CHAPTER XVIII
THE ADVENTURE AT THE MILL-HOUSE
For the moment it must be confessed that Ben was absolutelydumfounded, and Major Morris also. They had fully expected to see awoman in the hands of the regulars before them, and they couldscarcely believe the evidence of their own senses.
But if the officers were astonished, the men they confronted werelikewise taken back, and stared in amazement, which quickly gave wayto consternation.
"What do you want?" demanded one, as soon as he could speak. And thenhe glanced over their shoulders to see if the newcomers were alone.
"We thought we heard a woman in trouble," answered Ben, slowly.
"And we did hear a woman," put in the major. "Where is she?"
The two regulars exchanged unsteady glances, for each was somewhat theworse for liquor. "There ain't no woman here," answered one of them,sullenly.
"Then who was crying for help?" persisted the young captain.
"See here, cap'n, you are on the wrong trail," came from the older ofthe regulars. "Me and Bill's jest been having a little rumpus betweenourselves. We meant no harm by it."
"I don't believe you," came from Major Morris, promptly. "There issome mystery here, and as sure as you're born I'm going to find outwhat it is!" he went on.
The major had scarcely finished when Ben's eyes fell to the floor, andhe saw the outline of a trap-door under one of the regular's feet. Oneedge of the door was raised about half an inch above the floor proper,as if the door had been opened and not put back evenly into place.
"Major, look at that trap-door!" he cried. "I'll wager they used itwhile we were coming up the outside stairs."
"You must be right, captain. If you'll--"
"We didn't use no trap-door," shouted the younger of the regulars, buthe appeared much disconcerted over the discovery Ben had made.
"Captain, I have them covered," came from Major Morris, as he broughtout the two pistols with which he had wisely provided himself."Perhaps you had better investigate."
"I will," returned the young captain, and backed out of the room. Theregulars wanted to stop him, but aiming his weapons at them the majortold them to hold their peace.
"If everything is all right, you won't be harmed," he said. "But itdoesn't look right to me. You have no business here, for one thing."
"And what business have you here?" demanded the older regular. Andthen he changed his manner. "We were captured in the fight of lastweek, and were just trying to get back to our lines again."
"We'll talk about that when my friend the captain gets back, my man.If we are treating you unjustly, I'll apologize and do the handsomething by you," he added.
In the meantime Ben was making his way down to the bank of the stream,under the mill, with all possible speed. It was extremely dark, and hehad to pick his way with caution for fear of tumbling into some uglyhollow. Below the mill was a fall of water, and here the stream ranbetween a series of sharp rocks.
Ben had just gained the bank of the stream when a low moan reachedhis ears. At first he could not locate the sound, but presentlydiscovered that it came from the vicinity of the rocks. Feeling hisway along he managed, but not without great difficulty, to gain thetop of the rocks. Here he saw the water foaming and boiling twentyfeet below.
"That woman must be down there," he muttered. Then he raised hisvoice. "Where are you?"
"Down here, by the rocks!" came back faintly. "Help! please help me!"
Locating the voice as well as he was able, the young captain begancrawling down from one rock to another. This was difficult work, andhe had to move with extreme care for fear of a tumble, which wouldland him directly into the boiling stream. At last, however, he foundhimself perched on a bit of a shelf, with the water less than two feetaway.
From this point of view he beheld the sufferer, who was swinging inthe water, with her arms tightly clutching a sharp stone which rearedits point just above the surface of the stream. He saw that she wasevidently a Spanish woman, well along in years, and that her dress wassadly torn, and her long hair was floating loosely over her neck andface.
It must be confessed that the young captain was perplexed over thesituation that confronted him. The sufferer was just beyond his reach,and he felt that to plunge into the water after her would be to take abig risk, for if the stream at this point was over his waist, theforce of the current would carry him off in an instant.
"Can you hold on a few minutes longer?" he called out.
"Can you hold on a few minutes longer?"--_Page 173._]
"No! no! I am too weak," came more faintly than ever. "Help mequickly, and Heaven will reward you!"
"I will do what I can--but you must hold tight for a minute," answeredBen.
Just above his head a number of bushes were growing, and among thesehe had espied a long, stout-looking shoot. Clambering to this, hepulled out his pocket-knife and cut it off. Then he leaped down oncemore, and holding tight to the rocks with one hand, shoved out thebranch with the other. "Catch hold, if you can," he cried.
The woman understood and gave up the rock for the stick, and Benpulled her toward him. It was no easy task, and once it looked as ifshe would lose her hold and be swept away. But in a minute the dangerwas past, and the young captain was hauling her up to where he stood.She was thoroughly exhausted, and no sooner did he have her in hisarms than she fainted.
One difficulty had been overcome, but another still remained, and thatwas to get up to the safe ground above the rocks. But once again thebushes growing out of the crevices came into play, and, haulinghimself from one to another, Ben at last found himself safe, with hisburden resting heavily over his shoulder.
It was now that the young captain found the woman was sufferingfrom a blow over the left temple, from which the blood was slowlytrickling. Laying the form down, he brought out his handkerchief andbound up the wound as well as he was able. This had just beenaccomplished when the sufferer came again to her senses and staredaround her in bewilderment.
"You--you--am I safe?" she asked, in broken English, but in a sweetvoice which went straight to Ben's heart.
"Yes, madam, you are safe," he answered. "Did those two men throw youinto the stream?"
"Yes, yes! Oh, they are villains, senor--great villains."
"I must say they look it, even if they are of our troops," replied theyoung captain. "Come, do you think you can walk back to the mill withme?"
The woman said she would try, and he assisted her to her feet. She wasstill very weak, and readily consented to lean on his arm; and thusthey moved slowly back the way the captain of Company D had come.
During all this time Ben had not heard a sound from the house, and hewas anxious to know how Major Morris was faring, although feelingpositive that the major was fully capable of taking care of himself.Now, as they came closer, he heard loud talking.
"We ain't goin' to stay, major,--an' it ain't right fer you to ask usto," the older of the regulars was saying.
"You will stay, and that's the end of it," came in the major'sclean-cut tones. "If you attempt to pass through that doorway, I'llput a bullet through you."
"But we are friends, major, and--"
"I don't know that I am a friend to you. It depends upon what mycompanion the captain will have to report when he gets back."
"He won't have nuthin' to report, so far as we are concerned," put inthe younger regular. "We ain't done any wrong, 'ceptin' to quarrel abit between us. Everybody has a set-to once in a while, you know."
By this time Ben was tramping up the outside stairs, supporting thewoman as before. Now he pushed his way into the outer room of themill-house, the woman following with some hesitancy. At the appearanceof their late victim the regulars fell back as though struck a blow.
"Nice sort of chaps you are," exclaimed Ben, hotly. "You don't deserveto wear Uncle Sam's uniform. A set of prison stripes would suit bothof you much better."
"Hullo, you've found the lady," cried the major. "Sit down, madam
, andtell us what this means."
A bench was handy, and the sufferer dropped heavily upon it. Theregulars looked as if they wished themselves anywhere but in theirpresent situation, yet they did not dare to budge, for Major Morrisstill held "the drop" upon them, and the commander of the firstbattalion looked as if he would stand no nonsense.
"These men came here to rob me," said the woman, slowly. "They are ofyour kind, but they are not honest."
"Then they are not of our kind," answered Ben, promptly. "We do notallow our soldiers to rob anybody."
"We didn't come to steal--" began the older regular, when Major Morrisstopped him.
"Silence! Not another word until the lady has finished her story."
There was a second of painful silence, and the lady continued: "I amstaying at the mill alone, for my husband has gone to the Laguna deBay on business. Several hours ago, these two soldiers came in anddemanded that I serve them with a hot supper. Not wishing to havetrouble I gave them the best I had. But they were not satisfied, andbroke into my husband's wine closet and drank two bottles of hischoicest wine, and smoked his best cigarettes, package after package.Then, after drinking much wine, they demanded that I give them money,and that man," pointing to the older prisoner, "told his companionthat I must have money hidden somewhere, as all the Spanishmill-owners in Luzon were rich, while the truth is, we are very poor,as the war has taken away everything. Then the men drank more, and atlast they caught hold of me and threatened me with great violence if Idid not give up what I had hidden away. I gave them the little silverI had, but they were not satisfied, and when I tried to run away, onehit me over the head with this bench. Then they plotted to get me outof the way entirely and go on a hunt for money themselves. I criedlouder than ever, and then you started to come in. One of the men hadopened that trap leading to the river, and as you came up the outerstairs both dropped me down, no doubt to drown me. I was swept down tothe rocks at the falls, and there the _capitan_ saved me, God blesshim for it."