What a beastly cad de Costa was. Riding behind him, two hours ago, I
thought he meant mischief, and now I knew that he'd only been waiting
till Gerald's men were safely outside the city again. I really don't
know whether he had heard of Gerald's wound, and knew that I was only
his brother or not, but if he had heard of it, I hated him all the
more--the miserable ungrateful coward!
Presently the carriage stopped outside a big house, and Zorilla took me
in through the courtyard. It turned out to be his own house, and Dr.
Robson, Ginger, and Bob were there.
'How's Gerald?' I sang out, and gave a whoop of joy when Dr. Robson
said, 'We found several holes to stitch up, I don't think we missed any,
so I hope he'll do well.'
He stopped me making an ass of myself, 'Your brother is upstairs, you
can't see him yet.'
Fancy Zorilla having taken him to his own house! Wasn't that just what
you'd have expected of the dear old man?
I was so brimming over with anger about the warrant that, for a second
or two, I had an insane idea of riding off to those barracks and
bringing back Gerald's men, seizing the palace and the President, and
proclaiming Gerald Dictator. I'm certain that if only I'd known a few
words of Spanish I could have done it.
I don't know whether Zorilla guessed what I was thinking about, but I
caught him watching my face, smiling very grimly, and then he said,
'Inglese Minister com',' and took me away in his carriage.
We found him, and Zorilla evidently explained what had happened, for he
said, 'Don't bother your head about your brother; if Zorilla won't
execute the warrant, no one else will, and no one will dare to disturb
him while he's in the General's house.'
He drove back with us, and then the two of them went away to the palace
and had a pretty stormy interview with the President, leaving me to
potter about with Bob and Ginger till it was possible to see old Gerald.
They came back again before I was allowed to go into his room.
'We reduced him to pulp,' the British Minister said; 'he caved in
immediately, and apologised to both of us. Zorilla threatened to bring
in the insurgent troops and his own regulars and make him a prisoner if
he didn't immediately cancel the warrant and re-appoint your brother
Commander-in-Chief. He was petrified with funk and wriggled out of it
like the ungainly toad he is.'
Then Dr. Robson called out that Gerald was asking for me, so I went
softly upstairs into a big bedroom, where he lay, his face very puffy,
with a nun on each side of his bed, looking after him. They dropped
their eyes as I bowed. Jose was crouched in a corner gleaming at me
like a faithful dog.
'I _am_ so glad,' was all I could say, as I gripped Gerald's hand under
the clothes.
'Everything go off well?' he asked.
'Yes, grand! the cheers for you made more noise than anything else.'
'De Costa will be getting jealous,' he smiled feebly. 'How did my chaps
behave?'
'Had a little trouble getting them out of the city again,' I told him;
'but I went with them, and as soon as they smelt the grub in the
barracks, they bolted for it.'