The Motor Scout: A Story of Adventure in South America
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CHAPTER XI
THE MOTOR-CYCLE
Mr. O'Hagan was surprised at the rapidity with which this offensivemovement had been executed. It was a bold stroke on the part of theenemy to make their way across the hills during the hours of darkness,and showed that they had among them a vigorous and enterprising leader.Its effect upon the fortunes of the Mollendists was likely to beserious. The success of their cause depended on the extent to whichthey could enlist active support among the disaffected. They had manysympathisers in San Rosario and the capital, but the most of these weretoo timid or too cautious to carry their sympathy into action. A greatsuccess would no doubt bring an influx of recruits; but a set-back suchas this would not only discourage recruiting, but also dishearten thosewho had already taken up arms. Defeat breeds desertion.
The outlook was very gloomy. But Mr. O'Hagan was a man whose energieswere stimulated by adversity. He had been wont to say that hisplantation was too successful: he was growing soft. The presentsituation was a challenge to the qualities that had lain dormant in himsince he hung up his sword at the close of the Chilian war.
Mollendo expected that some of the fugitives from the camp would incourse of time make their way to the hut in the hills which Mr. O'Haganhad just left. There he always kept a small supply of provisions. Itwas therefore decided to return thither. Several mounted men joinedthem on the march, and within a few hours after reaching the hut theparty was augmented by about two score, several of them wounded. Thesewere attended by a medical student who had thrown in his lot with theMollendists. There was great despondency among the little force. Somewere disposed to continue their flight and even to abandon the cause;but Mr. O'Hagan set himself to rally them, appealing to their courage ascaballeros and hidalgos, a compliment which especially flattered themestizos among them.
Mr. O'Hagan was too old a campaigner to run any risks with a small forcedemoralised by their recent reverse. His first concern was to restoretheir morale. The great difficulty was provisions. The small supply inthe hut would soon be exhausted, and in the inhospitable hills there wasno chance of obtaining any food except wild fruit from the bushes. Theriver swarmed with fish, however, and Mr. O'Hagan, to give the menemployment, set some of them to weave a seine net out of the creepingplants that flourished along the banks. With this primitive implementthey caught a good number of fish.
Meanwhile he sent out half a dozen men to bring in any more fugitiveswhom they might meet, and Romana with another man to discover what theenemy were doing. When these scouts returned late at night, theyreported that the main body of the enemy had withdrawn southward, eitherto San Rosario or to San Juan. They were partly gendarmes, the mountedpolice of the province, partly the irregular troops which the Prefectattached to his cause by the hope of plunder. The camp was stilloccupied, but Romana had not been able to ascertain by how many.
One of the last comers among the fugitives declared that he had seen thePrefect himself in the action. This seemed doubtful to Mr. O'Hagan, butMollendo assured him that it was not at all improbable. The Prefect wasa man of great, if spasmodic, energy, and of much personal courage andresource. In Spanish America no man could arrive at his position ofvirtual dictator without such qualities. He must have guessed that hisescaped prisoner had taken refuge in the Mollendist camp, and having somuch at stake had himself led the attack upon it, instead of leaving itto the gobernador, of whose prowess he had a mean opinion, by no meansunjustified. Indeed, Senor Fagasta was in disgrace. The Prefect hadaccused him of conniving at the prisoner's escape, and put him underarrest in his own house--a prelude to another demand for money.
It seemed strange that the greater part of the Prefect's force shouldhave been withdrawn so soon after the capture of the camp. Mollendosuggested that he was anxious not to be absent too long from San Juan.He had many enemies there, secret if not active; and if he allowedhimself to be lured into the wilds he might return from a successfulcampaign only to find himself, as it were, locked out of his own house.No doubt he reckoned on the demoralising effect of his sudden swoop tobreak up the Mollendist party, and had left a portion of his force toharry the remnant at their leisure.
The position was discussed between Mollendo and Mr. O'Hagan in the hut.Tim was close at hand, giving eager attention to all that his elderssaid.
"I am much to blame for allowing the enemy to surprise me," saidMollendo bitterly. "I ought to have guarded my back door morediligently, but I was relying on the gobernador's known want ofenterprise. He boasts of what he is going to do, but I have never knownhim to do anything."
"Don't take it to heart, excellency," said Mr. O'Hagan. "You were notto know that the Prefect would take matters into his own hands, norwould he have done so, I suspect, but for me. It is therefore incumbenton me, as the cause of your misfortune, to do what I can to retrieveit."
"And I trust much in your valour and skill, general."
"I thank you, excellency. Our most urgent need is food; the next isarms and ammunition; the next, men. That is the order in which ourfortunes must be built up. And I confess that at the moment I am ratherat a loss as to what steps to advise."
"We could get a certain amount of food at our own place," suggested Tim."There can be no harm in robbing what we have been robbed of."
"That is all very well, but Pardo is in possession, no doubt withgendarmes to support him; and the enemy lie between us and home. It isvery necessary to keep a careful watch on their movements, and Ipropose, with your consent, excellency, to send two scouts forwardto-night to see what they are doing."
"Let me be one, Father," said Tim eagerly.
"You are rather too young," said Mr. O'Hagan, remembering his wife'sinjunctions. "Many of his excellency's men are no doubt experienced insuch work."
"Let the boy go, general," said Mollendo. "I have already formed a highopinion of his courage. Such a task would give him invaluableexperience. And if you send Nicolas Romana as the second scout, youneed have no fear; the boy will be safe with Romana, one of the mostactive and trustworthy of my adherents."
Mr. O'Hagan felt himself in a difficulty. It would certainly weaken hisown position with Mollendo if he refused to let his boy take a share inthe operations. After so direct a proposal he could hardly hesitate toemploy Tim when he would employ any one else. After a brief inwardconflict he said:
"Very well, excellency; the boy must win his spurs; he shall go."
Tim was delighted, Romana scarcely less; he felt much flattered by hischief's praises. Soon after dark, therefore, the two set off onhorseback. It was a cold night; a biting wind blew down from themountains; and the scouts were not sorry when, arriving within a fewmiles of the camp, they had to dismount and proceed on foot. They ledtheir horses some distance from the track, and tethered them in a clumpof trees, placing on their return three large boulders at the side ofthe path to mark the place. If they should have to hurry back in thedarkness, without such signposts they might very well overshoot thespot. Then, keeping on the hill-side above the track, they crept along,listening for sounds from the enemy's outposts.
They were within half a mile of the camp when they had the firstindication of the enemy's presence. They heard the sound of horseschamping their bits in the distance, and a low murmur of voices. Movingstealthily forward, they found that two or three men were posted on thetrack. As far as they could tell, this was the only precaution taken bythe enemy against surprise from this quarter.
The scouts wormed their way foot by foot towards the camp. Their coursewas difficult. They durst not advance along the track itself; and thehill-side above was rugged and broken, littered with loose stones whichhad been removed at some time from the Inca buildings. Their routebrought them presently to a spot from which they saw a slight glowahead. It evidently came from a camp fire; but the fire itself washidden from them by the ruined wall. Skirting the enclosure, they madetheir way to the side where, as they kne
w by the sounds, the horses weretethered. Here they caught the footfalls of a sentry moving to and frooutside the wall. They stole past him to a point where the hill fellaway steeply, crawled up the slope until they gained the foot of thewall, and clambering up its ruined face, peered over into the interiorof the courtyard. The horses just beneath them snorted with alarm;their movements, quiet as they were, or their scent, had disturbed thesensitive beasts. The sentry close by stopped; but after a silent pauseof a few moments resumed his beat.
The scouts clung to the wall, their eyes just above its top. They sawthree fires in the courtyard; all were dying down. Around each lay anumber of men, wrapped in their cloaks. They could not count them;indeed, only when the breeze stirred the embers could they distinguishthe forms at all. But it was easier to count the horses, ranged in aclose rank with their heads towards the wall. There were ninety. Asimilar line stood against the adjacent wall at right angles.Altogether there must be at least a hundred and eighty animals.
There seemed to be no chance of making any more discoveries, and thetwain were about to move away, when a sudden gust of wind stirred thenearest of the dull fires to a momentary flame. By its light Tim caughta glimpse of his motor-cycle resting against the wall on the far side ofthe enclosure. He nudged Romana's elbow to draw his attention to it.Neither dared to speak.
They remained thus for a few seconds; then, by a second nudge, Timintimated his intention to retire. They let themselves down silently,and crept up the hill-side. When they were out of earshot from the camp,Tim said in a whisper:
"Romana, I am going to get my bike."