The kidnappers were not a moment too soon. The sentry, dazed and
half-drowned, struggled from the muddy bottom of the lake just as the
yacht put off. Scrambling on to the jetty, he filled the air with his
cries. While Azito paddled the boat towards the canal, Will looked back
towards the house. Figures were pouring out, some in their night
attire, others pulling on their coats as they ran. The air rang with
their shouts. They all made for the jetty. One or two fired aimlessly;
the little vessel must now be invisible to them in the darkness, and
until they inquired of the sentry they would not know what had happened.
There were no other boats at the jetty, so that pursuit by water was
impossible, but Will wondered anxiously whether he could reach the
stream at the end of the canal before the men could gain it by running
along the banks. If they posted themselves on the banks of the narrow
canal, he would be at their mercy.
The boat was small. It would carry no more than two comfortably.
Overloaded as it now was--the General alone was no light weight--it
could not make anything like the speed of a man running. But it was
taking the diameter of the lake; the pursuers would have to run round
the circumference: and Will remembered that when they reached the canal
they would find their course checked by the vegetation, the banks having
been allowed to return to their primitive wildness. This would give the
boat a little time.
It entered the canal from the lake. The shouts of the men drew nearer.
They came from both sides. General Carabano cried out continually. The
gag was lost, and Will had nothing at hand with which to silence him.
Azito plied his paddle desperately, and Machado, as anxious now as Will
himself to escape, seized a second paddle and helped to propel the boat.
Had Ruggles brought the hydroplane to the end of the canal? What would
happen if he was not there? The pursuers were probably numbered by
hundreds, and even if they fired at random across the stream, so many
could hardly fail to hit one or other of the occupants of the boat. Will
peered anxiously into the darkness. If Ruggles had come, surely he must
have heard the noise. Then why had he made no sign? Had the hydroplane
broken down? All at once from down the canal came the throb of the
engine. Will looked over the bow of the boat. He could just see, on
the faintly shimmering surface of the water, a dark shape approaching.
"Ruggles!" he shouted.
"Ahoy!" came the reply. "Look out, Mr. Pentelow, I'm stern foremost."
"Good man! Catch the painter when I throw it. Don't come any farther."
Azito was paddling more slowly now, fearful of dashing into the
hydroplane in the darkness. The shouts of the pursuers sounded nearer
than ever: Will heard the men crashing through the undergrowth,
regardless of snakes, as of all the dangers that beset the unwary by
night in tropical jungle. The boat came to a stop within a yard of the
hydroplane. Will flung the painter on board: Ruggles seized it and
instantly started the motor. At the same moment a shot rang out from
the right; another on the left; then there was a fusilade, and Will
heard the bullets splashing into the water and singing through the air.
The pace of the vessel was quickening; but Ruggles could not drive the
hydroplane at speed, for though he was able to steer safely between the
banks of the canal, it was so short, and the stream beyond so narrow,
that there was a danger of running the vessel against the farther bank
if he went too fast. But the speed was great enough to shake off the
pursuers, and in another minute the hydroplane swept round the corner of
the canal, her head turned in the direction of the tributary of the
Orinoco.
"Go on slowly," cried Will to Ruggles. "They won't dare to pursue us
now. We are safe till the morning."
"Will you come aboard?" asked Ruggles.
"Not at present. I have got a prisoner."
"Machado?"
"He has been my right-hand man." He was speaking in English, so that
Machado did not understand him.
"You don't say so! Who's your prisoner, then?"
"His Excellency the Liberator of Venezuela, General Carabano."
"By gosh! this beats cock-fighting. How on earth did you do it?"
"I'll tell you all by and by. It's the greatest piece of luck. We'll
hold him as hostage for the Chief and O'Connor."
"Did you find out where they are?"
"At the General's own hacienda, Las Piedras, fifty miles up-country."
"In any danger?"
"Not now. He was going to shoot them to-morrow--to-day, I should say.
But nobody will touch them while we have the General in our hands. We've
smashed this revolution, Ruggles."
"Don't hallo till we're out of the wood, as the Chief would say. They'll
come after us in the morning."
"We'll be out of their reach. We can go faster as soon as we reach the
tributary--but not too fast, for goodness' sake: we don't want to strike
a snag. At ten miles an hour we shall be at the junction by the time
it's light, and then we shall have a straight run to Bolivar."
"But suppose they run to the junction by train and get there before us?"
"I hadn't thought of that. What a fool I am! That would be the end of
us. We shall have to go pretty fast after all. Not yet; this stream's
dangerous. It's lucky we haven't far to go before we get to the
tributary."
"Look out!" cried Ruggles. "I've just got a whack in the eye from a
branch."
His warning came too late. The yacht stopped with a jerk as its mast
came into contact with an overhanging mass of foliage. The light pole
snapped and fell into the bottom; at the same time the painter broke.
"It doesn't matter, luckily," said Will. "We can drift down-stream.
When it begins to get light we'll all board the hydroplane, though it
will be a tight fit. Have you got a match?"
"Not one. Why?"
"I wanted to see the time. We ought to get into the tributary by about
half-past one. There's plenty of time."
General Carabano had been very quiet since the boat left the jetty. But
while Will talked to Ruggles, he had been speaking in a low tone to
Machado.
"You shall rue this, Senor Machado," he said fiercely.
"Excellency, I am not to blame."
"You expect me to believe that? Could these villains have committed
this outrage upon me without your help?"
"They stole into the house, Excellency----"
"What were you about?"
"I was at my instrument, according to your instructions, Excellency.
They came in when I was taking the telegram to you."
"That is a lie," said Azito, with a grunt.
"What do you say, dog?" demanded the General.
"I say nothing," replied the Indian. "This man lies: that is all I
say."
"You will tell me the truth, Senor Machado. You played the traitor to
the Englishmen; if you have also played the traitor to me I vow you
shall pay for it."
Machado hesitated. On the one hand the General was a prisoner, on his
way to Ciudad Bolivar, where unsuccessful revolutionist leaders usually
had short shrift. So far as appearances went, he had nothing to fear.
On the other hand, prisoners sometimes escaped; it had occurred to him,
as it had to Ruggles, that a train might be sent in pursuit: it might
reach the junction first. General Carabano at large would be a foe
whose revenge it would be wise to shun.
"I will tell you the whole truth, Excellency," he said. "I was asleep
in my chair: a click would have awakened me. These villains stole upon
me, threatened me with death, and forced me to invent the telegram to
decoy you from your room."
"It was false?" cried the General.
"Every word of it, Excellency."
The General gave a gasp of relief. One of his bitterest reflections had
been that he had lost 60,000 pesos. Then his anger blazed against
Machado.
"You are a cur as well as a traitor, I see," he said. "A man of any
courage would have defied these wretches. If I had my hands free I
would whip you like a dog."
"It is easy to talk like that," said Machado, stung by the General's
contemptuous tone. "Would you have done otherwise with a pistol at your
head? At least our lives are safe, and I may yet do you a service."
"How?"
"Captain Espejo will certainly send a train in pursuit, Excellency. Even
now I doubt not the engine is getting up steam. The hydroplane cannot
go fast in the dark. The train will be first at the junction. We shall
be rescued."
"That will be Captain Espejo's service, not yours."
"But we shall be taken on board the hydroplane, Excellency. The painter
is broken; they cannot tow us, or if they can, they will not wish so to
check their speed. Suppose I am able to damage the engine, Excellency?"
he whispered, so that Azito could not hear him. "Then their chance of
outstripping the train is gone."
"Could you do it?"
"I could try, Excellency. Such engines are very delicate; a trifle puts
them out of order; and we shall have several hours."
"Do it, Senor Machado," whispered the General eagerly; "and when I make
myself President you shall be--yes, you shall be my postmaster-general.
Say no more: the Englishman has stopped talking."
Hydroplane and yacht drifted down on the slow current through the
darkness. Now and then one or the other would run aground, which caused
delay, but no danger, the speed being so low. None of the party knew
what hour of the night it was when they came into the tributary, the
scene of Will's first meeting with Azito. It was, in fact, nearly two
o'clock--time to transfer the prisoner to the hydroplane and increase
the speed. Ruggles threw out the little anchor, to allow the yacht to
draw alongside.
"There are six of us. We can never all squeeze into the hydroplane," he
said, when Will was only a foot or two away. "General Carabano will
take room for two."
"I'm afraid you're right," replied Will. "We shall have to make a
hawser out of the halyards, and tow as before. It will put more work on
the engine, but I think it can stand it, and if we can get to the
narrows safely we shall be all right."
"Won't it take longer to plane?"
"It won't be safe to plane at all, but that won't matter. The current
is with us."
"Have you got enough petrol?"
"Yes, I bought some in Bolivar. I came up very slowly, so as not to use
too much, and there should be enough to carry us to Bolivar, or at least
to the broken culvert, especially as we needn't go fast when we are past
the junction."
"That's all right, then. My notion is that I had better board the yacht
and look after the General. You will want Azito to pole, and you had
better have Machado with you. I wish I had a pistol: it might come
handy."
"I've got a spare one: took it from Machado's room. Here you are. Your
plan's all right. We must take care that the hawser is firmly fixed."
"All right. I'll keep my eye on the General. He shan't slip his bonds,
and won't want to: he could only escape by swimming, and I guess he's
too scared of caymans to try that."
The transfers were soon affected. Machado exchanged a meaning glance
with the General as he left him. The General for the first time made a
formal protest.
"I warn you," he said to Ruggles as that worthy stepped to his side.
"You have committed an unpardonable atrocity in laying violent hands on
the Liberator of Venezuela. I demand that you set me ashore at the
earliest possible moment, otherwise you will have a heavy reckoning to
pay when I establish my authority."
"Don't you worry, General," said Ruggles consolingly. "You wanted to
get into Bolivar, I understand. Well, we'll take you there, free of
charge. Couldn't be a fairer offer."
The General muttered an oath and relapsed into silence.
The hawser having been made fast, Will started the motor and set the
hydroplane going at a speed of about ten miles an hour. To go faster
while it was still dark was unwise: he hoped also unnecessary. Azito
stood forward with his pole: Jose was at the engine with his oil-can;
Machado, to his disappointment, was given a seat beside Will at the
steering-wheel. In that position he was unable to interfere with the
machinery. But he still hoped that an opportunity might offer before
the night was over.
It was more than fifty miles by river to the junction. Will had
pondered his task as the yacht drifted down the smaller stream, and
recognized the dangers. First, there was the navigation of the river in
the darkness; but the danger of this might be avoided with Azito's care,
and by maintaining only a moderate speed. The second danger was that
Captain Espejo might run a train to the narrowest part of the river some
forty miles away, where the bank was fairly clear of vegetation and the
railway line was near the stream. That spot would be reached about
dawn. If the enemy got there first and lined the bank, they could
riddle the hydroplane with bullets, and a single well-planted shot would
cripple the engine, to say nothing of the risks to which the occupants
of the vessel would be exposed. The third danger was that Captain
Espejo might run the train beyond the narrows to the junction. At this
part of its course the river made a wide bend, while the railway ran
fairly straight; so that if the hydroplane got safely past the narrows
there was still a possibility of the train outstripping it before the
junction was reached. But the train, consisting as it must do of heavy
goods wagons, could not approach without noise, which would give warning
of the necessity of increasing speed. Nor did Will suppose that the
Captain would venture to drive the train at full speed in pitch darkness
over a new track, in which there were many awkward curves before it
reached the straight run to the junction. On the whole, Will felt
fairly easy in mind, and since the safety of the hydroplane was
all-important, he contented himself with the moderate speed of ten
knots.
The voyage had been in progress little more than an hour when Azito
suddenly turned round, and said--
"I hear a train, senor."
Will instantly stopped the engine. While it throbbed he could hear
nothing else. The hydroplane drifted silently on the current. From the
far distance, on the right bank, came the characteristic rumble of a
heavy train--a sound impossible to mistake. Ruggles heard it at the
same moment.
"We must cut and run for it now," he said, "and no mistake."
"Yes, and we must have the General aboard. It will be a near thing at
the best. We must make room for him somehow."
As he said this he backed the vessel to allow the yacht to come
alongside. Then he gave the wheel to Jose, turning to help Ruggles to
lift the General on board. Machado thought his chance was come. He
took up the light anchor, as though to throw it over and hold the vessel
while the transfer was made. He really intended to dash it into the
machinery. But just as he was on the point of hurling it, Azito sprang
at him and brought his pole down with tremendous force on his forearm.
He dropped the anchor with a howl of pain. At the same moment the
General was hauled over the side and laid just in front of the engine.
Ruggles cast off the hawser and stowed himself near Jose; Will returned
to his seat; and opening the throttle little by little he set the
hydroplane going, at ten, fifteen, and finally twenty knots. The extra
weight she carried depressed her in the water, and more power than usual
was necessary before she would plane.
Will had heard Machado's cry, but was too intent upon his task to pay
any heed to it. He knew full well the frightful risks he was running in
pressing the engine so hard in the darkness, but there was no
alternative. He must reach the junction before the train. Alarmed at
the speed, Ruggles suggested that it would be better to lie up until the
morning, but Will would not hear of it.
"We couldn't get past them. It's neck or nothing," he said shortly.
The vessel whizzed along. The rumble of the train seemed to draw no
nearer. Azito stood forward, but the pace was so great that in the
darkness it was tremendously difficult to give the course. Suddenly
there was a jolt and a jar. Azito shot forward on to the wind-screen;
those who were seated were jostled violently against one another, and
Will narrowly escaped a collision with the steering-wheel. After the
momentary jerk the hydroplane rushed on, but only for a few seconds.
Then the engine stopped dead, and the vessel was once more drifting at
three knots down the stream.