by Guy Boothby
CHAPTER X
It was with a feeling of profound thankfulness that I turned into mybunk that morning. The clattering of feet on deck, and the slapping ofthe water against the sides, greeted my ears like the sweetest music.Only a few hours before I had deemed myself as good as a dead man. Ihad been the prisoner of a man without the bowels of compassion, and,what was worse, I knew that I had proved myself a traitor, and had notthe ghost of a chance of effecting my escape. Now, however, I was freeonce more, and in a few days my mission to Equinata would beaccomplished; after which I should be at liberty to return to England,to marry Molly, and to settle down to a very different life to thatwhich I had been leading for the past few weeks. When I fell asleep,it was to dream that I was back at Falstead once more. I was smoking apipe in the front garden, and Molly, seated in the shade of ourfavourite tree, was reading me an account of a terrible revolutionthat had taken place in the Republic of Equinata.
"The President, Jose de Hermanos is his name," she said, "has beenassassinated. It appears that he married the niece of his predecessor,General Fernandez!"
That would have been strange enough in all conscience!
Owing, I suppose, to the lateness of my retiring, I was not very earlyastir, and when I reached the deck I made my way up to the bridge. Itwas the second mate's watch, but I had not been there very long beforeCaptain Ferguson left his cabin and joined us. Thereupon the mate,with a knowledge of what was correct under such circumstances, crossedto the other side of the bridge, leaving us free to talk togetherconcerning the events of the previous night.
"You don't know what a fright I had, Mr. Trevelyan," said the captain."I sent a boat ashore as directed, and after waiting an hour and ahalf it returned to report that you had not put in an appearance. Ihad quite made up my mind that you had been captured."
"As a matter of fact, I was," I replied, and proceeded to give him anoutline of my adventures during the evening.
"This will be the last of this sort of business for me," he said,when he heard me out. "The game is far from being worth the candle. Iwonder what the end of it all will be? From what I gathered whenashore, and also from what you have told me, I have come to theconclusion that whatever Don Silvestre's ambition may be, he has losthis hold upon Equinata. If he is fool enough to return, I fancy hewill find that the other's party is still too strong for him. The partof a President of a South American Republic is not an easy one toplay."
"The wonder to me is that they ever get any one to play it at all," Ianswered. "Thank goodness, however, we have fulfilled our portion ofthe contract; we have got Fernandez, and that's all that can beexpected of us."
"I think I understood you to say that the lady who accompanies him isa relative?"
"She is his niece, and a very beautiful woman."
"If you were to ask me, I should say that I was more afraid of herthan of him. Stand by and keep your eye open for squalls, would be mymotto if I had to deal with her."
"You may be very sure that I will do that," I replied. "I think I knowthe length of her ladyship's foot."
I thought of the time we had spent together in the balcony of theOpera House, and how strangely her seriousness had affected me. Itwas difficult to believe that it had all been a mere piece of acting.
Half-an-hour or so later, when I had left the bridge and had walkedaft, Fernandez made his appearance on deck.
"Good-morning, senor," I said, with a bow to him. "In compliment toyou we are favoured with a delightful morning."
"Delightful indeed," he replied, throwing a glance over the stern. "Weare well on our way, I suppose, and steering due north, I observe. Letme see, if I am not mistaken, that should be in the direction of----"Here he looked at me interrogatively, as if he expected me to answerhis question.
"In the direction of New York, shall we say?" I answered. "If wecontinue as we are going long enough, I have no doubt we shall see theGoddess of Liberty holding her torch aloft."
"The illustration is scarcely a pleasing one," he returned, "since Iam a prisoner. The Goddess of Liberty has not done very much for me.But there, nothing is to be gained by repining! I have been in worsepositions than this before to-day, and have always managed to get outof them with some sort of credit to myself."
"I hope you may do so in this instance," I answered, "but not while Ihave the charge of you."
He looked at me steadily for a few seconds.
"Do you know, Senor Trevelyan," he said at last, "I have come to theconclusion that I like you. I did not do so at first, but my opinionof you has changed."
"I am very glad to hear you say so," I replied; "but I confess I canscarcely see why you should have changed your mind regarding myself.If there is one man in the world whom I despise, it is myself."
"And I fancy I can understand why," he continued, still with the samegrave look upon his face. "You must not, however, think badly ofyourself, for I can assure you, you have managed this businessremarkably well. The plot was excellently arranged. There is onething, however, that puzzles me; that is, how Hermanos managed toovercome the Guards at the cartel? I quite imagined that the men wereto be relied on."
"I cannot give you any information on that point," I replied, knowingthat it was useless to endeavour to conceal the fact that Hermanos waspresent on that occasion. "I had no knowledge of the affair until thedoor was opened and I discovered that I was free."
"Some day I shall hope to be even with our friend Hermanos," Fernandezreplied, more to himself than to me. "I have always had my suspicionsabout the man, but I never dreamt that he would rise to such a heightas he has done in this affair. I deemed him a coward throughout."
"And a coward he is," I answered. "He is scheming now to save his ownneck."
"The most dangerous conspirator you can have to deal with," Fernandezremarked. "Such a man lacks the saving grace of Ambition. He who riskshis life for fame and fortune must have something good in him, but theindividual who embarks upon a conspiracy, and who would throw over anddenounce his friends on finding that his own participation in the plotis about to be discovered, is neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. There wasa time when I could have had Hermanos for the holding up of a finger,but I wanted men of firmer metal, men like yourself, for instance."
"You pay me a great compliment," I answered. "Unfortunately, however,we met too late in the day. My services were already bespoken."
At that moment a steward approached him with a cup of chocolate and aroll.
"This is luxury in bondage," he remarked as he took it. Then, with asmile, he added: "If you had been breakfasting in the cartel thismoment, I should probably have only allowed you bread and water."
"With a dozen bullets in my body to help me digest it," I thought tomyself.
It was considerably past ten o'clock before the Senorita made herappearance on deck. The question of her attire had occurred to meearlier, and, in consequence, I had procured for her a clothpilot-coat from the third mate, who, as fortune had it, was only alittle fellow, and had placed it at her door. This she now wore, andthough the garment was somewhat incongruous, when the rest of herattire was taken into consideration, the effect was by no meansunbecoming. On leaving the companion she looked about her, and thenran her eye along the sky-line, as if in the hope of being able todiscover her whereabouts. The yacht was pitching a little at the time,but I noticed that she balanced herself as cleverly as any old sailorcould have done. She bade us good-morning, but did not take the chairI offered her.
"I wonder what they are doing at the palace," she said, more to heruncle than to myself. "I hope they will not forget to feed my poorlittle birds. I wonder if I shall ever see them again?"
"So long as there is life there is hope," replied the President. "Isthat not so, Senor Trevelyan?"
"I believe so," I answered. "Who knows but that you may be back in LaGloria again before many months are past. Who is likely to beappointed President in your absence?"
"General Sagana," Fernandez returned; "and, by the way, h
e was the manwho introduced you to me. I must endeavour to remember that fact whennext he and I meet!"
The expression on his face as he said this was not altogether apleasant one.
Hour after hour we steamed steadily on our course. The day was warm,the sea as smooth as glass, and the sky a perfect blue. We passed twovessels, but signalled neither. By midday our run totalled a hundredand twenty-five miles, a very fair record, all things considered. Asfor my passengers and myself we spent the greater part of the dayunder the for'ard awning, where we amused ourselves and each other asbest we could. Had any stranger looked in upon us, he or she wouldhave found it difficult to realize our respective positions. I had notthe appearance of a gaoler, and no one would have guessed that thePresident, leaning back in his chair, cigar in mouth, was the head ofan influential country and an abducted citizen.
The memory of our dinner that evening will never be effaced from mymind. It forms one of a number of strange mental pictures connectedwith that more than extraordinary time. The Senorita, who haddiscarded the pea-jacket I have already referred to, appeared in allthe bravery of her previous evening's apparel. The President hadperforce to follow her example, and though he had discarded hisribbon, he still wore his orders. I on my part, out of compliment tothem, dressed myself with great care, while Captain Ferguson, whoshared the meal with us, had also made an elaborate toilet. Thebeautiful saloon, the noiseless servants, the lavish tabledecorations, the excellent _menu_, and the rare wines, all combined toplay their parts in a scene that must almost be without a parallel.After dinner we adjourned to the deck above, where we seated ourselvesand smoked until bed-time.
It would have been instructive to have known what thoughts werepassing in the minds of the various members of our party as we men layin our chairs upon the deck. That the Senorita was really thePresident's niece I do not, and shall never believe. I have my ownreasons for making this statement, and they are fairly conclusive. ThePresident himself was an adventurer of the most determineddescription. Ferguson was a sea captain and but little better--(he wasa married man, so I discovered later, and his wife kept a small girls'school in a village near Plymouth), while I--well, you know all thereis to tell so far as I am concerned, so I need say no more on thatsubject. Taken altogether, however, we were a queer quartette.
At ten o'clock the Senorita declared herself sleepy and retired to hercabin, Ferguson went up to the bridge to see how things were there,while the President and I started to patrol the deck. In the hour thatfollowed I learnt more of his past life than I had ever known before.I knew very well that his career had been an extraordinary one, but Ihad never dreamt that it had been so strange as his telling made itappear. He was born in a village near Madrid. His parents were poorbut of noble birth. In due course he entered the army, but after atime the life of a private soldier disgusted him, and he exchanged theprofession of arms for that of an assistant to a sugar planter on theisland of St. Vincent. An unfortunate love affair with the planter'sdaughter threw him upon the world again, penniless. From the island hedrifted to the mainland of South America, saw a good deal ofRevolutionary fighting, and for the first time tried his hand at thefascinating game of politics. The result was by no means satisfactory,for he had the misfortune to throw in his lot with the losing side.After a certain particularly stubborn battle he was captured andcondemned to be shot--a foretaste of the fate he had arranged for me.At the last moment, however, the sentence was commuted to penalservitude for life, and he was sent to the mines. Eventually he wasliberated and took service with the man who, up to that time, had beenhis greatest enemy. He climbed the ladder of fame, and in time hemanaged to win a fair amount of power in the land; another Revolution,however, cast this power to the winds, and sent him flying post-hasteto the islands of the Pacific. In one way and another he enlarged hisexperience there, saw life as a trader, a pearler, and an agent forthe native labour traffic as he euphemistically termed it. At last hefound himself on board a schooner returning to Valparaiso. It was thenthat he first met Silvestre, and for some considerable time the twomen were on the most friendly terms. Fernandez, who had been warned asto what was shortly to happen, discovered a post for the time being asa clerk to an auctioneer. Then came the big Revolution--Fernandezchose the winning side, Silvestre the losing. The latter departed toEquinata--which country at that time was just coming intonotice--while his friend remained in Chili to derive what profit hecould for himself from his loyalty to the party he had assisted intoPower.
"As soon as I had saved sufficient money, however," he continued, "Iquitted the Republic and, after one or two other adventures with whichI will not trouble you, found myself stranded in Equinata. To myastonishment I discovered that my old partner Silvestre had made thebest use of his time there, and by an extraordinary manipulation ofcircumstances had managed to become a person of considerableimportance in the Republic. So far as I was concerned, however, therewas another _hegira_, and this time at a somewhat short notice. I nextvisited the United States, afterwards crossed the Atlantic to Europe,and, after an absence of some three years, found myself once more inLa Gloria. When I reached that country I discovered that a strangechange had taken place. Silvestre, who, though he had held a positionof some importance when I was last in Equinata, had shown no sign ofany great ability, was now President, and had even greater ambitions.Needless to say I threw in my lot with him and----"
"Eventually ousted him from his position?" I put in. "I have heardthat part of the story from the man himself."
"Yes, I confess I did oust him," he answered, taking his cigar fromhis mouth and knocking the ash off against the rail. "The victory isto the strongest, and if Silvestre had been stronger than I--well--hewould have won. As it was, he fled the country. Whereupon I picked upthe reins of Government, played the game as I thought it should beplayed, and now find myself and all my plans upset, I trust you willforgive my plain speaking, by a man who only a few months ago waschief officer on board a South American mail-boat. Who can say whatthe next chapter of the story will be?"
"Well, you have had a very good innings, and I don't see that you haveany right to complain."
"Perhaps not," he replied. "But don't run away with the idea that,because you've trapped me, I am beaten. I'm a long way off that!Believe me, I know exactly how far you are concerned in the business,and I tell you this, if you are wise, you will be advised by me, anddrop out of it as soon as you can. The time will come when Don Guzmande Silvestre and I will have to settle accounts together, and if youare a prudent man you will have balanced your books with him and havedeparted long before that."
"I think I am very well able to take care of myself," I remarked.
"Ah! We all think that! Sometimes, however, we find we are wrong."
A few moments later he bade me good-night and retired to his cabin. Iaccompanied him so far as the saloon companion entrance and thenreturned to my chair on deck. I had not been there many minutes beforeFerguson joined me.
"We shall have to keep a sharp look-out on our friend, Don Fernandez,"he said, after he had lit a cigar. "I don't trust him a little bit."
"How so?" I inquired. "What has he been up to now?"
"Nothing very much that I know of," the captain replied, "but I have asort of notion that he has been endeavouring to sound some of the menas to the chance of seizing the boat. He has said nothing outright,but Reston (the boatswain) tells me he dropped a hint to him that alarge reward would be forthcoming if he and his niece were helpedashore again. He has a most persuasive manner, unlimited wealth, andthere's not very much, I fancy, that he would stop at."
"I suppose you can place implicit trust in your officers and crew?" Isaid.
"Implicit trust," he answered. "But with a man like Fernandez aboardone cannot take too many precautions."
"You are right," I replied. "At the same time, I must admit that Ilike the man. More, perhaps, than I do--well, another gentleman withwhom we are both acquainted."
Ferguson understood my meaning.
"I understand," he replied. "And what's more I agree with you."
When we had chatted for upwards of an hour I bade him good-night, andwent below to my cabin to fall asleep and dream that Fernandez hadseized the boat and was going to make me walk the plank at daylight.
In two days we were due to arrive at the island. From the progress wewere making, and from the glimpse I had of the chart, it struck methat we should reach San Diaz between six and seven o'clock in theevening.
At four o'clock on the following afternoon I was standing at thetaffrail, looking at the frothing wake astern, and thinking ofsomething very far removed from Equinata and her President. As amatter of fact I was wondering how long it would be before I shouldsee Falstead again, and what sort of welcome I should receive fromMolly and my mother on my return, when I caught the sound of a lightfootstep behind me. I turned my head to discover the Senorita. Shecame and stood beside me resting her jewelled hands upon the rail. Itdid not take me long to become aware that she was in one of hercurious moods. Her manner was most persuasive and seductive to adegree, and once or twice I found myself admiring her beauty, and forthe moment forgetting how dangerous a woman she was.
"I am afraid, Senorita," I said, "that since we danced together in theOpera House I have fallen woefully in your estimation."
"Why should that be so?" she answered. "I admire your resource, andhowever much I may deplore it, cannot help but admire the clevernesswith which you carried out your scheme, in spite of the opposition youreceived. Had you been working for us I should have offered you myheartiest congratulations, but since we are the victims of your skill,you can scarcely expect me to be so magnanimous. Oh! Senor Trevelyan,how I wish I could have persuaded you to side with us. But you hadalready cast in your lot with the enemy. At one time I had almostbegun to think that I was deceived in you, but the other night whenyou refused my uncle's bribe I realized your real character. To a manof such enterprise as you possess anything is possible. Have you neverexperienced a longing for power yourself? If I were a man, my ambitionwould be limitless. As it is, I can only admire what I see of it inothers!"
Recalling that conversation now, it seems as plain to me as daylightthat she was doing her best to hoodwink me. I must confess, however,that at the time I failed entirely to see through her motive. As Ihave said before she was a beautiful woman, and she had the advantageof also being an extremely clever one. No one will ever know thetemptations she placed before me that evening, and I think it sayssomething for my love for Molly--not to mention my sense of duty toSilvestre, that I did not give way to her. By some mysterious meansshe had discovered the bond that existed between Ferguson and myself;she knew also that I was all-powerful aboard the yacht, and if she didnot prevail upon me to turn the boat's head about and convey them backto Equinata, well, it was certainly not for want of trying. I provedadamant, however, and when at last she left me and went below it musthave been with the consciousness that she had not only failed in herscheme but had done herself harm into the bargain.
"You have had the pleasure of my niece's company for some considerabletime," said Fernandez, when I joined him some minutes later. "I hopeyou have had a pleasant and instructive conversation!"
There was a scarcely-concealed sneer in his voice that I did not failto notice.
"The Senorita has been endeavouring to undermine my loyalty toSilvestre," I said, blurting out the truth without fear of theconsequences. "She has promised me, on your behalf, all sorts ofrewards if I will turn traitor and run the boat back to La Gloria."
"And I gather from your tone that she was not successful," he replied."You are a very pillar of rectitude, my friend."
"What is more," I continued, ignoring his sneer, and making up my mindto let him have it from the shoulder while I was about it, "I hearfrom Captain Ferguson that you have been endeavouring to tamper withthe crew. I should be sorry, senor, to be compelled to confine you toyour cabin for the rest of the voyage, but if this sort of thingcontinues I fear there will be no other course left open to me."
"You surely would not have me neglect an opportunity when it presentsitself?" he returned, still with the same curious smile upon his face."I have as much right to try to help myself out of this hole as youhad to get me into it. However, as your men appear to be as immaculateand bribe-proof as their leaders, I will give you my assurance that Iwill not tamper with their honour again. Will that satisfy you?"
"As long as you stick to it," I replied. "But I warn you that I shallkeep a strict watch upon you, and if you play me false you know whatyou may expect."
From that moment I had no more trouble with either of them. TheSenorita adopted a haughty air towards me. The President, on the otherhand, made himself even more agreeable to me than he had been before.
One day later, and, as I expected, a little before sun-down, a smallspeck appeared upon the horizon. This gradually increased in sizeuntil it developed into a small densely-wooded island.
"That," said Ferguson, who was standing beside me on the bridge, "isSan Diaz!"
"And, thank goodness, our destination!"