CHAPTER XIV
THE SECRET PASSAGE
Two men entered the room shortly after the door had closed on the boys,and removed the handcuffs. They passed out in the same silent manner,and the prisoners were left alone again. There was no light in the room,but the moonbeams entered through the barred windows, and cast twostreaks of light across the floor that was sufficient to enable the boysto see almost as well as by daylight. They each sat down dejectedly upona bed and for a long time neither uttered a word. Harry was trying tothink out the true meaning of their position, which began to assume amore serious phase to him. There was no element of play in it, now.
He reviewed his recent examination by General Serano, and wished he hadnot assumed quite so nonchalant an air, although he felt that he couldnot have answered the questions which would perhaps involve the safetyof Captain Dynamite. They were unquestionably in a disagreeablesituation. He realized that if he were to tell the entire truth theywould be immediately released, but the truth would at once set theSpaniards on the heels of O'Connor, and Harry could not forget thepersonal risk the man had taken to save their lives after he had runthem down, nor the kindness with which they, as unbidden guests on hisship, had been treated. To betray his confidence would be a dastardlyact, for, even if he could have doubted the words of O'Connor, theactions of the commander of the gunboat were sufficient to indicate thatit would go hard with the intrepid skipper of the _Mariella_ if heshould fall into the hands of the Spaniards.
Mason and Washington were still to be counted on. He felt sure that theywould continue on their way to O'Connor and that he would make some moveto effect their rescue. There was one strong objection to waiting forO'Connor. Whatever plan he might adopt for their relief must necessarilybe attended by violence, for in no other way could he approach theircaptors, except it be by strategy, and there seemed to be no chance ofescape in that way.
He feared for O'Connor's sake to take the consul into their confidence,except as a last resort. While he had the utmost respect for the man'sintegrity he feared the influence of General Serano. At all events therewas nothing that could be done to-night. He turned to Bert who wassitting in an equally dejected frame of mind on the edge of his bed withhis head in his hands.
"Let's turn in, Bert, old man. Things may be brighter in the morning."
"I don't see much hope. Do you think Captain Dynamite would care if wetold that Spanish gentleman the whole truth as to how we came here?"
"No, I don't," replied Harry, indignantly. "If O'Connor could advise usI know the man well enough to believe that the first thing he would tellus to do would be to make a clean breast of everything. But I would hateto say what I should think of myself, or of you, if either of us didsuch a thing. Why man, you know as well as I do that it would set theSpaniards after him like a pack of hounds on the trail. And you knowthere is a price on his head and a big one, too. Don't let any more suchbubbles get into your think tank or you and I will have to partcompany."
"You are right, Hal," said Bert, sheepishly. "I didn't think of thedanger to him."
"Well, then, let's go to bed."
The boys threw off only their outer clothing and lay down on the hardhusk mattresses and were soon fast asleep notwithstanding theuncertainty and danger of their predicament.
The place was in almost total darkness when Harry awakened suddenly andsat bolt upright in bed. He listened for a moment intently, as if forthe repetition of the sound that had awakened him.
"What was it, I wonder. Something must have wakened me."
He sat motionless for a long time, but not a sound broke the stillnessof the night.
"I know I heard something," he said to himself as he dropped back on thebed again. He could not sleep, however, for the sense that he had beenawakened by a strange sound, and the mental effort that he had made tocatch a repetition of it, had completely aroused him. He lay on his backlooking up into the darkness when he heard a sound like a smotheredsigh.
"Bert," he whispered, as he sprang up and sat on the edge of his bed,"was that you?"
"What's that? What's the matter, old man?" asked Bert, aroused from hissleep.
"Was that you?"
"Was what me--what's the matter with you, Hal?"
"Have you been awake?"
"No, not until you called me."
"Then you didn't sigh?"
"Not unless it was in my sleep."
"This wasn't a sleepy sigh."
"Say, Hal, what is the matter with you? You make me feel creepy."
"I heard a sigh."
Bert groped his way over to Harry's bed and sat down beside him.
"Say, old man, you're not asleep, are you?"
"No; Listen! There it is again."
The boys drew closer together and put out their hands until they touchedone another. The sound they heard seemed to come from nowhere inparticular.
"What do you think it is, Hal?"
"I don't know. Wait until we hear it again."
By this time their eyes had become accustomed to the darkness of theroom, and aided by the star-lighted sky, they could see into everycorner. There was no one in the room. Somewhat reassured they waited.The next time the sound was an unmistakable sob, and it seemed to bewafted through the barred windows on the still night air.
"I know what it is," said Harry, eagerly jumping from the bed andpulling the table under the window. "It's some one in the cell next toours. Let's try to talk to him."
"He's probably a Spaniard or a Cuban, and will not be able to understandyou."
"I'm going to try, anyway. Misery loves company, you know."
Harry mounted the table and put his face between the bars.
"Hist," he said.
A low moaning cry answered him.
"Bert, it's a woman," said Harry, turning in amazement to his companion,who now mounted the table beside him.
"How do you know?"
"Couldn't you hear? It was a woman's voice."
"Hist," said Harry, again, as loudly as he dared. "Who are you? Can wehelp you in any way?"
He hardly expected a reply for he felt, as did Bert, that they would notfind any other English-speaking prisoners confined there. His surprisewas great therefore, when a low voice, with just a suspicion of softSpanish accent, asked:
"Who are you?"
"We are two American boys who would like to assist you if we can."
"Are you prisoners also?"
"We are."
"Then I fear you can be of little assistance to me, but I thank you verymuch for your interest. What have they shut you up for; are you friendsof the insurgents?"
"We have one very good friend among them, but until we met him we didnot know an insurgent from a Spanish regular. May I ask what offense youhave committed against the laws of this fussy country?"
"I am a Cuban," said the soft voice, with a little gasping sob.
"Is that a crime?"
"Yes; to be a true Cuban."
"O, I see. You are what they call a sympathizer."
"Yes."
"How long have you been here?"
"I have lost count of the days and nights. I think a week."
"Have they ill-treated you?"
"Not yet, but they threaten to if I do not give them the informationthey seek, to-morrow."
"What do they want to know that you can tell them?"
"Much, very much, about the insurgent arms."
"And you will tell them to-morrow?"
"Not to-morrow--not ever."
The voice was low and full of tears, but there was a ring ofdetermination that told of a strong heart despite her woman's weakness.
"Hooray," whispered Bert. "Good for you."
"And have you no friends who can aid you?"
"Yes, one, but he may even now be dead or dying in a Spanish dungeon. Itis for him I weep, not for myself. There is a price upon his head."
"What," said the boys in a breath.
"Is he Captain Dynamite of the _Mariella_?
" asked Harry, excitedly.
"He is sometimes called so. His name is Michael O'Connor. What do youknow of him?"
The woman's voice trembled with excitement.
"Hoop la," whispered Harry, hardly able to refrain from shouting."Captain Dynamite is not in any dungeon cell, Miss Juanita, and if I amnot mistaken he is already devising some plan with Gomez to effect yourrescue."
"Who are you," whispered the girl in amazement, "who know O'Connor andmy name so well?"
"I told you, Miss Juanita, that we had one friend among the Cubans; thatis Captain Dynamite. We made the last trip with him on the _Mariella_,though not willingly. We'll tell you that story some other time when youare well out of this."
"He was well?" nervously whispered the girl.
"Yes, until he got the dispatch from Gomez telling him that you had beencaptured. Then he was off to Cubitas like a shot in the middle of thenight. We were trying to join him when they nabbed us."
"But they have not learned from you where he is?"
"Miss Juanita, you wrong us. We do not betray our friends."
"Oh, and it is because you will not betray him that you are here. I kissyour hands."
"Permit us to kiss yours--figuratively--Miss Juanita," said Harry,gallantly, while Bert gulped down a lump in his throat when he thoughtof his suggestion to tell the Spanish general the truth.
"But I wouldn't have done it, Hal, old man," he said, involuntarily.
"Wouldn't have done what?"
"Not when it came right down to bed rock."
"What are you talking about, Bert?"
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking."
"Well, don't think so loud unless you are going to take me into yourconfidence. Any chance of getting out of that dungeon cell of yours,Miss Juanita?"
"None."
At this moment they heard the sound of regular footsteps outside.
"'Sh," whispered the voice. "It is the guard. Go away from the window."
The boys jumped down from the table, and as they did so, Bert stumbledand fell heavily against the wall. When he recovered his balance theyheard a strange grinding sound like a heavy door creaking on rustyhinges. The boys listened in wonder.
"Gee, but this is a creepy old place," said Bert, as the noisecontinued. "Now, what do you suppose that is?"
"It sounds as if it came from the wall there. Let's investigate."
They moved nervously over to the stone wall that separated their prisonroom from that of Miss Juanita. The noise seemed nearer and moredistinct, but they could see nothing that might cause it. Still thestrange sound continued. In the semi-darkness they watched in wondermentthe blank face of the wall from which the sound seemed to proceed.Suddenly Harry seized Bert by the arm.
"Look!" he whispered in a tense voice. He pointed to a large stone inabout the centre of the wall. "Doesn't it move?"
The stone to which Harry referred was larger than any other, being threefeet square, and placed about waist-high from the floor. Bert watchedintently. It seemed to him that he could see a slight trembling movementand then an almost imperceptible jump as the hand of an electric clockadvances with a jerk. The face of the stone, too, seemed to be out ofline with the others.
They advanced closer, and Harry passed his hand cautiously under thestone. Unquestionably it had moved, either by accident or design. Theupper edge projected into the room beyond the line of the wall at leastan inch and the lower edge receded in the same way. As Harry's handrested on the stone he felt it tremble and jump and the upper edgeadvanced another quarter of an inch into the room.
"That stone is revolving on a horizontal axis," said Harry, confidently,after his inspection. "Now the question is: How and why?"
"It seems uncomfortably like the times of the inquisition," said Bert,shuddering.
"Oh, pshaw, don't you see that wall separates us from the cell of MissJuanita, and the Spaniards would have nothing to do with opening thispassage?"
"Do you think she is doing it, then?"
"No, for had she known of the stone she would have mentioned it when Iasked her if there was any chance of escape from her prison. It has comeabout through an accident, I feel sure, but how? Of course there must besome secret spring that works it, but where is it and how and by whomhas it been operated?"
"Hal, I believe I did it," whispered Bert, excitedly.
"What on earth do you mean?"
"You know when I jumped down from the table I fell against the wall. Itwas immediately after that we heard the creaking."
"Thunder, you are right. You must have touched the spring."
"I think so. Let's look for it."
The boys carefully examined the wall near the place where Bert hadstumbled, and to the left of the revolving stone they found a small,diamond-shaped stone that to the casual observer would appear to havebeen set in the wall to fill in the broken corner of one of the largerstones. Upon close inspection they found that it was set loosely in thewall without mortar. They dared not touch it for fear it might stop theinvisible machinery that it had evidently set in motion.
Slowly the stone continued its unsteady revolution, until at the end ofabout five minutes the creaking stopped, there was a clicking sound asif a cog had settled into place, and all movement ceased. The big slab,which was six inches thick, had now obtained a horizontal position,leaving an opening above and below into the next room, or cell. The axisupon which the stone revolved was a little above the centre, so that thelower opening was nearly eighteen inches high.
The boys peered through into the darkness of the next cell.
"Miss Juanita," called Harry, softly. "May we come in? Perhaps thisscheme of opening walls may continue through to the outside world."