The hydroplane was now on the broad bosom of the Orinoco, floating down
with the tide. Will thought it time to stop for a meal.
"We'll run into the bank, and Azito can cook us some yuca," he said.
"A glass of beer, just one, would satisfy me," said Ruggles. "But,
bless us! you've got blood on your cheek."
"So I have!" cried Will, brushing his hand over it. "Any one else
hurt?"
There was no answer, but looking round, he noticed that Azito's right
arm hung limp at his side. As soon as the vessel was beached, he
examined the wound.
"You're a plucky fellow," he said. "Do you know that your arm's
broken?"
"It's nothing, senor," replied the Indian simply.
"Isn't it? We'll see what the surgeon says when we get to Bolivar.
Ruggles, you can do most things: can you make a bandage?"
"I've washed and dressed a week-old baby," said Ruggles, "and there's a
bit of bandaging in that."
"Well, see what you can do for Azito. Jose must bake our bread, and I
think we might release our prisoners now, don't you?"
"You won't let the General go, surely?" said Ruggles.
"Not I. But we can untie him now. He must be pretty uncomfortable."
The two prisoners were released from their bonds. They looked very
woebegone. Machado began to protest.
"You said no harm should come to me if I did your bidding, senor," he
said. "This is how an Englishman keeps his word!"
"You haven't much to complain of," said Will bluntly. "Many a man would
have shot you for your treachery."
"But you will not take me to Ciudad Bolivar?" said the man, beginning to
whine. "They will shoot me there."
"And you would deserve it. But since it was by your help that I secured
the person of your General, I'll see what I can do for you. Perhaps they
won't trouble about you when they have the arch-rebel in their hands."
Then General Carabano thought it time to say a word.
"You have no right to meddle in the affairs of Venezuela, senor," he
said. "My cause is a good one: I have half the country at my back:
and----"
"We won't go into that, General," interrupted Will. "You ventured to
meddle with the servants of a Company protected by the laws of your
State. You have got the worst of it, and that's all there is to be
said."
"Not all, senor," said the General, changing his tone. "You forget that
your friends are still in captivity, and be sure that if any harm befall
me, my adherents will exact retribution."
"I doubt whether you have any adherents now," replied Will. "At any
rate you will go with us to Ciudad Bolivar."
"If you release me, senor, I will undertake that your friends shall
rejoin you in three days, and your Company shall be no further
molested."
"Sorry I can't oblige you, General. You can't repay my Company for
their loss of business: you can't repair the railway line that your
adherents have smashed up. The less said the better, I think."
The General glared at him, but seeing that there was no hope of his
relenting he held his peace.
After a meal, Will started the hydroplane, and ran down the river at a
speed of about fifteen knots.
"What about the Chief and Jerry O'Connor?" said Ruggles, sitting at his
side.
"I'm rather bothered about them," replied Will, "though it wouldn't do
to let the General think so. They're out of reach, and we can't get at
them easily. But I hope they won't come to any harm. It is quite clear
we can do nothing at present. We can't go across country while Espejo
and his crew are still at large. Perhaps the Government will do
something for them in return for our capture of Carabano: that's my
hope."
Suddenly there was a loud splash. Looking round, Will saw that the
General had flung himself overboard. No doubt he expected to meet the
fate of rebels when he came into the President's hands, and preferred to
seek his own death. Will instantly stopped the engine and sprang into
the river. For a few moments the General did not reappear, and Will
feared that he had gone to the bottom; but swimming along, he caught
sight of the woolly head emerging a few yards away, and three or four
swift strokes brought them together. The General fought stubbornly
until Will in desperation called Ruggles to his assistance. Between them
they managed to haul their prisoner to the vessel, by which time he was
almost unconscious. Again his hands and feet were bound, and Will set
the engine going at a higher speed.
It was near dusk when they came in sight of the white cathedral tower of
Ciudad Bolivar. Soon after they entered the narrow part of the river.
There was the row of black rocks rising out of the water near the right
bank. There was the Piedra del Medio--the large rock rearing itself in
the middle of the stream. And there at last was the stone quay, not
deserted, as it had been at his last visit to the city, but now thronged
with idlers watching the progress of the strange vessel about which
their curiosity had long been unsatisfied.
Will steered the hydroplane alongside the quay, and sprang out. Ruggles
untied the bonds about the General's feet, and together they lifted him
on to the quay. The onlookers were at first silent in sheer amazement;
then the cry arose that the rebel General had been brought a prisoner to
the city. Each taking an arm, Will and Ruggles marched the General
along the Calle de Coco.
"What about Machado?" said Ruggles a few seconds after they had started.
"We'll let him go," answered Will. "I fancy he has had a lesson. He'll
keep out of the way of the authorities, and after what has happened
he'll beware of the rebels. Perhaps he'll try to earn an honest
living."
Followed along the street by an ever-growing crowd, mocking and jeering
at the General, they came at length to the Town Hall. The Jefe was
beyond measure amazed and delighted when he saw his prisoner.
"The President shall hear of this at once, senor," he said, shaking Will
warmly by the hand. "It is you, senor, that are the Liberator of
Venezuela, and your name will be honoured in the annals of my country.
You must tell me at leisure how you succeeded in capturing this
notorious enemy of the State. I will at once issue invitations for a
banquet."
"Pardon me, Excellency; as you perceive, I am not presentable."
The rough life of the past few days and his immersion had indeed given
him a disreputable appearance.
"That is a trifle, senor," said the Jefe. "My own tailor shall provide
you with garments within an hour or two. The whole city will be eager
to hear your story, and I cannot be denied."
Will accepted his fate philosophically. The General was put into safe
quarters in the city jail: a telegram was immediately sent to the
President at Caracas, telling him the news and asking for instructions:
and then the Jefe himself took Will to his tailor's, and gave orders
that he should be becomingly arrayed. He would have done the same for
Ruggles; but that worthy, at the first mention of a banquet, had quietly
slipped away. He told Will next day that he couldn't trust himself at
such a festivity.
"You see, they wouldn't have beer," he said, "and wine would bowl me
over in no time. Besides, their champagne is filthy stuff."
There is no need to relate what happened at the Jefe's hospitable table.
Will was the hero of the hour, and supremely uncomfortable. It was very
late before the party broke up, and it is a regrettable fact that the
Jefe, when he took Will home as his guest for the night, talked a great
deal of nonsense.
"Ah!" said Ruggles, when Will hinted at this next day, "there's nothing
keeps a man so safe as having two pounds a week and no more."
In the morning an order came from the President that General Carabano
should be immediately sent to Caracas. He gave at the same time a
cordial invitation to Senor Pentelow to visit him. This Will promptly
and gratefully declined by telegraph. He had had a conversation with
the Jefe. It appeared that a few days before, scouts had reported that
Colonel Orellana's force had broken up. No doubt news of General
Carabano's abduction had reached them, and they recognized that the
revolution had fizzled out. Being relieved of further anxiety on this
score, the Jefe readily acceded to Will's request that he would send a
small force by steamer up the Orinoco, in order to effect the release of
the prisoners. General Carabano's hacienda was about a hundred miles
from the junction, and remote from the railway. It could best be
reached by ascending the tributary until it ceased to be navigable, a
few miles beyond De Mello's hacienda, and then by riding across country.
The journey would be too hazardous for Will and Ruggles to attempt alone
while Captain Espejo still had any force at command; but a small party
under Colonel Blanco could no doubt easily dispose of them, and then the
way would be open.
Accordingly a steamer left Bolivar at ten o'clock, carrying Colonel
Blanco and fifty well-armed men, together with the two Englishmen and
their native helpers. Will had not forgotten to have Azito's arm
properly attended to by a surgeon, nor to buy a good supply of petrol.
The hydroplane was towed. With some difficulty Will had persuaded the
doctor to accompany the expedition in order to assist the men who had
been injured when the train was thrown off the rails. The doctor was
doubtful of getting his fees.
At the junction Colonel Blanco disembarked with Will and some of his
officers to view the scene of the smash. Engine and trucks lay, of
course, where they had fallen, with broken rifles and other evidences of
the catastrophe. Steaming along the river again, they came to a halt
where there was no longer sufficient draught for the vessel, and marched
over the few miles to the hacienda. Here they found all the rooms
occupied by a score of injured men, attended only by Indians. They had
been brought in a few hours before, after a terrible night in the woods.
Captain Espejo was one of the most seriously injured, as was only to be
expected from his perilous position on the cab of the engine. All the
men who were able to ride had decamped. Colonel Blanco was much
interested in seeing the hole in the stable wall by which Will had
escaped, and the room where General Carabano was captured.
Next morning Will and Ruggles set off on horseback with a dozen of the
Colonel's men, under Azito's guidance, for the General's hacienda. It
was a long and fatiguing journey, through woods, across streams, now on
bare rock, now in swamp whose squelching ground covered the horses'
fetlocks. When they arrived at the precipice where Ruggles had escaped,
nothing would satisfy him but to halt and scratch his initials on the
cliff.
"Just like a tripper," said Will, laughing.
"Well, as your name is to be written in full in the State records, you
won't grudge me my simple initials on the rock," replied Ruggles. "And
I shouldn't wonder if they last longer."
They had ridden but a few miles farther when Azito pointed to the right,
and declared that he had seen three horsemen coming towards them.
Nobody else could distinguish the figures. Colonel Blanco decided to
halt in a clump of trees until the strangers came up. Will thought they
might bring news of the prisoners, or that two of them might be the
prisoners themselves; but Azito said they were coming from the wrong
direction.
In twenty minutes the three riders came clearly into view. Then Will
saw that one of them was Antonio de Mello. The others were strangers to
him. He went out to meet them.
"Hallo, old chap!" said De Mello. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to pay a visit to General Carabano's hacienda."
De Mello laughed.
"What is this I hear about the Liberator?" he said. "My Indians--I have
had spies at my place all along--told me that he was abducted in the
middle of the night. Is it true?"
"Perfectly," said Will. "Your place is just now a hospital."
"What! Has there been a fight?" asked De Mello, grimacing.
"No: a smash on the line. I suppose you are on your way there?"
"Yes. With Carabano gone I thought I might venture back to my own, and
two friends accompanied me to see fair play." He introduced the
strangers. "But why are you going to the General's house?"
"To release a couple of friends of mine. Didn't your Indian tell you
what happened to us?"
"They told me a great deal that I didn't believe. What's the truth of
the matter?"
"It's a long story, and if you don't mind I'll keep it till I get back.
Colonel Blanco is waiting in the wood yonder, and we want to get to Las
Piedras before night."
"Colonel Blanco! The revolution is broken, then?"
"Smashed."
"That's good news. I hope they haven't damaged my stables."
"No, your stables are all right," said Will with a laugh, wondering at
his friend's strange lack of patriotism. "No Englishman," he thought,
"would think first of his stables." Was he right?
Having been introduced to Colonel Blanco, De Mello rode on with his
friends towards his hacienda. The others resumed their journey in the
opposite direction.
It was getting dark when they reached General Carabano's estate. The
house was lit up. Passing the window of the dining-room, and looking
in, they saw the Chief and O'Connor seated at table with half-a-dozen
Venezuelans. They were talking cheerfully, and seemed to be in the best
of spirits. Hearing the jingle of bridles, the whole party started up
and came to the window. The Venezuelans looked alarmed.
"How are you, Chief?" Will called through the window.
"It's the boy!" cried Mr. Jackson. "It's all right, O'Connor. Come in,
Pentelow; you'll find the door open. Who've you got with you?"
"Colonel Blanco, of the State army."
He entered the house with Ruggles and the Colonel.
"You don't look much like prisoners," said Will, laughing.
"Prisoners? We're gentlemen at large. We've heard all about it. A
messenger came up the day after the General disappeared, and we guessed
you were at the bottom of it. These gentlemen here offered to escort us
to Bolivar, but it's two hundred miles and a trying journey; and as
we're living on the fat of the land and having a better time than we've
had for months, we decided to stay here until we got word of you."
"But I don't understand," said Will. "Aren't these gentlemen
revolutionists?"
"No longer, my boy. They threw over the General at once, and are now
the loyalest citizens of the Republic. That's revolution in Venezuela."
Colonel Blanco was chatting very amiably to the Venezuelans. It was all
very amazing to Will, whose knowledge of the revolutions of history
included recollections of bitter enmity, murderous passions,
proscriptions, massacres.
He told the whole story, to which his friends listened with as much
amusement as surprise. O'Connor sighed because he had not been with
Will in the race with the train, but the Chief looked grave when he
heard of the smash on the line.
"We'll get no compensation," he said. "However, all's well that ends
well. We shall no doubt get the line finished before the next
revolution."
Next day they all returned to railhead. Already the scattered peons
were flocking back, and in the course of a week work was in full swing
again.
When De Mello heard all that had happened he was inclined to be envious
of Will. It occurred to him apparently for the first time that he had
played a rather sorry part in deserting his hacienda, and leaving to
strangers the task of making head against the rebels. In course of
time, perhaps, men of his class, who at present look on matters of State
with indifference, will learn to take an interest in them, and develop a
patriotism which will raise their country to its fitting rank among the
nations of the world.
A fortnight after his return to the camp, Mr. Jackson was informed by
his new telegraphist, an Englishman, that General Carabano had not been
shot, the President having commuted his sentence to permanent exile.
Will received an autograph letter from the President thanking him for
the great services he had rendered to the Republic, and some weeks later
the secretary of the Company in London cabled to the effect that the
Board of Directors had unanimously resolved to grant him an honorarium
of a hundred pounds in consideration of his zeal for their interests.
His hydroplane became the talk of the country, and an enterprising
Yankee in Bolivar organized weekly trips by steamer to the scene of his
adventures for the benefit of curious sightseers, and incidentally for
his own.
Of all the actors in this little drama, Azito was perhaps the best
satisfied at its conclusion. In De Mello's yacht, purchased for him by
Mr. Jackson, he often sailed on the creeks and streams in the
neighbourhood. His wants were simple and few, and he earned the little
that sufficed to supply them by occasional attendance upon the senor who
had saved him from the jaws of a jaguar, and whose hydroplane was only
second in his estimation to his own yacht.
THE END
_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London, and Bungay._