Loe raamatut: «The Hero of Panama: A Tale of the Great Canal», lehekülg 16
It was precisely half-past five on this special evening when a terrible explosion shook every one of the wooden buildings at Ancon, and caused the verandas at Gorgona to shake as if they would tumble. A vast flame seemed to leap into the air, there came a thunderous report, that went echoing down the Chagres valley, and then dust and debris obscured the sky in the direction of Pedro Miguel. The serene face of this portion of the zone, lit a second or so before by a wonderful moon, was obscured as if by the work of a volcano.
Instantly men poured out from the Commission hotels, and stood in the street of Ancon and the nearest settlement, asking what had happened.
"Guess it's the dynamite store gone off suddenly," cried one, his hands deep in his pockets, a pipe in his mouth. "Hope none of the boys ain't hurt, nor the works neither. It's been a bad blow-up anyway."
It was an hour later before details filtered through, then, all along the line, it was learned that an attempt had been made to wreck the foundation of the lock at Pedro Miguel.
"Another of them anarchistic attempts," growled one of the men. "Guess this is too almighty queer fer anything. Here's spoil trains been sent runnin' down from the cut, and the same with diggers. Sleepers and suchlike laid on the rails in order to throw passenger trains off the metals, fires, and what not. This is the limit."
"It's one of the most serious difficulties we have had to face, boys," said one of the canal officials, coming upon the group of men at that moment. "I've just come along from the dock at Pedro Miguel, and there isn't a doubt that some rascal endeavoured to blow the whole place to pieces. It's Jim Partington's section, and he'd left everything safe and sound. There wasn't a rock drill working there, and hasn't been this three weeks past. Consequently there weren't any dynamite shots; but a man was seen creeping down that way soon after sundown. Guess he'd fixed to place his bomb right in the trench where the foundations are being laid; but something went wrong with it. He was blown to pieces; there were only scraps of him to be found."
There was a grunt of satisfaction at the news; the men felt that such a fate was only just retribution.
"But what damage has been done, boss?" asked one of the men anxiously, as if the success of the canal depended on the answer.
"None; in fact the explosion seems to have helped us. Young Jim Partington tells me he was making a requisition for a rock drill this coming week, as there was a heap of stuff to break down before the diggers could get at it. Well, he's saved the trouble. That explosion brought tons of stuff away, and now there's hardly need for a rock drill. Of course you've got to remember that it's dark 'way over there, and a man can't fix exactly what may have happened. But we made a quick, and, I believe, thorough survey of the place, and I should say that I've told you everything. This blessed cur who has been worrying us these weeks past has come by his deserts at last."
There was, in fact, not the smallest doubt that the rascally plot of Jaime and his followers had failed at the very beginning. Juan, who had accepted the post of honour, had disappeared from the scene swiftly and terribly. He had been hoist by his own petard, and, as the official had stated, there was little left to show that he had actually existed.
But still there was Jaime to reckon with, Jaime de Oteros and his fellows, and the reader need feel little surprise when he hears that, later on in the evening, there was another disturbance. It was discovered that the pay offices had been burgled, and that a vast sum of money had been removed. Then came an urgent telephone message to Ancon. The instrument at the club rang loudly and continuously, causing one of the men to go to it instantly. Jim, who had just returned from an inspection of his section, where the explosion had taken place, sat at a table near at hand, and, though there was no reason why the telephone should be calling him more than any other, he watched his comrade and listened.
"What's that? Say, who are you?" he heard the man demand. Then he suddenly looked over his shoulder, and if ever a man bore a startled expression it was this one. "Say, Jim, there," he called out, "they're ringing you from Gatun. It's Phineas Barton; there's trouble down there as well."
Jim was beside him in a moment, the receiver to his ear; and at once he recognized Phineas's voice, but strangely altered.
"Yes?" he asked as coolly as he could, though something set his heart thumping. "It's Jim at this end."
"Then come right along without waitin'. We've trouble down this end. Bring a shooter; I'll tell you about it when you arrive. The Police Major is here waiting."
It was serious news, whatever it was, for Phineas's voice proved it. Jim crammed his hat on to his head, raced back to his quarters and snatched a mackintosh, a revolver, and a spare shirt, and then ran down to the railway. He found a motor inspection car awaiting him, with a couple of policemen in it, one of whom was Tomkins.
"You kin get along with it," said the latter curtly, addressing the driver. "And we ain't nervous, so let her go as fast as you're able. Jim, there's a regular upset from end to end of the zone, and I'm beginning to get through with it. That explosion was a blind, meant to occupy our attention while those rascals, for there's more than one of 'em, robbed the pay office. But that ain't all. They were up to some other sort of mischief down Gatun way, and the Major 'phoned through to us to come along that second. We were to bring you, too; so it seems that you've something to do with the business."
Let the reader imagine how Jim fretted upon that quick journey. He wondered why he should have been called, and how the matter could specially interest him. A thousand ideas flashed through his busy mind, and were banished as unsatisfactory. It was not until the motor raced into Gatun, and he caught a glimpse of Phineas's face, that he realized that the matter must be particularly serious. His friend took him by the hand and held it.
"Jim," he said, and his voice broke ever so little, "those scoundrels deserve hanging. We were right in thinking that Jaime de Oteros had to do with the business, and I guess he'd made up his mind to get even with you for finding the gang and getting it broken. He settled to blow up your section, then he broke into the pay office, and last of all, to pay you out properly, the ruffian slank down to my quarters. Sadie was indoors, of course – "
Jim staggered backwards. He had never even thought of Sadie in connection with this disaster. The fear that she had been injured, perhaps killed, caused his cheek to pale even beneath the deep tan with which it was covered.
"Get on," he said a moment later, pulling himself together with an effort. "Sadie was indoors. Yes. That villain – "
"That villain had fixed to abduct her. We were all outside, watchin' for another explosion. This Jaime, or one of his men, slipped in at the back, seized the girl, and got clear off with her. Lad, it's a real bad business."
Jim held to the rails of the station. His head swam; he felt giddy, while the beating of his heart was almost painful. He was utterly unmanned for the moment. He, Jim Partington, who had faced so many dangers smiling, was utterly prostrated by the news imparted to him. Then, like the brave fellow he was, he threw off the feeling of weakness with a sharp shrug of his shoulders, and in a moment became his old self, cool and self-possessed, as he asked shrewd questions shortly and sharply.
"You will follow, of course?" he asked the Major.
"You can guess so. This time nothing shall turn me back."
"Then I can come?"
"Glad indeed to have you, my boy. We'll move the instant we get information. I've men making enquiries down at the port, while your negro, Sam, has gone off with a lantern. Better start on the right track than start early. Let's get in and have some supper."
It was one of the most anxious meals Jim had ever attended. He was eager to set out in search of his sister, but realized all the time that a wrong start might be productive of great delay and failure.
"But Sam will hit their marks if anyone can," he told himself. "Then I'll follow wherever the tracks lead. Sadie shall not stay in that man's hands an instant longer than I can help it. And if I catch that Jaime and his fellows – !"
His fingers came together; his two hands were clenched beneath the table. At that precise moment good-natured Jim felt that he was capable of anything.
CHAPTER XVI
The Major forms his Parties
Never before, perhaps, had the telephone system in the Panama Canal zone been so busily employed as on the night of Sadie's abduction. The bell of the instrument in Phineas's quarters seemed to ring without cessation, while the Police Major had his ear glued to the receiver by the ten minutes together.
"A crafty set of dogs," he declared, after one of these long conversations with his office at Colon. "They laid their plans most elaborately, and made every preparation to throw dust in our eyes. That explosion way over at Pedro Miguel wasn't the only little bit of by-play. It seems that they engaged a boatman to steal away from Colon this evening, and give us the impression that they were aboard; but that huge negro Tom put a spoke in their wheel. He happened to be in Colon, and reported to the office at once that he had seen a fire signal up by Gatun, way behind this house."
"And guessed it was meant for someone down by the sea?" asked Phineas, rising from his seat at the receipt of such important information. "Major, this Jim and his servants have done good service to our people here. I'm glad that Tom has shown himself such an excellent constable."
"He's one of the exceptions one finds amongst big men," declared the Major. "He's sharp, as sharp as a needle, for all his smiles and easy-going manner. He spotted this flare way back behind us, and looked well about him. He reported, a matter of two hours ago, that a boat had put off with some four men in her. Two of the crew at least he knew to be loafers about the streets of Colon, and one was the owner, a man of bad repute. Still, the fourth might have been one of the rascals we are after. So I sent out a steam launch, and her report has just reached me."
"Well?" demanded Phineas shortly, while Jim leaned forward anxiously. "It wasn't one of the rascals; it was a blind, as you've intimated."
The Police Major nodded promptly. "Number two of the schemes of those rascals has failed. My people have just returned, and the sergeant has 'phoned me the news. He overhauled this boat and went aboard her. The fourth individual was another well-known character from Colon, while the owner of the craft, thinking perhaps that he would get into trouble, and hoping to set matters right for himself, admitted that he had arranged to slip off when a fire signal was lighted. The sergeant left him out there to go where he liked, and steamed back as fast as his engine would carry him. This time the pursuit will hardly be by way of the Atlantic."
"But perhaps by way of Panama, on to the Pacific," suggested Phineas.
"Or into the bush; that's where I imagine they may have gone," said Jim. "It seems to me that we have every reason to suspect that that is the course they will have followed."
His two companions in the room looked steadily at him. Before now they had known our hero to give common-sense solutions when there was a difficulty, and all through, since the moment when they had first known him, he had proved himself to be possessed of a level head, of that sharpness and shrewdness for which the American is notorious. It was therefore with a feeling of interest that they waited for him to speak.
"Every reason to think they've gone into the bush," repeated the Major. "I own that I have thought of the matter; but then, we all know the bush. It isn't everyone who would willingly make a journey through it; for fever frightens them, and besides, once you get a little distance from the zone, there are natives. There aren't many men who can tell us much about the latter. Of course it's part of my business to have found out something; and I have ascertained that while some are friendly enough, there are others who could not be trusted. They would kill a white man for the clothes he stood up in. Then why do you consider that they have gone by way of the bush?"
Jim stood up and walked the room backwards and forwards. Nerves were not things that he had much acquaintance with, but the reader can well excuse him if on this occasion he was fidgety. In fact, it was as much as he could do to keep quiet. He longed to rush off and make some sort of effort. It was only his solid good sense that restrained him, the good sense that showed him clearly how a false start, pursuit along a wrong line, might throw the game entirely into the hands of the miscreants who had abducted Sadie. It was for her sake that he stayed in the room, fidgeting at the delay, but waiting, waiting for some definite information to show him where the tracks of the fugitives led. And in his own mind he had traced those tracks.
"It seems clear to me, though of course I may be entirely wrong," he said as he paced the room. "But those fellows have been proved to have had dealing with the natives. The last time we chatted about the matter you, Major, told us that you had certain information that they had been selling guns, powder, and spirit to the natives along the coast. Then see how those fellows we chased across the lagoon made friends with the inhabitants of that part. It's perfectly plain that they had been trading over there. That being the case, and perhaps because the police have been careful to watch the various launches down at Port Limon, these men decided not to fly by way of the ocean. They thought that the bush offered better chances; but their destination is the same. They are making for those parts where we did our fighting, and once they have joined that tribe they imagine they will be safe."
The argument seemed to be clear enough, and for a while the Major stood by the telephone thinking deeply. And the more Jim's suggestions filtered through his mind, the more sure did he feel that there was something substantial about them. At length he almost took it for granted that the course outlined by our hero was actually the one which the miscreants were following. Then the question arose: how could the police best deal with the matter?
"See here, Jim," he said, after a while. "I believe you've just hit the right nail on the head. Let us suppose that these men have gone by the way of the bush, with the idea of joining hands with that tribe. What course do you advise for those who follow?"
Jim gave his answer promptly. In fact, as the others admitted, there could be little doubt as to the procedure to be adopted; but all depended on one particular.
"How many men will you employ?" asked Jim.
"As many as are wanted. A dozen of my own men for certain, and I can get a draft from the force of marines who are garrisoning the canal."
"Then I say that we ought to go in two parties. I with others will take horses and push on through the bush, where Sam will be able to lead us; the second party should make round by sea, cross the lagoon, and join hands with us there. We shall, in that way, be able to take them between us, and if one party is attacked first of all, it has the knowledge that the other will come to support it."
The Major at once went to the telephone, and rang up his office. The plan suggested seemed to him to be one of such common sense that it needed little argument to convince him. Therefore, within ten minutes, the officials down at Colon were making preparations.
"Meanwhile, those who are to follow by way of the bush had better be making preparations," said Phineas, who was nothing if not practical. "What have you to say, Major?"
"Just this, that I shall support you in every way. I shall command the party which goes by sea, and Jim here had better take the other. Tom and Sam can go with him, as well as Tomkins and four or five other constables. You see, we can't send many round that way, for horses are scarce hereabouts. Theirs must be in every sense a cutting-out expedition. I take it that Jim made his suggestion with that in view. What he wants to do is to rescue his sister. After that he will assist us if possible, once he has made sure the girl is in safety."
"Then let us set to work with food and other things," cried Phineas. "Look here, Jim, I can see that you're just fidgeting. Come along with me; it'll settle you a little to have something to do."
They went off to the kitchen promptly, and with Ching to help them quickly filled a sack with eatables. Meanwhile the Major again had recourse to the telephone, had detailed the four men who were to accompany Jim, and had asked for rations, arms, and ammunition.
"Not forgetting quinine," he told Jim and Phineas when they returned. "If you'll take my advice you'll make every man of the expedition, white or black, swallow two grains daily, just as a precaution. You can't be too careful, especially if it happens to rain, as is probable."
It was wonderful how quickly all their preparations were completed; so much so that when, an hour later, the diminutive Sam returned, Jim and his whole party were collected at Phineas's quarters. The four policemen had come up with ten horses all ready saddled and bridled.
"And we're lucky to have them," declared the Major. "I'm giving you ten mounts, so that, although there will be only nine of you, you will have a beast to carry blankets and ammunition. The men will carry their own rations, which will last for almost a week. By then you will have to fend for yourselves if you do not happen to reach us; but you should manage that. The spot where our action took place is barely forty miles distant. Of course, when you rescue the girl, you will put her on the spare horse. Now let us interview Sam."
The little fellow was ushered into the room, still carrying his lantern. Sam's face was sternly set, while his whole expression showed eagerness and determination. Indeed the little negro would have done anything for Sadie and for our hero. He put the lantern down on the floor and pulled off the sack which covered his shoulders.
"Got um!" he cried jubilantly. "Dem fellers tink dey fool de lot ob us nicely; but Sam tink otherwise. He get on de track ob one ob de men at once, just as once before. Any fool able to follow; Sam manage him blindfold. Him take Sadie way along at the back of Gatun, den him come to a spot where horses waitin'. Dere are three. Sam count 'em. Dey ride along towards Ancon, and me run all de way, followin'. Dere dey meet two oders, and strike right off for de bush. I come back runnin'; time we was after dem scum."
They gave the little fellow meat and drink instantly, for he was exhausted after his efforts. Then the whole party mounted, Phineas riding beside Jim, and just as the light was breaking they cantered over the edge of the canal zone and plunged into the bush.
"Sam'll go ahead," said Jim promptly, reining back his mount. "Tomkins and I will ride next; then, some twenty yards behind us, Tom and Ching, with two of the constables. Phineas, you take the rear with the last of the police, and ride within twenty yards of the main party. By dividing up like that we stand a better chance in case they try to surprise us. Now, Sam, we want to get ahead as fast as possible. The moon went down early last night, and though it will have helped those rascals at the beginning, they will have been forced to camp after a time. If, as I imagine, they believe that we are not likely to follow through the bush, in fact that they have covered their trail, and sent us off after that boat, they are not likely to push along very fast. That will be our opportunity; by making the pace we may come up with them."
Sam was like a dog as he followed. There was not the smallest doubt that the little fellow was gifted with the most wonderful power of observation, and with it that of deduction. For now that the sun was up, and the light strong, he led the party at a trot, never even requiring to climb out of his saddle. Dressed in tattered garments, which were still drenched with the rain that had fallen upon him during the previous night, the diminutive negro looked wonderfully woebegone; but that was from behind. One must not always judge by the condition of a man's garments; for seen from the front the little fellow was evidently very much alive. That same intent expression was on his face, while his piercing eyes were glued to the track. It was half an hour later when he threw up his hand and slid from his saddle.
"Camp here, dem scum," he announced as Jim rode up. "Four ob de rascal, and missie. Yo not tink so? Den see here; dem's her footmarks."
The most unbelieving person would have been convinced, for the ground bore undoubted witness to what had happened. It was thickly marked by horses, while near at hand the animals had been tied to the branch of a tree hanging close to the earth. A little camp had been formed within a few yards, and in and amongst the bootmarks of Jaime de Oteros and his fellows were the smaller shoe impressions of Sadie. Jim glowered upon them; his lips came firmly together, and with the impetuosity of youth, which brooks no restraint, he set his party in motion again. But when another two hours had passed Sam declared that the fugitives were still far ahead.
"Yo watch de hollows de horses make," he said to Jim, inviting him to join him on the ground. "It rain hard for ten minutes two hours ago, yo remember."
Our hero had not failed to recollect the fact. It was one of those little cloudbursts so often experienced in the neighbourhood. A sharp, heavy shower had fallen, and then the clouds had cleared away as if by magic, leaving a fine sky, with the sun floating in it.
"But how can you say from that shower that they are still far ahead?" he asked the little negro.
Sam screwed up his eyes before he answered, and then bent over one of the hoof impressions.
"Dere's water here, in de hole," he said. "Suppose no hole, den no water. Run 'way along de ground. Ebery one of dese marks here when dat shower come, and de water fill um. Yo not tink dat? Den look here; dis horse go close under a tree, where de sun not manage to reach. What now do you tink?"
Jim was wonderfully troubled. He had often read and heard of the ways of trackers, and had imagined the art not so difficult; but here was a poser. Jim showed him the hoofmarks of one of the beasts ridden by the fugitives, pointing out that they lay beneath the shadow of a tree, and asked him wherein lay evidence that the fugitives were far ahead. It was a conundrum; he shook his head impatiently.
"Read it for me, Sam," he said, "and quick about it. How far behind them do you reckon we are?"
"Tree, four hour p'raps. I tell like dis; dese marks here two hour ago, when de rain fall. Dat sartin'; but yo look at de water in de holes. Where de sun able to reach it it almost gone, sucked up into de sky. Dat take little time, longer dan two hour. Under de tree de holes full to de top, 'cos dey dere like de oders when de rain fall, and de sun not able to reach 'em. Dose men travelling quick."
"Then so will we. Forward," commanded Jim.
"Better go slow and sure than fast and knock up the horses," cautioned Phineas, riding up beside him. "Jim, if you'll take my advice, you'll set a steady pace, and keep going at it for the hour together; then give the animals a rest for ten minutes. In the end we'll cover the ground quicker than those rascals, supposing them to be riding on direct without halting."
It was undoubtedly good advice, and our hero took it. He found it hard to curb his impatience, for he was eager to rescue Sadie from such wretches. But he was sensible enough to recognize good advice when it was given, and promptly issued his orders.
"See here, Tomkins," he called out. "You come along with the main party. I'll go ahead with Sam, and one of your men can take your place. Then, in case there's need to change our plans, I shall be right at the head and able to stop the party."
They pushed on after that at a steady pace, covering ground which for the most part was only thinly studded with bush, and stretched out flat and level before them; but some five miles ahead a range of hills and broken ground cropped up before them, hiding the country beyond.
"Perhaps we shall be able to catch a sight of those rascals from the top," thought Jim, as he rode along in a brown study. "In any case there's much to be thankful for. That rainstorm has softened the ground and made it easy to follow; a little more this afternoon, or when the night falls, would give us a fine line for to-morrow."
Some two hours later they emerged at the top of the hilly ground, still on the tracks of the fugitives, and at a sign from Sam dropped from their horses.
"Stop here," he said at once, raising a warning hand. "Not show up above de skyline, else p'raps dem scum see us. Yo wait little while for me to squint all round; but not t'ink I be able to see um. De bush down dere very dense."
It was precisely as he had said, for as Jim laid himself flat in a tangled mass of brier on the summit of the ridge, and wormed his way forward till he was able to obtain a clear view beyond, he saw that the country down below was green with jungle. A vast sea of waving treetops lay below him, broken only here and there where rocky ground effectively opposed the irresistible march of creepers and verdure. The sight was, in fact, most beautiful, for the leaves shimmered and displayed a thousand different shades of green beneath the sun's rays, while, far off to the left, there came the gleam and scintillation of light falling on water.
"De lagoon," declared Sam without hesitation, tossing a finger to the front. "Not able to see de entrance, ob course, 'cos it too far away, and trees hide um; and not able to see where de riber lie for de same reason. But dat de lagoon. Sam stake him hat on it."
"And those men we are after?" asked Jim, his eyes searching every foot of the huge green vista.
"Dey down dar somewhere. Not see um wid all dose trees; but dere fo' sure. To-morrow we come up with them."
Our hero lay for a while gazing all round and thinking deeply. The sight of the lagoon shimmering and flashing beneath the sun had reminded him of those natives with whom the two rascals they had formerly followed had struck up an acquaintance. Jim remembered that it was more than a simple acquaintance, for it had since been proved that Jaime de Oteros and his gang of evildoers had for long carried on an illicit trade in guns and spirit with the tribe in that neighbourhood. Obviously they were making in that direction to join hands with them, and, once there, how was Sadie to be recovered?
"It will be harder than I imagined," he told himself despondently. "Once these men reach the natives with their prisoner, nothing but a battle royal and the defeat of the tribe can save her. If only I were near enough to come upon them before they could reach their friends."
Again he lay silent and thinking, till Sam looked at his young master wondering. "Not good lie here and stare," he said. "Dat not de way to save de missie. S'pose we make right way down de hill and get into the jungle. Dey down dere, I say. To-morrow dey come up wid the black men we fight wid way ober by de lagoon."
"And once there Sadie is almost lost to us," cried Jim, a tone of bitterness in his voice. "See here, Sam, I'm going to make a big effort. Tell me, can those fellows travel once the night falls? Can they push on towards those natives?"
"Dat not easy," came the answer. "Sam not tink dey try to do so. For why? I tell yo. What fo' need hurry when dey tink no one follow? Back away near de canal dey ride fast, 'cos p'rhaps someone discober where dey gone, and follow quick; but dey seen no one to-day. Dat I sure ob, 'cos dere tracks have never stopped fo' once; so dey t'ink dey got heaps ob time and all de jungle to demselves. Why den hurry, and bash de head against a tree in de darkness? Dat not good enough fo' anyone; dat all tommy nonsense."
"Then I shall do it."
Jim stretched his head farther from between the brambles and stared down into the jungle beneath, as if he were trying to penetrate it to the tree roots. As for Sam, the little fellow started, and looked queerly at his master, as if he half thought that anxiety and excitement had unhinged his mind; but Jim returned his gaze coolly, and once more repeated the statement.
"Then I shall do it," he said. "Listen here, Sam, and tell me what you think of the idea. You admit that these men will camp for to-night, satisfied that they are not followed, and that they can easily reach their native friends to-morrow. Once there, you can see that Sadie will be surrounded, and that rescue will be almost impossible. Well now, I'm going to push along through that jungle as quickly as horses can take me, and as quickly as the undergrowth will allow. This evening, the instant night falls, I shall go on on foot, taking the lantern. There's not much danger of the light being seen with all those trees about, and there is a good chance of being able to come up with the fugitives. If I do, I'll snatch my sister away, and return towards our party, who will mount and ride at the first dawn."
The little negro gasped as he heard the plan outlined. It was not that the danger of such an attempt staggered him; it was the shrewdness of the suggestion. He pinched himself as punishment for not having produced it himself, and turned upon his master with a flash in his eye which showed his pleasure.
"By lummy, dat fine!" he cried. "Dat de only way to do um. S'pose dem scum camp as I say – I shore dey do it. But s'pose dey don't, and ride right on, den no harm done; but if dey camp, den yo have de one chance of savin' missie. Ob course I hab to go with yo; yo not able to follow de trail widout Sam. And Tom extry strong, and able to creep along right well, in spite of his size; besides, he able to carry missie once we have managed to rescue her. Den Ching know de ways ob de jungle; he mighty fine fighter. Him – "
