ernesto Reyes. You must promise me to forget that name
as soon as you have heard the story, Mr. Hawley.”
“I have forgotten it already,” the Camera Chap assured her.
The girl smiled. “I met him at an embassy ball, about a year ago, and
we became very good friends. He was attached to El Torro and had charge
of the prison guard. It was through him that I was able to visit the
prison.”
“He permitted you to enter the prison?”
“Yes; he smuggled me in there. He was running a great risk, of course.”
“So I should imagine,” said the Camera Chap. “He must be very fond
of--President Felix,” he added dryly.
Virginia blushed. “No; I’m sorry to say that isn’t the case. If it
were so it would make things so much easier for us. It wasn’t out of
any consideration for President Felix that Captain Reyes allowed me to
visit his prison. It--there were other reasons. Captain Reyes is far
from being a Felix sympathizer. On the contrary, he has a deadly grudge
against him. I guess that is why Portiforo has put him in charge of El
Torro prison; he knows that there is no chance of Felix being allowed
to escape while he is in charge.”
Hawley frowned. “Why is he so bitter toward Felix?” he inquired.
“He has cause, I must admit,” the girl explained, her face clouding.
“Captain Reyes’ father was a colonel in the Baracoan army when Mr.
Felix first became president. He was caught conspiring against the
government, and Felix ordered him to be shot. I don’t know anything
about the merits of the case, but, right or wrong, I suppose it is only
natural that the son should hate the man who signed his father’s death
warrant.”
Hawley nodded. “But if he feels that way about it, whatever could have
possessed him to consent to your communicating with the prisoner?” he
exclaimed.
Virginia’s blue eyes twinkled. “He didn’t consent to any such thing,”
she said demurely. “He didn’t have any idea that I desired to see
President Felix, or that I had the slightest interest in him. He
supposed that my anxiety to inspect the dungeons was prompted solely by
morbid curiosity.”
“Still, I can’t understand his being so rash as to let you in there,”
said Hawley.
The girl’s face dimpled. “He couldn’t help himself; I called his
bluff,” she announced, laughing apologetically at her own frank use of
American slang.
“His bluff?”
“Like most of his countrymen, Captain Reyes has the habit of indulging
in very extravagant language when he is talking to women,” Miss
Throgmorton explained naïvely. “One evening when he was at our house he
was assuring me, with his hand on his heart, of his readiness to lay
down his life for me, and I laughed at his protestations and told him
that in my native land that brand of talk was known as ‘hot air.’ He
urged me to put him to the test, and, after pretending to consider for
a while, I told him that I wouldn’t ask him to risk his life, but that
if he really wanted to show that he was willing to take chances for my
sake, he could do so by taking me on a tour of inspection through El
Torro prison.”
Hawley chuckled. “Clever work! You knew, then, that President Felix was
there?”
“I had heard the rumor, and I thought it was a good chance to find out
whether it was true. I could see that poor Captain Reyes was startled
by my request. He protested that it was against the rules to admit
visitors to El Torro. He begged me to put him to some other test. But
I insisted that it must be that or nothing. I taunted him with being
afraid to take a chance, and at last I got the poor man so worked up
that he gritted his teeth and said that he would do it, no matter what
the consequences might be.”
“Good for him!” said Hawley. “He must be a pretty plucky chap.”
“He is no coward,” said the girl soberly. “I hated to demand such a
sacrifice of him; for although I didn’t let him know it, I realized
that I was making him do something which, if he had been caught, would
have meant the ruin of his career--and, perhaps, worse. But it was for
a good cause, and I considered myself justified. Anyway,” she added
brightly, “thank goodness, nothing like that happened.”
“He got away with it, all right?”
“Evidently; for that was several months ago, and he is still in command
of the prison guard; which wouldn’t be the case, of course, if even a
hint of my visit to El Torro had reached the ears of Portiforo.”
“So he is still in charge of the prison guard!” murmured the Camera
Chap, inwardly resolving to make the acquaintance of Captain Ernesto
Reyes at the earliest possible opportunity. “Do you mean to say that
he took you all over the prison--even to the cell in which they’ve got
Felix locked up?” he continued wonderingly. “Surely it would have been
an easy matter for him to avoid showing you that particular cell.”
The girl laughed. “He didn’t find it so easy. He did attempt to hurry
me past that cell, but, to borrow your own expression, he couldn’t get
away with it. I peeped through the hole in the panel before he had a
chance to stop me.”
“The hole in the panel?”
“They have put sheets of tin over the bars of President Felix’s dungeon
to prevent anybody in the corridor from getting a glimpse of him,”
the girl explained. “But the tin had rusted, and there was a tiny
hole in one corner which evidently had escaped the attention of the
prison officials. It was through this hole that I got my peep at the
unfortunate man.”
“How did you know he was in there?” the Camera Chap queried.
“I didn’t know, of course. I merely guessed it. As soon as I saw that
covered door it flashed through my mind that it would most likely
be the place where they would have him. And Captain Reyes’ manner
confirmed my suspicions. When I inquired of him why the door of this
cell was covered with sheets of tin instead of being grilled like
all the other doors on that gloomy corridor, he became perceptibly
nervous. He explained that the cell was unoccupied, and was used as a
storage room; but while he was talking I heard the sound of somebody
coughing behind that screened door, and I knew that he had lied to me.
Captain Reyes heard it, too, but evidently he was in hopes that it had
escaped my ears, for he tried to hurry me away by telling me that he
had something exceedingly interesting to show me in another part of the
prison. But I broke away from him and stepped close up to the door. It
was then that I discovered the tiny peephole which the rust had eaten
in one part of the tin, and before he could stop me I had put my eye to
it.”
“And you saw?” The Camera Chap’s voice was tense with eagerness.
Virginia shuddered slightly. “I saw a man seated at a rough wooden
table reading a book. Just at that moment he happened to look up, and
I got a good view of his face. He had changed terribly since I had
last seen him. His hair was snowy white, his face was pitifully thin,
and looked as if it didn’t have a drop of blood in it. His eyes were
sunken. But it was President Felix; I am absolutely positive of that.”
The Camera Chap’s face was grim. “You say that he was reading. Was his
cell light enough for that?”
“Oh, yes; there was plenty of light, and air, too. I must say in
justice to Portiforo that he has made his prisoner as comfortable as
possible under the circumstances. The dungeon is much bigger than the
other cells, and there is a large window, barred, of course, which
commands a view of the sea.”
Hawley’s face lighted up with excitement. “I rather like the idea of
that window!” he murmured, as if to himself. “Our friend Portiforo is
much more accommodating than I dared hope.”
Guessing what was in his mind, Virginia shook her head. “I’m afraid
you won’t be so optimistic when I tell you that there is a sentinel
on guard every hour of the night and day outside of that window,” she
said. “You couldn’t possibly get to him in that way.”
Hawley received the announcement cheerfully. “I expected that,” he
informed her. “I didn’t suppose for a minute, you know, that Portiforo
would be so careless as to leave the window unguarded. Still, it’s
easier to tackle the problem of a flesh-and-blood sentry than an
inanimate stone wall. But go on with your story, please. What happened
after you took that peep at Felix? Captain Reyes saw what you were up
to, of course?”
The girl smiled. “Of course; and the change that came over him was
truly startling. His face went white with rage, and his voice trembled
as he accused me of being a spy, and of having tricked him. I was
actually afraid at first that he was going to order poor little
me arrested and put in irons. It was a great relief to me when he
apologized.”
Hawley smiled. “You made him apologize?”
Virginia nodded, and her blue eyes twinkled. “When he was through with
his violent outburst,” she said demurely, “I decided that it was my
turn to become indignant. I told him haughtily that I didn’t see why he
should make such a fuss just because my curiosity had got the best of
me. I complained tearfully that I was sorry now that I had consented
to come to his horrid old prison, and that I had been through jails
in my own country, which I found much more interesting. I guess my
words and my manner must have satisfied him at length that I had not
recognized the prisoner, for, after he had asked me a few questions, he
suddenly became very remorseful for his rough treatment, and begged me
to forgive him. Later on, when we were good friends again, I inquired
of him carelessly as to the identity of the man I had seen in that
cell, and he informed me glibly that he was a political agitator named
Pedro Velasquez, who had been in captivity for the past fifteen years.
He was even ingenious enough to tell me that the poor fellow had gone
out of his mind, and had hallucinations that he was President Felix. I
smiled at this and replied that there certainly wasn’t much resemblance
between the prisoner and President Felix as I remembered him, which was
literally true.”
The Camera Chap bestowed upon her a look of frank admiration. “You’re a
wonder, Miss Throgmorton!” he declared impulsively. “I don’t know any
girl who could have handled the situation more cleverly. I suppose,” he
added anxiously, “you told your father of your discovery?”
Miss Throgmorton shook her head. “No; I decided that it wouldn’t do
to tell dad a word about it. He thinks so highly of Portiforo that I
felt sure that he would only laugh at my story, and tell me that my
imagination had got the best of me. Besides, I had to consider Captain
Reyes. I was afraid that if I told my father of my visit to the prison
he might mention the matter to President Portiforo, and thus get
Captain Reyes into trouble. I haven’t confided my secret to anybody
except yourself and Señora Felix. By the way!” she exclaimed. “Speaking
of the señora reminds me that I have a message for you from her. She
told me to assure you that she has the greatest confidence in your
ability and discretion, but she wishes to urge upon you the necessity
of being most careful. On no account must you attempt to see her at her
father’s house. The place is watched by spies all the time. If for any
reason you should wish to communicate with her, she suggests that it be
done through me.”
The Camera Chap bowed. “A very sensible arrangement,” he said, “and one
that is eminently satisfactory to me.”
The girl laughed, and her color deepened. “I think we’d better be
getting back,” she suggested. “The parade must be over, for people are
beginning to come into the park.”
As they stepped outside the Botanical Gardens they encountered Gale.
That young man frowned at the sight of them. “Why, here you are!” he
exclaimed reproachfully. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I thought
you promised to wait for me outside the Hotel Nacional.”
“We got tired of watching the parade, so we thought we’d walk around a
bit,” Hawley replied. “Did you get the information you wanted about the
attempted assassination of Portiforo?” he inquired quizzically.
Gale nodded. “I found out the fellow’s name and business,” he replied.
“That’s all I needed. It’s a peach of a story. I’m going to put it on
the wire in a little while. Would you like to send it to your paper,
too, old man?”
Hawley smiled. He knew from past experiences that when Gale offered
to share a story with a rival newspaper, it was never out of motives
of altruism, but because the story was so much the product of his
imagination that it gave him a greater sense of security to have his
statements backed up by another sheet. “No, thanks,” he said dryly.
“I guess I won’t touch it. I’m a snapshotter, and sending stories is
somewhat out of my line. Besides, I’m on my vacation, so why should I
work?”
Gale looked at him searchingly. “Of course, you wouldn’t think of
working on your vacation, would you?” he rejoined, with an ironical
smile.
When, a few minutes later, the Camera Chap took his leave, the _News_
man turned eagerly to Virginia. “Did he happen to drop you any hint of
what he’s doing in Baracoa, Miss Throgmorton?” he inquired.
The girl’s blue eyes opened wide in childlike wonder. “A hint?” she
said innocently. “Why didn’t he tell us outright that he’s spending his
vacation here?”
Gale smiled sapiently. “Vacation or no vacation, that fellow didn’t
come here to study the scenery!” he declared. “He is here for a
purpose, and before I’m many days older I’m going to find out what it
is.”