Out went his finger and he pointed to the piled-up saddles and other articles which the gang had brought with them in their flight. The moon fell clearly on them all, giving every item a sharp outline; but it fell darkly on two of them, for the simple reason that they were covered in black material. Without doubt the bundles were those containing the notes filched from the Commission offices, notes which Jaime and his rascals hoped to convert into silver dollars one of these days, and so procure a fortune. Tom gasped, Sam's eyes looked as though they would fall from his head, while the Chinaman gave vent to a sniggering giggle.
"Yo am velly cleber, Mass Jim," said Tom simply. "Dem bundles de swag fo' sure, and, by lummy! me see what yo up to. Yo goin' – "
"Ching is going right now to bring 'em along with us," declared Jim in an excited whisper. "If we can take Sadie from 'em, why we'll rob the rascals of their booty also, I guess. And, gee! won't they be mad when they discover what's happened. But, boys, see here. Our job is to get away and leave them none the wiser. We want to clear off through the forest back to our people, for you may be sure that Jaime and his men will be mad when they learn how they've been fooled. So silence is important, and you'll see to it."
As if by common consent they ceased whispering to one another, and for the better part of an hour lay still in the jungle, only their heads protruding. And during all that time not one of the blanketed figures lying in the open moved so much as an inch, though there was an occasional snort or a gentle stamping from the horses.
"Guess it's time," said Jim suddenly. "Those fellows haven't moved an eyelash since we watched, and there's not a doubt but that they're properly wearied and worn out by all that they've been doin'. Tom and Sam, you know what's wanted. Give us a whistle as we come back, and then be ready to make off through the forest."
They wasted no more words. Jim went off at once on hands and knees, and, discarding the shelter of the undergrowth, made his way just within the margin of the clearing. After him came Ching, his pigtail gathered into a round coil beneath the billycock hat that he always insisted on wearing, and which, indeed, has for long been a favourite with the Chinaman. Otherwise the man was dressed in his native costume; for here, again, the wily Chinee shows his astuteness. Indeed, John Chinaman has proved to himself that his own clothing is infinitely more comfortable than European when he is located in a hot climate, and he adheres to it rigidly. Not a sound did the man make as he crept along, while Jim could not have been accused of want of caution. He carefully set aside all sticks and stones, and all fallen leaves, and never moved unless he were sure that the path was clear before him. All the time, too, he kept swinging his eyes round to the centre of the clearing. It seemed ages before he and his companion reached the northern side; but at last they were at the point where their attempt at rescue was to begin in earnest. At their feet lay a pool of water, and from it a gully some four feet deep ran right out into the open.
"Couldn't be better," whispered Jim. "We can get along on hands and knees, or wade through the water; but I hope there's little of the latter, as the splashing might be heard. Don't forget, Ching; once I have my sister, you snatch the bundles."
He waited to see the Chinaman nod, and then at once pressed on into the gully. Within a few seconds he had an agreeable surprise. Only a tiny stream was trickling down the very centre, insufficient, in fact, to cause any splashing, though the size of the gully itself, its smoothly worn walls showing so clearly in the moonlight, demonstrated the fact that when the rains fell, and the wet season was in progress, a torrent went gushing along the channel. But now it was almost empty, while the moon rays, falling obliquely upon one bank, cast a shadow more than halfway across the gully.
"Step along here," whispered Jim, pulling the Chinaman on to the side which lay in the shadow. "And one more warning. Supposing those men suddenly wake, and look around for us. Just lie as still as a mouse until you are sure they have spotted us in this channel. Then it'll be time for shooters."
Once more the Chinaman nodded, and the moonlight falling on his face at that moment showed our hero, if he had had any doubts, that here he had a most excellent ally. For the same expressionless features gazed at him. There was not so much as the smallest trace of fear or excitement about Ching, the Chinaman.
"Forward!" Jim whispered the word, and promptly proceeded along the edge of the channel. Bending low, so that he was altogether hidden, he halted every ten paces, to glance across at the motionless figures of the robbers; but there was not a movement from them till he was within some fifteen feet of his sister. Then, suddenly, one of the figures rolled over. A moment later the man was sitting up, still swathed in his blanket. He leaned his weight on one hand, and cast his eyes in a wide circle round the clearing. A horse stamped heavily, and coughed, and at the sound the man slowly shook the blanket from him. Jim watched as he dropped the covering and climbed sleepily to his feet. The fellow gazed at the moon, and then, as if the soft, silvery light had affected him peculiarly, stretched out his arms widely, rose on his toes, and yawned loudly. At that a second figure moved. The man rolled over; then, to Jim's relief, he snuggled down into his blanket, as anyone does who has been disturbed, and who desires to rest further. In a moment he was as motionless as formerly.
"Gee! Jaime of all people," said Jim suddenly, beneath his breath. "That's bad for our business. I thought I recognized the rascal."
His hand went to his revolver, for he was tempted to use it; then he sank still lower into the gully. For Jaime it was who had risen; the rascally leader of the band stretched himself and yawned again in the moonlight. He drew something from a pocket, and, to his disgust, Jim saw that he was rolling a cigarette. Indeed the Spaniard was never awake but he was smoking. The habit had grown upon him so that now once his fingers were idle they always slipped into his pocket. It was a marvel to watch how nimbly they plucked the shreds of leaf, how they rolled the whole to a correct length and thickness, and how rapidly a cigarette was completed. In less than a minute now there was one between his lips. Jaime stepped slowly across to the blackened ashes of the fire, stirred them with his foot, and selected a brand from the very centre. It did not even glow red, but he managed to obtain a light from it. Then a horse coughed suddenly, and once more Jaime swung round.
"Flies at them," Jim heard him declare. "Nothing more; there's no one but ourselves hereabouts."
He strolled to and fro for some ten minutes, while Jim's impatience grew almost unbearable; then he stood regarding the bundled blanket beneath which Sadie was sleeping. A moment later he stepped across to the two parcels which contained the stolen notes, and a gleam of triumph swept across his bearded features.
"Riches!" he growled. "The finest haul we have ever made. If things go on like this America'll find it'll cost her a heap more to build that canal than she looked for. Helloo! That horse again. It's flies for sure."
The same beast stamped again, and whinnied. Jim could see its legs moving. It swayed to one side, and bumped into the next animal, causing the latter to kick and squeal angrily, while the one who had caused the commotion responded with a savage bite which caused the other poor beast to squeal again still louder. The noise and commotion set Jaime off in their direction. Jim watched him as he sauntered down towards the horses, and waited till he had reached them.
"Ready?" he asked, swinging swiftly round upon the Chinaman. "Then forward. Seize the bundles; I will take Sadie."
In an instant he had crept from the gully, and with Ching close behind him slid at once towards his sister.
CHAPTER XVIII
Rescue by Moonlight
"Golly! Him must be mad! Yo see him? Yo see de master come out ob de hollow den? By de poker, but him scared right clean off him head. Sam, I tells yo him mad. Him blind; him eberyting yo like to think ob."
The huge negro Tom gripped at the ground on which he lay with his strong fingers, and writhed beneath the covering of undergrowth. His staring eyes passed from the crawling figure of Jim to that of the Chinaman, and then slid away to regard the horses on the far side of the clearing. Back they came to Sam's face, as he lay beside him, and there they rested eagerly, as if seeking some consolation. But the little negro was just as scared as Tom. He, too, had watched the figure of Jaime de Oteros rise from its blanket, he had kept his eyes on the robber chief as he stretched and yawned beneath the moon, and more than once Sam's hand had slid down to his revolver. Then he had stared at the man as he strolled away towards the horses.
"Now," he told himself, "am the time for Massa Jim." And then a second later: "No. Not do now. Dat scum turn and see um; then not hab time to creep away. Hab to rush, and dat spoil eberyting. Yo stop still and shut yo ugly mouth," he exclaimed, turning angrily upon his comrade. For the over eager and less crafty Tom was grunting and groaning as if he were in pain, and Sam was fearful that the sounds might betray them. "Yo lie still dere and wait till yo's told to speak," he commanded. "Little bit more, and yo wake ebery one of de rascal; den see Massa Jim cut to pieces. Fine dat, eh? yo great big silly."
Tom nearly exploded with anxiety for his young master and indignation at Sam's words. He stifled his groans with difficulty, and, so as to hold himself in as it were, and keep control over his feelings, he dug his fingers deep into the ground, and tugged heavily. Meanwhile Jim had not been idle. With an eye always on the horses, and the figure strolling round them, he stepped briskly across from the gully, his back bent double, his figure close to the ground. It seemed an age before he reached the blanketed figure which he believed to be Sadie, though as a matter of fact only a few seconds had passed. He was in the act of stretching out his hand to touch her when Ching suddenly arrested the movement.
"No, no, no," he whispered urgently. "Not missie; look at de boot."
Jim did so, and the sight staggered him. He went pale for the instant; for the boot was large, and bore a spur at the heel. It obviously belonged to one of the miscreants, and distance had deceived him as to the size of this figure. Hurriedly he looked at the others. One turned, the one nearest to him, rolled over on its side, and then suddenly sat up. The blanket fell back from the head and shoulders, and then, to his delight, there was Sadie, her long hair streaming about her shoulders.
"Sadie, Sadie," he whispered ever so gently, and to his surprise, instead of showing astonishment, his sister merely smiled at him, shook off the remainder of the blanket and stood up. "Come," whispered Jim. "Come with me."
He beckoned to her, and, stepping swiftly across to where she stood, took her by the arm. Within a minute he was hurrying her into the gully which had allowed him and the Chinaman to approach so close to the group without danger of being seen.
"Jim, I knew you'd come," whispered Sadie bravely, clinging to her brother as if he alone stood between her and the miscreants who had taken her from Gatun. "Ever since that horrid Spaniard came to Mr. Phineas's quarters and forced me to accompany him, I guessed that you would follow and rescue me. But, oh – "
She was beginning to sob, now that the greatest part of the danger seemed to have passed. Her voice trembled; but Jim silenced her firmly and kindly.
"Hush!" he said. "Not a sound, lest they hear us. Guess we've friends close at hand, and in a little while we shall be with them. Stop here a moment; we must wait for Ching."
He peeped out of the gully and watched the Chinaman bending over the bundles that contained the precious notes which Jaime and his comrades had stolen. Then he found it hard to repress a shout of warning; for the figure which he had taken for that of Sadie, the man wearing the boot with the spurred heel moved. Then the man sat up suddenly, and rubbed his eyes. A moment later he was regarding the Chinaman's back, endeavouring, no doubt, in his half-awake state, to determine who it could be. As for Ching, he seemed to have forgotten all about the gang of desperadoes. Jim could have kicked him for being so irritatingly slow, and to all appearances careless; but he could not read the thoughts passing through the Chinaman's brain, nor guess what it was that delayed him. A moment later, however, he became aware of the fact that if his follower were to carry out the orders given him he must bear away from the enemy's camp more than had been arranged for. For the two dark-coloured bundles were wound about with rope, through which a chain had been passed, and the latter had been locked to an iron bar passing across the top of a form of pack saddle. As Jim looked he saw Ching whip out a knife, and deliberately set to work to sever the strands of rope. But by then the man behind him was fully awake. He started to his feet with an exclamation, that caused Ching to swing round on the instant. A second later a shot rang out, and our hero saw his follower stagger backwards and tumble across the bundles.
"Stay here; don't move an inch," he commanded Sadie. "I'm going back to help him."
But whatever help he could have given would have been useless to the Chinaman by the time Jim could have arrived; for the rascal who had fired followed up his attack by rushing towards the fallen Chinaman. Jim saw him bend down swiftly, and then, just as swiftly, he went reeling to one side; for Ching had risen. Like a greyhound set loose he sprang upon his enemy, and the moon shining down upon the whole scene flashed upon something in his hand. Ching had used his formidable knife. The Chinaman, it appeared later, when he was able to give his tale, had merely feigned to be hit. He had waited for the man to come closer, and then had stabbed him. Now he finished the work he had begun with a swiftness which was appalling. He was close to his man in an instant, showing an agility of which Jim had never suspected him capable before, and quick as a flash the knife went home, sending the robber thudding to the ground.
"Back! Run!" shouted Jim, for there was now no need to keep silent. "Back here, and let us get to cover quick!"
"I coming, allee lighty," came the laconic answer. Ching swung the two bundles across his shoulder, bearing the pack saddle with them, and ran swiftly across to the channel; but as he ran the two remaining figures beside the blackened ashes of the fire sprang to their feet, and shots rang out loudly. There came a loud thud as one of the bullets struck the pack saddle, then Ching was out of range.
"Allee lighty, Massa Jim," he sang out coolly. "Ching here; him follow."
And our hero waited for no further information. He took his sister by the arm and hurried her along the gully.
"Bend low," he urged her as they came to the end. "Then run into the jungle; I shall be just behind you."
In a moment or two they were speeding across the open, across the rocky ground which intervened between themselves and the forest, and with a gasp of relief Jim felt that the branches and leaves had closed over them.
"You there?" he demanded of the Chinaman.
"Allee lighty, massa," came the laconic repetition.
"Then lead the way; you know it."
He gripped Ching by the end of his pigtail, for the Chinaman handed him that article promptly, realizing, perhaps, that it was well suited for the purpose; then, holding Sadie with the other hand, he followed close on Ching's heels. In that order they came within a few minutes to the spot where Tom and Sam were lying.
"Missie! De Lord be praised!" exclaimed the former with a sob of relief, taking the child in his arms in his delight at her deliverance. Then he swung her up on to his shoulder in preparation for the flight which must now commence. As for Sam, though none the less demonstrative where Sadie was concerned, he knew well enough that the safety of the party depended in no small measure on him.
"Massa Jim," he called gently. "Dis way; yo come 'long o' Sam. Him hab de lantern all ready lighted, and hidden way ober here. Yo come right 'way at once, before dem debil see yo. Dey makin' dickens of a hullabaloo."
Jaime and his comrades were indeed creating an abundance of noise, and for a while amused themselves by blazing away with their weapons into the forest. And, as fortune would have it, the leader of the gang went within an ace of being slain by one of his own following; for it will be remembered that a fit of restlessness had caused Jamie de Oteros to rise from his blanket and go down towards the horses. The crack of his comrade's revolver had set him running back towards the camp, and it was at that critical moment that a second follower, springing to his feet, and as yet not fully awake, nor alive to the circumstances of the matter, took him for an enemy and fired point-blank at him. With a shout Jaime reached the man, and floored him without hesitation; but being unable to trace at the moment what had actually happened, or where those who had intruded in the camp had disappeared, he joined his fellows in firing wildly in every direction. Then, with an angry shout, he stopped the fusillade.
"This won't help us," he exclaimed. "Let us decide what has happened. Ah, Pedro is killed! Strange, he often had an idea that a man would stab him. I saw a man dressed as a Chinaman strike at him."
"It was a Chinaman," declared Miguel. "I saw him distinctly. I fired direct at him, but the bullet drilled a hole through the pack saddle."
"Pack saddle, man! Pack saddle!" shouted Jaime, a horrible suspicion crossing his mind. "What do you mean?"
Miguel felt frightened for the first time for many a day. Jaime glowered at him and toyed with his revolver, as if he would willingly shoot him if his answer were not satisfactory; then he blurted out the truth. "Why, the pack saddle with the two bundles of notes chained to it," he said sullenly. "The Chinaman stole them."
"And you let him go free! Gurr!"
Jaime stamped in his anger. He kicked the ground as if it had done him some injury. Then he stepped across to the spot where the five figures had been stretched when Jim and his friends first looked into the clearing.
"The girl?" he demanded. "She has gone too? With the Chinaman?"
"With another man. I just caught a glimpse of him; he was standing in the centre of the hollow that carries the stream."
Slowly the matter dawned on Jaime in its true light. He came to see that this attack was not what he had at first suspected – a sudden raid made by natives living in the forest, a raid led by some stray Chinaman, who had taken service with them. It was an organized raid, an attack made by those men from Colon. In a flash he realized that his carefully laid schemes had come to naught, that his track through the forest had been discovered, and that already his enemies were about him. The thought sent the blood flying from his swarthy face till the skin looked ashen grey and lifeless. He growled out violent exclamations beneath his breath, and for a while paced to and fro restlessly. Then – for custom is so strong that few can resist it – the fingers of his right hand dived into his pocket, and within a moment he was rolling a cigarette.
"I see this," he said at last, when the weed was lighted, and he had puffed some clouds of smoke into the air; "the men who just now took the girl away, and stole our money, were not strong enough to capture our whole party. We were but four, so that we may argue that their numbers were no greater. It follows that if we get on their track and pursue we may find ourselves the stronger party, and so may retake our possessions. I will tell you something. I feared some sort of trouble, and before we set out on this journey I forwarded a warning to our friends the natives. I asked them to come towards the zone, so as to meet us. They will not be far away; to-morrow we may meet them. Then they will pick up the tracks of these rascals and follow. To-morrow will be soon enough, for none but a native can pass through the forest swiftly in the darkness. Besides, these men who attacked us will be tired; and, also, they have the girl with them."
In the course of a life which had been evilly spent almost from the beginning Jaime de Oteros had met with much good fortune. On this occasion he seemed to be in luck's way as much as ever. For those two shots fired in the clearing had reached the ears of the party of natives waiting his arrival, and to his huge relief they put in an appearance within some twenty minutes of Jim's retreat into the jungle.
"Get the lamps lighted at once," commanded Jaime, beckoning the native chief to come to him, and addressing him as if he – Jaime himself – were king of the race. "Now, my friend, let us have the best trackers, and put them on the trail of these people. There must be no delay; take care of that. I'll give fifty guns, with powder and bullets, if we retake the girl and the booty these rascals stole from us."
The promise of such a rich reward caused the chiefs eyes to dilate, and at once he set his men to accomplish the task before them. Within the space of a few minutes the sharp eyes of the natives had discovered the track made by Jim and Ching as they escaped with Sadie. Swiftly it was learned that two others were of the party – one a small man, and a second of abnormal proportions. Then the chase began in earnest, Jaime and his comrades following the party, while three of the natives came behind with the horses. So rapidly, in fact, did the trackers amongst the tribe who had come to Jaime's help pick up the trail left by our hero, that but a couple of miles separated the two parties. Indeed, within half an hour of Jim's entering camp, and being greeted by Phineas and the others, Tomkins reported that he had seen a lamp swinging in the forest. Sam declared within the minute that he could hear men moving, while hardly had the words left his lips when a number of men burst into the moonlit opening. There came at once a sharp fusillade, while bullets spluttered about the heads of Jim and his comrades. Then Tomkins shouted, and without a second's hesitation threw himself face downward on the ground, and jerked his rifle into position.
"Get down close, every mother's son of you," he called out, while the lock of his weapon clicked sharply. The butt came to his shoulder, his cheek fell upon it, and then a stream of flame issued from the muzzle. Nor were his comrades slow to follow his example. Before the enemy were halfway towards them all the members of the party save Jim and Sadie were using their rifles.
"They'll never face a fire like that," called out our hero, standing to his full height and watching the horde of natives rushing forward. "Keep peppering them. I will look for some spot where we can get shelter."
He took his sister with him, and clambered towards the centre of the rocky elevation which cropped up in the middle of the clearing; then he shouted again.
"Mr. Phineas," he called out.
"Aye, aye," came back the cheerful answer. "We drove 'em off easy. Guess they've left a few kicking the dust down there."
Jim had, in fact, seen the swarm of natives, with three white men amongst them, suddenly turn tail and run, and his watchful eye had also observed the figures lying prone not far from the edge of the forest. But he had some intelligence of his own to communicate, and shouted back to Phineas.
"Bring the whole party right away up here," he said. "There are boulders hereabouts which will shelter us and help to keep off their bullets. Make a run for it; bring all our baggage."
He left Sadie in a large hollow on the summit of the eminence, and returned to his comrades. By then bullets were coming thick from the depths of the jungle, and here and there queer little jets of dust spurted up from the ground, while there was a strange whistling in the air. But our hero had been under fire before, and took not the smallest notice of the missiles. He reached the camping ground which he and his friends had been occupying but a short while before, and at once snatched up the two black bundles which contained the store of notes which Jaime and his rascals had stolen. Then, waiting to see that the others were already running up the hill, he followed swiftly, the huge Tom bearing a case of ammunition just before him. Two minutes later all were under cover.
"What now?" said Phineas, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I never did come across such a fellow as you are, Jim. Always getting into scrapes, and dragging your friends into them with you. But what now? Here we are under cover, and I ain't so sorry. But there must have been fifty of those natives down below, as well as the three white men. Jaime and his crew, I suppose?"
"Jaime for sure, and sorry he'll be that he ventured to follow," answered Jim curtly. "I tell you straight, that fellow has been no end of a bother to me. And now, to add to all the mischief he's done, he deliberately fires at Sadie. Luckily the bullet just missed her. But there you are! I say he'll live to be sorry. I'll teach him a lesson this time that he won't forget."
They were big words, spoken in a moment of intense vexation; but big words for all that, as Jim was the first to acknowledge when his temper had cooled a little. Here was his slender little party surrounded, and the enemy were by no means to be laughed at; for Jaime and his comrades had been busy on those occasions when they had been away from the Panama zone. They had done a big trade in rifles, or, rather, in obsolete muzzle loaders, with which almost every one of the natives accompanying them was armed; while the latter began to prove already that, obsolete though their weapons might be, they could at that range make fine practice with them. Indeed, every second now a ball struck the boulders behind which Jim and his friends were crouching, while before many minutes had passed the shots came from almost the entire circle of jungle. The party who had come to rescue Sadie was, in fact, practically surrounded.
"Which don't say as they're goin' to take us," growled Tomkins, who was endowed with splendid pluck. "Now that we've got this shelter, and each man has selected a spot from which to fire, I guess we'll give a good account of ourselves. But what are the orders?"
He appealed as if by custom to our hero, and Jim answered promptly.
"We lie just as we are," he said. "I see that each one has taken up a position, and the only alteration I can suggest is that the four policemen separate and place themselves between the others. They are used to rows more than we are, and will be able to give advice. For the rest, reckon we'll sit tight."
"Sit tight!" echoed Phineas, somewhat at a loss.
"Just lie as we are, and never give them a shot back unless a man exposes himself. When'll the moon go down?"
It was a question of some importance, and our hero breathed more freely when he heard that the morning would come and still find the moon in the sky.
"Then we shall have light right through," he said in tones of relief. "Don't forget; not a shot unless you see a man. Just lie still under cover. Ching, guess you could manage to light a fire and get some grub cooking."
The Chinaman smiled on them all. Cooking, after all, was his forte, not fighting, though he was no laggard where that was concerned, having already shown that he possessed courage. He rose from his prone position, re-arranged his pigtail, and set about the preparation of a meal for the whole party with just the same calmness and method as he was wont to employ in Phineas's kitchen. Within five minutes he had collected sufficient driftwood to make a fire, and had laid it at the bottom of a little hollow. In double that time he had a billy slung over the flames, so that very soon a most appetizing steam pervaded the place. Then he wagged his head in a manner all his own and declared that the meal was ready.
"And we for it," said Jim, rising from the position he had taken beside Tomkins. "See here, Ching. Dish out an allowance for each man, and bring it to him. It won't do to leave our stations. We'll grub right where we lie, and so be ready."
It was a wise precaution to take, for none could say when the enemy would attempt a second rush. Meanwhile bullets streamed from the jungle, now from this point, and then from that, a splash of flame lighting up the dense shadows for an instant. But of late the firing had become far less rapid, while the characteristic crack of the Mausers which Jaime and his rascals employed had ceased altogether.
"Simply showing that they are otherwise engaged," said Jim, discussing the affair with Phineas and Tomkins. "They are, no doubt, hunting for a likely spot from which to make a charge; and to my mind there's one spot above all others which they are likely to select. Look away over here. This rocky eminence runs on into the jungle, so that a band dashing out there would not have to come uphill. It's level ground all the way. Again, it happens to be a shorter cut from the jungle, and will give us less time to put in our shots. That's my opinion."
Tomkins surveyed his surroundings in silence for some little while, as he ate his steaming rations methodically and unconsciously. He showed not the smallest trace of alarm, though he must have known, better perhaps than any of the others, how desperate were the fortunes of the party. But the man had such a reputation for brusqueness and straight speaking that Jim felt sure that if he disagreed with what he had just expressed as his opinion, Tomkins would promptly say so, and that with the utmost bluntness.