CHAPTER XXI
THE MARINES HAVE LANDED
"That's a fine-looking engine," said Dick, three days later, as hegazed, with a derisive laugh, at the locomotive backing onto the wharfat Corinto to couple up with a train of laden flat cars ready to starton the precarious journey to support the battalion of marines somewherealong the line, but just where no one rightly knew.
And indeed it was an engine of a type quite new to most of the marinesperched on every available sticking-place amid the boxes, barrels andbales with which the train was laden. A care-free, jovial lot ofhuskies they were, taking this back-breaking work as a mere matter ofcourse. They were marines, so it was their just due to be chased fromone corner of the world to the other; and if it had not been so, theywould have said disgustedly that they "might as well be in the Army."The world moved and the marines moved with it; they themselves weresometimes inclined to think they moved it.
"The only place I ever saw an engine of that type was on those bluethree-cent stamps the United States put out for the centennialcelebration many years ago," remarked a junior officer, seated near Dickon the floor of the car, with his feet swinging idly over the side.
"You are not much of a philatelist, Mr. Mercer," said Captain Henderson,who happened by, "or you would have known of other postage stamps withan engraving of the wood-burning type of engine on their face. Thiscountry we are now in uses a series of them over on the Mosquito Coast,and Honduras has another series. But I see we are about to start. Passthe word to fix bayonets: no rifles to be loaded without command. Eachman must understand this affair is being handled with kid gloves, andthey must not precipitate things by any hasty action on their part.Remember, too, that we are here to keep order, and unless interferedwith we will go about our business quietly. To us, at the present time,all Nicaraguans are our friends until they prove otherwise. Treat bothparties alike until you get orders to the contrary. Those men wearingred rosettes and ribbons are 'agin the government'; they are rebels; sobe careful of your every act."
The engine with its enormous bell-topped stack by now had bumped intoposition and with a jerk and wrench and creaking of wheels the journeywas begun.
All along the route could be seen small bands of men. Some carriedrifles, but the majority were armed with long knives, called machetes.Many sported uniforms, but most were attired in ordinary clothing, thelittle red badges identifying them with the insurgent forces.
Hour after hour they clattered and bumped along the fearful road-bed.Forward! Bump, stop! Bump, ahead! Stop! Little by little, mile aftermile, they progressed. Here the rails were slippery, and with shovel inhand the men jumped off the cars and covered them with dirt so that thewheezy engine could once more proceed. At a town named Quezalgaque,just as darkness fell, the engine ran out of water. A bucket line wasformed down the steep river embankment at this spot and under the glareof flaming torches the men worked filling the boiler till the NavyMachinist in charge of the engine stated the gauge was "full up." Thenforward once more with the cheers of the detachment of Uncle Sam'ssailors, stationed here to guard the bridge, ringing in their ears.
The night was so black that it was difficult to see one's hand beforeone's face and when, after about five miles more of bumping and thumpinghad been covered, the train again halted, word passed from the head ofthe train for no one under any circumstances to leave the cars. Thereseemed to be a mysterious something in the air, as of a dense crowd ofhumanity pressing in from all sides, yet there was no sound, other thanthe puffing of the wood-burner at the head of the train.
"Wonder what makes this place so spooky like?" whispered Dick to Dorlan,who sat beside him filling his old corn-cob pipe preparatory to lightingup; "I have a feeling that if I put my hand out I'd touch some humanbeing; and yet I can't see a thing in this blackness."
Dorlan did not reply, but the light from his match made a small glare inthe surrounding night. Small as it was the men in his immediate vicinitywere startled at what it disclosed. A sea of faces, a forest of armedmen, crowded up to the very edge of the track on all sides.
"Whew! Did you see them?" whispered a man near Dick. "Every beggar insight has a gun, and here we are right in the middle of 'em, and wedidn't know it."
There was a restless movement on the part of the marines. Those who hadbeen drowsing awakened, to grip more firmly the rifle which, sincedarkness, no longer held the knife-like bayonet. One man quietly openedthe bolt of his rifle and nervously fingered a clip of cartridges in hisbelt.
"Easy, men!" came the caution down the length of the train, and theslight flutter of nerves calmed to steadiness. But the tension wasthere, and only the excellent discipline held them in check, for theserebels were too close for comfort. Then followed the slow ringing ofthe locomotive's bell, brakes were released and the train moved on,crossed a high trestle bridge, and again halted.
"Pile out, everybody! Throw our company stores off the cars at once andstow them alongside the track. Get some lanterns working, men. On thejump, now!" and Captain Henderson strode along the embankment shininghis flash-light and encouraging his men to do good work.
Lights flickered along the train. Stores were tossed off in quickorder, camp sites selected, police parties immediately preparedlatrines, and the guard was posted. Then, the immediate requirementsbeing attended to, the men rolled up in their blankets on the hard earthto get such sleep as they could.
"Who were all those hombres[#] surrounding us before we crossed the bigbridge, Sergeant?" asked Dick, pulling his knapsack into a morecomfortable position beneath his head.
[#] Hombres--Men.
"They was the chief army of the rebels in these parts," replied Dorlan."When we stopped back there we were right in the middle of the biggesttown in Nicaragua, and the one where all the trouble starts. The peopleof Leon are always ready to revolute with the hope of makin' it thecapital instead of Managua, and bein' on the only railroad from thecapital city to the seaport, Corinto, they're in a foine place tocontrol things. The nearest Federal troops are at a place called LaPaz, about twenty-three kilometers from here."
"How long is a kilometer, Sergeant?" questioned one of the men.
"It's about five-eighths of a mile, so La Paz would be about fourteenmiles south of here. From there on the Federal troops hold the railroadto the southern outskirts of Managua, and as this line goes on toGranada, I figure it's up to us to do considerable of work yet, for theysay that we'll never get through the rebel lines beyond the capitalwithout a fight. However, so far things seem to be goin' pretty slick."
"Do you know how many troops there are in Leon, Sergeant?"
"About two or three thousand, so they say, and they didn't want us topass through there to-night, but finally consented. The Adjutant toldme the leaders were pretty ugly about it, but as you see they finallygave in, and here we are."
"Now we are here what are we going to do?" inquired Dick.
"This battalion's goin' to camp right here and watch these fellers inLeon; the rest of them behind us will go on through when they come upand help the outfit that's ahead. All the telegraph and telephone linesare down between here and La Paz Centro. The rebs have cut 'em, and wecan't get word of what's goin' on up ahead; but we'll know by to-morrownight. Now, quit yer askin' of questions. It's three o'clock in themornin', and reveille's set for five A.M. Ye always want to get all thesleep ye can on campaign, for ye can't never tell what's a-goin' to behappenin' the next minute. Good-night, boys," and Sergeant Dorlan rolledover, his snores soon announcing he had followed his own excellentadvice, but it was a long time before Dick's eyes closed in slumber, andit seemed as though the notes of reveille awakened him even before hehad succeeded in getting the time-quoted "forty winks."
"I can't get 'em up! I can't get 'em up! I can't get 'em up in the morning! I can't get 'em up! I can't get 'em up! I can't get 'em up at all! The private's worse than the corporal, The
corporal's worse than the sergeant, The sergeant's worse than the Captain, And the Captain's worst of all."