The Hero of Panama: A Tale of the Great Canal

  CHAPTER XV

  Jaime de Oteros forms Plans

  If ever there were a rascal it was Jaime de Oteros, the Spaniard, who,if his past history were but fully known, had left his own nativecountry, now many years ago, a fugitive from justice. Armed withsufficient money to obtain an entrance into the United States ofAmerica, he had quickly re-embarked upon the course he had beenfollowing, and with the gang he had contrived to gather about him hadcommitted many burglaries. Then, the police being hot on his track, hehad left the country, and had begun operations again in southernAmerica.

  "That is our information about the man," said the police major, as hewas discussing the matter with Phineas and Jim one Saturday evening,when the latter was over at Gatun for the usual weekend stay. "Therascal knew that the police in New York State were making anxious searchfor him, and with his usual astuteness--for the man is astute without adoubt, and is, indeed, well educated--he slipped away before the netclosed round him. Later we hear of him at various ports along theMexican Gulf, and then in the canal zone. Tom brings us news of greatimportance."

  The big negro stood before them, looking magnificent in his policeuniform, and with an air of authority about him which was entirely new,and which caused Jim to struggle hard to hide his mirth; for he knew Tomso well. Severity did not match well with the huge negro's jolly nature.

  "I'se seed dis scum ob a man," he declared to them all, rolling hiseyes. "Yo tink Tom make one big mistake. Not 'tall; noding of de sort.Me sartin sure. Him come out ob a house in Colon. Same man, butdifferent. No beard, face clean shaved; but scowl all de same. Tom knowde blackguard when he see um."

  "But," said Phineas, "if you knew him why did you not arrest him? Thereis a warrant out for his apprehension."

  "And me try; but dat Spaniard dog quick, quicker'n Tom. Him slip backinto de house and clear out ob de back door. Not dere two second later,"declared the negro. "And not dere agin when me and Sam go some hoursafter. Not come all de time dat we hide up and watch. Him vanish intothin air."

  It was a pretty figure of speech for the negro, and brought a huge smileto his jolly countenance. "Vanish right slick away into de mist," headded, as if to give more weight to his words.

  "And has not been seen by anyone else, before or since," said the Major,his face become very serious. "But I believe Tom is right. Who elsecould be the author of these many affairs along the line of canalworks?"

  He looked closely at Phineas, and from him turned to Jim and then toTom. There was indecision on all the faces, though in the hearts of eachone there was not the smallest doubt that Jaime de Oteros was theinstigator, even if he did not actually carry out the work. The matterwas serious, very serious, without a doubt.

  "It isn't as if there were one isolated case," said the Major. "Therehave been many, and though so far the running away of spoil trains, theupsetting of wagons, and so forth has not resulted in the killing of ouremployees, it will do so, perhaps, next time, if we do not take steps toput an end to such matters. The difficulty is to know where to begin. Wehave men engaged in watching every mile of the track, but they do notall know this ruffian, though we have circulated his photograph;besides, he has altered his appearance. He is the most elusive criminalI have ever had dealings with, and at the same time one of the boldest.But a feeling of revenge cannot alone cause him to stay on here in thecanal zone, and risk arrest."

  If only the Major could have known it, there was a good deal more thanthe desire to pay off an old score to keep Jaime de Oteros in thatlocality. The Spaniard had now put in at many a port along that part ofthe world, and had discovered that the canal zone offered fineropportunities to a man such as he was than any other place.

  "Just because there's always money in plenty there," he told the fourcompanions he now had, for he had gathered two recruits to take theplace of those who had been lost on the launch. "It is like this, mates.Here, on the canal, nearly every soul is at work during the hours ofdaylight, and though the police have little to do, and therefore plentyof time to watch for people such as us, yet the fact that there is solittle crime in the zone puts them off their guard. I'm tired of playingoff that score. Reckon I'm near even with the lot of them; but there'sstill a little to do. There's that young fellow who ran the engineaboard the launch, and who was the first to come upon our gang and splitit up. He's got to suffer."

  He looked round at the ruffians assembled about him, and read approvalin their eyes.

  "A grudge is a grudge," said one of them fiercely, dropping his hand tothe weapon he carried in his belt. "Where I came from an injury done wasnever paid for till a knife thrust had been given. This young fellowmust suffer. How? What is the plan?"

  Jaime shrugged his shoulders expressively, and shook his head. "That'sfor the future," he said quickly. "I'm thinking it out. I've an idea, afine idea."

  Into his eyes there came a savage flash which boded ill for our hero,while the brows contracted and the lips slipped back from his sharpteeth. At that moment Jaime de Oteros, in place of the polished,smooth-spoken man he could pretend so well to be, was actually himself,a villain who knew not the name of conscience, who would stop atnothing, whose savage disposition was capable of carrying out anyatrocity. Then he smiled suddenly at his comrades, a crafty smile whichwas meant to convey a great deal.

  "Let it rest for the moment, this idea of mine," he said. "What we'vegot to talk about is this cash. There's money due within a day or two,money for the payment of the hands engaged on the canal. Well, we'vemade one haul already; we can make another, and then clear for good.This zone will be too hot to hold us once the work's finished. Now, letme hear the report. A good general never enters upon an engagementbefore he has made full arrangements to get clear off in case of thingsgoing wrong. Well, things will go wrong here--not for us, but for theofficials. They'll be real mad, and will do all they know to follow. Letme hear what has happened."

  There was a snivel of delight on the face of the rascal who had formerlyspoken, and who now responded to his chief's invitation.

  "I was to see what sort of a boat there was ready to put out fromColon," he said. "I found one that was rather likely. The old pirate shebelongs to has been here all his life, and what he don't know of thesurroundings ain't worth knowing. He's ready to clear from the harbour,with two of his sons and two others he'll hire, the instant we want himto do so. Reckon it'll be nigh about sundown when the time for movingcomes."

  Jaime nodded curtly. "About that," he agreed, "Well?"

  "This old pirate likes fishing. He'll watch for a fire signal way upover Gatun, and then he'll clear right off with his boat. Of coursehe'll do it secretly, but not too secretly. People'll be allowed tocatch a glimpse of men getting aboard, and of the boat putting out.She'll disappear."

  "Ah!" Jaime rubbed his hands together, and then began to roll acigarette with the nimblest of fingers. A smile broke out over his face,and for the moment the man looked almost handsome. "She'll disappear,"he giggled. "Yes, where? I begin to follow the move."

  "Where? That's for the police to decide. Ef they was to ask me at thetime I couldn't place a guess. But that old pirate knows a cove, quitehandy to Colon, where, once a man's lowered his topsail, he can lay hidwith his boat from all save those who care to come right into the cove.Our man says he'll do a bit of fishing. He'll pass his time with thatand sleeping, while the police steam right on, searching for the boatthat left Colon so secretly. Ef they ain't bamboozled, wall, call me aDutchman."

  There was a roar of merriment from the five ruffians. They lay back intheir chairs, and closed their eyes, as if thereby to help themselves toimagine the spectacle of the Commission Police racing across the sea ona wild-goose chase. Indeed it was one of the enjoyments of theirparticular thieving profession to set the police at naught, and makethem look foolish by their own astuteness. And here was an astute plan.

  "It licks creation," laughed Jaime, bringing a fist down with a crash onto the table, and exposing a hand burned brown by the sun, and on thefinger
s of which more than one ring glittered. "This old man of yourswill fool them nicely for us, and while the police are away on the sea,we shall cut off in a different direction. That brings us to the secondreport. You see I have to be very careful. Time was when I saw to allthese matters myself; but hereabouts I'm known, and badly wanted. Inspite of shaving off my beard I might easily be recognized, as by thatnigger. Gee! Ef he comes up agin me again I'll give him reasons to mindhis manners. Now, what about the horses?"

  He turned to another of his comrades, to the second of the two newrecruits he had gathered to his band, and looked inquisitively at him.The man was ready with his answer, and blurted it out eagerly, like aschoolboy who longs to make his own voice heard before all others.

  "Horses," said the fellow, a dusky South American, whose swarthyfeatures were deeply lined and pitted. "Trust me to pick the right sortwhen they're wanted. You told me to seek mounts strong enough to carryus across a rough country, and fix a rate to be paid for 'em. I went alittle better. There ain't many cattle in this place, so that one hasn'tto look far. But along over there," and he jerked his head over his leftshoulder, "there's a biggish farm, where there's a dozen mounts. We'llwant six, I guess, five for ourselves, and one for the dollars."

  "Seven," corrected Jaime suddenly. "Seven, my comrade."

  All looked at him curiously. Their chief was not wont to make mistakes,but here it looked as if he were miscalculating. However, Jaime smiledserenely back at them. "Seven horses without doubt," he said quietly,blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips, and cutting it asunder with awave of his ringed fingers. "Precisely that number."

  "I don't follow; six is the figure I put it at," came the answer."Unless----" and at the thought the rascal's face lit up with glee,"unless you reckon the dollars'll be too many for one bag."

  But the leader of the band shook his head, and smiled ambiguously."Seven horses will be required," he said slowly. "Tell us more of thebusiness. You arranged the payment?"

  "I fixed the business in a different manner. I scouted round a little,and soon found that, at nighttime, there were but one man and a womanabout the place. The stables are well away from the house, and easy toget at. I fixed that there wouldn't be any payment."

  There was a cunning expression about his face as he looked round at hiscomrades, while the lines about his eyes were sunken deeper. Jaimerewarded him with a loud "Bravo!" "You begin well with us, comrade," hesaid eagerly. "The report is a good one. But one little matter occurs tome: this farm is near the works, eh? It is connected by telephone?"

  The other rascal at once relieved him of the doubt. "It lies packed awayin a hollow, just on the edge of the zone," he said. "The folks ain'tnever seen a telephone."

  "Then that matter is agreed upon. We can now begin to decide what eachone of us is to do. I'll tell you right now what I had intended. To callaway attention from the place where the money's banked we decided tocause an upset pretty adjacent. Well, now, the Culebra cutting seemed tobe the most likely spot of all. I've been thinking and planning. Aruction there could be heard way up and down the line, and would setpeople running. The point was, how to cause that ruction."

  There was more than passing interest on the faces of his followers. Intheir opinion this leader of theirs was a fine fellow, a cunning man,one whom it was an honour to follow. They awaited the details of hisplan with eagerness, not to say anxiety.

  "And how did you fix it?" asked one of the men, proceeding to light hiscigarette by means of the candle burning before him. "Another train letloose? A shot under the wheels of a passenger coach? A dozen diggerssent scuttling?"

  There was a snigger on his face, quickly copied by the others. Jaimeshowed his pleasure by smiling broadly. After all, it was one of hispleasures in life to have the praise and high opinion of his following.He pulled at his cigarette thoughtfully, and then proceeded with hisplan.

  "We've played too many of those games already," he said, with a shortlaugh. "The officials of the canal are always on the lookout. But theplan I fastened on to would have taken their breath away, if it didn'tmanage to deprive some of them of the same for good and always. I'd beenwatching those rock drills, and the powder men laying their shots. Itseemed to me that once the shots were wired, and connected to the firingcables, a man had only to get to the firing-point and operate theigniter. I got asking questions. I've done a bit on electricity worksbefore now, and I soon saw that the thing was possible. With a littleluck I could fire their shots for them."

  The faces about him showed doubt and a lack of comprehension, for Jaimewas far more intelligent than any of the other members of his rascallyband. "What was the object of firing those shots?" they askedthemselves. But their leader soon explained the matter.

  "It is like this," he said suavely, as if describing an everyday matter:"the shots are laid ready for firing, and when the works are cleared theman who operates the igniter gets to work and explodes them, one by oneor in batches, according to the wiring. Well, now, if the place iscleared of workers, there's no damage done, though rocks and dirt flyout in all directions. But if there was an accident--if, for instance, Ihappened to meddle with the igniter before the works werecleared--there'd be a tremendous ruction, and that's what we'rewanting."

  The diabolical nature of his suggestion dawned only slowly upon theminds of his following; but when it did so, when they fully comprehendedhis meaning, their faces flushed with enthusiasm. Each of the five hadworked on the canal, and had seen those dynamite shots fired. Tons ofearth and rock spouted in all directions. That they had witnessed. Toremain in the neighbourhood meant certain death for many, injury for nota few, and a commotion which the officials and workers had so far neverexperienced. There was joy on their faces. They banged the table withtheir fists, and stretched across to grasp the rascally palm of theirleader; but Jaime silenced them with uplifted hand.

  "It sounded right, I grant," he said between the puffs of smoke; "butthere was a fly in the ointment. The igniter is kept under lock and key.The place is guarded. These canny Americans know that those shots meandanger, and they don't run risks. If I tried the game, the chances are Ishould be disturbed or taken in the act of trying. So I wiped it out; Istarted in to think out another plan, something noisy, something thatwould draw all officials to the spot, away from the place where themoney is lying. And at last I fixed it. One of you men will changeplaces with a hand at Pedro Miguel, where they're building in theirfoundations for one of the big locks at the end of the Culebra cutting.You'll work with the rest till the whistles go at sundown, and then,when the coast is clear, you'll sneak back to the workings. I'll giveyou the rest of the plan later on; but you'll be the one to create amost almighty ruction, you'll be the one to draw off every official, andwhile they're busy we others'll get to work at the money. It'll be eighto'clock before we can meet at this farm, and an hour later will take usinto the bush. Next morning we'll be right away in the swamps, withfriends about us, while the police will be following the old fellow, whowill put to sea the previous evening."

  They sat in silence for a while, Jaime regarding each one of his band inturn, scrutinizing their faces closely, as if seeking for something inparticular. Then he fastened upon one of them, and stretched across togrip his hand.

  "Juan is a brave man," he said impressively; "he will take the post ofwhich I have spoken. To him falls the honour of creating such a troublethat those who go for the dollars may be able to take them easily. It isa post worth the having."

  The rascal greedily accepted it He was one of Jaime's old hands, and hadcomplete confidence in his chief. Moreover, he had now helped him in somany risky operations that fear did not enter into his calculations.Why should it, indeed, seeing that all others would be in ignorance? Theplot was being hatched in secrecy. None would know that anything was tohappen until the moment arrived. The hard-working officials of the canalwould be unable to recover from their astonishment before he and hisfriends were gone. Juan drank deeply from the cup before him, andreplenished the ves
sel from a stone jar standing on the table.

  "It is settled; whatever the plan, it is accomplished," he said with thegreatest assurance.

  "Then we have merely to arrange the parts for the others. Miguel sees tothe horses. Our friend Alfonso, who made the arrangement with theboatman, will be with Miguel, and will light a flare above Gatun atseven in the evening, or sooner if he discovers that there is acommotion. The two will then go to the farm, take the horses, and ridetowards Ancon. There is a spot at the bottom of a rocky hill, where theroad sweeps sharply round into the valley. My friends, we have all beenthere before. It is there that we will meet when the work is finished.Pedro and myself will take the money, then Pedro will carry it to thehorses. But I ought to have said that Alfonso and Miguel will not ridetowards Ancon with all the horses. They will leave three at the back ofGatun, at a spot we can arrange upon. There Pedro will take the moneyand load it on one of the horses. He will wait for me; I shall come, andthen we will ride to the place of meeting."

  There were inquisitive glances thrown at the man by his comrades. Thequestion of the seventh horse again occurred to them. Jaime smiled whenhe remarked their curiosity, and busily employed himself in rolling acigarette. It pleased him to watch his comrades as they endeavoured tofathom his purpose.

  "You ride to join Pedro after a while then?" queried the rascal Juan."What keeps you? Ah, I see it! A private grudge--that young fellow."

  Jaime nodded easily, and smiled openly upon them all. "I have still somework to accomplish," he said slowly. "You would not ask me to leave thisplace allowing something to remain unfinished? Think for a moment. Wewere comfortable and content here till that young dog pried into oursecrets. And what resulted? Three of us were arrested, and should havebeen hanged perhaps by now had we not broken out of prison. Two of ourcomrades were followed, and, though they were not killed, we have hadnews that they were badly wounded. In addition, our game here wasspoiled for the time being. The officials locked their money up tighterthan ever, so that we had to move elsewhere in order to earn a living.But that is all changed now; we are getting even with the fellows.Already we have caused them much trouble, and now we will skin them ofevery dollar, damage their works, and give this young dog such a lessonthat he will never interfere again. Good! It is fine to feel that theday of reckoning has come at last. Juan, pass the bottle. With planslike these to act upon a man requires a fillip."

  Far into the night they sat discussing their rascally movements, and thefollowing day found all but Jaime abroad and active. That veryafternoon, in fact, Alfonso brought them information that a ship hadcome into Colon bearing specie for the officials, money with which topay America's army of workmen.

  "I watched it unloaded," said the rascal, glee on his face. "There wereboxes of silver and a huge mass of notes; for of course wages are paidin paper. All the better for us, my friends. Paper is easy to carry, andis still valuable. They can publish the numbers of the stolen notes asmuch as they like, but still we can get value for them."

  "And the destination of these boxes?" asked Jaime anxiously.

  Alfonso told him with pride. He had followed the consignment, and hadseen it deposited at the door of one of the official offices. He hadseen it carried in, and drew a plan of the building.

  "Then to-night," said Jaime, pulling at the inevitable cigarette. "Juanhas already gone across to Pedro Miguel. And you--you have made fullarrangements with the boatman?"

  "Full and complete; there will be no hitch to-night," cried Alfonso,banging the table.

  A stranger happening to take rail at Colon on this day would have beenutterly astounded had he been informed that there was to be a commotionthat very evening. For the trip along the whole length of the PanamaRailway would have shown him armies of men and officials engagedmethodically with their work. The busy scene of smoking steam diggers,of rock drills, and hustling spoil trains would have resolved itselffinally, when his eye was at last accustomed to the vastness of it all,into a scene of order and method, into a gigantic undertaking whichoccupied the wits and strength of all whom he saw. He would at lasthave appreciated the fact that those vast works at Gatun, and between itand Limon Bay, had a direct connection with that enormous cutting whichoccupied the time of such an army of delvers at Culebra, though twentyodd miles separated the two, and that throughout the length of thePanama zone, stretching from north to south of the isthmus, the workundertaken by any one man had some special relation to that appointed toanother. Moreover, that, in spite of distances, in spite of the factthat the undertaking seemed to be progressing piecemeal at widelyseparated intervals, yet each and every part was a portion of the whole,a necessary portion, where the work in hand was conducted with a hustleand method truly American, and with a swing which augured for success.But of commotion there was not a sign. That traveller could not possiblyhave guessed that the evening had a disaster in store for the people whoworked beneath his eye.

  It was precisely half-past five on this special evening when a terribleexplosion shook every one of the wooden buildings at Ancon, and causedthe verandas at Gorgona to shake as if they would tumble. A vast flameseemed to leap into the air, there came a thunderous report, that wentechoing down the Chagres valley, and then dust and debris obscured thesky in the direction of Pedro Miguel. The serene face of this portion ofthe zone, lit a second or so before by a wonderful moon, was obscured asif by the work of a volcano.

  Instantly men poured out from the Commission hotels, and stood in thestreet of Ancon and the nearest settlement, asking what had happened.

  "Guess it's the dynamite store gone off suddenly," cried one, his handsdeep in his pockets, a pipe in his mouth. "Hope none of the boys ain'thurt, nor the works neither. It's been a bad blow-up anyway."

  It was an hour later before details filtered through, then, all alongthe line, it was learned that an attempt had been made to wreck thefoundation of the lock at Pedro Miguel.

  "Another of them anarchistic attempts," growled one of the men. "Guessthis is too almighty queer fer anything. Here's spoil trains been sentrunnin' down from the cut, and the same with diggers. Sleepers andsuchlike laid on the rails in order to throw passenger trains off themetals, fires, and what not. This is the limit."

  "It's one of the most serious difficulties we have had to face, boys,"said one of the canal officials, coming upon the group of men at thatmoment. "I've just come along from the dock at Pedro Miguel, and thereisn't a doubt that some rascal endeavoured to blow the whole place topieces. It's Jim Partington's section, and he'd left everything safe andsound. There wasn't a rock drill working there, and hasn't been thisthree weeks past. Consequently there weren't any dynamite shots; but aman was seen creeping down that way soon after sundown. Guess he'd fixedto place his bomb right in the trench where the foundations are beinglaid; but something went wrong with it. He was blown to pieces; therewere only scraps of him to be found."

  There was a grunt of satisfaction at the news; the men felt that such afate was only just retribution.

  "But what damage has been done, boss?" asked one of the men anxiously,as if the success of the canal depended on the answer.

  "None; in fact the explosion seems to have helped us. Young JimPartington tells me he was making a requisition for a rock drill thiscoming week, as there was a heap of stuff to break down before thediggers could get at it. Well, he's saved the trouble. That explosionbrought tons of stuff away, and now there's hardly need for a rockdrill. Of course you've got to remember that it's dark 'way over there,and a man can't fix exactly what may have happened. But we made a quick,and, I believe, thorough survey of the place, and I should say that I'vetold you everything. This blessed cur who has been worrying us theseweeks past has come by his deserts at last."

  There was, in fact, not the smallest doubt that the rascally plot ofJaime and his followers had failed at the very beginning. Juan, who hadaccepted the post of honour, had disappeared from the scene swiftly andterribly. He had been hoist by his own petard, and, as the official hadstat
ed, there was little left to show that he had actually existed.

  But still there was Jaime to reckon with, Jaime de Oteros and hisfellows, and the reader need feel little surprise when he hears that,later on in the evening, there was another disturbance. It wasdiscovered that the pay offices had been burgled, and that a vast sum ofmoney had been removed. Then came an urgent telephone message to Ancon.The instrument at the club rang loudly and continuously, causing one ofthe men to go to it instantly. Jim, who had just returned from aninspection of his section, where the explosion had taken place, sat at atable near at hand, and, though there was no reason why the telephoneshould be calling him more than any other, he watched his comrade andlistened.

  "What's that? Say, who are you?" he heard the man demand. Then hesuddenly looked over his shoulder, and if ever a man bore a startledexpression it was this one. "Say, Jim, there," he called out, "they'reringing you from Gatun. It's Phineas Barton; there's trouble down thereas well."

  Jim was beside him in a moment, the receiver to his ear; and at once herecognized Phineas's voice, but strangely altered.

  "Yes?" he asked as coolly as he could, though something set his heartthumping. "It's Jim at this end."

  "Then come right along without waitin'. We've trouble down this end.Bring a shooter; I'll tell you about it when you arrive. The PoliceMajor is here waiting."

  It was serious news, whatever it was, for Phineas's voice proved it. Jimcrammed his hat on to his head, raced back to his quarters and snatcheda mackintosh, a revolver, and a spare shirt, and then ran down to therailway. He found a motor inspection car awaiting him, with a couple ofpolicemen in it, one of whom was Tomkins.

  "You kin get along with it," said the latter curtly, addressing thedriver. "And we ain't nervous, so let her go as fast as you're able.Jim, there's a regular upset from end to end of the zone, and I'mbeginning to get through with it. That explosion was a blind, meant tooccupy our attention while those rascals, for there's more than one of'em, robbed the pay office. But that ain't all. They were up to someother sort of mischief down Gatun way, and the Major 'phoned through tous to come along that second. We were to bring you, too; so it seemsthat you've something to do with the business."

  Let the reader imagine how Jim fretted upon that quick journey. Hewondered why he should have been called, and how the matter couldspecially interest him. A thousand ideas flashed through his busy mind,and were banished as unsatisfactory. It was not until the motor racedinto Gatun, and he caught a glimpse of Phineas's face, that he realizedthat the matter must be particularly serious. His friend took him by thehand and held it.

  "Jim," he said, and his voice broke ever so little, "those scoundrelsdeserve hanging. We were right in thinking that Jaime de Oteros had todo with the business, and I guess he'd made up his mind to get even withyou for finding the gang and getting it broken. He settled to blow upyour section, then he broke into the pay office, and last of all, to payyou out properly, the ruffian slank down to my quarters. Sadie wasindoors, of course----"

  Jim staggered backwards. He had never even thought of Sadie inconnection with this disaster. The fear that she had been injured,perhaps killed, caused his cheek to pale even beneath the deep tan withwhich it was covered.

  "Get on," he said a moment later, pulling himself together with aneffort. "Sadie was indoors. Yes. That villain----"

  "That villain had fixed to abduct her. We were all outside, watchin' foranother explosion. This Jaime, or one of his men, slipped in at theback, seized the girl, and got clear off with her. Lad, it's a real badbusiness."

  Jim held to the rails of the station. His head swam; he felt giddy,while the beating of his heart was almost painful. He was utterlyunmanned for the moment. He, Jim Partington, who had faced so manydangers smiling, was utterly prostrated by the news imparted to him.Then, like the brave fellow he was, he threw off the feeling of weaknesswith a sharp shrug of his shoulders, and in a moment became his oldself, cool and self-possessed, as he asked shrewd questions shortly andsharply.

  "You will follow, of course?" he asked the Major.

  "You can guess so. This time nothing shall turn me back."

  "Then I can come?"

  "Glad indeed to have you, my boy. We'll move the instant we getinformation. I've men making enquiries down at the port, while yournegro, Sam, has gone off with a lantern. Better start on the right trackthan start early. Let's get in and have some supper."

  It was one of the most anxious meals Jim had ever attended. He was eagerto set out in search of his sister, but realized all the time that awrong start might be productive of great delay and failure.

  "But Sam will hit their marks if anyone can," he told himself. "ThenI'll follow wherever the tracks lead. Sadie shall not stay in that man'shands an instant longer than I can help it. And if I catch that Jaimeand his fellows----!"

  His fingers came together; his two hands were clenched beneath thetable. At that precise moment good-natured Jim felt that he was capableof anything.