CHAPTER IX.
UNDER TROUBLED SKIES.
"Oh! how glad I am to think we've arrived at last!"
Andy uttered these words as he stood at the rail of a small but staunchsteam yacht, of rather ancient vintage, that he and Frank had leasedwhen arriving at Maracaibo, the city on the bay of the same name, fromwhence so much of Venezuela's coffee is shipped to the States.
It had belonged to some Englishman who, becoming stranded at this SouthAmerican port while on a globe circling trip, was forced to let it go;and the agents gladly secured a crew for the adventurous youngAmericans, who were bound up the Magdalena River for some unknownpurpose.
"Yes," observed Frank, who leaned on the same rail close beside him,"there's the town of Barranquila, all right. We've navigated the fivehundred miles in this little steam craft" with only a few break-downs ofthe machinery, and just two days' delay. And the second step on ourjourney comes to a close."
"The third ought to take us to that valley town up the river; ain't Iright?" asked the anxious Andy.
"Sure. As near as I can make it, Magangue must be not over two hundredmiles upstream. With good luck we can cover that in a couple of days,"returned Frank.
"But why do you say good luck?" demanded his cousin, suspiciously.
"Oh! well, we are now in the land of tomorrow, you remember," laughedFrank.
"You mean where they put off everything they can, saying 'no hurry;plenty of time, senors all; the world was not made in a day'? Is thatit?" Andy went on.
"Partly. I was also thinking of another thing," admitted Frank.
"Yes, and I bet I can give a mighty good guess what it is, old fellow."
"Perhaps you can," Frank said, a little gravely. "Suppose you spout itout."
"You've been pondering on what old Quito was telling us, in his brokenEnglish, about this little revolution that has been slumbering aroundthe region of the Magdalena River of late. You have a hunch that we mayjust be unlucky enough to run across some of those ragged chaps, whowant to upset the present government of Colombia, and seat some oldex-president fossil in the chair again."
"Anyhow, you're a fine guesser, Andy," admitted Frank.
"Then that's what was on your mind?" asked the other. "I've noticed youfrown a whole lot lately, which is unusual for my cheery pard, Frank."
"Oh! well," observed Frank, calmly, "I acknowledge the corn. I waswondering whether we might be troubled by any of those fellows while wewere navigating this river. I hope they'll just let us severelyalone. But you know, Andy, just as Colonel Josiah warned us, theseColombians don't have any too much love for Yankees, ever since thatPanama rebellion, when, as they believe, our government openly assistedthe people of the Isthmus throw off the Colombian yoke, because we justhad to control that strip of territory for the canal."
"But why should the revolutionists want to stop us?" insisted hiscousin. "We are here only on a private quest. We seek no gold mines orcocoa plantations. Our only object is a mission of mercy. And besides,if these men are in open rebellion, they ought to be glad to see anybodythat their government detests, Yankees or not."
"Well," pursued Frank, with a cautious glance around, "I was thinkingthat some of the people in Maracaibo took altogether too much interestin our little monoplane. A lot of dark-faced men hovered around, andasked many questions. They have heard and read much about the wonderfulthings being done today in aeronautics, but have seen little ornothing."
"Frank, that's so!" exclaimed Andy, quickly. "Please go on. You aregripping my attention a heap, I admit. Tell me, do you suspect that someof those same chaps may have been Colombians?"
"I'm dead sure of it, and more than that, old Quito gave me tounderstand he believed they were connected with the junta that waspushing this new revolution in Colombia."
"Yes?" Andy said, in a way that plainly invited further explanation.
"Stop and think," Frank continued. "Suppose now, they conceived the ideathat it would further their forlorn cause a heap if they only had suchan airship, and could threaten to drop all sorts of bombs into the campsof the government troops!"
"Good gracious! I suppose that is so. I never thought of that, Frank!"
"You know how nervous and excitable these people are? Don't you thinkthey'd give the government the worst scare it ever had? And couldn'tthey make almost any sort of terms of settlement?" Frank demanded.
"Yes, that's true. Then you imagine those fellows may have planned tosomehow steal our aeroplane, and that they've sent word ahead to theirfriends along the Magdalena to look out for us?" was Andy's startlingquestion.
"Partly that. But don't you see, Andy, the little monoplane would beutterly useless to them unless they had some one who knew how to runit?"
The other gave utterance to a low whistle, just to indicate how hisfeelings had been stirred.
"You mean they might try to capture _us_ in the bargain, and force us tooperate the aeroplane? But suppose we did, what would hinder our justsailing away, once we got up in the clouds? Tell me that, Frank?"
"Oh! well, I'm not looking that far ahead," smiled the other. "Possiblythey might only let one of us go up, keeping the other as a hostage. Orperhaps, there might be a fearless revolutionist officer aboard withthat one, sworn to shoot at the first sign of treachery. But don't letus cross a bridge until we come to it."
"That's right. We don't want to fall into the hands of any ragtagrevolutionists, and we won't! We've got our work laid out for us, andnothing must stop us. All the same I'm going to keep an eye on thatprecious case in which our aeroplane is boxed, as well as theengine. And Frank, I'm carrying the little shooting-iron Colonel Josiahgave me as a parting present."
"Ditto myself," replied the other, in a low tone, as one of the crewhappened to draw near, while getting ready to make a landing at thewharf. "He told us that down in this country it paid to be ready fortrouble; though I keep hoping we're not going to have anything of thesort."
It was toward noon when they steamed up to the town that nestled nearthe mouth of the great Magdalena River. Of course it was hot, for theseason of the year made that a foregone conclusion; but both boys weredressed in suitable attire, and also wore pith helmets calculated toallow a current of air fan the head.
Andy was shivering in a mixture between hope and fear. In this city theywould meet the writer of that pleasant letter, Senor Jose Almirez. Whatif he had received further intelligence from the correspondent up-riversince the time he had mailed that letter? What if some terrible newsawaited the coming of the daring young Yankees, who had ventured to thisfaraway country, bent on solving the mystery connected with the longabsence of Professor Bird?
But, as usual, it was Frank who buoyed his spirit up. There never was achum more devoted to the interests of his friend. Andy would long sincehave succumbed to his fears but for the cheery words of the other.
It was said to be the rainy season in this country that lay in thetropics. Up on the high mountain peaks lay snow the year around; but inthe low lands, and along the valleys and sides of the uplifts, theycould grow coffee, cocoa, bananas pineapples, oranges and all manner ofsimilar products.
A small crowd gathered at the wharf to see the little steam yacht comein. Perhaps the former English wandering owner had been here before, andsome of them even recognized the vessel.
Scowls greeted her passengers when it was discovered that they were notEnglish but Americans. Frank and Andy paid little heed to thesefrowns. They did not mean to leave the boat, if so be it were possibleto have Senor Almirez come aboard. And for that purpose they had writtento him ahead of time, telling him how they expected to reach Barranquilaabout a certain date.
Several breakdowns of the engine had delayed them, so that they wereeven now two days behind time. On this account, as well as throughprudence, they meant to stop here as briefly as possible.
Immediately their purser went ashore to make inquiries, and purchase alot of fruits that could be taken on the river voyage; though for thatmatter they
might expect to get anything they wanted at various villagesalong the route.
Frank was looking the crowd over closely.
"I think I see him, Andy," he remarked, presently.
"You mean Senor Jose?" asked his cousin, eagerly. "I've been watchingthat middle-aged gentleman who seems to be pressing close in on theflank of the crowd. There, see, he is speaking to Manuel, our purser,now, asking him some question. He looks up here at us; yes, and waveshis hand, with a smile! That must be Senor Jose, all right, Frank."
"I'm going down to meet him, to fetch him aboard," declared Frank, afterboth boys had answered the signals of the dark-faced gentleman in thewhite linen suit, and who was also wearing a Panama straw hat.
Three minutes later and Frank reappeared, having the other in tow.
Just as both of them had suspected it was Senor Jose. Receiving theircommunication from Maracaibo, he had been on the watch.
"And he tells me, Andy, that there has been no new development since hewrote. So that fear of yours must be set at rest. Just depend on it,we're in this game to win out, and your dear father is going to befound," Frank went on.
Presently they were deep in conversation. The boys found Senor Jose avery intelligent gentleman indeed. He had spent some years in Washingtonin connection with the embassy of his government, so that he not onlyspoke and wrote English well, but had a high opinion of Americans;something that the vast majority of his fellow-countrymen failed toacquire, being possibly fed on stories that may have had their inceptionin German or English trade sources.
From him Frank extracted all the information he could concerning thewonderful country lying between Magangue and the Isthmus of Panama,covering possibly some three hundred miles. It was little enough. Mostof it, he declared was a _terra incognita_, being utterly unknown land.
"But," continued the obliging senor, "you will certainly be able tolearn more concerning this when you see my fellow-countryman, SenorMendoza; for all his life has he lived there at Magangue, and surely hemust know something of that country to the south."
"We shall leave here with as little delay as possible," observedFrank. "I have sent our purser, Manuel, to comply with the customduties, and secure us a few supplies. When he comes aboard again weexpect to start."
"It is just as well," remarked the other, significantly, and seeming tobe relieved. "Because, there is an uneasy feeling in Barranquila justat present. Agents of the revolutionary junta have been here. They arevery active. And from secret sources I happen to know that they areaware of the strange cargo you are bringing with you."
"You must mean our aeroplane, Senor?" remarked Frank, quickly.
"Si, Senor Bird," the other continued, nodding his head. "It has becomeknown that the two young Americanos are of the new and wonderfulaeronauts, with whom nothing is impossible. And if you remained here anylength of time I fear lest even my government might seek to find someexcuse for appropriating your little airship. The talk is all in thatdirection now. Colombia is ripe to take a forward step, and have anaviation corps."
"Well," said Frank, "under the circumstances we would seriously objectto having our monoplane confiscated now, because upon it we dependwholly in our search. But I thought you were perhaps about to warn us tolook out for these revolutionists while passing up the river."
"It would be wise, Senor," observed the amiable Colombianex-diplomat. "They have agents here; and I happen to know that one iseven now on the wharf, observing. Possibly he seeks to communicate withsome spy who chances to be a member of your crew. So you see, it mustpay you to be always on your guard, and prepared!"
Aeroplane Boys on the Wing Page 9
