CHAPTER XVIII
_Blind Alleys_
For a moment he stood there staring, wondering if it could be only adream that he had held her in his arms, that he had brought her uphere, that she had lain upon this white bed which now mocked him withits emptiness. Then he took a step into the room, where he saw stillthe imprint of her head upon the pillow. He turned at this and raninto the hall, shouting her name. He was down the stairs in threebounds. The couch where he had left Sorez was also empty. The guard atthe front door would not believe when told; but the proof lay in theabsence of the guard in the rear. This door opened upon a small gardensurrounded by a low wall. A gate led from this into a narrow street inthe rear. If they were gone far they must have left in a carriage, forneither of them was strong enough to walk.
With a feeling of more bitter hatred than he had ever felt against anyman, he realized that Sorez must have been in part shamming. That hewas weak and exhausted there could be no doubt; but it was equallyclear now that he was by no means so weak as he had led Wilson tobelieve. Not even Stubbs could have drawn Wilson from the house, hadhe suspected Sorez of being able to move from that couch within twelvehours.
Wilson blamed himself for stupidity, for carelessness, for almostcriminal negligence in thus leaving the girl. And yet one might assoon reckon on the dead coming to life, as for this denouement. It wasclear that he was dealing with no ordinary man, but he should haveknown this after the display of nerve he had witnessed as Sorez hadclimbed the stairs in his own house. He was a man with an iron will,with the ability to focus whatever energy remained within him upon asingle objective. Through this Wilson gained a ray of hope; even if hefound it impossible to locate him before, he knew that Sorez wouldpress on to the lake of Guadiva. No power, no force less than deathwould serve to prevent him. Sooner or later Wilson would meet his manthere. The present pity of it was that with the information hepossessed, the secret of the parchment, he might possibly haveprevented this journey and saved the girl much hardship.
So his brain reasoned, but back of this was the throbbing ache thatwould not listen to reason. He wanted her again within his arms; hewanted again to look into her dark eyes, to feel again the warmth ofher breath against his neck. He wanted, too, the sense of protectingand caring for her. He had meant to do so much; to find a comfortablelodging place for her until he could take her back; to forage food andclothing for her. A hundred things unsaid whirled about in his brain;a hundred plans unfulfilled mocked him; a hundred needs unsatisfied.For a few precious moments he had held her in his arms,--a few momentswhen he craved years, and then he had lost her. Perhaps there wasstill a chance. His own head was too confused to form a plan atpresent. He determined to return to the palace and seek Stubbs.
With the aid of two of Otaballo's lieutenants he was able to locateStubbs, who was assisting the General in an attempt to bring themercenaries into some sort of order. These men finally worn out, hehad succeeded in enticing into one of the big rooms where he hadcalmly turned the lock upon them. Wilson greeted Stubbs with thesingle exclamation:
"They've gone again."
"What--the girl?"
"Gone," groaned Wilson. "But within the hour. I want you to help mefind them."
"Like huntin' fer a loose dory in th' dark, ain't it?"
"Yes, but you'd hunt even for your dory, wouldn't you?"
"Right, m' boy, an' I ain't suggestin' thet yer change yer course,only--these seas are uncharted fer me. But how'd she git outern yerhands once yer had her?"
"Oh, I was a fool, Stubbs. I thought she would sleep until night, andso came over here to let you know where I was. That would have beenall right if I hadn't stayed, but the Queen came and--she told youabout Danbury?"
"Yes," nodded Stubbs, "an' I can't figger out whether it's right erwrong. At any rate, he's taken care of fer a couple weeks. I found outshe told the truth, and that the boat has gone. But about thegirl--have you an idea where this pirate has taken her?"
"No more than you have."
"He isn't a stranger here, is he? Prob'ly has friends, eh?"
"That's so. I know he has. I saw some of his letters."
"Know who they are?"
Wilson shook his head.
"I suppose we might find that out from the General--he must know him,for the man was a surgeon or something in the armies here."
Two hours passed before they were able to reach the General, and thenthey had but a word with him. The girl had done his bidding and wasnow crowned Queen of Carlina. Every loyal citizen of Bogova was out,anxious to cheer himself hoarse before his neighbor. From the outlyingdistricts the natives were pouring into the city as fast as they heardof the termination of hostilities. Otaballo had his hands full withprospect of more to do every hour.
"Everyone in Bogova knows Sorez," he answered. "If he had been in thecity for the last year I should know more of his possible whereaboutsthan I do. He was a surgeon in the Republican armies here, but he tookno active interest in the Republic. How little his arrest proves. Infact, I think he stands in disfavor, owing to the trouble with thehill men, which they think started with him. I've even heard himaccused of having stolen the image. But I don't believe that or I'darrest him myself. As it is, I'd like to have a talk with him. I can'tsuggest where he is, but I'll give you a couple of men who know himand know the city to help you."
"Good!" exclaimed Wilson.
"In the meanwhile," he said, turning to Stubbs, "I'm depending on youto keep those men in order. If they only had their pay----"
"They'll get it as soon as we can reach Danbury. It was you who senthim away, General."
There was a note of resentment in Stubbs' voice. He had not at allapproved of this act.
"I know, I know. But--I saved his life by it. As soon as things settledown a bit it will be safer for him. In the meanwhile, if we could getthose men out of the city. To be frank, I'm afraid of them. Arlanomight reach them and he could buy them with a few pieces of gold."
"I'm not denying that," said Stubbs, "unless ye can give them _more_gold. As fer myself, I can't promise ye nothin'. I've finished mycruise with the captain an' done my best. If he was here, I'd stick byhim still, but he ain't, an' I've gut other things in hand. Everymother's son of the crew will git their pay fer their work so far, butfurther, I dunno. They done what they promised--took the city fer ye.Now if ye doesn't watch 'em I reckon they'll take it fer themselves.As much as they can git in their pockets, anyhow."
"I don't like that," answered the General, darkly. "If you'll lookafter them----"
"I wash my hands of them from now on," broke in Stubbs. "Havin' otherduties."
"Other duties here?" asked Otaballo, instantly suspicious.
"The findin' of this gent Sorez bein' one of 'em," answered Stubbs."An' I guess we better be about it."
"It is for the sake of the girl," explained Wilson. "The one you sawme bringing from the dungeon. Sorez kidnapped her from America, andnow he has taken her again."
The General's face brightened.
"Ah, that is it!"
He summoned a lieutenant and held a brief whispered conversation withhim.
"Gentlemen," he concluded, turning to Wilson, "Lieutenant Ordaz--hewill give you what assistance you need."
"An' th' same," said Stubbs, in a whisper to Wilson as soon as theywere upon the street again, "we'll proceed to lose. I didn't like th'look in Oteerballo's eye when he give us this 'ere travellin' mate."
It was an easy enough task for Stubbs. At the end of three or fourblocks he instructed Wilson to detach himself and go back to the lastpublic house they had passed and there wait for him. This Wilson did,and in less than ten minutes Stubbs appeared alone.
"Sorry ter part comp'ny with the gent, but with him we wuz more likelyter find Oteerballo than Sorez. 'Nother thing, we has gotter do someplannin' 'fore we begins work. 'Cause if I ain't mistaken, we has along chase ahead. In th' fust place, how much gold is yer carryin'?"
"Gold? Not a dollar."
"I
thought 'bout thet amount. Next place, is yer papers safe?"
Wilson felt of his pocket where they were tightly pinned in.
"Couldn't lose those without losing my coat."
"Might lose yer coat in this here city. Next, how 'bout weapins?"
Wilson drew out the revolver which he had managed to keep through allthe confusion. In addition to that he had some fifty cartridges loosein his pocket.
"Good!" commented Stubbs. Then he took an inventory of his ownresources.
"In th' fust place, I has some three hundred dollars in gold in thishere leather belt 'bout my waist. Never had less in it since a'sperience I had forty year ago. Fer weapins we is 'bout equal. Now Ifiggers this way; it will take us 'bout a week to learn what we hasgotter learn 'bout the coast beyond those hills afore we takes chanceson crossin' 'em. We can git this information at th' same time we isdoin' what we can to locate th' girl, though I ain't reckonin' onseein' her till we reaches th' lake. We can pick up our outfit and ourgrub at th' same time."
Wilson broke in.
"I don't like the scheme, Stubbs. I want to get to work and find thegirl before she gets over the hills. It's too hard a trip for her--itmight kill her. She's weak now, but that brute wouldn't care. If----"
"Slow! Slow, m' son. Yer blood is hot, but sometimes th' short courseis th' longest. If we wastes a week doin' nothin' but thet, we wastesanother perhaps arter we had found they has started. If we makesourselves sure of our course to th' treasure, we makes sure of ourcourse to th' girl. Thet is th' only _sure_ thing, an' when ye've gutbig things at stake it's better ter be sure than quick."
"I suppose you are right."
"'Nother thing, m' son, 'cordin' to my notions this ain't goin' ter bea partic'laly healthy place fer 'Mericans in a day er two. Now thetthey have bamboozled the Queen (an' she herself is as squar' a littlewoman as ever lived) inter gittin' Danbury outer th' city, an' nowthet the fight is won fer 'em, an' now thet th' boys we brought isabout ter raise hell (as they certainly is), Otaballo ain't goneter besqueamish 'bout removin' quiet like and safe everyone who bothers him.In three days we might not be able to git out long 'nuff to gittergether an outfit er ask any questions. There's a whole lot 'boutthet map o' yourn thet we wanter understan' afore we starts, as Ilooks at it."
"There is some sense in that."
"It's a simple proposition; does ye want ter gamble on losin' bothchances fer th' sake of savin' a week, or does yer wanter make sure ofone fer the double treasure--gold and girl?"
"I'd give every penny of the treasure to get the girl in my grip onceagain."
"Ye've gotter git yer treasure fust afore ye can even do thet."
"I know it. I'm powerless as things are. If there is a treasure thereand we can get it, we'll have something to work with. If I had themoney now, I'd have fifty men on his track, and I'd post a hundredalong the trail to the lake to intercept him."
"If ye'd had the treasure, likely 'nuff ye wouldn't have started. Butye ain't gut it an' ye is a long, long way from gettin' it. But if yedon't divide yer intrests, we is goin' ter git it, an' arter that weis goin' ter git th' girl, if she's anywhere atop th' earth."
"I believe you, Stubbs," answered Wilson, with renewed enthusiasm."And I believe that with you we can do it. We'll make a bargain now;share and share alike every cent we find. Give me your hand on it."
Stubbs reached his big hand across the table and the two men shook.
"Now," he said, "we'll have a bite to eat and a mouthful to drink andbegin work."
During the next week they followed one faint clue after another, butnone of them led to anything. Wilson managed to secure the names ofmany men who knew Sorez well and succeeded in finding some of them;but to no purpose. He visited every hotel and tavern in the city, allthe railroad and steamship offices, but received not a word ofinformation that was of any service. The two had disappeared aseffectually as though they had dropped from the earth.
At the advice of Stubbs he kept out of sight as much as possible. Thetwo had found a decent place to board and met here each night, againseparating in the morning, each to pursue his own errands.
Both men heard plenty of fresh stories concerning the treasure in themountains. Rumors of this hidden gold had reached the grandfathers ofthe present generation and had since been handed down as fact. Thestory had been strongly enough believed to inspire several expeditionsamong the natives themselves within the last twenty years, and alsoamong foreigners who traded here. But the information upon which theyproceeded had always been of the vaguest so that it had come to belooked upon as a fool's quest.
The three hundred dollars was sufficient with careful buying to securewhat the two men needed. Stubbs attended to all these details. Theywished to make themselves as nearly as possible independent of thecountry, so that they could take any route which seemed to beadvisable without the necessity of keeping near a base of supplies. Sothey purchased a large quantity of tinned goods; beef, condensed milk,and soup. Sugar, coffee, chocolate, flour, and salt made up theburden of the remainder. They also took a supply of coca leaves, whichis a native stimulant enabling one to withstand the strain ofincredible hardships.
Each of them secured a good Winchester. They were able to procure whatammunition they needed. A good hunting knife completed the armament ofeach.
For clothing they wore on their feet stout mountain shoes and carrieda lighter pair in their kits. They had khaki suits and flannel shirts,with wide Panama sombreros. At the last moment Stubbs thought to addtwo picks, a shovel, and a hundred feet or more of stout rope. Wilsonhad made a copy of the map with the directions, and each man wore itattached to a stout cord about his neck and beneath his clothing.
It was in the early morning of August 21 that the two finally leftBogova, with a train of six burros loaded with provisions and suppliesfor a three months' camping trip, and a native guide.
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