Swift and Sure: The Story of a Hydroplane

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER XIII--A SNAG

  The kidnappers were not a moment too soon. The sentry, dazed andhalf-drowned, struggled from the muddy bottom of the lake just as theyacht put off. Scrambling on to the jetty, he filled the air with hiscries. While Azito paddled the boat towards the canal, Will looked backtowards the house. Figures were pouring out, some in their nightattire, others pulling on their coats as they ran. The air rang withtheir shouts. They all made for the jetty. One or two fired aimlessly;the little vessel must now be invisible to them in the darkness, anduntil they inquired of the sentry they would not know what had happened.There were no other boats at the jetty, so that pursuit by water wasimpossible, but Will wondered anxiously whether he could reach thestream at the end of the canal before the men could gain it by runningalong the banks. If they posted themselves on the banks of the narrowcanal, he would be at their mercy.

  The boat was small. It would carry no more than two comfortably.Overloaded as it now was--the General alone was no light weight--itcould not make anything like the speed of a man running. But it wastaking the diameter of the lake; the pursuers would have to run roundthe circumference: and Will remembered that when they reached the canalthey would find their course checked by the vegetation, the banks havingbeen allowed to return to their primitive wildness. This would give theboat a little time.

  It entered the canal from the lake. The shouts of the men drew nearer.They came from both sides. General Carabano cried out continually. Thegag was lost, and Will had nothing at hand with which to silence him.Azito plied his paddle desperately, and Machado, as anxious now as Willhimself to escape, seized a second paddle and helped to propel the boat.

  Had Ruggles brought the hydroplane to the end of the canal? What wouldhappen if he was not there? The pursuers were probably numbered byhundreds, and even if they fired at random across the stream, so manycould hardly fail to hit one or other of the occupants of the boat. Willpeered anxiously into the darkness. If Ruggles had come, surely he musthave heard the noise. Then why had he made no sign? Had the hydroplanebroken down? All at once from down the canal came the throb of theengine. Will looked over the bow of the boat. He could just see, onthe faintly shimmering surface of the water, a dark shape approaching.

  "Ruggles!" he shouted.

  "Ahoy!" came the reply. "Look out, Mr. Pentelow, I'm stern foremost."

  "Good man! Catch the painter when I throw it. Don't come any farther."

  Azito was paddling more slowly now, fearful of dashing into thehydroplane in the darkness. The shouts of the pursuers sounded nearerthan ever: Will heard the men crashing through the undergrowth,regardless of snakes, as of all the dangers that beset the unwary bynight in tropical jungle. The boat came to a stop within a yard of thehydroplane. Will flung the painter on board: Ruggles seized it andinstantly started the motor. At the same moment a shot rang out fromthe right; another on the left; then there was a fusilade, and Willheard the bullets splashing into the water and singing through the air.The pace of the vessel was quickening; but Ruggles could not drive thehydroplane at speed, for though he was able to steer safely between thebanks of the canal, it was so short, and the stream beyond so narrow,that there was a danger of running the vessel against the farther bankif he went too fast. But the speed was great enough to shake off thepursuers, and in another minute the hydroplane swept round the corner ofthe canal, her head turned in the direction of the tributary of theOrinoco.

  "Go on slowly," cried Will to Ruggles. "They won't dare to pursue usnow. We are safe till the morning."

  "Will you come aboard?" asked Ruggles.

  "Not at present. I have got a prisoner."

  "Machado?"

  "He has been my right-hand man." He was speaking in English, so thatMachado did not understand him.

  "You don't say so! Who's your prisoner, then?"

  "His Excellency the Liberator of Venezuela, General Carabano."

  "By gosh! this beats cock-fighting. How on earth did you do it?"

  "I'll tell you all by and by. It's the greatest piece of luck. We'llhold him as hostage for the Chief and O'Connor."

  "Did you find out where they are?"

  "At the General's own hacienda, Las Piedras, fifty miles up-country."

  "In any danger?"

  "Not now. He was going to shoot them to-morrow--to-day, I should say.But nobody will touch them while we have the General in our hands. We'vesmashed this revolution, Ruggles."

  "Don't hallo till we're out of the wood, as the Chief would say. They'llcome after us in the morning."

  "We'll be out of their reach. We can go faster as soon as we reach thetributary--but not too fast, for goodness' sake: we don't want to strikea snag. At ten miles an hour we shall be at the junction by the timeit's light, and then we shall have a straight run to Bolivar."

  "But suppose they run to the junction by train and get there before us?"

  "I hadn't thought of that. What a fool I am! That would be the end ofus. We shall have to go pretty fast after all. Not yet; this stream'sdangerous. It's lucky we haven't far to go before we get to thetributary."

  "Look out!" cried Ruggles. "I've just got a whack in the eye from abranch."

  His warning came too late. The yacht stopped with a jerk as its mastcame into contact with an overhanging mass of foliage. The light polesnapped and fell into the bottom; at the same time the painter broke.

  "It doesn't matter, luckily," said Will. "We can drift down-stream.When it begins to get light we'll all board the hydroplane, though itwill be a tight fit. Have you got a match?"

  "Not one. Why?"

  "I wanted to see the time. We ought to get into the tributary by abouthalf-past one. There's plenty of time."

  General Carabano had been very quiet since the boat left the jetty. Butwhile Will talked to Ruggles, he had been speaking in a low tone toMachado.

  "You shall rue this, Senor Machado," he said fiercely.

  "Excellency, I am not to blame."

  "You expect me to believe that? Could these villains have committedthis outrage upon me without your help?"

  "They stole into the house, Excellency----"

  "What were you about?"

  "I was at my instrument, according to your instructions, Excellency.They came in when I was taking the telegram to you."

  "That is a lie," said Azito, with a grunt.

  "What do you say, dog?" demanded the General.

  "I say nothing," replied the Indian. "This man lies: that is all Isay."

  "You will tell me the truth, Senor Machado. You played the traitor tothe Englishmen; if you have also played the traitor to me I vow youshall pay for it."

  Machado hesitated. On the one hand the General was a prisoner, on hisway to Ciudad Bolivar, where unsuccessful revolutionist leaders usuallyhad short shrift. So far as appearances went, he had nothing to fear.On the other hand, prisoners sometimes escaped; it had occurred to him,as it had to Ruggles, that a train might be sent in pursuit: it mightreach the junction first. General Carabano at large would be a foewhose revenge it would be wise to shun.

  "I will tell you the whole truth, Excellency," he said. "I was asleepin my chair: a click would have awakened me. These villains stole uponme, threatened me with death, and forced me to invent the telegram todecoy you from your room."

  "It was false?" cried the General.

  "Every word of it, Excellency."

  The General gave a gasp of relief. One of his bitterest reflections hadbeen that he had lost 60,000 pesos. Then his anger blazed againstMachado.

  "You are a cur as well as a traitor, I see," he said. "A man of anycourage would have defied these wretches. If I had my hands free Iwould whip you like a dog."

  "It is easy to talk like that," said Machado, stung by the General'scontemptuous tone. "Would you have done otherwise with a pistol at yourhead? At least our lives are safe, and I may yet do you a service."

  "How?"

  "Captain Espejo wi
ll certainly send a train in pursuit, Excellency. Evennow I doubt not the engine is getting up steam. The hydroplane cannotgo fast in the dark. The train will be first at the junction. We shallbe rescued."

  "That will be Captain Espejo's service, not yours."

  "But we shall be taken on board the hydroplane, Excellency. The painteris broken; they cannot tow us, or if they can, they will not wish so tocheck their speed. Suppose I am able to damage the engine, Excellency?"he whispered, so that Azito could not hear him. "Then their chance ofoutstripping the train is gone."

  "Could you do it?"

  "I could try, Excellency. Such engines are very delicate; a trifle putsthem out of order; and we shall have several hours."

  "Do it, Senor Machado," whispered the General eagerly; "and when I makemyself President you shall be--yes, you shall be my postmaster-general.Say no more: the Englishman has stopped talking."

  Hydroplane and yacht drifted down on the slow current through thedarkness. Now and then one or the other would run aground, which causeddelay, but no danger, the speed being so low. None of the party knewwhat hour of the night it was when they came into the tributary, thescene of Will's first meeting with Azito. It was, in fact, nearly twoo'clock--time to transfer the prisoner to the hydroplane and increasethe speed. Ruggles threw out the little anchor, to allow the yacht todraw alongside.

  "There are six of us. We can never all squeeze into the hydroplane," hesaid, when Will was only a foot or two away. "General Carabano willtake room for two."

  "I'm afraid you're right," replied Will. "We shall have to make ahawser out of the halyards, and tow as before. It will put more work onthe engine, but I think it can stand it, and if we can get to thenarrows safely we shall be all right."

  "Won't it take longer to plane?"

  "It won't be safe to plane at all, but that won't matter. The currentis with us."

  "Have you got enough petrol?"

  "Yes, I bought some in Bolivar. I came up very slowly, so as not to usetoo much, and there should be enough to carry us to Bolivar, or at leastto the broken culvert, especially as we needn't go fast when we are pastthe junction."

  "That's all right, then. My notion is that I had better board the yachtand look after the General. You will want Azito to pole, and you hadbetter have Machado with you. I wish I had a pistol: it might comehandy."

  "I've got a spare one: took it from Machado's room. Here you are. Yourplan's all right. We must take care that the hawser is firmly fixed."

  "All right. I'll keep my eye on the General. He shan't slip his bonds,and won't want to: he could only escape by swimming, and I guess he'stoo scared of caymans to try that."

  The transfers were soon affected. Machado exchanged a meaning glancewith the General as he left him. The General for the first time made aformal protest.

  "I warn you," he said to Ruggles as that worthy stepped to his side."You have committed an unpardonable atrocity in laying violent hands onthe Liberator of Venezuela. I demand that you set me ashore at theearliest possible moment, otherwise you will have a heavy reckoning topay when I establish my authority."

  "Don't you worry, General," said Ruggles consolingly. "You wanted toget into Bolivar, I understand. Well, we'll take you there, free ofcharge. Couldn't be a fairer offer."

  The General muttered an oath and relapsed into silence.

  The hawser having been made fast, Will started the motor and set thehydroplane going at a speed of about ten miles an hour. To go fasterwhile it was still dark was unwise: he hoped also unnecessary. Azitostood forward with his pole: Jose was at the engine with his oil-can;Machado, to his disappointment, was given a seat beside Will at thesteering-wheel. In that position he was unable to interfere with themachinery. But he still hoped that an opportunity might offer beforethe night was over.

  It was more than fifty miles by river to the junction. Will hadpondered his task as the yacht drifted down the smaller stream, andrecognized the dangers. First, there was the navigation of the river inthe darkness; but the danger of this might be avoided with Azito's care,and by maintaining only a moderate speed. The second danger was thatCaptain Espejo might run a train to the narrowest part of the river someforty miles away, where the bank was fairly clear of vegetation and therailway line was near the stream. That spot would be reached aboutdawn. If the enemy got there first and lined the bank, they couldriddle the hydroplane with bullets, and a single well-planted shot wouldcripple the engine, to say nothing of the risks to which the occupantsof the vessel would be exposed. The third danger was that CaptainEspejo might run the train beyond the narrows to the junction. At thispart of its course the river made a wide bend, while the railway ranfairly straight; so that if the hydroplane got safely past the narrowsthere was still a possibility of the train outstripping it before thejunction was reached. But the train, consisting as it must do of heavygoods wagons, could not approach without noise, which would give warningof the necessity of increasing speed. Nor did Will suppose that theCaptain would venture to drive the train at full speed in pitch darknessover a new track, in which there were many awkward curves before itreached the straight run to the junction. On the whole, Will feltfairly easy in mind, and since the safety of the hydroplane wasall-important, he contented himself with the moderate speed of tenknots.

  The voyage had been in progress little more than an hour when Azitosuddenly turned round, and said--

  "I hear a train, senor."

  Will instantly stopped the engine. While it throbbed he could hearnothing else. The hydroplane drifted silently on the current. From thefar distance, on the right bank, came the characteristic rumble of aheavy train--a sound impossible to mistake. Ruggles heard it at thesame moment.

  "We must cut and run for it now," he said, "and no mistake."

  "Yes, and we must have the General aboard. It will be a near thing atthe best. We must make room for him somehow."

  As he said this he backed the vessel to allow the yacht to comealongside. Then he gave the wheel to Jose, turning to help Ruggles tolift the General on board. Machado thought his chance was come. Hetook up the light anchor, as though to throw it over and hold the vesselwhile the transfer was made. He really intended to dash it into themachinery. But just as he was on the point of hurling it, Azito sprangat him and brought his pole down with tremendous force on his forearm.He dropped the anchor with a howl of pain. At the same moment theGeneral was hauled over the side and laid just in front of the engine.Ruggles cast off the hawser and stowed himself near Jose; Will returnedto his seat; and opening the throttle little by little he set thehydroplane going, at ten, fifteen, and finally twenty knots. The extraweight she carried depressed her in the water, and more power than usualwas necessary before she would plane.

  Will had heard Machado's cry, but was too intent upon his task to payany heed to it. He knew full well the frightful risks he was running inpressing the engine so hard in the darkness, but there was noalternative. He must reach the junction before the train. Alarmed atthe speed, Ruggles suggested that it would be better to lie up until themorning, but Will would not hear of it.

  "We couldn't get past them. It's neck or nothing," he said shortly.

  The vessel whizzed along. The rumble of the train seemed to draw nonearer. Azito stood forward, but the pace was so great that in thedarkness it was tremendously difficult to give the course. Suddenlythere was a jolt and a jar. Azito shot forward on to the wind-screen;those who were seated were jostled violently against one another, andWill narrowly escaped a collision with the steering-wheel. After themomentary jerk the hydroplane rushed on, but only for a few seconds.Then the engine stopped dead, and the vessel was once more drifting atthree knots down the stream.