CHAPTER V--A SCRAP OF PAPER
Watching the horsemen as they rode away, Will suddenly remembered theprisoner whom he had seen running beside one of them. The man was nowgone. Perhaps he had slipped away; perhaps the horseman at whosestirrup he had been tied had not accompanied the rest to the camp. Hespoke of it to the Chief. The latter suggestion deepened the look ofgravity on Mr. Jackson's face.
"I hope to goodness there are no more of them," he said. "We had bettersend a native to shadow them."
"I'll do that, Chief," said O'Connor, "with Ruggles. I wouldn't trust anative."
"Very well. Don't go too far. It'll be dark soon."
When O'Connor had set off with Ruggles on horseback, Mr. Jackson askedWill to go with him to his tent to talk things over.
"This is serious," he said. "I'm afraid we've only postponed the evilday. Whether this revolution succeeds or not we shall hear more of therebels. The Government can't help us."
"Still, we couldn't be much worse off than if you had given in to thefellow. They'd have collared all our cash; and all our peons would havemutinied--all they didn't impress, that is."
"True. It would have meant a complete smash here. The peons would havemade off to the woods, carrying their machetes with them, you may besure, and they're worth two dollars apiece. We should never have seenthem again: it would have brought our work to a standstill; and as thefunds of the Company are rather low I shouldn't wonder if it had beencrippled beyond hope of recovery. The business has suffered enoughalready. The worst of it is that we've still got that to look forwardto."
"What can we do?" asked Will.
"Nothing, except stick on. I'll not budge till I'm compelled for allthe Carabanos and Espejos in Venezuela. We'll go about our work asusual and keep our eyes open. Our contract with the Government requiresus to carry Government troops, but I'll refuse point-blank to carry anyother armed force, and neither Government nor rebels will get any moneyout of me willingly."
They were still talking when O'Connor and Ruggles returned.
"We saw them cross the river about two miles up," said O'Connor, cominginto the tent, "and they were joined by three more of the same kidney.It didn't seem worth while going any farther. But we haven't come backempty-handed."
"What have you got?" asked the Chief.
"Nothing very valuable: a poor wretch of an Indian. Ruggles is bringinghim along. We found him hiding in the trees, and thought he might be aspy of theirs; but he turned out to be a runaway servant of theCaptain's. He told Ruggles some story which I couldn't make out--herehe is."
Ruggles entered, bringing with him a wretched-looking object. Willrecognized him instantly as the man he had saved from the jaguar in theearly morning. The Indian's face brightened as he saw his rescuer. Hefell on his knees before him and begged for food. When he had eaten,with the ferocity of a starving man, what was given him, he said inanswer to Will's questions that he had run away from Captain Espejo, whotreated him cruelly. After the adventure with the jaguar he hadrecrossed the river, and unluckily stumbled upon the very man he hadmost wished to avoid. The Captain had thrashed him and tied him to thestirrup of one of his men; but taking advantage of a dense clump offorest through which they passed, he had wrenched his hands free andfled into the bush. Three of the party had dismounted and tried totrack him, but he was more at home in the woodland than they, and hadbeen able to elude them. These were the three men who, after their vainsearch, had rejoined the main party returning from their equallyunsuccessful expedition.
"Well, he's another mouth to feed," said the Chief, "but I suppose wehad better keep him and find something for him to do. What's yourname?"
"Azito, senor," said the man humbly.
The Chief called up his servant, and ordered him to arrange asleeping-place for the Indian. Then he dismissed him, and the fourEnglishmen, by the light of a lamp hanging from the roof of the tent,sat discussing the affair of the day and the steps to be taken on themorrow.
"I think we had better put the camp in a state of defence," saidO'Connor. "If we don't protect ourselves, nobody will."
"That won't be much good," said the Chief, "we shall be shifting campsoon, and it'll be more than life's worth to attempt to fortifyourselves every time. Nothing short of a wall all round would be anygood, and it would be tremendous work to build that: there's such a lotof us."
"As to shifting camp, we might put that off for a while--until nextpay-day at any rate; though it will mean a tramp for the men at nightafter work is done. If you'll leave the defences to me I'll see whatcan be done."
"But the camp might be raided while we are miles away at railhead," saidWill.
"We can put outposts out to give us notice of any armed partyapproaching; that might give us time to get back."
"You ought to have been a soldier, O'Connor. Cobbler, stick to yourlast, eh?"
O'Connor smiled.
"Leave it to me, Chief," he said. "I would just relish a brush withthose ruffians."
"It's rather curious they came just after pay-day," said Will.
"Oh! I dare say they know what our arrangements are," replied Mr.Jackson. "It's no secret that we get our pay once a fortnight fromBolivar. We may expect a visit from them next pay-day, if not before. Ionly hope they won't bother us as they did the French company some yearsago: they broke 'em, with the assistance of floods and earthquakes. Ahwell! every cloud has a silver lining."
Next day O'Connor devoted himself to the fortification of the camp,employing a hundred men--a fourth of the whole company of peons--on thework. To lessen the labour, he took the embankment as one wall, andpalisaded the top for about a hundred yards. Then he made a roughcircular wall around the camp enclosure, using rails and sleepers and anumber of trucks, defending the whole circuit with a chevaux-de-frisemade of branches lopped from the neighbouring woods. Mr. Jacksondoubted whether the terms of their concession from the Governmentadmitted the use of timber for this purpose, but O'Connor made the verypertinent answer that permission to build a railway was of little valueunless it included the right to defend the line and those employed onit; upon which the Chief said no more.
These defensive works occupied several days. Before they were completeda muleteer came from the mines to report that Captain Espejo had visitedthem and demanded money from the manager. Luckily the fortnight's payhad not arrived, and his cash-box was almost empty; but the Captain hadseized all the money that was left, and also impressed a score of theminers, who had been marched away, presumably to the head-quarters ofGeneral Carabano.
During these days news was brought in by several of the haciendados ofthe neighbourhood, from whom the Chief obtained supplies of food, thatGeneral Carabano had captured two or three small towns to the eastward,and recruited a considerable number of men, who were for the most partpoorly armed, and still worse equipped. The workers on the railway weredelighted at the discomfiture of Captain Espejo; none of them had anywish to share the unenviable lot of men impressed in the revolutionarycause. At present they had hard work, but good pay; as hirelings ofGeneral Carabano they would lead the life of dogs, liable to be whippedor slashed or even shot if they chanced to offend their officers, and toget no pay at all.
On the day after Captain Espejo's visit Mr. Jackson wrote to theProvincial Jefe at Ciudad Bolivar, with whom he was on good terms,relating what had happened, and asking for the protection of Governmenttroops. He sent the letter by mounted messenger to the junction aboutfifty miles off, whence it was conveyed by rail. In two days hereceived a reply, in which the Jefe sympathized with his position, butsaid that he had just been obliged to dispatch the greater part of theforce under his command to Caracas, which was threatened by a rising inValencia. He could not further deplete his garrison without endangeringBolivar. His letter concluded with a strong warning to Mr. Jacksonagainst affording any assistance to the rebels.
"We're between the devil and the deep sea," said the Chief, discussingthe letter with h
is staff. "The Government can't help us, and leaves usat the mercy of the rebels; and yet it will punish us if we help them,which they may force us to do. What a country!"
"Why didn't you stay at home, Chief?" asked O'Connor.
"Because I didn't want to run the risk of clerking at thirty bob aweek," replied Mr. Jackson. "That's the fate of many good men in theold country, worse luck."
Azito, the Indian, had attached himself to Will, constituting himself anadditional servant, much to the disgust and jealousy of the negro Jose.The two quarrelled so frequently that Will thought it advisable toseparate them. Accordingly he got Mr. Jackson to make use of Azito as ascout. He gave him a pony and sent him to learn what he could of therevolutionaries: where General Carabano had fixed his head-quarters, howmany men he had with him, and what his intentions were. The Indian wasat first very reluctant to venture within reach of his late master; buton Will promising that he should be well paid and provided for, the manconsented, rather from blind devotion to his rescuer than from any othermotive.
Returning after two days' absence, he reported that General Carabano wasquartered in a hill-village about twenty-five miles north-east ofrailhead. His force, as estimated by the Indians of the neighbourhood,consisted of some five hundred men. It was rumoured that the General,when he considered himself strong enough, intended to attack CiudadBolivar, on the Orinoco about forty-five miles farther to thenorth-east. His numbers were being continually increased, but he wasobviously in great need of money, and had already begun to make forcedrequisitions on the haciendados and the Indians. Mr. Jackson devoutlyhoped that money would not be forthcoming. A leader of strongpersonality could easily and at any time gather a large army ofdesperadoes in Venezuela if he had the money to pay them.
The day after Azito's return the camp suffered from one of theperiodical disasters which it was impossible to foresee or to guardagainst. A violent tornado swept over the district, uprooting immensetrees, whirling the tents away, and scattering their contents in alldirections. It was all over in a few minutes, but the mischief donewould take days to repair. Will was walking over the ground, seeking torecover his possessions among the litter, when he happened to find asheet of the Company's official paper on which he saw that a rough planwas drawn. He picked it up, thinking it might be one of the Chief'spapers; but on further examination he was surprised to find that it wasa sketch of the encampment, or rather of that part of it occupied by theengineering staff. The position of each tent was marked, anddistinguished by a letter of the alphabet. Will thought the paper mustbelong to O'Connor, and took it to him. At the moment O'Connor had hisarms full of pyjamas and underwear which he had just collected from thehavoc of the storm. His inseparable pipe was in his mouth.
"Is this yours?" asked Will, showing him the paper.
"Never saw it before," mumbled O'Connor. "What is it?"
"A plan of part of the camp."
"What would I want with a plan of the camp? Perhaps the Chief has beenamusing himself. Try him."
But the Chief denied all knowledge of the paper.
"I've got something better to do than draw unnecessary plans. What'sthe good of it?"
"Nothing, except as information to an enemy."
"Ah! that's an idea now. 'A chiel amang us takin' notes,' eh? A wolfwithin the fold. I'll skin him if I catch him. Do you suspect anyone?"
"Sangrado's got a shifty eye."
"Which of 'em hasn't!" said the Chief grimly. "I don't trust any ofthese Venezuelans beyond eyeshot. Well, he's had his trouble fornothing. There's no camp left, and we'll take care to arrange thingsdifferently now. Get a gang to move the safe, there's a good fellow:hanged if it isn't about the only thing left standing."
The safe was conveyed on trolleys to another part of the enclosure, andthe Chief's tent was reerected around it. During the next few days hewatched the native foremen narrowly, but saw nothing to lead him tosuspect any one of them to be the traitor. They appeared indeed to bein good spirits over the news which had just come in through Antonio deMello, who visited the camp one day and reported that the Government hadmade some progress in stamping out the revolt in Valencia. Free fromdanger in that quarter, it might be expected that the Government troopswould soon be at liberty to deal with the outbreak in Guayana; and ifGeneral Carabano had not succeeded in capturing Bolivar before there wasa movement against him, his chance of ultimate success was very small.De Mello confirmed Azito's information as to the General's lack ofmoney, which was the strongest weapon the Government possessed.
Sangrado, the foreman whom Will had mentioned, declared that the rebuffCaptain Espejo had suffered would prove to be the ruin of therevolution. It had not merely deprived the General of the sinews of waron which he had no doubt confidently reckoned, but had so much damagedhis prestige that he would find great difficulty in obtaining recruits.
"A courier will come one day, senor," said the man, "with the thanks ofthe Government. You will be a great man in Venezuela."
"We won't hallo until we are out of the wood," replied the Chief. "Youdon't want a revolution, then, Sangrado?"
"Certainly not, senor, nor any of us. We know which side our bread isbuttered."
"Honesty is the best policy," remarked the Chief to the Englishmen ofhis staff afterwards. "I think the men are all right as long as theyget their pay. But I'm not so sure they'd stick to us if a higherbidder came along."
The disorder in the camp was repaired: the work went steadily on: and asthe line advanced, and the distance between railhead and the campincreased, Mr. Jackson began to think of shifting to another site, andquestioned whether it would be worth while to spend time in fortifyingit. He decided to remain in his present quarters until after nextpay-day. The money would arrive by train from Bolivar, together with alarge quantity of stores, the wages of the peons being paid partly inkind.
On the morning of the day when the train was expected, Machado handedthe Chief a telegraphic message to the effect that the agent of theCompany in Bolivar had sent six extra trucks with rails just landed froma steamer that had arrived from Antwerp, the contract for rails being inthe hands of a Belgian firm.
"They're a few weeks before they are due," said the Chief, "but that's afault on the right side. When will the train arrive?"
"About two, senor."
"That means four, I suppose. No doubt we shall get a wire from thejunction as usual."
Just after twelve o'clock Machado reported that the train had left thejunction, and might be expected in about three hours. The arrival ofthe fortnightly train was always a matter of interest in the camp. Ithad become the custom for the peons to strike work and crowd aboutrailhead on these occasions. Mr. Jackson and several of his staff werealways present to take formal receipt of the consignment of goods andmoney, the latter being escorted from the lock-up van to the safe in theChief's tent.
About four o'clock Mr. Jackson took up his position with the threeEnglishmen beside the line. Several of the peons stood at hand, readyto transfer the cash to a trolley. The rest of the labourerscongregated noisily close by. The appearance of the engine among thetrees far away was hailed with a loud shout. In a few minutes thetrain, longer than usual, drew up; Mr. Jackson stepped forward to thelock-up van, with his duplicate keys of the two huge padlocks on thedoor. The six trucks behind, covered with canvas, would not be unloadeduntil the money had been bestowed in the safe.
A SCRIMMAGE AT RAILHEAD]
He had just thrown the door open, and ordered the peons to lift out thebags of money, when there was a sudden outcry. Looking round, he wasamazed to see a swarm of armed men rushing upon him, the nearest no morethan two yards away. Before he or any other of the staff could lift ahand to defend himself, he was hurled to the ground, O'Connor andRuggles lying beside him. Will, who happened to be a little nearer tothe engine, made an attempt to bolt, and succeeded in springing down theembankment, only to find himself in the midst of a score of theassailants. He dodged two
or three of them, with the agility of an oldRugby player, but was then tripped up and fell headlong, beingimmediately pounced on and held. The first man he saw when he collectedhimself was Machado the telegraphist, who had seized one of his arms andlooked at him with a smile of malicious triumph.
"You are the traitor, then," thought Will. "I might have known it,after your sniffing round after my hydroplane."
In a few minutes all the European members of the staff lay trussed up onthe slope of the embankment, Captain Espejo himself superintending theoperation. The money had been seized. The native foremen, acceptingtheir fate with the Spaniard's usual nonchalance, stood idly by, puffingat their cigarros. Many of the peons had taken to their heels and fledinto the woods. But the majority had been too much cowed even to run,especially when several shots were fired among the fugitives as awarning. Captain Espejo summoned them to stand, declaring that theywere now in the service of his excellency General Carabano, the newPresident, and that any man who resisted would be instantly shot. Then,seeing that the four Englishmen were securely bound, he made his way tothe Chief's tent among a group of his officers, ordering his men, whonumbered nearly a hundred, to find quarters for themselves and take whatthey required from the stores in the train.