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diff --git a/45914.txt b/45914.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fb5984c..0000000 --- a/45914.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10292 +0,0 @@ - ON FOREIGN SERVICE - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: On Foreign Service - Or, The Santa Cruz Revolution -Author: T. T. Jeans -Release Date: June 07, 2014 [EBook #45914] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON FOREIGN SERVICE *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - - *[Frontispiece: "I HAULED IT UP HAND OVER HAND" - (missing from book)]* - - - - - On Foreign Service - - Or, The Santa Cruz Revolution - - - BY - - STAFF SURGEON T. T. JEANS, R.N. - - Author of "Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N." - "Ford of H.M.S. Vigilant" - - - - _ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I._ - - - - BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED - LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY - 1911 - - - - - *Preface* - - -This story is based on experiences, of my own, in various parts of the -world, and describes a Revolution in a South American Republic, and the -part played by two armoured cruisers whilst protecting British -interests. - -It describes life aboard a modern man-of-war, and attempts to show how -the command of the sea exercises a controlling influence on the issue of -land operations. - -As the proof sheets have been read by several officers of the Royal Navy -and Royal Marines, and many suggestions and corrections made, the naval -portion of the story may be taken to give an accurate description of the -incidents narrated. - -T. T. JEANS, - Staff Surgeon, Royal Navy. - -ROYAL NAVAL HOSPITAL, - CHATHAM. - - - - - *Contents* - -CHAP. - - I. Ordered to Santa Cruz - II. A Revolution imminent - III. The Revolution breaks out - IV. The Rescue of the Sub - V. Gerald Wilson Captures San Fernando - VI. The *Hector* goes to San Fernando - VII. General Zorilla falls back - VIII. Zorilla loses his Guns - IX. Zorilla attacks - X. The Fight round the Casino - XI. San Fernando attacked from the Sea - XII. How we fought the Four Point Sevens - XIII. Bad News for Gerald Wilson - XIV. *La Buena Presidente* Fights - XV. The Santa Cruz Fleet again - XVI. The Attack on Santa Cruz - XVII. The Ex-policeman - XVIII. The *Hector* goes Home - - - - - *Illustrations* - - -"I hauled it up hand over hand" . . . _Frontispiece_ (missing from book) - -"His eyes simply spat fire" - -"Is that Gerald Wilson aboard?" - -"I gave the first a blow on the point of his jaw" - -"I dodged to the rear of the first wagon" - -Mr. Bostock takes Command - -The effect of the Shell - -Scrambling down the Mountain Side - - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *Ordered to Santa Cruz* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -Only eight months ago Ginger Hood and I had been midshipmen aboard the -old _Vengeance_, and of course had spent most of our time, in her, -trying to get to windward of her sub, pull his leg, and dodge any job of -work which came along. Now the boot was on the other leg, for we were -sub-lieutenants ourselves--he in the _Hercules_, I in the _Hector_, with -gun-rooms of our own to boss, and as we'd only been at the job for a -month, you can guess that we hadn't quite settled down yet, and felt -jolly much like fish out of water. - -The _Hector_ and _Hercules_ were two big armoured cruisers, as like as -two peas, and they had come straight out from England to Gibraltar to -work up for their first gunnery practices. For the last ten days they -had been lying inside the New Mole waiting for a strong south-easter to -blow itself out, and we had taken the opportunity of trying to make our -two gun-rooms friendly; for, as a matter of fact, they hated each other -like poison, his mids. taking every opportunity of being rude to mine, -and mine to his. These rows were always reported to us, and if we -hadn't been such chums, I do believe that we, too, should have fallen -out. If a _Hercules_ mid. came aboard the _Hector_ on duty, my chaps -would let him wear his legs out on the quarterdeck for hours sooner than -ask him down below, and you can guess that they were just as kind aboard -the _Hercules_ if any of my mids. had to go aboard her. I had sixteen -of the beauties in my gun-room to look after, and Ginger had fifteen; if -his were more bother to him than mine were to me, I don't wonder he -thought that his hair was turning grey. Never did they meet ashore -without a free fight or some trouble or another cropping up. The row -had started on board the _Cornwall_, where they had all been together as -cadets, over some wretched boat-race. The winning crew had used racing -oars, which the second boat's crew either hadn't had the savvy to get, -or didn't find out till too late that they might have used. However it -was, there had been a glorious row at the time, and as some of my mids. -had pulled in the losing boat and some of Ginger's in the winning one, -both gun-rooms still kept the feud going. - -Ginger and I thought that the best way to patch up their quarrel was to -make them play matches against each other, and this we had -done--'soccer,' hockey, and cricket on the dockyard ground, and a -'rugger' game on the North Front. - -There wasn't the slightest improvement. I had jawed my chaps till I was -tired, and Ginger had jawed his, without the least effect; and now -they'd just spoilt what might have been a grand game of hockey by -squabbling all the time, claiming fouls, and 'sticks,' and nonsense like -that, every other minute. - -The game had been so unpleasant that Ginger and I were thankful when it -was finished, slipped on our coats and watched our two teams quarrelling -and taunting each other as they left the ground in two separate groups. - -'Look at the young fools, Billums!' Ginger said angrily. 'Did you ever -see anything so perfectly idiotic?' - -'Come along up to the Club,' I said savagely. 'We'll have some tea. It -makes one feel perfectly hopeless. I'd like to cane the whole crowd of -them.' - -Up we went together, and found the Captains and a number of the -ward-room fellows from the two ships lying back in the wicker chairs on -the verandah, basking in the sun and waiting for afternoon tea. As we -came up the steps, they sang out to know which gun-room had won. - -'_Hercules_ won, sir,' I told our Skipper, Captain Grattan. 'Won by -four to two.' - -'Tut, tut, boy! What's that now? Still one game ahead, ain't you?' - -'No, sir, we're all square.' - -'Well, beat 'em next time, lad.' - -A jolly chap our Skipper was--short and plump and untidy, with a merry -twinkle spreading over his funny old face, all wrinkled up with the -strain of keeping his eyeglass in place. Everybody knew him as 'Old Tin -Eye,' and he was so jolly unaffected that nobody could help liking him. - -As we leant our hockey sticks up against the railings and sat down in -the corner, we could hear him chaffing Captain Roger Hill, the tall, -thin, beautifully dressed Skipper of the _Hercules_, and could jolly -well see by the way he fidgeted in his chair that he didn't like it a -little bit. Old Tin Eye would call him 'Spats,' and he didn't like it -in public, and squirmed lest we inferior mortals should hear of it. I -don't suppose he knew that nobody ever did call him anything but -'Spats.' You see, he never went ashore without white canvas spats over -his boots, and they were very conspicuous. - -Our Fleet Surgeon, Watson--a morose kind of chap--and Molineux, the -Fleet Surgeon of the _Hercules_, stopped talking 'shop' to ask Ginger -how many goals he'd scored (Ginger was the terror of his team); and -Montague, our Gunnery Lieutenant, and Barton, their gunnery-man, left -off talking about the coming gun-layers' 'test' to ask us if the -gun-rooms had made up their row. - -'No such luck, sir,' we said. 'They're worse, if anything.' - -Whilst we were having our tea, one of the Club 'boys' brought along the -little Gib. paper, and of course our Skipper had first turn. - -'Cheer up, Spats, old boy!' he sang out loudly enough for every one to -hear--he loved tormenting Captain Roger Hill; 'there's trouble in Santa -Cruz again. Old Canilla, the President, has collared half-a-dozen -Englishmen belonging to the Yucan Rubber Company, and won't give 'em up. -If you've got any shares in it you'd better sell them.' - -'Hello,' I sang out to Ginger. 'I've got a brother out there. He's -supposed to be rubber-planting, but I'll bet he spends most of his time -teaching his natives to bowl leg breaks at him. Hope they haven't -collared him--I'm sorry for them if they have.' - -We saw the telegrams ourselves later on, but there wasn't any more -information. Old Gerald, my brother, didn't belong to the Yucan -Company, and we forgot all about it because there was a much more -exciting telegram above this one. The United Services had beaten -Blackheath by fifteen points to five--a jolly sight more exciting that -was, especially as I had played for the U.S. this season before we left -England, and knew all the chaps playing on our side. - -Well, that night I had the middle watch, and whilst the Angel and Cousin -Bob (you don't know who they are yet, but you precious soon will) were -making my cocoa, the light at the Europa Signal Station began flashing -our number. I telephoned to the fore-bridge to smarten up the -signalman, and ask what the dickens he meant by being asleep; and then, -just for practice, and for something to do, leant up against the -quarterdeck rails and took in the signal. 'Admiral Superintendent to -Captain Grattan. Coal lighters will come alongside at daybreak. (Full -stop.) Both _Hector_ and _Hercules_ will fill up with coal and water as -soon as possible, and will complete with ten days' fresh provisions. -(Full stop.)' - -A second or two later the signalman came running up with his signal-pad, -and, not having the faintest idea what was in the wind, I took it down -to the Skipper. I had to shake him before he would wake; and when he -sat up in his bunk, found his eyeglass, tucked it into his eye, and read -the signal, he chuckled, 'Tut, tut, boy; we're off somewhere--finish -gunnery. Won't old Montague be sick of life? Show it to the Commander, -and repeat it to old "Spats"--I mean Captain Roger Hill.' - -As I was tapping at the Commander's door, Cousin Bob and the Angel came -along, and I knew they were up to some dodge, for I could see them -grinning in the light of the gangway lantern. - -'Couldn't you let us off watch, as we've got to coal early to-morrow? -Your cocoa's just inside the battery door,' they asked me as I went in. - -The Commander was out of bed like a redshank, read the signal, and gave -me his orders for the morning. 'Can I let Temple and Sparks turn in, -sir, as we're coaling early?' - -'Confound them! I suppose they'd better, the young rascals. Turn the -light off as you go out, and for heaven's sake make that lumbering ox of -a sentry outside my cabin take his boots off.' - -I looked round to find the two mids., but they'd taken the leave for -granted and gone below, so I drank my cocoa and finished my watch by -myself. - -I may as well tell you about the two young beauties. Bob Temple was, -unfortunately for me, my cousin--a scraggy, freckled, untidy midshipman, -who hadn't the brains to get into mischief, or to get out of it again, -but for his pal the Angel. What had made them chum together I don't -know, for the Angel (Tommy Sparks) was the exact opposite of Bob--as -spruce and ladylike a chap as you ever saw, always beautifully neat and -clean, with a face like a girl's, light hair, and blue eyes. He looked -as though butter couldn't possibly melt in his mouth, and devoted every -moment when he wasn't asleep or eating to getting himself and my _dear_ -young cousin into a scrape. It was one of his latest efforts which had -cost them watch and watch for three days, and that was why they were -keeping the 'middle' with me that night; so you can guess why they were -so keen on the coaling signal, and had streaked down below. It didn't -matter to me a tinker's curse how many watches the Angel kept, but with -Cousin Bob it mattered a good deal. His people looked on me as his -bear-leader, and every time he got into a row sooner or later I heard -about it from them, or from his sister Daisy. I'm hanged if you are -going to hear any more about her, except that she used to think me a -brute whenever his leave was stopped, or he had 'watch and watch,' and -put it all down to me. I hadn't had to cane him yet, but I knew that -would have to happen sooner or later, and I guessed that when it did -happen, she'd write me a pretty good 'snorter.' - -Don't think that Bob would peach--not he, intentionally--but I knew -exactly what he'd write home--something like this: - - -'The Angel sends his love--he and I cheeked the Padre at school -yesterday--we had awful fun--old Billums (that was I) caned the two of -us after evening quarters. This morning we both pretended we couldn't -sit down, and groaned when we tried to, till the Padre went for old -Billums for laying it on so hard. We've got our leave stopped for -trying to catch rats on the booms with a new trap which the Angel has -invented. The Commander caught his foot in it. You should have heard -him curse.' - - -That was the kind of thing that used to go home, and his father and -mother, and my mother too, to say nothing of Daisy, put it all down to -me. - -I had to turn the hands 'out' at seven bells, to rig coaling screens, -the whips, and all the other gear for coaling, turned over my watch to -the fat marine subaltern who relieved me, and got a couple of hours' -sleep before the coal lighters bumped alongside. - -It was a case of being as nippy as fleas after that, because we _had_ to -beat the _Hercules_. You should have seen the Angel and Cousin Bob in -blue overalls, with white cap covers pulled down over their heads, -digging out for daylight down in my coal lighter among the foretopmen, -all of them as black as niggers, shovelling coal into baskets, passing -them up the side, dodging the lumps of coal which fell out of them and -the empty baskets thrown back from the ship. There wasn't much of the -Angel left about either of them then. - -At the end of the first hour we'd got in 215 tons, and as the little -numeral pendants 2-0-7 ran up to the _Hercules_ foreyard-arm to show how -many tons she had taken in, our chaps cheered. We'd beaten her by eight -tons. - -'I bet she cheated even then,' I heard Bob tell his chum. - -We were still a ton or two to the good after the second hour, and then -the 'still' was sounded in both ships, and every one went to breakfast. - -You should have been there to have seen us in our coaling rigs--simply a -mass of coal dust and looking like a lot of Christy Minstrels--squatting -on the deck outside the gun-room, and stuffing down sardines with our -dirty hands, every one talking and shouting and as merry as pigs in a -sty. Even young Marchant, the new clerk, had got into a coaling rig of -sorts and worked like a horse--he was so keen to beat the hated -_Hercules_. - -I gave them all a quarter of an hour to stuff themselves, and then down -we clambered into the lighters again and began filling baskets--nobody, -not even the Angel, shirking a job like this, when there was the chance -of getting even with the _Hercules_. - -The men came struggling down after us, long before the breakfast -half-hour was finished, and we could see the _Hercules'_ people swarming -down into her lighters as well. - -In all the lighters we must have had sixty tons or more in baskets -before the bugler sounded the commence, the ship's band upon the booms -banged out 'I'm afraid to go home in the dark,' the drum doing most of -it; the men began cheering and singing the chorus, and the baskets began -streaming on board again. - -By the end of the fourth hour we were as hard at it as ever, but then -Commander Robinson--we didn't care for him much, as he was such a -bully--began bellowing at us, because the _Hercules_ was fifteen tons -ahead. We could hear her chaps cheering. The band banged out again -'Yip-i-addy,' and the Skipper, with his eyeglass tucked in his eye and -his long hair straggling over his neck, walked round the upper deck -singing down to the lighters, 'Go it, lads, we must beat 'em.' - -Down in my lighter the men were working like demons. They looked like -demons too, got up in all sorts of queer rigs, and only stopping to take -a drink from the mess tins of oatmeal water which the 'Scorp'[#] -lighterman ladled out for them. - - -[#] Natives of Gibraltar are often called 'Scorps' (Rock Scorpions). - - -'Look out how you're trimming your lighter, Wilson,' the Commander had -bellowed. - -'Aye, aye, sir,' I shouted back, but never thought what he really -meant--thought he meant we weren't working hard enough. - -'We can't do no more 'ardly,' Pat O'Leary, the captain of the foretop, -panted. 'The foretop men be pulling their pound--anyway, sir,' and he -seized basket after basket and hove them on the platform rigged half-way -up the ship's side, doing the work of three men. - -'Keep it up, foretop,' I shouted, shovelling for all I was worth, Bob -and the Angel keeping me busy with empty baskets. Then there was a -warning shout from up above, a lot of chaps cried, 'Look out, sir!' and, -before I knew what had happened, I was in the water, all my chaps were -in the water, the lighter had turned turtle, and twenty or more tons of -good coal was sinking to the bottom of the harbour. - -The first thing I thought was, 'We can't beat them now,' knew it was my -fault, and felt a fool. The Commander was bellowing for me to come -aboard, and Bob and the Angel, with their faces rather cleaner and -bursting with laughter, were bobbing alongside me. Then O'Leary -spluttered out that the 'Scorp' lighterman was missing, and we both up -with our feet and dived down to find him. - -The water was so thick with coal dust that we couldn't see a foot away -from us, but O'Leary touched him as he was coming up for breath and -brought him to the surface, pretty well full of water and frightened out -of his wits, though otherwise none the worse. - -I did feel a fool if you like. What had happened was that we had dug -away all the coal on one side, and I had never noticed--I was so -excited--that the lighter was gradually heeling over, till over she -went--upside down. The band had stopped, the whole of the coaling had -stopped, the men looking over the side to see if any of us had been -drowned, till the Commander, hoarse with shouting, shrieked for them to -carry on again, whilst we clambered up the ship's side like drowned -rats, O'Leary helping the lighterman. Well, there wasn't the faintest -chance of our beating the _Hercules_ now. Every one knew it, everyone -slacked off, and there was no more cheering and shouting of choruses. - -It was my stupidity that had spoilt everything. - -The only thing that I could give as an excuse was that I'd never been in -charge of a coal lighter before, but I jolly well knew that the -Commander would say, 'And I'll take care you never have charge again,' -so I kept quiet whilst he stormed at me, shouting that he'd make me pay -for the twenty tons. When he was out of breath, he took me, dripping -with coal water, to the Captain, who was very angry and very -disappointed about the _Hercules_ part of it, but he hated the Commander -bellowing at people, so wasn't as severe as he might have been. He sent -me away to right the lighter, and it took us--me and the foretop men--a -couple of hours to do it, fixing ropes round her under water. We -shouldn't have done it even then hadn't Stevens--one of the Engineer -Lieutenants and a chum of mine--switched on the current to the electric -fore capstan, and we hauled her round with this. - -Another loaded lighter had been brought off from the shore to make up -for the coal I'd tipped into the harbour, and then we were sent to empty -her, whilst the rest of the ship's company sat with their feet dangling -over the side, jeering at us. - -By the time we had finished we were all in a pretty bad temper, all -except O'Leary, who kept up his 'pecker' till the last basket had been -filled and hauled up the side. 'I ought to have told you--anyway, sir; -I've coaled from lighters time enough to have known better,' he said, -trying to buck me up. - -I reported myself to the Commander, had another burst of angry bellowing -from him, and then every one had to clean ship. - -Bob and the Angel were shivering close to me, so I sent them down below -to get out of their wet things, but they were up again in a couple of -seconds, and could hardly speak for excitement. - -'We're off to Santa Cruz. They've collared a steamer as well as those -Englishmen, and we're off to give 'em beans. Isn't that ripping?' - -It jolly well was, but the youngsters had had just about enough of -working in their wet clothes, and were shaking with cold, so I sent them -down again and went on with my job--it didn't make any difference -whether hoses were turned on me or not, I was so wet. Presently, old -Bill Perkins, our First Lieutenant, came limping along, his jolly old -red face beaming all over. 'Never mind, Wilson, we'll beat 'em another -time; lucky none of you were hurt or drowned.' He saw that I too was -about blue with cold, and took my job whilst I changed into dry things. - -Old Ginger came over after dinner from the _Hercules_. 'They're having a -sing-song in the gun-room, but I thought I'd give you a look up,' he -told me--'awfully sorry about the lighter business.' Of course he'd -come across to cheer me, and he did too, both of us talking twenty to -the dozen about Santa Cruz and the chances of our having a 'scrap.' - -My chaps presently started a bit of a jamberee, old Ginger singing a -couple of songs and joining in the choruses. We were just beginning to -forget all about the coaling, when a signalman came down and handed -Barton, the senior mid., a signal. 'Senior Midshipman, _Hercules_, to -Ditto, _Hector_.--Hope none of you are any the worse for your nice -little swim.' - -The mids. were too angry to speak for a minute, and then the storm -burst, and they called the _Hercules_ gun-room all the names they could -lay hold of, old Ginger looking very uncomfortable, and very angry too. - -'Never mind, Billums,' he said. 'We've done our best to make 'em -friends, and they won't be,' and then sang out, 'Gentlemen, I apologise -for that signal--don't answer it--its beastly rude, and I'll cane the -senior midshipman to-morrow morning.' - -There was no more sing-song after that, old Ginger went back to his ship -as angry as we were, and I turned in, knowing jolly well that my chaps -would hate Ginger's all the more, and that Ginger beating the senior -mid. would only make things worse. - -'Let's hope we get mixed up in a 'scrap' or two out in Santa Cruz,' -Ginger had said as he went away, and I knew that that was about the only -thing that would do the trick and make them friends. - -That was a bad day's work for me. I'd shown myself a fool, the -Commander wouldn't forget my carelessness for months, and the Skipper -would feel he couldn't trust me. That made me want to kick myself. - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *A Revolution Imminent* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -Early next morning, just as the sun was lighting up the signal station -at the top of the Rock, we and the _Hercules_ slipped from our buoys and -shoved off into the Atlantic, the _Hercules_ two cables astern of us. - -We rounded Tarifa Lighthouse; the jolly old Rock, sticking up like an -old tooth, was hidden by the Spanish mountains; we saw the white walls -of Tangier under the snow-capped Atlas mountains, on the African side, -and then we began to tumble about merrily in the open Atlantic. The -_Hector_ wasn't still for a minute at a time, and my mids. had something -else to think about than the latest _Hercules_ gun-room insult. Most of -them felt pretty 'chippy,' _though of course_ it had nothing to do with -us rolling and pitching. Rather not! None of them were seasick, -perfectly absurd! They were only a little out of sorts; didn't want any -breakfast, or got rid of what they did eat pretty rapidly; much -preferred lying down in a corner inside the battery screen, out of the -wind, and took a deal of 'rousting' out of it before they'd do their -job. For all that, they'd have been awfully angry if any one had -suggested that they were seasick. The gun-room messman had given us the -strongest of kippers for breakfast that morning--this was his idea of a -joke--and as we couldn't keep a single scuttle open, and there was -practically no ventilation in the gun-room, you can imagine that you -could almost cut the atmosphere with a knife. - -[Illustration: The Hector and the Hercules] - -Pearson, the A.P., the engineer sub, Raynor, and I were alone in our -glory when we began tackling the messman's kippers; but soon the mids. -came along, and it was worth a fortune to watch them put their heads -inside the gun-room, take a 'sniff,' and go away again. Presently Bob -and the Angel came dashing down, and we three chuckled as they rushed -in, got a breath of it, stopped dead in their tracks, pretended they -didn't mind, and sat down as near the door as they could get. We -watched them 'peck' a bit, Bob's freckles showed up more than ever, the -Angel looked perfectly green, and they were both as silent as mummies. - -The ship gave a big roll to starboard, a green sea slapped over the -glass scuttles and darkened the whole gun-room; there was a crash of -crockery smashing in the pantry; Bob and the Angel grabbed their plates, -back the old _Hector_ tumbled to port; Bob's coffee-cup slid gracefully -into his lap--he could stick to it no longer--and rushed away. - -The Angel lasted another lurch, but that finished him. - -'Afraid I--caught--cold--in the water--yesterday--afraid Bob did -too--I'm not--very hungry--I'll see what's the matter with Bob,' he -gulped, swallowing every word; and, clapping his hand over his mouth, he -disappeared after his chum. - -More than half the mids. never ventured further than the gun-room flat, -where they caught the first whiff of kipper, and those who did, didn't -stay long. - -'We'd get a fine mess surplus if they'd only keep like it,' the A.P. -grinned; 'but, confound them, they won't.' - -'They'd enjoy an hour down in the engine-room now. Wouldn't they?' -Raynor chuckled. - -Of course they were as right as a trivet in a couple of days, and you -may bet that they made up for those lost meals. - -Every one on board expected that there might be a bit of a scrap when we -got across to Santa Cruz, and you can guess how we got hold of Brassey's -_Naval Annual_ and Jane's _Fighting Ships_ to see if Santa Cruz had any -ships good enough to give us a show. - -They hadn't; that was the worst of it. Three or four miserable -out-of-date cruisers, half-a-dozen gunboats, and a couple of torpedo -boats built in the year one. There certainly was a cruiser building for -them at Newcastle, a ship named _La Buena Presidente_, a big monster -like our latest cruisers, and even bigger and more powerful than the -_Hector_ herself; but Raynor had seen her in the Tyne since she was -launched, knew all about her, and was certain that she couldn't be ready -inside six months. - -'What a pity they didn't wait till they'd got her!' Bob said, with his -mouth open. And that was about what we all thought. - -Still, though there wasn't likely to be any sport with their wretched -Navy, we might have to bombard a fort or two, which would be good enough -business; and, more exciting even than that, we might have to send a -landing-party ashore. - -We didn't waste much time all these eight days we were at sea, the -Commander, Bill Perkins, and Montague, the Gunnery Lieutenant, slapping -round, from morning to night for all they were worth. The marines, -three companies of seamen, two field-guns' and two maxim-guns' crews, -and a stretcher party of stokers were told off to land. Their leather -gear, haversacks, water-bottles, and rolled-up blankets were all got -ready, hung over their rifles in the racks, and, morning and evening, we -made an evolution of 'falling in' on the quarterdeck and fo'c'stle, and -getting on our gear in double quick time. - -Ten of my sixteen mids. were told off to land, and were as happy as -fleas in a blanket, fitting their leather gear and sharpening their -dirks all day long, and thinking about what they'd do when they got -ashore half the night. - -Marchant, the young clerk--he'd only just joined the Navy, and this was -his first ship--was told off to land as 'Old Tin Eye's' secretary. - -He was being pretty well bullied and knocked into shape by the mids., -and made to feel what a hopeless worm he was; but now there were six of -them who'd have given their heads to change places with him, and he -absolutely swelled with pride and importance. - -Three days after leaving Gib. the weather became gloriously warm, the -sea simply like a sheet of glittering glass, the sun glaring on it all -day long. It was grand to be alive, and we all--officers and men -alike--went into training, and were doubled round and round, morning and -evening, till the sweat rolled off us. Every evening, too, the parallel -bars and the horizontal bar were rigged on the quarterdeck, and the -ward-room fellows and we gun-room people did gymnastics for an hour or -so, finishing up with a follow-my-leader round the battery till we -nearly dropped. On board the _Hercules_ they were doing gymnastics and -the new Swedish drill, on the fo'c'stle, the whole day long. But the -sight of all was the fat blue marine subaltern--the Forlorn Hope, we -called him--doubling up and down the quarterdeck, on his own, to work -off his fat, so that he could march properly when he landed--his cheeks -flopping from side to side, and running with perspiration. I'm sure you -would have died of laughing, especially when his opposite number--the -Shadow--the awfully thin red marine subaltern, doubled round after him, -trying to work up an appetite, and put on more weight. It was the -terribly earnest faces they shipped that made one laugh. When you come -to think of it, the whole thing was really jolly odd. Here were these -two great grey ships, with their long grim 9.2's and 7.5's, and their -twelve hundred odd men, pounding steadily along for eight days and -nights, to a country hardly any one of us had heard of before, and every -one on board both of them was digging out to make himself and them as -fit as 'paint,' in case there was a job for us when we did get there. - -The Commander even stopped bellowing at people, and brimmed over with -good temper. - -We had two great heroes on board--at any rate the mids. thought they -were--one of the lieutenants--Bigge--who had been with Sir Edward -Seymour in the Relief of Pekin force, and Mr. Bostock, the Gunner, who -had been through the siege of Ladysmith during the Boer War. - -Some one told the story how five Chinamen had attacked Bigge whilst he -was trying to blow in a gate or something like that, and how he settled -the whole lot of them with his revolver. Whether it was true or -not--and I believe it was--the mids. simply hung round him now, and -tried to get him to tell them some of his experiences. They looked at -the little bit of yellow and red ribbon on his monkey-jacket, and simply -longed for a chance to earn something like it, and have a bit of ribbon -to stick on their chests. Although they never could get _him_ to talk -about his show, Mr. Bostock would talk about the siege of Ladysmith, and -how the naval brigade helped the sappers, that awful morning on the -crest of Wagon Hill--would talk as long as they'd like to listen. - -He'd sit smoking ship's tobacco in his cabin--it hadn't any scuttle or -ventilation whatever of any account, so you can have an idea what the -smell was like--and the mids. would crowd in, those who couldn't do so -squeezing into the doorway, and listen by the hour. Nothing else but -war was talked about from morning to night. - -Well, on the ninth day out from Gibraltar, we sighted Prince Rupert's -Island, ran in through the northern channel, and anchored two miles off -Princes Town in a great wide bay, with the dark mountains of Santa Cruz -just showing up on the horizon away to the west. Somewhere up among -them old Gerald was teaching his natives to play cricket. - -The Skipper went ashore immediately in the picketboat, to call on the -Governor and get news and fresh orders; so you can guess how excited we -all were when she was seen coming tearing off again, and the Skipper ran -up the accommodation ladder. I believe every officer in the ship was up -on the quarterdeck to hear the news, and you can just imagine what we -felt like when we saw that the Skipper had shipped a long face, and when -he shook his head at us and went down below. - -In three minutes we knew the worst--it was all over the ship. The -Englishmen and the English steamer had been released; old Canilla, the -President, had apologised handsomely, and all was peace. Wasn't it -sickening? - -'Ain't it a bally shame,' Montague, the Gunnery Lieutenant, said, -'stoppin' our gun-layers' test at Gib., just as we were in the thick of -it; bringin' us lolloppin' along here, and nothin' for us to do when we -get here--no landin' party, no nothin'.' And he sent word down to Mr. -Bostock to re-stow and pack up all the leather gear and water-bottles. - -'It do take the 'eart out of one,' Mr. Bostock told the sympathising -mids., 'not a blooming chawnce to let off so much as a single ball -cartridge,' and he went below to see that none of his landing party gear -was missing. - -The Governor himself came off to return the Skipper's call, and brought -off some of the shore chaps with a challenge to play us at football, -hockey, tennis, cricket, polo, or anything and everything we jolly well -liked. - -That bucked us all up a bit, and Clegg, our Surgeon--a great, tall chap -and a grand cricketer--who ran the sports on board, sent for me to fix -up things. Between us we fixed enough matches to last the first ten -days. - -'Can't play you at polo,' we told them, 'we've only got one chap who's -ever played in his life.' - -'Well, I'll tell you what we'll do,' one of them said, 'we'll lend you -ponies to practise for the match, and if you'll lend us one of your -boats, we'll practise in her, and pull a race against you in ten days' -time. What d'you say to that? That'll even up matters a bit.' - -'Let's get this little lot finished first,' we said, laughing. - -They were a sporting crowd. This was a Tuesday. On Wednesday we were to -play Princes' Town at rugby--it made me sweat only to think of it, -although this was what they called their winter--whilst the _Hercules_ -was to play the Country Club. On Thursday we were to change rounds, and -on Friday the two ships were to play the whole of Prince Rupert's -Island. - -On Saturday they thought we might have a cricket match--if it wasn't too -_cold_! 'Right you are,' we said, 'if there's anything left of -us--though we shall probably be melted by that time.' - -There were dances every night, and picnics and tennis parties for those -who weren't playing anything else. - -'We're going to have a fizzing time, Wilson, after all,' Dr. Clegg said, -as we watched them go ashore, after having had no end of a job to get -their boat alongside, because there was such a crowd of native boats -swarming round the foot of the ladder, loaded down to the gunwales with -bananas, oranges, melons, and things like that, the buck niggers on -board them quarrelling, and squealing, and laughing, dodging the lumps -of coal the side boys threw to make them keep their boats away from the -gangway. - -Most of the boats had their stern-sheets weighted down with black -ladies, dressed in white calico skirts and coloured blouses, trying to -look dignified and squealing all the time, holding up bits of paper -whenever they caught sight of an officer, and singing out, 'Mister -Officah, I vash your clo's--I hab de letter from naval officah--I good -vasher-lady, you tell quatamasta, let me aboard--all de rest only black -trash.' - -They were allowed on board presently, and down into the gun-room flat -they swarmed--old ones, young ones, fat ones, and thin ones, all trying -to get our washing to take ashore. 'Me Betsy Jones, me vash for Prince -George, sah! I know Prince George when he so high, sah! Betsy good -vasher-lady, you give me your vashing.' They were all round the 'Angel.' -'Ah! bless your pretty heart, my deah, you give your vashing to Matilda -Ann; I vash for Prince George and for Admiral Keppel--verrah nice man -Admiral Keppel.' He was pulled from one to the other, and when he -escaped into the gun-room they followed him. He was jolly glad to hear -the picketboat called away and escape. - -It was all very well to arrange matches; but a wretched collier came -creeping into the bay that very afternoon with three thousand tons of -Welsh coal for the _Hercules_ and ourselves, and, instead of playing -football, we jolly well had to empty her between us. There was no going -ashore for any one except the paymasters, and for two whole days we were -busy. The heat of it and the dirt of it were positively beastly. It took -us twenty-two solid hours to get in 1400 tons, because the men couldn't -work well in that heat. It was bad enough on deck, but down in the -collier and down below in our own bunkers the heat was simply terrific. - -We felt like bits of chewed string when we did go ashore on the third -day to play the combined match, and chewed string wasn't in it after -we'd been playing ten minutes. I don't think that we could have -possibly held our own, but that game never ended. We were waiting for -the 'Angel' to get back his breath after being 'winded,' and were wiping -the sweat out of our eyes, when a marine orderly came running on to the -ground with orders from the Skipper for us to return on board at once. - -We stuck the 'Angel' on his feet, told the other chaps what had -happened, bolted for our coats, and were off through the town to the -Governor's steps as fast as we could go, the marine orderly puffing -behind us and the nigger boys, thinking we were running away from the -Prince Rupert's team, shouting rude things after us. - -Boats were waiting there, the ward-room and gun-room messmen came along, -followed by strings of niggers carrying fruit and live fowls and -turkeys--everything was bundled down into the stern-sheets--there was no -time for ceremony--and we were only waiting for Perkins, the First -Lieutenant, who was lame and couldn't run. He'd being doing touch -judge. - -Cousin Bob was the midshipman of the boat--the second barge. 'What's -up?' I asked him. 'Somebody's died--over in Santa Cruz--and we're -ordered off to Los Angelos at once. We're to attend the funeral or -something like that.' - -'Funeral!' we groaned; 'fancy spoiling a football match for a funeral,' -and the 'Angel,' who'd recovered by now, squeaked out that he'd already -engaged most of his partners for the dances--'ripping fine girls, too, -you chaps.' - -Perkins came hobbling along, his red face redder than ever, hustled his -way through the laughing, jostling crowd of niggers at the top of the -steps, and jumped down among us, mopping his face. 'All in the day's -work, lads; shove off, I'm in the boat.' - -'Hi, Bill!' some of the ward-room people sang out, 'some one wants you,' -and they pointed to where an enormously stout black lady was elbowing -her way to the front. - -'Hi, Massa Perkins! Hi, Massa Perkins! How d'ye do, Massa Perkins--me -Arabella de Montmorency--you sabby Arabella--Arabella see your deah red -face--vash for you in de flagship--de _Cleopatra_--you owe Arabella -three shillin' and tuppence--you pay Arabella--vat for you no pay -Arabella--Arabella vash for you when you midshipman in de _Cleopatra_.' - -'All right, old girl,' Perkins sang out, waving his stick cheerily at -her, 'I sabby you, you come aboard, by an' by, when we come back--give -you some ship's baccy--come aboard the _Hector_.' - -'Shove off,' he told Bob, and off we pulled, the crew grinning from ear -to ear, and the niggers all cackling with laughter, dancing about and -singing out, 'Three cheers for the red, white, and blue,' 'Old England -for ebber,' and Mrs. Arabella's voice following us, 'I mak' de prayer to -de good Lo'd for Massa Perkins--Him keepa Massa Perkins from -harm--Arabella want de three shillin' and tuppence.' - -'You've got some nice friends, Bill,' the ward-room officers chaffed -him. - -The cable was already clanking in through the hawse-pipe as we got -aboard, and in half an hour the _Hercules_ was following us out through -the eastern passage, and we headed across for the mainland and Santa -Cruz. - -It was my morning watch next morning (from four to eight), and it was a -grand sight to see the sun rise behind us, flooding the calm sea with -red and orange colours, whilst the little wisps of clouds which hung -about the sides of the fierce-looking mountains of Santa Cruz, in front -of us, kept on changing from gold to pink and from pink to orange. - -O'Leary was the quarter-master of the watch, and I saw the old chap -looking at them. He shook his head at me, 'Better than an -"oleo"--that--sir. That's God's own picture.' - -Even the stokers who'd just come off watch and were cooling themselves, -down on the fo'c'stle below us, stood watching the grand sight, and -then, down at the foot of the mountains, a long white line showed up. - -'That's the breakwater at Los Angelos,' fat little Carlton, our -navigator, told me. - -As we forged along through the oily, glistening sea, and got closer, we -could see the masts and funnels and fighting-tops of the little Navy of -Santa Cruz sheltering behind it, all tinged with the sunrise; and the -hundreds of windows in the lighthouse and the houses clustered at the -foot of the mountains were all glowing as if they were on fire. If old -Gerald had heard we were coming, it was quite likely that he'd come down -from the estate and might be snoring on his back behind one of them, -snoring like a good 'un and dreaming about the last football match he'd -played in. - -Then high up the side of the dark mountains a ball of white smoke shot -out, hung there in the still air for a second or two, and melted away, -changing colour as it disappeared. - -'That's the sunrise gun, sir, from one of their forts, sir. Them Dagos -be half an hour adrift, I'm blowed if they ain't,' O'Leary said. - -The bridge was crowding up now, for the Skipper and the Commander and a -host of mids. had come along to bring the ships to anchor. - -'Pretty sight that,' the Skipper grunted, squinting through his -eyeglass. - -'Like pink icing on a wedding cake, sir,' the Commander added, thinking -he'd said something funny. - -'Yes, sir; beautiful, sir,' chipped in the navigator, really wondering -what the Skipper was referring to, but very eager to agree with him--he -would have licked his boots if he thought the Skipper would like it. - -'Bring ship to an anchor,' snapped out the Skipper, and the boat's'n's -mates piped, 'Watch, bring ship to an anchor--duty-men to their -stations--away second barges.' - -The anchoring pendants were run up to our masthead--the answering -pendant on board the _Hercules_ got to her masthead almost as soon--and -we moved slower and slower in towards the breakwater. - -The navigator reported, 'On our bearings, sir;' the Skipper nodded to -the Commander, who bellowed down to the fo'c'stle, 'Let go;' the -signalman hauled down the pendants; the starboard anchor splashed into -the sea, and the cable began rattling out through the hawse-pipes. - -Down went the pendant aboard the _Hercules_, and her anchor splashed -behind us. - -'Full speed astern both,' snapped the Skipper to the man at the -engine-room telegraph and the water churned up under our stern. - -'Going astern, sir,' sang out the leadsman, with an eye on the water. - -'Stop engines,' the Skipper snapped again, and the old _Hector_ was once -more at anchor. - -At eight o'clock we saluted the Santa Cruz flag; the fort, up in the -clouds, which had fired the sunrise gun, returned it after a while, and -the swarthy little port doctor came out from behind the breakwater, in a -fussy little steam-launch, to see if we had any infectious diseases on -board, and as we hadn't, to give us 'pratigue'--take us out of -quarantine. - -After a lot of silly rot, he bowed and scraped himself on board, said -'bueno, bueno,' about a hundred times, bowed and scraped himself down -the ladder into his boat, and went fussing back behind the breakwater -again. - -He'd brought some letters from our Minister at Santa Cruz, and it turned -out that it was the President's wife who had died. She was to be buried -next day, so we were a trifle early. - -'We might have finished that "footer" match after all,' I heard the -Angel grumble to Cousin Bob. - -I rather hoped that Gerald would have written, but he hadn't--he was a -terrible hand at writing letters. - -The Skipper--Old Tin Eye--went ashore to call on the Military Governor, -who returned his call almost before he could get back. - -He was a long, lean, hollow-cheeked Spanish kind of a chap, in a white -uniform and marvellous hat with green and yellow plumes, his chest -covered with medals and orders--a grand-looking old fighting-cock. He -brought with him his two A.D.C.'s--one of them as black as your hat, and -the other fat and short, with an enormous curved sabre ten sizes too big -for him and gilt spurs so long that he could hardly get down the -ladders, even by walking sideways. He looked just like a pantomime -soldier. - -He brought his black pal down to the gun-room to leave the Governor's -cards, and, as he could speak a little English, we got on all right. - -I noticed him looking at me rather curiously, and at last he said, 'You -know Senor Geraldio Wilson?' - -'Old Gerald! he's my brother. Why?' I asked. - -'You have the same,' and he pointed to his face and hair. Old Gerald -has the same yellowish hair and grey eyes that I have. - -Funny that he'd spotted me, wasn't it, for we never thought each other -much alike? - -'You know Gerald?' I asked him. - -'All peoples know Senor Geraldio,' he replied, very courteously, but -with an expression on his face as if he wasn't going to say any more. - -We took them on deck, and whilst their boat was being brought alongside, -and they were waiting for the Governor to come up from the Captain's -cabin, they were awfully keen on the after 9.2 gun. - -'Make shoot many kilometres?' the fat chap asked. - -'About thirty,' I told him, doing a rough calculation in my head, and he -told his black pal, and they jerked their thumbs towards the mountains. -It didn't take much brains to guess that they were wondering whether we -could shell the city of Santa Cruz itself. They looked at that gun jolly -respectfully after that. - -Later on that day, we learnt a lot about local politics from two English -merchants, who came off to call and feel English 'ground'--as they -expressed it--under their feet again. They looked jolly cool in their -white clothes and pith sun-helmets. - -'It's a mighty change from a week ago,' they said. 'All the Europeans -and Americans here at Los Angelos and up in Santa Cruz were practically -prisoners, some had actually been thrown into San Sebastian--the old -fort of Santa Cruz--and we were all expecting notice to quit the -country, when they heard that you were coming along, apologised to the -chaps in San Sebastian, and let the rest of us along. We're glad to see -you, you bet we are, for there's trouble coming.' - -'What? Where?' we asked, frightfully keen to know, all the mids. -crowding round and keeping as silent as mice. - -'Revolution! that's what's coming. It's as certain as we're sitting -here. Old Canilla, the President, is hated everywhere, except in his -own province of Santa Cruz and the city itself. The country will revolt -directly the Vice-President--de Costa--gives the word. It's been coming -for years, but Mrs. President, the old lady who's to be buried -to-morrow, was the Vice-President's sister, and, though they hate each -other like poison, she kept the peace between her husband and her -brother. 'Every one called her _La Buena Presidente_, and now she's -gone'--they shrugged their shoulders--'we don't know what will happen. -The very day _La Buena Presidente_, poor old lady, died, General -Angostina was shot in the back--he was the most popular general in the -country and backed the de Costas--and no attempt has been made to arrest -his assassins, who boast about it at the Military Club. In fact, the -paper this morning says that one has been promoted for "services to his -country."' - -'_La Buena Presidente_?' the A.P. sang out; 'that's the name of the new -cruiser building for them at Newcastle.' - -'Named after her,' one of them said. 'She's big enough to sink the -whole of the rest of their fleet, and that's where the trouble comes in. -The fleet is loyal to the President just now, but he's in a terrible -funk lest the crew he is sending to England to bring her here alter -their minds. If they do, they can make cat's-meat of the rest, and then -old Canilla's up a tree, for he can't scotch a revolution in the -provinces to north and south of him, unless he holds command of the sea -and prevents them joining forces. - -'When's this revolution to start?' we asked rather chaffingly. - -'To-morrow at 1.25 sharp. That's the official time for the funeral -service to end, and till then Canilla and de Costa will be friends. -To-morrow night there won't be a single friend of the Vice-President in -Santa Cruz, unless he's shot or in San Sebastian. De Costa himself -won't be in Santa Cruz either, unless he's shot or arrested as he leaves -the cathedral. He'll be off to his own province of Leon. Now you can -guess why we're glad to see you.' - -'I'm jolly glad we didn't stay to finish that footer match,' the Angel -sang out, as they took their leave. 'We're going to have some jolly fun, -ain't we, Bob?' - -'D'you know a chap called Gerald Wilson, a brother of mine?' I asked one -of them, a very fat chap, whose name was Macdonald. 'A chap with yellow -hair something like mine and a jaw like an ox.' - -'Know him!' he answered quickly; ''pon my word, I've been looking at you -and wondering whom you were like. Why, you're as like as two peas, -though he's a bit broader and taller.' - -'Do we know Gerald Wilson? Don Geraldio? Why, my dear chap, every one -knows your brother,' the other Englishman joined in. 'He's the maddest -chap in the country, and if our Minister doesn't get him out of it -pretty quickly, he'll get his throat cut.' - -'Or be a general in the revolutionary army,' Macdonald added. 'He's -right "in" with the de Costas.' - -Well, that was exciting if you like--to me, but the mater would be -awfully upset if she knew--poor old mater. - -'Where's he now?' I asked excitedly. 'I've not seen him for five -years.' - -'Up in Santa Cruz, he lives at the European Club,' Macdonald answered. -Then an idea struck him, and he continued, 'Some of your people are -going up to the funeral. If you like to go, I'll take you; get ashore -to-morrow morning by 6.30. I'm driving up. The funeral will be worth -seeing, even if you hadn't your brother up there. I'll find him for -you.' - -'Thank you very much, I'll try and get leave,' I told him, as he went -down into his boat. - -'You can bring a couple of your midshipmen if you like,' he shouted up. - -I was so excited I hardly knew what to think or do, it was so worrying -about Gerald, from the mater's point of view, and so splendid from mine. - -To-morrow was my day 'off,' the Commander gave me leave, the two mids. -were, of course, the Angel and Cousin Bob, and they were too excited to -do anything else but walk up and down the quarterdeck with their eyes -glued on the mountains, where Santa Cruz lay, in the clouds, five -thousand feet above them. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *The Revolution breaks out* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -A whole crowd of us from the _Hector_ and the _Hercules_, all bound for -Santa Cruz, went ashore at six o'clock next morning. On our way -inshore, after we'd pulled round the head of the breakwater, we had a -good view of the Santa Cruz ships. Rotters they all looked, slovenly -kept, nothing seamanlike or shipshape about them, with their 'wash -clothes' hung about the rigging and even over the quarterdeck -railings--anyhow. - -And a funny-looking crowd of soldiers they had too, falling in on the -wharf where we landed, ready to receive the two Skippers when they came -ashore--in uniform--to attend the funeral on duty. They were all South -American natives or full-blooded niggers, half of them bare-footed, none -of them dressed alike. Some had hats like the French army _kepi_, -others, broad-brimmed felt or straw hats; their shirts were of every -colour under the sun, and a pair of loose dirty cotton trousers seemed -to be about the only uniform they had. They all had rifles--of sorts--a -bayonet, and a leathern belt hanging loose over their hips to support a -cartridge pouch, but many had lost their bayonet frogs and scabbards, -and simply stuck the naked bayonet inside the belt. - -My chum with the gilt spurs and enormous sabre seemed to be bossing the -show, and was too busy trying to get the men into something like order -to notice me. - -We all pushed our way along through a not at all friendly mob of people, -Bob and the Angel sticking to me like leeches. Then we lost the rest of -our people, and felt pretty lost ourselves till a grinning native caught -hold of my sleeve. - -'_Buenos_! _Senor_! You _Senor Wilson_? _Senor_ Macdonald send me. I -his boy.' - -We were jolly glad to find any one who would take us to him. - -'How did you find me in the crowd?' I asked him. - -'_Senor_ Macdonald say you like _Senor Geraldio_. All peoples know Senor -Geraldio.' - -'Blowed for a yarn,' I thought. 'Old Gerald wouldn't be very -flattered.' - -We stepped out briskly enough then, and you ought to have seen the Angel -strutting along in the middle of the road, in a blue suit and straw hat, -the trousers beautifully creased, the latest thing in ties round his -neck, the most startling thing in socks showing under his turned-up -trousers, looking as if he was off to a tea-party in Southsea. Even the -niggers smiled at him and got out of his way. We came upon Macdonald in -a minute or two, waiting for us at a corner, with a carriage and six -grand-looking mules--the carriage was like a big two-wheeled governess -cart with an awning over it, and he was so enormous that he almost -filled it. - -In we jumped, the two mids. managed to squeeze themselves alongside the -native driver, our guide kicked the mules in the stomach, one after the -other, just to wake them up; the driver cracked his whip, and away we -went bump-terappity along the bumpy road, the bells on the harness -jingling like fun. - -We clattered along past rows and rows of red mud cottages, dogs flying -out at us from every door, and giving the two mids. a grand time with -the whip, pack mules tied up to the door-posts frisking about and -kicking up their heels as we went past, and long-legged fowls scattering -like smoke in front of us. - -'You're extraordinarily like your brother, now you're in plain clothes,' -Mr. Macdonald muttered, with his mouth full--for he'd started on the -hampers already. - -'Jolly proud of it,' I answered, but he only made a face and shrugged -his shoulders. - -We started climbing soon after, and the mules had a pretty hard time of -it for the next three hours, zigzagging up the most appalling road, -panting and grunting. The mids. and I walked the steepest parts, but -neither the driver nor Mr. Macdonald budged from their seats. The -higher we got the more cheerful we were. It was grand looking down at -Puerta and the sea, with the _Hector_ and _Hercules_ like toy ships -lying inside the breakwater, but Mr. Macdonald did not let us stop -anywhere for more than a minute at a time, because there was a whole -line of jangling mule carriages coming up after us, and he didn't want -to be overtaken. The mids. didn't either, for there were four -_Hercules_ mids. in the one next behind us, and they were not going to -be beaten by them if they could help it. - -Every now and again, at the corners where the road zig-zagged, we came -across thirty or forty native soldiers, evidently guarding the way. - -'That looks as if they were expecting trouble,' Mr. Macdonald told me. -'It's most unusual. D'you see the colours they have in their hats?' - -Nearly all of them had a patch of yellow and green stripes sewn on. - -'I've never seen the regular troops wearing them,' he said. 'Did you -notice that the stripes were _vertical_! That means that they are -President's men. The de Costa's colours are black and green, but the -stripes are worn _horizontally_, and of course they aren't allowed to -wear them.' - -He shook his head very ominously. - -'Things are going to hum to-day. You'd have been wiser to stay on -board. You're too like your brother.' - -You can guess that this only made it more jolly exciting. - -Every now and then we met long trains of mules or donkeys, with huge -bundles on their backs, pacing wearily down the road. - -'They're carrying rubber or cocoa down to Los Angelos,' Mr. Macdonald -said. 'The President makes them bring all their rubber through Los -Angelos; that's one of the grievances they have against him.' - -Jolly interesting everything was, and once the men with one long mule -train took off their big hats, bowing and saying, '_buenos_.' - -'They're doing it to you, not to me,' Mr. Macdonald said. 'They're from -Paquintos, close to your brother's estate, and think you are he.' - -It was a jolly funny feeling to land at this out-of-the-way spot and -find so many people appear to know me; don't you think it was? - -By this time we had left the shade of the tropical trees below us, and -the road and the side of the mountain were simply bare rock--the heat -terrific. At half-past ten we were at the top, and got our first glimpse -of Santa Cruz spread out in a hollow beneath us, with mountain ridges -all round it. Our mules roused themselves into a trot, and we slung -along at a good rate, kicking up a cloud of dust. The _Hercules_ mids. -had been gradually drawing closer, and now they came along at a gallop, -and would have passed us, singing out rude remarks, but the Angel seized -the whip and beat our poor brutes into a gallop too, and the teams -simply tore along, side by side, the drivers having all they could do to -keep on the road. The two carriages bounced along close together, I -thought the wheels would lock every other second, and the mids. were -hitting at each other with their sticks and shouting. - -Luckily we didn't meet anything, but I saw that, just ahead, the road -narrowed, and that we couldn't possibly get through there side by side. - -'Let them go ahead,' I shouted, and leant over to help the driver pull -in the team, but then one of the _Hercules_ mids. sang out, 'Who upset -the coal lighter?' the others shouted, 'The rotten _Hectors_!'--and that -made me as mad as a hatter. I didn't care whether we all went to glory -or not so long as we beat them--after that. - -'Pull up, you fools!' Mr. Macdonald shouted, but the mules were quite -out of hand. - -We came to the narrow part, the leading mules bumped into each other, -then the others, till the wheelers were touching; our axles bumped once -or twice, there was a lurch and a crash, the other carriage toppled over -on to the bank, the wheeler mules were on their backs, and the mids. -shot out head over heels as we flew past, the Angel and Bob cheering -wildly. - -Before we were out of sight we saw the four mids. and the driver on -their feet again, trying to right the carriage, so I knew they weren't -hurt. - -Mr. Macdonald simply wagged his head from side to side. 'It was my -weight brought us through--you'd have upset but for me.' - -I do actually believe he enjoyed it. - -We were in the city itself by now, and the mules had steadied down on -the rough stone streets crowded with people on foot or riding horses or -mules. There were soldiers at every corner--quite smart chaps -these--and they all had the vertical green and yellow stripes in their -helmets or hats. The same colours, hoisted with the stripes vertical, -hung at half-mast from nearly every house, and the few women, we saw, -had the same colours too. - -'There are some of de Costa's people,' Mr. Macdonald sung out, as we -passed a group of sunburnt men outside a cafe. I looked, and saw that -they had patches of green and black stripes worn horizontally. - -'They call the two parties the Verticals and Horizontals,' Mr. Macdonald -told me. 'Those are countrymen; you can see that by their rig.' - -'Hi!' he sung out; 'look up there, up to the left, that's San Sebastian, -where our chaps were put in "chokey" a fortnight ago.' - -It was a crumbling old fort perched on a rocky hill just above the big -building, and we three looked at it jolly keenly. - -Then we got into the better part of the town, dazzling big white houses -with gratings in front of every window, and women peering out from -behind the curtains in most of them. Everywhere were soldiers, and the -yellow and green flags drooping at half-mast. - -Next we drove through a great open place, white with dust and dazzling -in the sun, with a grand old weather-beaten cathedral on one side, and -on the other some public garden with palms and huge tropical ferns. We -had to draw up to let a regiment march into the square, and then we -wedged our way out of it, into a side street, turned a corner, and -stopped in front of a big door with strong iron gates, sentries with -fixed bayonets on each side of it, and a whole jumble of French, -English, German, American, and Dutch ensigns hanging down from a -flagstaff above it. There was a wizened little black chap leaning up -against the wall; he started when he saw me, and let his cigarette drop -out of his mouth. He was an ugly-looking little beast. - -'The European Club,' Mr. Macdonald said. 'Out you jump. I bet your -brother's in here.' - -We followed him into a cool courtyard with a splashing fountain in the -middle of it, and through the open French windows I heard the click of -billiard balls--a jolly homely sound--and, looking in, there was Gerald, -with his coat off, watching the other chap making his stroke, his jolly -old lion head with the long yellow hair brushed back and his grand -square jaw--not a bit like me. - -He didn't see me as I went in and touched him on the back. 'Hello, -Gerald!' - -'Hello, Billums! What the dickens are you doing here? How's the mater? -Well played, Arnstein (this to his opponent). Wait till I've "knocked" -him. Won't be a second.' - -He won quite easily, and then he stood us all lunch at the Club. I did -my best to pump him about the revolution, but he kicked me hard under -the table, so I didn't say any more about it. The mids. had a grand -time, hardly uttered a word, but simply ate steadily through course -after course, not even the excitement of hearing regiments of infantry -tramping past every now and again, with their bands playing, putting -them off their feed. - -'Come along,' Gerald said presently, 'I've got a window from which we -can see everything; there'll be room for all of you.' - -But Mr. Macdonald wasn't coming, so we left him. - -'Be here by three o'clock,' he said, 'not a minute later, and I'll drive -you back.' - -As we left the gate I noticed that the sentries looked rather puzzled at -Gerald and myself. - -'I couldn't say anything in there,' Gerald began, when we'd got out into -the crowded street; 'you never know who may be listening. We're going -to have a revolution, and I'm rather mixed up in it. You saw that -little plain-clothes chap at the gate, he's one of the President's -secret police, and has been shadowing me for the last four days.' - -I had seen him, the one who'd been so startled when I went in. - -'Don't you carry a revolver or anything?' I asked nervously. - -'My dear old Billums, I've never thought of it.' - -I bothered him to get one in case anything happened. - -'All right, old chap, I'll think about it.' - -There was too great a crush in the narrow streets to do much talking, -and we had a lot of trouble to push our way along. There were quite a -lot of people wearing the horizontal black and green stripes in these -streets, and you could tell they were strangers by their weird-looking -clothes and by the way they flocked along with their eyes and mouths -open. - -We presently passed a lot of officers standing outside a doorway. - -'That's the Officers' Club,' Gerald told me, as he took his hat off, and -they all clicked their heels and saluted, looking from Gerald to myself -with that same puzzled look--they seemed very unfriendly. We waited a -minute or two to let a battery of field artillery rumble past--the guns -were 'horsed' with mules--turned down another side street, and entered a -cool courtyard with more fountains splashing. There were any number of -people in it; they nearly all had black and green rosettes with -horizontal stripes, and all bowed very cordially to Gerald. He spoke to -several, looked as if he had heard bad news, and took us into the back -of the Hotel de L'Europe, up some narrow wooden stairs, opened a door on -a narrow landing, and there we were in a corner room with a large French -window opening on to an iron balcony and overlooking the great square. -The cathedral tower, with its arched entrance and broad steps, wasn't -fifty yards away. - -'You'll get a grand view here--it's cool too--you'd get sunstroke -outside--stay where you are--I'll be back presently--I've just had some -important news,' Gerald jerked out, and left us to watch the people and -the soldiers pouring into the square--'Plaza' every one called it. -These soldiers were jolly smart-looking chaps, well dressed and well set -up, very different to those we had seen at Los Angelos. They all had -the vertical green and yellow stripes in their white helmets, and even -we could see that they were pretty rough in dealing with the people. We -saw several of the ward-room fellows hunting about for a good place to -see the procession, and the two Skippers drove up to the cathedral, in -uniform, the soldiers making a way for their carriage, and driving the -people back by prodding them in the stomach with the butt-ends of their -rifles. - -Gerald came in again looking worried. - -'Everything all right?' I asked. - -He nodded, and sat down in a corner. - -'The soldiers don't treat the people very gently,' I said, and he told -me that they were all Presidential troops in the city that day, and that -there was no love lost between them and the country people, who had -poured into the city to pay respect to the President's wife. 'If you -look closely, you'll see that a great many of these are wearing the -badge of the de Costas--the horizontal green and black stripes.' - -'I heard to-day,' he went on, 'that the President's wife, just before -she died, made her brother, de Costa, and her husband, Jose Canilla, -shake hands and promise to keep the peace after she was gone.' - -'Will they?' Bob asked, with his mouth open. - -He only smiled and shrugged his shoulders--quite like a Spaniard. 'They -called her _La Buena Presidente_, and she was a good old lady and kept -the peace, but she's kept back progress and reform for years. There's -no such thing as freedom in the country. There will soon be a change -now.' - -'They named that ship which Armstrong's building after her, I suppose?' -I asked him, and he nodded. - -I tried to pump him about her, but he'd tell me nothing, except that she -would be ready very soon, and was strong enough to blow the rest of the -Santa Cruz Navy out of the water. I knew that well enough. - -I wanted to ask him if there was any chance of her new crew favouring -the Vice-President's party--as Mr. Macdonald had suggested--and a whole -lot of other things, but a frightful din started in the 'Plaza.' - -Bob, pointing down below, yelled for us to look, and we saw a -drunken-looking countryman waving his broad-brimmed felt hat, with an -enormous black and green rosette fastened to it, in the face of one of -the officers with the troops. He tried to take no notice of it, but in -a second or two lost his temper, seized the rosette, tore it off, threw -it on the ground, and stamped it into the white dust with his -patent-leather boots. - -There was a roar of anger at this, booing and hissing from people -crowding in the windows of a house close by, and the mob beneath us -began pushing and shouting; knives were drawn, the few women there began -screaming, and the soldiers, standing in line, turned round to drive the -people back. Some cavalry came galloping up, and began hitting at the -people with the flat of their swords. One of them was pulled off his -horse and disappeared in the struggle, people were pressing in from all -sides of the Plaza, and things began to look jolly ugly, when we heard a -pistol fired, and a very smart-looking young cavalry officer, who was -trying to get his men together, reeled in his saddle and fell on the -ground, his fiery little horse plunging away down the swaying lines of -soldiers. - -Women screamed, every one stopped struggling and drew back, leaving him -lying there, by himself, all doubled up in a heap, in the dust, blood -trickling from his mouth. Almost before we'd realised what had -happened, a young priest, in black cassock, dashed across from the -cathedral steps, knelt down, and lifted the officer's head on his knee. -We saw him press a little black crucifix to his lips, but it was too -late, the poor chap was as dead as a door-nail. - -Then there was another wild burst of shouting and hooting from the mob -and from the people at the windows. - -'They've got the man who fired the shot,' Bob squeaked--he was so -excited--and we could see a lot of soldiers struggling with a very tall -man. He wrested himself free, knocked down one or two, burst through -the line of troops, and went running away from the cathedral, the crowd -trying to prevent the soldiers following. I'd never seen anything so -exciting. He dodged, and doubled, and got clear again for a second, -running towards one corner, but there were soldiers everywhere, one of -them tripped him with the butt-end of his rifle, and he fell sprawling -on the pavement right under our window. Before you could say a word, a -couple of soldiers had driven their bayonets through him--we could -actually hear the points knocking against the pavement. In a moment the -mob were on them, and a fierce fight commenced. What would have happened -I don't know, but then the loud crashing music of the Dead March in -'Saul' sounded from the opposite side of the square. - -'Thank God,' I heard Gerald mutter, 'here comes the procession.' - -Officers dashed up again, shouting and cursing, the soldiers fell back -into line, the mob hid their knives and took up their places, the space -in front of the cathedral was cleared in a twinkling-, Bob, leaning out -of the window, told us that they'd brought the body of the officer into -the hotel, and that the other body had disappeared, the purple velvet -hangings which hid the cathedral entrance from us were drawn apart, and, -right in the middle, on the top step, a tall old priest, gorgeously -dressed, was standing with his arms lifted up. He must have been a -bishop at the very least, because directly the people saw him, they fell -on their knees in the dust, leaving only the soldiers standing erect. - -This really was a most extraordinary effect after the noise, and -yelling, and struggling of a few moments before. Now nothing could be -heard, except, some way off, the funeral march, the clatter of cavalry -horses, and the grating of the wheels of the funeral car, a dark mass we -could see just entering the square. - -Behind the cavalry marched a couple of companies of sailors from the -ships at Los Angelos, their white uniforms stained with sweat; then came -eight horses, with velvet cloths flowing almost to the ground, dragging -the great state funeral car covered with more purple velvet, the troops -reversing arms and the kneeling people crossing themselves as it passed -in front of them. - -Walking two or three yards behind the car were two men, and then a gap -in the procession. - -'There they are,' Gerald said excitedly. 'The little wizened chap in -uniform, with the grey moustaches, is the President, and the fat man in -plain clothes the Vice-President.' - -The two walked slowly past under our window, and we got a jolly good -view of them. The little chap was covered with orders and medals, and -looked a grand little soldier and jolly fierce, whilst the big chap, -clumsily built, slouched along, one step behind the President, and -didn't seem at all at ease. He was perspiring very much too--his collar -was all limp--and he kept on looking from side to side as if he didn't -much care for his job. - -'You wouldn't if you were he,' Gerald half shouted. He had to shout, -because the massed bands were now passing beneath us kicking up the most -appalling din. - -After the bands had gone by, long rows of people, some in uniform, -others in plain clothes--notable people of sorts, I suppose--went -shuffling past, looking hot and uncomfortable. - -We saw the cavalry and seamen halt, forming a guard on each side of the -cathedral steps, and then, as the big hearse drew up at the foot of -them, a great discordant bell clanged out from the tower above, and a -second later there was the loud boom of a gun. - -'That's the first minute-gun from San Sebastian,' Gerald said. - -The bands suddenly ceased, from the open cathedral doors we heard the -grand rolling sound of an organ, and, as the coffin was borne up the -steps, choristers broke out into a shrill anthem--an awfully melancholy -sound, which made me catch my breath for a second. - -The little President and the lumbering great Vice-President, mopping his -forehead, walked after the coffin side by side, and disappeared into the -gloom of the cathedral, followed by all the untidy string of notables, -who scrambled in after them in a very undignified manner, as though they -wanted to get out of the heat. - -As the last one crowded in, the velvet curtains were drawn across the -door again and shut out the noise of the singing. - -'That's the last time any one will see those two together again in -peace,' Gerald muttered, and turning round I saw that he was looking -fearfully worried and anxious. - -'What's the matter?' I asked. - -'There's hardly a Vice-President's man among that lot,' he whispered. - -'What's that mean?' - -'They've cleared out, Billums--fled to the country--it's the beginning. -Something's gone wrong. It's beginning too soon.' He was very excited, -and could hardly sit still. In a minute or two he jumped up, sang out -that he must find out how the land 'lay,' and told us to stay where we -were. - -'If there's any shooting, lie down on the floor--there may be some.' - -'Let me come with you?' I asked, awfully keen to go, but he shook his -head, and went out. - -I wished he'd have let me go with him. - -The mids. hadn't noticed him go, for they were tremendously excited -again. Some more cavalry were clattering along between the lines of -soldiers, and in front of them, his black horse flecked with white foam, -they had recognised the Governor of Los Angelos and his two A.D.C.'s, -the fat little chap looking a jolly sight smarter on a horse than he did -climbing down ladders on board the _Hector_. They stopped opposite the -cathedral, dismounted, the Governor strode up the steps, the black -A.D.C. handed him a big blue paper, and he stood there looking nervously -first at the velvet curtains drawn across the entrance, and then at the -troops and the kneeling masses of people behind them. A battery of -field artillery began unlimbering on each side of the steps, the guns -pointing straight across the Plaza, more infantry marched up and formed -a semicircle, four deep, round the base of the steps, and the line of -soldiers, turning round, forced the people to rise from their knees, and -pressed them back away from the cathedral. There wasn't the least doubt -that something was going to happen, and I remembered that Mr. Macdonald -had told us that the Vice-President might be arrested or shot directly -after the service--perhaps that blue paper the Governor of Los Angelos -had in his hand was the warrant. - -All this time the huge bell in the cathedral tower above us clanged and -jarred, and the minute-guns from San Sebastian shook the air, and made -it feel even hotter than it was. We were so excited that, for a moment, -I forgot about Gerald. - -Suddenly we heard the organ inside the cathedral throbbing, the velvet -curtains were drawn aside, the Governor of Los Angelos, unfolding his -blue paper, sprang forward, and the little white figure of the President -appeared. The massed bands blared out some weird tune--probably the -Santa Cruz National Anthem--the troops presented arms, the Governor -saluted, and then seemed uncertain what to do. He was looking for some -one--the Vice-President, I felt certain--but his clumsy figure didn't -appear, only the long string of notables. I saw the Governor shake his -head and disappear into the cathedral, one of his A.D.C.'s dashed down -the steps, and the President, without looking back or moving a muscle of -his face, mounted a white horse, which was waiting for him, and cantered -away at the head of a cavalry escort, all the troops presenting arms and -shouting, '_Viva el Presidente_.' - -Once or twice since we'd been in that window, hawkers had tried to make -us buy things by shoving up little baskets, of sweets and fruit, -fastened to long poles. They went from window to window and did a -roaring trade. Now as we watched the President cantering away, another -basket was thrust up. I pushed it away, but it came again. I shook my -head at the man down below who had done it, and saw something strange in -his expression. He nodded, and motioned with his free hand as if he -wanted me to pick something out, shoving the basket right under my nose. - -I looked in, and there, under some small oranges, was a piece of folded -paper. I seized it, the basket was drawn down again, and I unfolded it. -Hurriedly scrawled there was, 'Can't come back. Get back to the Club -quickly, and stay there.--Gerald.' - -'Phew!' I went cold all over with excitement. I didn't know what to -think. - -I looked at my watch, it was 1.30, and remembered that Mr. Macdonald had -told us chaffingly that the revolution would begin at 1.25 sharp. I -wasn't going to move yet, especially if there was going to be any -fighting; we hadn't to meet Mr. Macdonald till three o'clock, and we -might as well see all the fun there was going on. - -The soldiers began clearing the square now, crowds of people passing -along under our windows, Bob and his chum spotted some of our mids., and -yelled to them and to the four _Hercules_ mids. who came by too, but the -noise was so great, and they were so busy shoving and pushing in the hot -crowd, that they didn't hear them. - -Presently Captain Grattan--Old Tin Eye--squinting through his eyeglass -and smiling at the crowd, Captain Roger Hill, sitting bolt upright and -looking bored, Perkins, and the Fleet Surgeon drove past in a carriage. -They were all in uniform, and the soldiers made a way for them through -the people. - -'There's not going to be any firing after all,' the Angel said sadly. -'Look how peaceably all the people are clearing out.' - -'Well, come along,' I sang out, 'we'll go along to the Club,' so we -picked up our hats and sticks, opened the door, and ran 'slick' into the -arms of that ugly little chap I'd seen outside the Club--the one Gerald -said had been shadowing him. - -He had half-a-dozen sturdy nigger soldiers behind him, and he held up a -blue paper in front of me, grinning cunningly--hateful little beast. - -I couldn't read the lingo, but there was Senor Gerald Wilson written -among the print, and a scrawling 'Jose Canilla' at the bottom, so I -guessed at once that this was a warrant for Gerald's arrest, and that he -must have given the little beast the slip. The nigger chaps began -closing round me, and had the cheek to try and seize hold of my wrists. - -Well, I'm pretty strong, and I'm pretty bad-tempered too, and this was -too much for me. I'd torn the warrant to bits, punched Gerald's friend -good and hard in the face, and laid out the first two chaps who'd -touched me--banged their heads against the woodwork of the narrow -passage, before I'd thought of it--but then the others drew their -revolvers, and that wasn't playing the game. I yelled to the mids., -shoved them back into the room, banged the door, and slipped two bolts -in as the chaps charged it. - -'Lean out and try to get some of our fellows to help us,' I sang out; -'I'll hang on to the door.' It was the first idea that came, but then -it flashed through my head that the longer I kept them fooling round -after me, the more chance Gerald would have of escaping--I knew now that -that was what he must be doing. - -'Slide down into the street--over the balcony--get to the Club--and tell -the Skipper I've been arrested,' I yelled out. - -'Ain't going to leave you,' the Angel and Bob cried, and came in again -and got their shoulders against the door. 'There's not a single one of -our chaps about,' they panted, pushing against the creaking door. - -My Christopher! it was a shoving match. Luckily the passage outside was -so narrow that only two people abreast could shove properly, but the -screws in the clasps of the bolts at the top of the door began to -'draw,' and I knew we couldn't hold them for long. Then they fired a -pistol through the door--high up--the bullet smashing against the -opposite wall. - -I knew it was no use staying any longer, I didn't want a bullet in me. -'Clear out, and I'll come too,' I sang out, and we bolted to the window, -climbed over the balcony, and shinned down the iron uprights. As my feet -touched the pavement, a dozen soldiers threw themselves on top of me; I -hadn't a chance to strike out, my head was covered with a cloak, and the -next I knew I was inside the hotel bar, being trussed like a turkey. - -As soon as he could do it safely, the little brute who'd had the warrant -came and kicked me in the stomach and spat at me--I must have had my -pipe in my hand when I hit him, for he had a gash across his -forehead--and the two whose heads I'd banged came along and kicked me -too. - -Thank goodness, Bob and his chum weren't there--I guessed that they'd -been cute enough to cut away to the Club. - -Even then I rather enjoyed it (not the kicking part--I'd be even with -those swine some day), thinking how disappointed they would all be when -they found that I wasn't Gerald. - -Some more soldiers poured into the room, the little brute pulled a dirty -greasy cloth off a table, I was covered with it, carried outside like a -sack of potatoes, and dumped into a cart. Something else soft was -dumped in beside me, half-a-dozen chaps sat on me to keep me quiet, and -off we drove. I could hear horses' hoofs on either side of the cart and -the clatter of scabbards and jingle of accoutrements, so knew I had a -cavalry escort, and felt jolly proud that Gerald was such a big 'pot' in -the revolution business as to require one. - -We went slowly after a little while--going uphill. I wondered whether -they were taking me to San Sebastian, but didn't wonder long, because a -minute-gun was fired--about the last of them--and it sounded quite -close. - -In a minute or two we bumped and rattled across a wooden bridge, and -then stopped. - -As I was hauled out, they pulled the cloth away from the soft thing -beside me, and it was the body of the officer who'd been shot in the -square. Ugh! that was rather beastly. An old chap came along--the boss -of the fort, I suppose--and jawed to me in French and Spanish, and got -savage when I couldn't understand him. He thought I _wouldn't_. - -He soon got tired of this, and I was led across the courtyard by a band -of ruffians with fixed bayonets and loaded rifles (I saw them load their -magazines). We passed behind the crumbling old walls, where a party of -soldiers were cleaning out the saluting guns, and I was shoved into a -kind of store-room, dug out of the rock or in the thickness of the -walls, and shut in there by a big iron gateway of a door, on the outside -of which a miserable little beast of a half-nigger sentry leant and -smoked cigarettes. - -There were seven others in there, all quiet individuals in plain -clothes, who rose and bowed to me when I was brought in, thinking at -first, I suppose, that I was Gerald. They looked very relieved when -they saw that I wasn't. Two of them had rosettes of black and green -with the stripes horizontal, so I knew why they were there. One very -courteous old gentleman put a cigarette between my lips, lighted it with -his own, and then slacked off the ropes round my wrists and arms, the -sentry, turning round to watch us, simply shrugged his shoulders when my -arms were free again, and I commenced whirling them round and round to -try and do away with the numbness and the 'pins and needles.' He just -half opened the breech-bolt of his Mauser rifle, pointed very -suggestively at the cartridges inside, turned round again, and went on -smoking. Somebody offered me an empty cartridge-box and I sat on it, -watching the other chaps busy writing things in notebooks or even on -their shirt cuffs. - -It struck me that possibly they were writing their 'wills.' - -Well! that was a funny ending to my first day ashore, if you like, -though so long as Gerald got clear away I didn't mind, and so long as -Bob and his chum had fetched up at the Club I knew that things would -turn out all right. - -It was jolly hot in that hole of a place, and as the afternoon went on -the sun shone straight in through the gratings of the door and it was -like an oven. - -I sweated like a pig. - -Every now and then I heard a cart rattle across the drawbridge. That -generally meant a fresh arrival, some other Horizontal caught, and he'd -be shoved in with us. At first I was terribly afraid lest I should see -Gerald brought along; but four o'clock came, Gerald evidently hadn't -been caught, and I began to feel quite easy in my mind about him. - -I did wonder why nobody from the ship had come along, but wasn't -particularly worried. Things would 'pan out' all right, and this was a -rummy enough experience for any one. - -Just after four o'clock there was great excitement in the courtyard -outside. Soldiers ran about hunting for their rifles and formed up -behind the saluting guns, trumpets sounded some kind of a 'general -salute,' I heard a lot of horses' hoofs clattering over the drawbridge, -and a few minutes later round the corner stalked the little President -and a crowd of officers, the Governor of Los Angelos and his two -A.D.C.'s among them. - -He'd evidently come along to count his day's 'bag,' for he walked along -the grating looking in at us. My aunt! he had the cruellest eyes I'd -ever seen. - -He first caught sight of the old chap who'd unfastened my ropes. Phew! -he did give him a piece of his mind through the grating! and then the -old fellow was dragged out and marched off to a bit of blank wall -between two of the saluting guns. The fat little A.D.C. went up to him, -and then I knew what was going to happen, for I saw him offer to tie a -handkerchief across his eyes--he was going to be shot. But he wouldn't -have his eyes covered, and for a moment I saw him standing bolt upright -with his arms folded in front of him. Then some soldiers ran up, stood -in a line between him and me, an officer gave an order, their rifles -went up to the present; I turned my head away and saw the other -prisoners clutching the gratings, their throat muscles all swollen, and -their eyes starting out; there was a scraggy volley, and the President -came back again. - -Two more men were hauled out and shot, and I shall never forget the face -of one of them as he was marched away. It was just like picking a fat -hen out of a coop, and we were the hens. Then back the President came a -fourth time, and I was dragged out. - -He knew that I wasn't Gerald right enough, but his eyes simply spat -fire, and he stamped with rage and was more furious than ever because I -couldn't understand him. - -[Illustration: "HIS EYES SPAT FIRE"] - -The fat little A.D.C. was called up to ask questions. He gave me a -friendly wink, and I notched up a point in his favour. - -He jabbered away to the President and I heard 'Wilson no Don Geraldio' -and '_Hector buque de guerra--Inglesa--Los Angelos_.' - -He asked me if I knew where Gerald was. Of course I didn't and shook my -head, 'No! old chap, I don't.' - -The President didn't believe it when this was told him. - -'El Presidente say shoot you if do not say where is Don Geraldio.' - -Of course that was only bluff, and I smiled. - -Then the firing party were called across, but that was still only bluff, -I thought, and it didn't frighten me in the least till I saw the fat -little A.D.C.'s face turn yellow under his brown skin. - -Well, then I was in a mortal funk, if you like, and something inside me -went flop down into my boots. - -'Our cannon--cannon of _Hector_--shoot thirty kilometres,' I jerked out, -remembering how impressed the A.D.C.'s had been with our after 9.2, my -tongue feeling a bit sticky and my knees not altogether steady. - -The old Governor, the two A.D.C.'s, and several other officers were -evidently doing their best for me. I heard 'kilometres' mentioned once -or twice, and then the President waved his hand majestically and I was -taken back and the grating locked behind me. - -My head was buzzing, and I don't mind telling you that I felt a jolly -sight more comfortable inside than outside--just then. The little -President and all his staff went away, and I heard their horses -clattering over the drawbridge. Before he went away, my fat little pal -came along and held out his cigarette case through the gratings. I -bowed and smiled and took one cigarette; but he shook his head, he -wanted me to empty it. I did this and then had a brilliant inspiration. -My cigarette case was a pretty decent one, so I offered him mine. - -'We change cigarette cases--for remembrance--I shall always remember,' I -said. - -The kind-hearted little chap seemed quite pleased, took mine as I took -his, bowed, said '_Adios_! I also shall remember,' and went after the -others as fast as his spurs and his sabre and his fat little legs would -let him. - -I sat down on my cartridge-box and wondered what the dickens 'Old Tin -Eye' was doing and what had become of Bob and the Angel, smoked one of -my pal's cigarettes, examined the cigarette case--it was an oxydised -silver one with black enamel work, probably made in Paris--and watched -some black convicts with chains round their ankles filling in three -graves under the wall opposite. - -Phew! there might have been four if I hadn't remembered about the 9.2's -and the thirty kilometres. I shivered and felt jolly sick, and wished to -goodness I was back again in the _Hector's_ gun-room. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *The Rescue of the Sub* - - - _Written by Midshipman Bob Temple_ - - -'Cut along to the Club and find the Skipper,' Billums had sung out as we -slid down from that window at the Hotel de L'Europe, and when we jumped -to the pavement we saw all the soldier chaps--dozens of them--pouncing -on him. They didn't pay any attention to us, and it was no good -stopping there, so my chum, the Angel, and I scooted away as fast as we -could go. - -We wormed our way round the corner, out of the square all right, and -then we lost ourselves, and were wedged in among an awful crowd of -people, carts and mules, cavalry and artillery all jumbled up together, -jostling and shoving and cursing. We could hardly move at all, or see -where we were going. - -We did get along presently, and kept looking down the side streets to -try and see all those flags over the Club gate, but we'd forgotten -exactly which turning it was. We'd work our way to the outside of the -crowd and dart down a side street, looking for the flags and those two -sentries, and dart back again into the main street, holding on to each -other so as not to get separated, and push and push till we got to the -next side street. It was awfully hot work; we couldn't find it and I -simply felt terrified about Billums, when we ran into those four -_Hercules_ mids. whom we'd upset in the morning. I'd never been so glad -to see any one before. - -'Hello! Coal lighters! What's the hurry?' they sang out. 'Looking for -coal?' - -We didn't mind that in the least. - -'Where's the Club?' we gasped. 'Quick! tell us! Our Sub's been -arrested, and we want to find our Skipper.' - -'We've just come from there,' they shouted. 'My aunt! what a lark! -Come along!' and they turned back and all six of us pushed our way -along. It was hot work, if you like. - -'What's he been up to?' one of them asked me. - -'They think he's an insurgent; he is just like his brother who is one.' - -We saw the flags almost directly, dashed through the gateway into the -Club, the _Hercules_ mids. after us, and saw Mr. Perkins sitting under a -punkah trying to get cool. - -'Where's the Captain, sir?' we asked. - -'Don't know! Was here ten minutes ago.' - -We hunted everywhere--he wasn't in the Club--and ran back to Mr. -Perkins. - -'The Sub's been arrested, sir; they're half-killing him. They think -he's his brother and have carried him off. What can we do?' Mr. -Perkins whistled and scratched his head. - -That big German man who had been playing billiards with cousin Gerald in -the morning was sitting close by and jumped up, 'What you say? Gerald -Wilson caught?' - -'No,' we both piped out, 'not Gerald, his brother Bill, our Sub; they've -collared him at the hotel near the cathedral.' - -'Phew! that's awkward! Something must be done at once. They'd shoot -Gerald Wilson if they caught him, and they may shoot his brother.' He -spoke very rapidly. - -'What can be done?' Mr. Perkins asked, his red face getting quite white. - -'I'll drive you to the British Minister--it's a long way out of the -town--he's gone there, I know--that's the only thing we can do--you'll -have to wait till my carriage comes.' - -We did wait, waited for half an hour--it seemed hours, and though Mr. -Perkins stood us lemon squashes and cakes we were much too worried to -eat anything. The _Hercules_ mids. waited about--the greedy pigs--till -Mr. Perkins had to order some for them too, and they finished the whole -lot of cakes, ours as well as theirs. Then the big German called us, -and he and Mr. Perkins and we two drove away. It was a quarter to three -and Mr. Macdonald would be expecting us in a quarter of an -hour--whatever should we do I The Angel and I couldn't keep our feet -still--we felt so awful--because we could have walked faster than the -carriage went in the crowded streets. When we turned down a side -street, the nigger driver lashed the horses into a gallop, we got out -into the country, and presently pulled up at a big white house with the -Union Jack flying above it. - -Oh! It was so comforting to see it. - -Out we jumped, the German hurried us through a courtyard, a black -footman in livery led us through a lot of beautiful cool rooms into a -garden with palms and fountains, and we saw a whole crowd of -people--English ladies too--sitting in the shade. We forgot to be shy, -we were so frightened, caught sight of Captain Grattan and Captain Roger -Hill, and, without waiting, simply ran up to them through all the -ladies, and told them all about it. - -'Tut, tut, tut, tut,' our Captain said, jumping out of his chair and -screwing in his eyeglass. 'Tut, tut, that's serious. Come this way,' -and he took us in to the British Minister--a big tall chap with a nose -like a hawk and great bushy eyebrows, dressed in white duck clothes. We -had to tell our story again, clutching each other; he made us so -frightened, looking at us so fiercely. You couldn't tell from his face -what he thought of it, but he told the Captain that he'd change into -uniform and take us to the President right away. - -'It's serious,' he said. 'Gerald Wilson is too openly mixed up in -politics to claim our protection, and things may go badly with his -brother.' - -We felt so jolly relieved that something was at last going to be done -that we did have some tea then, the ladies crowding round the Angel and -helping him, though they weren't so keen on me--they never are, which is -a jolly good thing. 'If I'd a face like a girl's they'd fuss round me -too,' I told the Angel, and he was beastly rude and called me 'Old -Pimple Face,' and made them all laugh at me. I could have kicked him. - -The Minister was back again before we'd finished stuffing, and then -hurried us away--he and the Captain in one carriage, and Mr. Perkins and -we two in another. - -We drove as fast as ever we could back to the town, and the soldiers we -passed looked as if they'd like to shoot us. They scowled so much that -I was jolly glad that the Minister was in his gorgeous gold braid -uniform and the Captain and Mr. Perkins were in theirs. We had to pass -close to San Sebastian, and we told Mr. Perkins that that was probably -where Billums had been taken. 'Mr. Macdonald told us they take all the -revolutionary people there.' - -Just as we'd told him this, we heard a scrappy kind of a volley from -inside the walls. - -'Good God!' Mr. Perkins nearly jumped off his seat, his red face -turning quite yellow; 'they're shooting people already. Why can't we go -faster?' I almost blubbed. - -We were back again in the city now, the streets simply filled with -soldiers, leaning up against the walls, trying to find a little shade -and some of them shouting rudely at us as we passed. - -At last we stopped opposite some big iron gates through which soldiers -were coming and going in hundreds. The sentries there wouldn't let the -Minister pass through at first, till an officer came along. Then we all -got out and walked in, following the Minister, who stalked along, head -and shoulders taller than any of the officers standing about, and pushed -his way into a big room crowded with very excited people, most of them -officers, half of them niggers and the other half not much lighter. -They left off chattering as we appeared, and bowed and clicked their -heels when they saw the Minister, but didn't look at all pleased. - -'They hate us English,' I heard the Minister tell the Captain. 'Most of -us favour the Vice-President's party, though only Gerald Wilson has been -fool enough to do so openly.' - -We stuck very closely to him whilst officers and orderlies kept on -streaming in and out of a small door leading into another room. Most of -their uniforms were jolly smart--either white with yellow facings or -khaki with white facings. Cavalry officers had a light-blue striped -cotton tunic fitting very tightly and very bulging khaki -riding-breeches. They looked awful dandies, and all wore stiff white -shirts with cuffs although it was so hot--the blacker they were and the -more like niggers, the more stiff white cuffs they showed. - -What the Angel and I noticed chiefly about the infantry officers was -that they didn't seem to worry so much whether their clothes fitted -them, and they nearly all wore patent-leather 'Jemima' boots, with the -elastic generally worn out and quite loose round the ankles. - -'The President is not here--won't be here for some time--he's gone to -San Sebastian,' the Minister said in a low voice. - -You could never tell whether he was worried about it or not--his voice -and his face never changed. 'We shall have to wait. He's a fiery -little chap--thinks he is the Napoleon of the west, and loves to show -off before us Europeans. He'll be in a pretty bad temper to-day. He -meant to arrest the Vice-President, de Costa, as he left the cathedral, -but he and his friends got wind of it and left by a side door; smuggled -away as priests or nuns, some say, and have slipped through his fingers. -He meant to "scotch" the revolution which is coming, and he's failed -badly, so he'll be a pretty handful to tackle.' - -'Well, _he_ might be able to tackle him,' the Angel whispered, and we -both thought that he looked perfectly grand in his uniform. Then there -was a great clatter outside; we could hear officers calling their men to -attention; trumpets were blown, all the officers in the room took their -cigarettes out of their mouths, stood bolt-upright, and in came the -President just as we'd seen him in the procession. Every one made a -lane for him to pass into the room beyond, and he spotted us, but hardly -took any notice of the Minister's salute or of our Captain's either, -which made the Angel and me very angry, though we were really too -frightened at his very cruel-looking eyes to be angry. - -Several people followed him--all very gorgeously dressed--covered with -medals and with green and yellow sashes over their shoulders, and the -last to come in was the little A.D.C. from Los Angelos with the big -spurs and the curved sword. - -The Minister spoke to one of them, who seemed to be doing 'orderly' -officer, but he only shrugged his shoulders, went into the little room. -We heard a few fierce words and back he came, shrugging his shoulders -all the more. - -'He says the President is too busy to see me,' the Minister told the -Captain, who was gradually getting angry at being treated like this. -Then there was another commotion, and in came the grand-looking old -Governor of Los Angelos and the black A.D.C. He seemed to be a friend -of the Minister, for he stopped and shook his hand, bowed and yarned -quite pleasantly. He too went into the other room. - -'I've told him that I must see the President,' the Minister said, and we -waited again, though even he wasn't successful, and came back shrugging -his shoulders and spreading out his hands, his great sword clanking -along the floor. - -The Minister's face never altered the slightest bit. 'He refuses to see -me--will only receive the senior foreign Minister--that is the Comte de -Launy, the Frenchman. It's no use waiting here any longer--we must go -and find him--it will take an hour.' - -His voice never altered in the slightest degree, but the Captain was -'tut tutting' and polishing his eye-glass, whilst Mr. Perkins was -bubbling over with wrath. - -As we went out we saw the officers all sneering at us, but the Governor -sang out something very angrily, and they stood to attention and he -himself bowed us out. We were jolly glad to get out, I can tell you, -because it was such a horrid feeling to have all these strange -fierce-looking officers all round us without being able to understand a -word they said, and to feel certain that they'd like to murder us. - -'Well, the old Governor's a gent, isn't he?' the Angel whispered. - -We drove back to the Residence--I was feeling awfully sick with funk -about Billums--and there we were left whilst the Captain and the -Minister drove away again to find the Frenchman. - -It was long after four o'clock; Mr. Macdonald would be on his way down -to Los Angelos, and we hadn't the least idea how we should get back; but -we didn't want to go back so long as old Billums was shut up in San -Sebastian, and might be shot any minute. - -There were only three ladies there now, the Minister's wife and her two -daughters, and they did their very best to cheer us up. The Angel was -in great form--he always was when ladies were about--and sang his rotten -songs; but as I couldn't sit still, I wandered out into the courtyard, -and fed some goldfish in one of the fountains. It was fairly cool -there, and every time I heard wheels I ran to the gateway, but they -didn't come back till nearly six o'clock, and when I rushed out, hoping -to see Billums with them, there was only a dried-up little man in -another gorgeous uniform--the French Minister. - -'No good, Temple,' the Captain said, looking awfully serious. - -'He won't let him go till his brother surrenders--does it to humiliate -us.' - -'What are you going to do now, sir?' I asked him, but he didn't answer. - -They all three drove away again, and Mr. Perkins told me that they were -going to collect all the foreign Ministers, and intended to see him in a -body. - -Then he and we two mids. had to do more waiting--it was terrible. The -sun went down, it got dark quite suddenly, and we couldn't help thinking -of the awful road down the mountains to Los Angelos and how we were -going to get down there at night. - -The Minister's wife gave us some dinner and tried to be jolly, but I -couldn't be, and couldn't eat anything. She and the girls were pretty -nervous too, because, all the time we were pretending to have dinner, -there were noises as if a riot was going on in the town. We were all -fidgeting, and the black men-servants in their scarlet liveries were -very jumpy. You could see by the way they moved about that they were -frightened too. - -The Minister's wife made them close the big windows and that drowned a -good deal of the noise, and I couldn't see the dark creepy shadows of -the palms outside and felt less uncomfortable. She kept on saying, 'I -wish your father would come back,' and, just as we were going to have -some coffee, we heard the banging of rifles. The black footman dropped -his tray, and all of them simply trembled. It was no use to sit any -longer at the table, the two girls began to cry, and then it was our -turn to do something to help. - -The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round -the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked--a jolly creepy -job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a -rifle go off. The servants were all standing about, whispering and -looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them -something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we -couldn't get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to -do that ourselves. Then we made the three ladies come into the -drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up. The -Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out -some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses. That wasn't much of -a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks. One -was to stand straight upright and then sit down on the floor without -bending his knees, and he did it so jolly well that it nearly shook the -ornaments off the mantelpiece, and the bump frightened them all. Then he -showed them how he could fall flat on his chest without bending his -knees, and did it, but banged his chin hard on the polished floor, so -that wasn't quite a success either. - -We couldn't think of any other tricks. - -Nine o'clock came, and ten o'clock--there was no firing now--and -half-past ten came before we heard several carriages coming towards the -house, and went out into the courtyard to the street gate. - -The Minister, the Captain, the tall German, who turned out to be the -German Minister, and was in a grand-looking uniform, the little -Frenchman, four or five others, and the United States Minister in -ordinary evening dress, got down, and then several ladies, closely -wrapped up, came in too. - -All the Ministers disappeared into another room by themselves, only the -Captain and the ladies coming into the drawing-room. He was saying -'tut, tut' all the time, and all we could get out of him was, 'We've -been treated like children--tut, tut--by a miserable half-bred -savage--he won't listen to us.' - -'A lot of firing going on in the city, isn't there, sir?' Mr. Perkins -asked. - -'Only a few drunken soldiers letting off their rifles,' he grunted, and -then he was sent for, and a few minutes afterwards a man-servant came in -to ask the Minister's wife to speak to her husband. She went out, and -we could hear her speaking to him, and back she came looking very pale. -'Captain Grattan' (that was our Captain) 'has asked us to stay on board -the _Hector_, my dears; we are going down with him to-night.' - -She tried to look cheerful, but they and we knew what that meant--that -it wasn't safe for them in Santa Cruz any longer--and the girls began to -cry again. All three of them went away to get ready. - -'Phew! Great smokes,' Mr. Perkins whistled, 'it's come to a pretty -pass--that ass of a Sub has stirred up a hornets' nest, if you like.' - -'It wasn't his fault, sir,' I said; 'he couldn't help it.' - -Just then the Captain and the Ministers trooped in. They looked as -though they'd come to some decision which pleased them, and it made the -Angel and me feel more happy about poor old Billums up there in San -Sebastian. We both wondered whether he'd had any dinner, and what he -thought had become of us--all this time. Some more ladies came in, all -wrapped up in furs because the night was very cold, and in the middle of -all the hubbub we heard a lot of cavalry coming along. They stopped -outside the house, and a moment later the Governor of Los Angelos, with -his two A.D.C.'s, came in. Weren't we pleased to see him, that's all! -There was more bowing and scraping, coffee was handed round, and we two -edged alongside the little A.D.C. who had talked English in the gun-room -yesterday. He recognised us then and said, smiling, 'We take you to Los -Angelos to-night--the senoras and the senoritas also--we have many horse -soldiers--the road it has much danger.' - -'How about Billums--William Wilson--our Sub?' we asked, 'up in San -Sebastian.' - -He smiled, and pulled out--what d'you think?--old Billums's cigarette -case--I knew it jolly well--and said, 'I give him my--he give me him,' -but shut up like an oyster, shrugged his shoulders, and shook his head -when we asked him if Billums was coming with us. That made us miserable -again, and we went out to see what the cavalry escort were like. They -had dismounted, and were swaggering into the courtyard, looking absolute -villains, most of them niggers, their carbines and bandoliers over their -shoulders, revolvers in their belts, and swords, which clanked and -rattled whenever they moved. The servants were giving them cigarettes -and some food, but, for all that, they didn't seem at all friendly, and -the whites of their eyes showed up under the swinging lanterns, and made -them look more like brigands than ever. The Angel palled up to them and -made them show him their rifles, but I felt too frightened and only -hoped that the Governor was coming with us. The carriages drove up, all -the ladies came out and were put into them, the dear old Governor of Los -Angelos handing them in and bending down to kiss our Minister's wife's -hands in such a jolly manner that the Angel and I could have hugged him. - -We felt that he could be absolutely trusted, and weren't we jolly glad -again when his horse was led up and he and part of the escort rode away -with the ladies. - -In the last carriage the Captain, Mr. Perkins, and we two mids. were -stowed, and away we went after them with the two A.D.C.'s bobbing behind -on their horses and the rest of the escort, leaving the Ministers all -standing together under the lamp which lit up their faces and all their -beautiful gold lace. - -'They don't look very "sniffy," do they?' I whispered to the Angel, 'I -should if I was letting my wife go away like this.' - -'Not if you'd got those uniforms on and had a Frenchman or a German or a -Dutchman watching you,' he whispered. - -I expect he was right. - -The Governor came clattering back on his great horse to see that we'd -started, and then went on ahead again, the black A.D.C. bumping along -after him. - -You can imagine what a row we made, and how, as we got into the streets, -all the shutters of the windows were thrown back and people peered at us -from behind the bars; dogs, too, flew out and barked from every doorway. -It was a wonderful night--a big moon and millions of stars, the tops of -the mountains showing up all round us. Jolly cold it was, too, and the -Angel and I were glad to snuggle together under a rug. - -We seemed to go a long way round, skirting the city, and though -sometimes at street corners pickets and patrols challenged us, they were -quite satisfied. Presently we passed close to a great shadowy building -high up on our right. It had a funny little tower at one corner, and we -recognised the shadow at once--it was San Sebastian. - -The Angel and I squeezed each other to buck ourselves up, and kept our -eyes on it all the time. It looked most awfully gloomy, and it seemed -horrid to think that only twelve hours ago Billums had driven past it -with us, and now he was inside and we were going back without him. - -'What will he think of us?' I gulped. 'Poor old Billums!' - -Well, we got on to the main road, left the city behind us, and presently -began to go downhill. Mr. Perkins went to sleep soon, his jolly red -face rolling from side to side as the carriage bumped, and the Captain -snuggled down in the other corner, and we knew when he went to sleep, -because his eyeglass fell out, and he didn't 'tut, tut,' and put it -back. - -We didn't go to sleep for a long time--we were too miserable and -cold--and watched the troopers riding on each side of us with their -blankets over their shoulders, and every half-mile or so, flaming fires -at the side of the road, with soldiers sitting round them. We could hear -them challenging the carriages in front, but when we got up to them, -they only stared at us, or called out to the escort, and wrapped their -blankets round them more closely. There was a huge nigger chap riding -on my side of the carriage, and both he and his wretched thin horse -seemed nearly asleep. I watched him bobbing and lurching from side to -side in his saddle, waking up with a start whenever his poor brute -stumbled, and then must have gone to sleep, because the next I remember -was finding that we were going past rows of houses--pitch dark, with not -a sound coming from them--and knew that we'd got down to Los Angelos. - -I was colder than ever, because the Angel had all the rug, but the smell -of the sea was grand. - -We drove down to the wharf where we'd landed in the morning. The -carriages all stopped--I could hardly stand when I got out because my -legs were so cramped--and two of our barges were waiting for us, their -mids. holding up lanterns and singing out to let us know where they -were. - -The cavalry escort clattered away, the old Governor kissed the hands of -all the ladies as he helped them into the boats, the two A.D.C.'s, -looking frightfully sleepy, clicked their heels and bowed, the Captain -said, 'Tut, tut,' a good many times and shook the Governor by the hand, -the Angel and I managed to get hold of the fat A.D.C. and shake his -hand, and off we all went. - -It was simply splendid to be in a boat again and to hear the oars go -'click, click' in the rowlocks, and when we'd got round the end of the -breakwater to see the lights of the _Hector_ and _Hercules_. The other -chaps who had gone back before us had taken orders for the two barges to -wait in, all night, if necessary; that was why we'd found them there. - -The Angel and I were both of us dead tired, and went down below to turn -in, but there was a lot of scurrying up above; we heard the Gunnery -Lieutenant sent for, and the Captain's Clerk was turned out. Evidently -something exciting was going to happen, so we ran up on deck again and, -peeping down the ward-room skylight, saw our Captain and the Captain of -the _Hercules_, the Commander, and most of our senior officers all -sitting round the table, which was littered with papers and confidential -books. - -We stole away, because the officer of the watch whacked us over the back -with his telescope, and were undressing in the gun-room flat when the -bugler sounded the 'officers' call' and 'both watches fall in.' We -heard 'Clear lower deck' being shouted along the mess decks and bugles -sounding aboard the _Hercules_, so instead of undressing we shifted into -uniform, whilst every one else tumbled out of their hammocks and shifted -into theirs. We all clattered up on deck. - -'Everybody aft' was piped, and the men came streaming through the dark -battery door into the glare of the group light on the quarterdeck, -buttoning up the tops of their trousers and stuffing their flannels down -them. - -The master-at-arms reported 'Lower deck cleared, sir,' to the Commander, -he reported to the Captain, and the Captain, standing on the top of the -after 9.2 inch turret, coughed, said 'tut, tut,' a good many times, and -then told the men that Billums had been collared because he was so much -like his brother, who'd mixed himself up in politics, that the President -was going to keep him till Gerald surrendered, and that all the foreign -Ministers were agreed that steps had to be taken jolly quickly to get -him out of San Sebastian. - -The men were as quiet as lambs, waiting for the exciting part and to -know what he intended doing. You couldn't hear a sound. 'I want you to -clear for action--now--do it quickly--I'm going to take the _Hector_ -inside the breakwater at daylight, whilst Captain Roger Hill'--he called -him 'Old Spats,' but corrected himself--'gets under way in the -_Hercules_ and prepares to tackle the forts. They've got some--you've -seen them--up on the hill above the town--but won't give us much -trouble. If Mr. Wilson is not at the landing-stage at noon, the foreign -Ministers will be, and they and all the Europeans who wish will come -aboard this ship. That being the case, I shall then--acting under the -Ministers' orders--take possession of the five Santa Cruz cruisers and -gunboats inside and shall tow them out.' - -You could feel the men getting excited, and then he gave several more -'tut, tuts,' and told us that a revolution had started, and that, as the -revolutionary people came from both the provinces to the north and -south, and the mountains separated them and made it impossible for them -to combine successfully by land, the only way they could do so was by -the sea, and as long as the President had his cruisers and gunboats he -could prevent them doing so, and keep the upper hand. - -'If we capture his ships, the insurgents can do what they like,' and he -finished up with, 'There are ladies aboard--we couldn't leave them in -Santa Cruz--so work quietly. Carry on, Commander!' We dug out like -smoke, turning the boats in and filling them with water, getting down -davits and rails, lashing the rigging, and working hard till daylight -came. - -Then all us mids. scrambled down below to get some hot cocoa and bread -and butter, and were up on deck again in a jiffy, for the buglers -sounded 'cable officers,' which meant that we were just going to weigh -anchor, and we didn't want to miss any of the fun. - -The _Hercules_, cleared for action, just astern of us, was looking -awfully grim, her long guns simply bristling over the sides, and white -ensigns lashed in her rigging. - -Petty Officer O'Leary came up to ask about Billums--he was very worried -about him--and, just as we began to steam ahead, a cloud of smoke shot -out from one of the forts above the town. - -'They're going to fight,' I sang out, not quite certain that I wasn't -frightened. - -But O'Leary growled, and said, 'No such luck, sir, anyway, that's only -the sunrise gun--late as usu'l, sir.' - -'General quarters' was sounded--we could hear it too aboard the -_Hercules_--and we all had to rush to our stations. Mine was in the -starboard for'ard 9.2 turret, and you may bet your life that directly -we'd cleared it away, and had things ready inside, I got my head jammed -outside the sighting hood to see what was going on. - -We headed straight inshore, and then made a wide sweep round the -lighthouse and the end of the breakwater. - -As we turned, the white forts about the town came into view, and we -tried to get our gun to bear on them, but though we gave it extreme -elevation, cocking it up in the air, we couldn't elevate it nearly -enough. - -Mr. Bigge, the lieutenant in charge of my turret, was very angry about -it, but of course nothing could be done. That was why the _Hercules_ -was steaming backwards and forwards, far enough outside the breakwater -for her guns to bear. - -As we crept up to the town, I kept my telescope glued on the forts, but -couldn't see any sign of life in them. - -'They aren't going to fight, sir, are they?' I asked Mr. Bigge, and he -didn't think they were, which was very disappointing--one doesn't mind -being fired at when one is inside a turret. - -On the port side--the breakwater side--we were now right alongside the -Santa Cruz Navy--miserable dirty little ships when you saw them close to -us. Their people were awake and on deck, but hardly bothered to look at -us, and were fishing over the side, smoking cigarettes, and spitting in -the water, some of them washing clothes and hanging them up in the -rigging. They did hoist their colours--the vertical green and yellow -stripes--after a time, but that was the only thing they did. Not very -exciting, after all we had been hoping for, was it? - -Just before we got up to the end of the breakwater we'd dropped a kedge -anchor made fast to our biggest wire hawser, and as we went along we -paid the hawser out astern. Then when we'd got just beyond the -landing-stage we dropped an anchor, and there we were in a pretty close -billet, not enough room to turn, but our kedge ready to haul us out -stern first, and everything as snug as a tin of sardines. We were not a -hundred yards from the wharves where that guard of honour had been -yesterday, but only a few people and some mules were moving sleepily -about, and a lonely-looking sentry leant against a great pile of cocoa -bales and yawned. - -Well, we'd taken them by surprise right enough, and there was nothing to -do but to wait till noon and see what happened. It was a jolly long -wait, and I don't really know whether I wanted most to see Billums come -off, or to capture the cruisers if he didn't. I know that all the other -chaps didn't want him to come off. Outside the breakwater the -_Hercules_ still steamed backwards and forwards, with her guns trained -on the forts in case anything happened, and during the forenoon got down -her top-masts and wireless gear. This made her look all the more -ferocious, and our Commander began bellowing and cursing 'that he'd have -to do the same and spoil all his paint-work.' It took us a couple of -hours, but it was much better than doing nothing, and later on in the -morning crowds of people came down on the wharves to look at us, and -watch us working. My eye! but it was appallingly hot in there. - -At about ten o'clock the forts began to show signs of life, hoisting -yellow and green flags and training their guns round and round. They -had two dynamite guns in one of them--so the books said--and we felt as -though they couldn't possibly miss us if they had fired. That sounded -far too exciting--dynamite seemed rather unpleasant---but the Gunnery -Lieutenant's 'Doggy' brought the news that none of the guns in the fort -could be depressed enough to hit us, which was rather a -relief--really--though the others didn't think so. The cruisers, too, -began to get up steam, let down their gun ports, and ran their guns out. -We could see them being loaded, and then they were trained on us, which -was very exciting when you remember that they were only fifty yards -away. - -Directly they had the cheek to do this our port guns were trained on -them--the foremost 9.2 on one, the port for'ard 9.2 on another, two of -the 7.5's on a third, and so on, with orders to fire directly the Santa -Cruz ships fired. - -Of course these poor little things wouldn't have stood a chance, but -they kept their crews at their guns, and if they'd only been able to let -off one broadside it would have swept our decks. This made it jolly -interesting for all of us who were getting down the topmasts and had to -work in the open. - -I had never thought about how Billums or the Ministers were coming off, -and when at seven bells the first and second barges were called away, -you can imagine how excited I was, because the second barge was mine. -They lowered us into the water, planked a Maxim gun in the bows, -revolvers and cutlasses were served out to the crew, and I had my dirk -and revolver. - -The Commander bellowed down that we were to go inshore, lie off the -steps at the landing-place, and wait for Billums or the Ministers. - -I was in white uniform with a white helmet, and it was so boilingly hot -that, though the men only had on straw hats, flannels, and duck -trousers, they sweated under their cutlass belts before they'd pulled -half-way inshore. - -As we got close to the wharf it was more exciting still, because the -people crowding there and the soldiers began shouting and jeering at us, -shaking sticks and throwing stones--not to hit us, but to splash us. -They weren't brave enough to do any more, because they could see all the -starboard twelve-pounders on board the _Hector_ trained on them. I felt -jolly important, and when Blotchy Smith--the midshipman of the first -barge and a pal of mine--sang out for me to 'lay on my oars,' we bobbed -up and down only about ten yards away and pretended we didn't see them. - -We waited and waited; eight bells struck aboard the _Hector_, there -wasn't a sign of any one coming, and the black ruffians on the wharf -became more irritating than ever. Several lumps of mud and dirt had -been thrown into the boats, and one had struck my clean helmet, but I -still pretended not to notice anything. It got so bad soon that Blotchy -Smith sang out to me to train my Maxim on the crowd, and you would have -laughed if you'd seen the brutes clearing away. - -Then the _Hector_ signalled across that carriages could be seen coming -down the road from Santa Cruz, and after another long wait we heard the -mob ashore groaning and hooting, and a lot of cavalry and several -carriages came clattering and rattling along the wooden wharves. - -You can guess how we wondered whether it was Billums coming or only the -Ministers. It wasn't Billums, for we saw all the foreign Ministers, and -knew that they would not have come with him. - -Some soldiers made a way for them, and then we had to pull backwards and -forwards, taking them and a lot of Europeans--Mr. Macdonald among -them--off to the ship, and afterwards go back for their luggage. - -'Well, we'll have a bit of a "dust up" after this, sir,' my coxswain -said, and that was about the only comfort. - -The Angel told me afterwards that when the Ministers got on board their -wives came up and made asses of them, they were so jolly pleased to see -them, but they'd all been sent below by the time my boat had been -hoisted in. Then we had to collar the cruisers. - -Well, even that was disappointing, because they never made any -resistance, the officers simply shrugged their shoulders when we hauled -their colours down and hoisted our own white ensigns, and ordered their -men to pull ashore. You couldn't really blame them, because our 9.2 -shells would have blown them to smithereens; but, for all that, it was -very tame. - -By half-past one we'd got hawsers aboard their flagship, the _Presidente -Canilla_, and by three o'clock hawsers had been passed from her to the -others, and we simply went astern, hauling on our kedge anchor till we -were clear of the breakwater, and then steamed astern with the whole of -the Santa Cruz Navy coming along after us like a lot of toy ships on the -end of a string. It looked perfectly silly, and the last one--a gunboat -as big as a decent Gosport ferry-boat--fouled the end of the breakwater -till our chaps aboard of her shoved her off, and along she came after -the rest of them. By five o'clock we and the _Hercules_ had anchored, -and all the prizes as well. - -It was a jolly tame ending to all the excitement, and we all wondered -what we should do next to make them give up Billums. The A.P. said that -we should probably land and take possession of the Custom House. - -He bucked us up a good deal, but not even that came off, because before -we finished making everything shipshape for the night, out puffed the -port launch, flying a huge white flag in her bows and the yellow and -green ensign in the stern, bringing out our friend the Governor and his -two A.D.C.'s. They came along to make complete apologies, and say that -Billums should be given up next morning. He brought a letter from the -President simply grovelling to the various Ministers and imploring them -and the merchants to come ashore again. Wasn't that grand, although, -you know, we couldn't help feeling that we'd been rather playing the -bully? - -When it got dark, the Angel, and I, and Mr. Bostock, the Gunner, with -half-a-dozen hands, were sent aboard one of the ships, the _Salvador_, -an old torpedo-gunboat kind of affair, to keep watch through the night. -We had revolvers served out to us in case any chaps from shore tried to -play the idiot; but they didn't, and we simply sat down under an awning -with our coat-collars turned up, and took it in turns to keep watch, or, -if we were all awake, got Mr. Bostock to tell us tales of Ladysmith. - -In the morning we all went back to the _Hector_, and at five minutes -past ten o'clock old Billums came along in the port launch, the Governor -bringing him off and making more apologies. Billums _was_ glad to get -back again--he wanted a shave and a clean collar most awfully--and you -can guess how jolly glad we were to have him. The Commander bellowed at -him that he'd make him pay for all the paint-work which had been spoilt -by clearing for action, but it was only his way--he couldn't help -it--and the _Hercules_ gun-room sent a signal, 'Sub to ditto. We are all -jolly glad to get you back,' which was nice of him, though his beasts of -mids. didn't join in with the signal--just like them. - -Well, the Ministers and the merchants went ashore jolly pleased with -themselves, but they left all the ladies on board, as they thought it -wiser for them to go to Prince Rupert's Island with us till things had -quieted down in Santa Cruz. - -We gave Billums a rousing good sing-song, till the Commander ordered us -to chuck it, and was appallingly rude to him; and next morning we left -the Santa Cruz Navy for its own people to take back behind the -breakwater, and shoved off for Prince Rupert's Island. - -You should have seen the Angel looking after the Minister's two -daughters! It was too asinine for words, and I told him so. He said I -was jealous, and we jolly nearly came to punching each other's heads -about them. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *Gerald Wilson captures San Fernando* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson_ - - -Those thirty-six hours in San Sebastian are over and done with, and I -shouldn't care to go through them again. They were the longest hours I -have ever spent, and they, at any rate, taught me what it does feel like -to be a prisoner, and to look through an iron gateway and envy -everything outside it, and everybody. The other chaps--_insurrectos_ -they all were--had been jolly decent to me, although I could not -understand their lingo, and the way they settled down and took things as -a matter of course was simply extraordinary. Even when two more were -dragged out the morning I was released, and shot against that parapet, -the others only shrugged their shoulders and simply smoked cigarettes -all the harder. You could only imagine that they were but -half-civilized, had known no other way of carrying on the politics of -the Republic, and were so used to violence and murder that, when their -turn came to go 'under,'they simply bowed to the inevitable, their only -consolation being that probably in another few weeks or months, if luck -favoured their party, that same stuffy room would be crowded with -President's men, and quite possibly the same villainous-looking -firing-party would just as cheerfully prop them up against that wall and -shoot them down. These same miserable-looking convicts, whom I'd seen -with chains round their ankles, would almost certainly be there to dig -fresh graves. - -Of course, all those hours I wondered what our chaps were doing to bail -me out, but didn't worry much--I knew things would come right in the -end--and of course they did. - -But I did worry about Gerald and what his hare-brained adventures would -lead him to. He had always been getting into trouble at home, and that -was why the pater and mater had shipped him out to Santa Cruz, though -they little thought that he'd take a leading part in a revolution, and -the poor old mater would be fearfully worried when she heard about it. -It was jolly to know that an Englishman, and my own brother, was such a -boss among these fierce, blood-thirsty, half-Spanish people, but that -wouldn't be much comfort to the mater if he was stuck up against the -parapet of San Sebastian, which would certainly be his fate if he ever -fell into the clutches of the President. - -It was my chum of the cigarette case who actually fetched me down and -took me aboard the _Hector_. Even whilst I was trying to thank him, the -Commander began bellowing that 'He'd make me pay for the paint he'd -spoilt clearing for action and housing the topmasts.' He was as rude as -it was possible to be, but every one else--'Old Tin Eye' included--was -all right, and Ginger signalled congratulations from the _Hercules_. - -Of course my adventure was known all over Princes' Town before we'd -anchored more than an hour or two, and reporters from the local papers -and Reuter's Agent came bustling on board for more details, but were -told nothing, except that I'd been arrested by mistake, and that, as a -hint to the President to let me out again, 'chop, chop,' one or two of -the Santa Cruz gunboats had been seized. We had all been ordered to -give no political information to anybody, but you may imagine that their -ears were rigged out for something more exciting than that, and you can -jolly well guess who gave it to them--the Angel backed up by Cousin Bob. -They saw their way to getting a cheap 'blow out' at the Savannah Hotel, -and actually had the cheek to tell the two local reporters that if -they'd stand them a dinner there, they would tell them all they knew -about it. - -They had put their names down in the leave book for the late boat and -went ashore, but of course I had no idea what their game was. I had -turned in early, and they woke me, by knocking at my cabin and asking if -they could come in. - -I switched on my light, and there they were, in their best blue suits, -grinning from ear to ear. - -They both began talking twenty to the dozen. 'We've given you such a -"leg up"--we've had a topping feed at the Savannah, and you'll see all -about it in the papers to-morrow!' - -'All what?' I asked. - -'All about you fighting dozens of soldiers, knocking them over, and of -our trying to rescue you.' - -'We put in a lot of extras to make it look better,' Bob squeaked. - -'We told them all about knocking over the rotten _Hercules_ mids., and -about you being so like Cousin Gerald.' - -'What!' I sang out, sitting up in my bunk. 'You blessed idiots, what rot -have you been up to? You know you had orders not to speak of it.' - -'We didn't say a word about politics, not a word,' Bob said rather -nervously. 'It's quite all right; we never mentioned politics.' The -Angel added, 'We didn't tell them the real way you escaped.' - -'Out with it! What did you tell them, you fools?' - -They were backing out of the cabin--rather sulky--but I yelled for them -to come back. 'Now, none of your tomfoolery. What did you tell them?' - -'Well, we gave ourselves a bit of a leg up too,' the Angel began, -looking down his nose as good as gold. - -'It really was all a joke,' Bob interrupted, 'it was their fault if they -believed it. We told them that we waited till night under the walls of -San Sebastian, wriggled over the parapet, and found your dungeon.' - -'We told them that we'd whistled "Rule, Britannia!"--very -softly--till--we--heard--you--whistle back,' the Angel stuttered out, -choking with laughter, 'and that the sentry was asleep, and we only had -to knock him down--and gag him--steal the key--open the door--all of us -crawling away again over the walls and tramping it on our flat feet down -to Los Angelos.' - -'You don't mean to tell me that they believed all that rot?' - -'We think they did--wasn't it a joke?' Bob said--he was beginning to see -that I didn't think it a joke. 'We gave them the key of the dungeon--an -old brass key we'd found on the armourer's bench before we went ashore.' - -'It was the key of the bread-room that was broken yesterday,' the Angel -gurgled, when he could stop laughing. 'And we said we'd all swum off to -the ship in the dark.' - -I wasn't in the humour to see how it was funny, and sent them out of it. -'If anything does come out in the papers, I'll beat you both,' I told -them. - -'Well, the feed was worth a hiding, and the joke too,' Bob mumbled, as -they went away--thank goodness the Angel was no relation of mine and had -no mother or sister who could write snorters to me, so he didn't dare to -be rude. - -You can guess how angry I was next morning, when the wretched local -papers did come aboard, and saw in big letters: 'Romantic Escape of -British Naval Officer--Plucky Middies effect Rescue,' and underneath it -was the silliest nonsense you could possibly read. Honestly, even now I -don't know whether it was put in as a joke, and whether, instead of Bob -and the Angel pulling the reporters' legs, they were pulling ours. -Angry! I was too angry to speak! - -They described me as Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, the celebrated -United Service half-back, and the brilliant naval officer, specially -appointed to command the _Hector's_ gun-room by the Lords of the -Admiralty as a mark of their appreciation of my services! Angry! My -blessed potatoes! I sent for my dear cousin and the Angel and gave them -six of the best over the gun-room table--as hard as I could lay it -on--the first three for making their Sub look a fool, and the last three -for disobeying the Captain's orders. I know which were the hardest -whacks, and I didn't care a biscuit what Bob's sister, Daisy, thought or -wrote. They went away muttering that the dinner was worth it--every -time--which was meant to be rude, because they both had got it into -their noddles that they'd actually given me a 'leg up,' and couldn't see -that they'd only made a laughing-stock of me. - -First of all the Commander sent for me on the quarterdeck. He had -Perkins there as a witness, and before I ever had a chance of saying -anything, bellowed out, 'You're the "brilliant naval officer," are you? -You're a fool, and an idiot, and a useless idiot. You can't keep order -in the gun-room, and the sooner you get out of the ship the better.' He -bellowed till the maintopmen, painting masts and yards up aloft, left -off painting to listen to him. He didn't ask me to speak, so I -didn't--said not a word--which made him almost apoplectic with rage, his -ugly red face getting perfectly crimson. Every time he stopped for -breath, Perkins kept on trying to tell him that perhaps it wasn't my -fault, which sprung him off again, and at last he turned round and -cursed him for interfering. - -Perkins twisted round on his heel and hobbled off, but the Commander -called for him to come back, and he did, his jolly face all tightened -out. - -'Did you hear the Commander curse me on the quarterdeck?' he asked very -quietly. - -'I did, sir,' I said; and he turned to the Commander, 'Very well, I -shall see the Captain about it. I'm not going to stand any more of it.' - -You should have seen the Commander's face. His mouth opened, and he -looked as if he would willingly have murdered the two of us, then he -bounced off the quarterdeck, and into his cabin just inside the battery, -and banged the door, like the childish bully he was. As he didn't come -out again, I went below. - -Then the Skipper sent for me. He was grinning all over his face: 'Those -two boys have made a fool of you, Wilson; tut! tut! stop their -leave--whack 'em both.' - -'I've beaten them, sir, already,' I told him, 'and given them six -apiece--as hard as I could,' and explained to him that I had no idea why -they went ashore. - -'Tut! tut! no harm done; they got their dinner all right; tell 'em to -lunch with me, tut! tut!--if they can sit down--I'd have done it myself -for a good dinner--thirty years ago.' - -Old Ginger and I had arranged to go for a walk together that afternoon, -to shake up our livers, and I was not particularly keen, after what had -happened, to ask leave from the Commander, but I screwed up my courage -and did so, and was flattened aback when he said, 'Very good, Wilson. -Come and have "chow" with me in the ward-room to-night--celebrate your -release.' - -That was the rotten, or rather the irritating, part about him. After -he'd been as rude as a fishwife, and long before you'd got over bubbling -with anger at the sight of him, he'd come up as if nothing had happened -and take the wind out of your sails. - -Of course I had to say 'Yes,' although at the time I'd have much -preferred to take him on with bare knuckles and punch his head to -relieve my feelings. - -Old Ginger met me at the Governor's steps, where we landed, and we had a -fifteen-mile walk as hard as we could go--tearing along till we hadn't a -dry rag between us. - -Fifteen miles in that climate takes more out of you than twice the -distance in England, so you can guess we were pretty well 'done' by the -time we got back to the landing-steps. - -Whilst we waited for our boats we sat under the shade of the fruit -market and watched the niggers--all as cheerful as sand-boys--unloading -a cargo of cocoa-pods from a small schooner. The washer-ladies were -coming ashore, too, from the _Hector_ and _Hercules_, cackling like hens -because of the huge bundles of clothes they'd got. Perkins's friend, -Arabella de Montmorency, was the first to waddle up the steps, grinning -from ear to ear, and carrying a huge bundle. 'The good Lo'd be -praised,' she sang out to a buck-nigger waiting for her, 'Massa Perkins -pay Arabella the three shilling and tuppence--Massa Perkins know -Arabella good vash-lady--no black trash for Massa Perkins. I pray de -good Lo'd keep Massa Perkins in His strong hand.' She went back into -the boat for more washing, but the other washer-ladies had bagged it, -and there was a fine row. All their men friends joined in shouting, and -yelling, and shaking their fists at each other, and we hoped to see a -good free-fight, but the Sikh policeman on duty stepped majestically -forward, said a few sharp words, and they all burst out laughing, -Arabella waddling away with her man carrying the disputed bundle, and -trying to look dignified, telling everybody: 'Arabella no black -trash--Arabella vash for de British naval officah.' - -It was too funny for words, Ginger and I were simply doubled up with -laughter, when I felt some one touch my shoulder, and, looking round, -saw a thick-set native chap, as brown as leather--like those soldier -chaps we'd seen on the wharf at Los Angelos--in a blue striped cotton -vest, which showed his lumpy chest muscles through it, and a pair of -loose cotton drawers, his brown legs and feet naked. He was bowing and -holding a broad Spanish grass hat in front of him with one hand. -'William Wilson,' he kept on saying. - -'What is it, old cock? me William Wilson--all light--belong ploper. -What's your game?' - -His face beamed, and he pulled a dirty crumpled letter from under his -vest and handed it to me. - -It was addressed to me in Gerald's handwriting, and I tore it open, his -face beaming again as he pointed a thin brown finger first to the -address, and then circled it round my face, saying, 'William Wilson.' -It was the only English he seemed to know. I read: - - -'DEAR OLD BILLUMS--Sorry to have cleared out so hurriedly the other -day--just managed to give them the slip in time--heard news of your -adventure and the Navy business--wish you chaps would collar the lot of -them, for good. Keep a look-out for that little chap who was shadowing -me; he'll try and get even with one of us. Tell the mater I'm having a -ripping time--better than planting--will pay better than planting if our -side wins. Tell her those socks she made me are A1. Look out for -yourself--you're too much like me for this corner of the world. Don't -send an answer.--GERALD.' - - -The nigger was still beaming and bowing, and he pointed to my hair. I'm -jiggered if he hadn't spotted me by it. - -That was a funny go, if you like, and I was jolly glad to know that -Gerald was all right. It didn't worry me a ha'penny candle about that -detective chap--I'd be only too jolly glad to see his ugly face and -smash it. Ginger and I thought that the little messenger must have come -in one of the many trading-schooners which slipped across from the -mainland at night when the land breeze sprung up. We gave him all the -small change we had in our pockets, and he smiled, and bowed, and -disappeared among the merry crowd round us. He couldn't speak a word of -English except my name, and my Chinese pidgin-English wasn't a success. - -This was the only excitement and the only news I got from Gerald for -several weeks. In the meantime the _Hector_ and the _Hercules_ carried -out the gunnery practices which had been interrupted at Gibraltar, -returning to anchor off Princes' Town every Thursday night till Monday -morning, so we managed to get in a good many football matches. Ginger -and I borrowed grounds and had some more gun-room matches as well, but -they didn't smooth things over, rather the reverse, for when we beat the -_Hercules_ at rugby by a try, which, they swore, wasn't one, matters -went from bad to worse. There actually was some doubt about it, for -Perkins had been referee (we couldn't get any one else) and couldn't -keep up with the ball on account of his game leg. We had to separate -the two teams in the pavilion, and after that my mids. seldom came back -to the ship from a tennis party, picnic, or dance, or anything in fact, -without having some furious tale to spin. - -Old Ginger and I pretty nearly washed our hands of them and let them go -their own way. - -There was no regular news from Santa Cruz all this time, because the -President had closed the Telegraph Company's office, but the Pickford -and Black steamers still called at Los Angelos twice a month before -coming to Princes' Town, and they brought news of what was going on. - -As it chiefly came from Santa Cruz, it was from the President's point of -view, and if it was at all correct, most of de Costa's people were -already in San Sebastian or flying in front of the President's -invincible troops. - -Our fat friend, Mr. Macdonald, appeared at the Princes' Town Club one -day when I happened to be there, and he, too, gave me anything but -cheering news. Nearly every week, he told me, the guns of San Sebastian -fired a salute in honour of another victory over the _insurrectos_. -'They're not showing fight anywhere; the President's troops are scouring -the provinces and driving them from place to place, whilst his cruisers -and gunboats scour the coast and prevent any arms or ammunition being -smuggled ashore.' This made me jolly nervous about Gerald, and very -miserable too, for he also had told me that Gerald's rubber plantation -had been entirely destroyed in revenge for his taking up arms. It may -have served him right, but it was beastly hard luck on the pater, who -had bought the place for him. - -Of course we seemed to be in the thick of everything, because Prince -Rupert's Island was only fifty-two miles from the nearest point on the -coast of Santa Cruz, and, as it was the centre of all the foreign trade -of the Republic, the revolution, which was going on there, was -practically the only thing talked about. By listening to the English -merchants and officials talking at the Club we got to know quite a lot -about the military position and the chances of the two parties. - -You see the Republic of Santa Cruz stretches for almost a hundred and -fifty miles along the eastern shore of South America, and is made up of -three big provinces. - -Starting from the south, there was the province of Leon, with its vast -swamps, forests of mahogany, and other valuable trees, and its rubber -and cocoa plantations. It was on the northern border of this province -that Gerald had his plantation. - -The capital and centre of its trade was San Fernando, situated at the -top of a narrow inlet of the sea called La Laguna. Most of this trade -was in the hands of Europeans, and the town itself was held for the -President by a General Moros with about a thousand troops. From what we -heard, he didn't worry much about anything, except to loot the Custom -House occasionally or take bribes from the merchants and captains of -trading-ships. The President always had a 'down' on this province, and -hindered its trade as much as he could without stopping it altogether; -and, after his old General had had a 'picking' at San Fernando, every -ship had to stop at the narrow mouth of La Laguna and pay more dollars. -The President had a pretty modern fort there--El Castellar--to make them -heave to if they forgot to stop, and directly the revolution started he -had given orders that no ships whatever were to be allowed to pass, so -you can pretty well imagine how the English merchants cursed. Then -northward of the province of Leon came the towering mountain ranges and -plateaus of Santa Cruz, arid, and scorched, and dusty, rising almost -precipitously from the forests of Leon, and falling again in terrific -ridges and chasms into the northern province of San Juan, the eastern -slopes falling into the sea as we had seen at Los Angelos. The mineral -wealth--copper, gold, and silver--of the Republic was in these -mountains, and they absolutely cut off the southern province of Leon -from any communication with the northern province of San Juan. There -were mountain paths and dangerous mule-tracks, but what I mean is that -no armies could possibly assist each other across them, and old Canilla -could sit up in Santa Cruz, at the top of his mountain, and jolly well -choose his own time to crush any rising in the provinces spread out at -his feet, and, so long as his Navy was loyal, could prevent any -insurgents from one province getting to the other by sea. - -However, there was one thing 'up against' the President. The province -of San Juan bred all the cattle and live-stock of the Republic, and he -was obliged to keep a big army down in the northern plains to guard -them. Once the insurgents got the upper hand in San Juan he would have -to depend entirely on importing cattle from the neighbouring Republics -or from Prince Rupert's Island--not so much to feed his troops, but -Santa Cruz itself. - -Now you will have a rough idea how the land lay, and can understand -that, so long as his Navy was loyal to him and prevented the two -insurgent provinces on either side of him from combining, the President -would be cock of the walk. - -That was the opinion of nearly every one in Princes' Town, and, though -they all favoured the insurgents and wanted them to win, they'd shake -their heads and say that old Gerald's chances were pretty bad. - -Then came news, from Santa Cruz, that there'd been a great battle fifty -miles or so to the north'ard of San Fernando, and that de Costa's -insurgent troops had been defeated with great slaughter. There was a -rumour going through the Club that Gerald had been killed, but I -couldn't find how it had started. - -'Don't you worry. All my eye!' my chum 'in the know' said; 'de Costa -isn't such a fool as to try a pitched battle yet. Wait for another six -months. The President is only trying to bluff the people who are finding -the money to keep his end up.' Then he told me something more about -that big armoured cruiser _La Buena Presidente_. - -He had an idea that de Costa's people were trying to get hold of her. -'If they do,' he said, 'she can simply wipe the floor with all Canilla's -rotten old tubs, and his game will be finished in a couple of months.' - -I couldn't help worrying about Gerald and the mater--when she heard the -news--for she thought he was still tapping his rubber trees. It may -have been because of that, but I played abominably against the Prince -Rupert's Island team that afternoon. It was fearfully hot, the sweat -seemed to make my eyes all hazy; my fingers were all thumbs, I fumbled -my passes, and if I did gather them properly, could think of nothing -except to get rid of the ball quickly, without passing forward. I was -playing centre three-quarters, so messed up the whole of our attack and -we lost badly. The Angel at 'half kept looking at me with a puzzled -face, wondering what was wrong, and all our chaps were shouting -themselves hoarse, 'Buck up, Wilson,' but nothing would go right, and -directly after the match I trudged down to the Governor's steps by -myself, to smoke a pipe and wait for our boat. - -You know what it feels like to have lost the game for your side; so I -wanted to be alone, slung my heavy sweater over my back, with the arms -tied round my neck, put on my coat over it, and sat down where old -Ginger and I had sat that time before. - -I smoked and watched a crowd of niggers hustling round me unloading a -lighter which had come ashore from one of Pickford and Black's steamers -lying off in the harbour--she had come in from Los Angelos that -morning--and had just taken off my straw hat to light another match -inside it, when I heard a naked footstep behind me, a fierce kind of a -grunting hiss, and something struck my shoulder. - -I was on my feet and had turned in a second, and there was that little -brute who had been shadowing Gerald, and had nabbed me up at Santa Cruz. -He had a long knife in his hand, and I knew him at once, although he was -dressed as a coolie, by the scar on his forehead--the one my pipe had -made. - -I had hold of his wrist in a jiffy, but it was all oily. He wriggled -himself free, I made another grab at him, but he was like an eel, and -bolted through the crowd of niggers. It was all done so quickly that no -one seemed to have noticed him, and, though I dashed after him, I lost -sight of the little beast. Something warm began trickling down inside -my jersey, and I gave up following him to see what damage had been done. -The knife had made a gash in the skin over my left collar-bone, and I -was bleeding like a pig. Like an ass, I must have fainted, for when I -woke up my head was resting in the huge lap of Arabella de Montmorency, -who was pinching up the skin near the gash; there were crowds of -jabbering niggers all squashing round me; the tall grave Sikh policeman -had his notebook out, and I heard her chattering away: 'The good Lo'd be -praised. He send Arabella to sab de life of de British naval -officah--some black trash hab done dis--no buckra niggah from Princes' -Town--oh, de pretty yellow hair.' - -Luckily for me Dr. Clegg and the rest of the football team came up and -rescued me, or the old 'washa-lady' would probably have kissed me. - -Of course I was all right directly, and Dr. Clegg stitched me up when we -got aboard, but I was on the sick list for a week. The knife had cut -clean through the knot in the sleeves of my sweater, and this had -probably saved my life. Strangely enough, when I got on board, there -was a letter waiting for me from my friend the fat A.D.C., telling me, -in very bad English, that Pedro Mendez--that was the name of the ugly -brute--had been dismissed the police force for bungling Gerald's arrest, -and had left Santa Cruz burning to be revenged on us both. The letter -and the ex-policeman had probably come across together in the Pickford -and Black steamer which I'd been watching. - -It was awfully decent of my A.D.C. chum to have taken all this trouble -to warn me, because it must have been jolly hard work for him to write a -letter in English. - -He signed himself Alfonso Navarro, and I shouldn't forget his 'tally' in -a hurry. It wasn't his fault that the letter had been a bit late, and -it didn't make me the less grateful. - -The Angel and Bob, pale with excitement, came rushing into my cabin -directly Dr. Clegg had finished with me, and of course they wanted to -see the letter. Bob wanted the stamps and begged the envelope. He gave a -whoop. 'Look at that, Billums--on the back--it's in French!' - -Scrawled in pencil very hurriedly was _Votre frere est blesse seulement -dans le bras droit_. - -Phew! then there had been a battle after all, and I felt sick all over, -because it struck me that my brother might have been captured, otherwise -how would the A.D.C. know? And if he was captured, I knew it meant San -Sebastian and a firing-party. - -It was mail day too; I had to write home, and it was jolly difficult not -to tell the mater what I'd heard about Gerald. I couldn't tell her -about the little brute either--only about my having done so badly at -football. - -It was lucky I didn't say anything about Gerald, because three days -later--Dr. Clegg still kept me in my bunk--one of our boats brought off -another note to me. - -'One of those nigger kind of chaps gave it me, sir,' the coxswain of the -boat said. 'Didn't seem to talk English--nothing but your name, sir. -He cleared out directly he'd got rid of it.' - -I thought of Gerald's messenger and thought it must be from Gerald, -though it wasn't in his handwriting. It was from Gerald, for all that, -and I soon knew why the handwriting was so funny, for he wrote: - - -'We've had a bit of a scrap--got a bit of a shell in my right arm. -Learning to write with my left--don't tell the mater. We got a bit of a -hiding--my fault--I'm all serene barring the arm. You'll hear news, -important news soon.--GERALD.' - - -Well, he wasn't a prisoner, which was the great thing, and I felt jolly -cheerful again. - -'Wouldn't it be ripping if we could get some leave and go over there and -chip in?' Bob and the Angel said, their mouths and eyes wide open. - -Of course that was what we all wanted to do, and wondered all this time -why the English Government allowed the President to go on stopping our -trade. It was jolly galling to all of us to see the fleet of local -British steamers lying in Princes' Town harbour doing nothing, simply -because the President up at Santa Cruz wanted to punish the insurgents. -The English merchants were grumbling furiously, and wanting to know what -use the _Hector_ and _Hercules_ were if they weren't to be used to -protect their trade. Everybody was saying that it was a thousand pities -that more people hadn't followed Gerald's example and gone in for the -revolution 'bald headed.' In fact, Gerald had become a popular hero, -and you can imagine how proud it made me. But then I got rather a nasty -jar. The Captain sent for me, and I found him in his cabin with a lot -of papers in front of him. He tut, tutted and hummed and hawed a good -deal, and then burst out with: 'Look here, Wilson, you'd better give -that brother of yours the tip to keep clear of Princes' Town or an -English man-of-war. I've got orders to arrest him if I can get my hands -on him. Look at this!' and he showed me a big document beginning, - - -'Whereas it has been represented to us by our Minister resident in Santa -Cruz in the Republic of Santa Cruz that a person, Gerald Wilson--known -as Don Geraldio--being a British Subject, has taken up arms against the -Government of Santa Cruz Republic, that Government being at present on -terms of friendship with his Britannic Majesty's Government, all -law-abiding subjects of his Britannic Majesty are hereby warned, on pain -of being indicted for felony, to abstain from affording any assistance -to the aforesaid Gerald Wilson.' - - -I got very red in the face, and then came to the part, - - -'The utmost endeavour is to be made to arrest the aforesaid Gerald -Wilson should he enter British Territory.' - - -That was roughly what I read, though I can't remember now the actual -words, but it was so full of legal phrases that it made me feel cold all -over. It seemed so beastly cold-blooded too, as if he hadn't already -done more actually for old England than all the rest of us English out -here put together. - -'Well, boy, give him the tip to keep clear--that's all,' the Skipper -said, screwing his eyeglass in and running his fingers through his long -hair. - -'I can't, sir,' I told him. 'I don't know where he is. He's wounded -too, sir.' - -Then I told him about the letters I'd received and how I'd got them. - -'Well, well, boy, I can tell you. Tut, tut! Read that--I got it from -our Minister this morning--brought across in a trading-schooner. You're -not to speak of it till the news comes out.' - -He was simply bubbling with pleasure, and handed me another paper. - - -'Received reliable news that General Moros abandoned San Fernando -yesterday--insurgents, under Don Geraldio, occupied it -immediately--Vice-President de Costa has formed a Provisional Government -there. General Zorilla, Governor of Los Angelos, left Santa Cruz -hurriedly this morning to take command of President's army in the -south.' - - -That, then, was the important news Gerald had written to me to expect. -I simply felt hot and cold all over with excitement and the pride of -imagining him, with his yellow hair and his arm in a sling, head and -shoulders above every one else, marching into San Fernando at the head -of his troops; and to have the fierce old Governor of Los Angelos on his -track--their best fighter--even that was simply glorious. - -'Surely, sir, he won't be arrested if the insurgents win?' - -The Skipper shrugged his shoulders. 'Those are my orders, whether he's -a hundred Generals rolled into one, or even the President himself, so -you'd better give him the tip.' - -I went away feeling very proud of Gerald, but very upset about the other -thing. It did seem such jolly hard lines after he'd risked everything -to help the side that was friendly to Englishmen, and had made a great -name for himself in the country, and made all these half-civilized -people respect all Englishmen because of him. I was worrying about this -in my cabin, and how I could manage to warn him, when Ginger came -banging at the door. - -'Look here, Billums, old chap, I've just come across from the -_Hercules_. This has got to stop. D'you know what has happened now? -One of your chaps in your picket-boat has smashed up our steam pinnace, -rammed her whilst she was trying to get alongside the Governor's -steps--cut her down to the water--did it on purpose.' - -I had heard about it in the morning; Bob, who was running the -picket-boat, had told me. Her pinnace had tried to get alongside before -our boat, neither would give way, because the two mids. disliked each -other so much, and there'd been a collision. - -'It was your boat's fault, Ginger; she cut across our bows. I've -reported it to the Commander.' - -'Be blowed for a yarn. Our Padre was in the boat and said it was done -on purpose--the whole boat's crew said it was. The mid. tried his best -to get out of the way, and had his engines full speed astern. It was -done on purpose, I tell you.' - -'It wasn't,' I said, getting angry with Ginger. 'It was your confounded -mid. who tried to cut across our bows, our Engineer Commander was in the -boat and told me so. The picket-boat has had to be hoisted in with her -stem smashed in. D'you mean to say you don't believe me?' - -'Well, if it comes to that, d'you mean to say you don't believe me?' -Ginger jerked out. - -'No, I'm hanged if I do! you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick,' -I said hotly. - -'But, my dear chap, the Padre said----' - -'I don't care a hang for your Padre--our Engineer Commander----' - -'Then you won't take any notice of it?' Ginger was getting excited now. - -'None,' I said, 'except to report your mid.' - -'You won't cane your chap?' - -'No, I'm hanged if I will. It was young Bob Temple, he's too stupid to -try and do a thing like that. Your boat was simply poaching--I'm hanged -if I'll cane him.' - -Ginger's face looked as angry as mine felt, and he burst out with: -'Thank goodness, I haven't got a cousin aboard my ship, and ain't in -love with his sister!' - -Well, that finished me, and I swung off that if he thought that was why -I didn't cane him he was welcome to think so for the rest of his -blooming existence. - -'All right,' he muttered angrily, 'I'll not trouble to try and patch -things up again.' - -'I hope you jolly well won't. If your chaps want to cut across our -bows, tell 'em to look out--that's all.' - -'You absolutely refuse?' he said very coldly. - -'Absolutely,' I answered, just as icily, holding the door curtain back. - -'All right; sorry to have troubled you,' and Ginger had gone up on deck -before I could think of anything more, and I knew that we'd jolly well -parted 'brass rags' at last--after all the times we'd sworn that we'd -never let the gun-room quarrels make any difference to us. - -I wanted to rush off to the _Hercules_ and make it 'up' on the spot, but -that beastly remark about Bob being my cousin--and the other -thing--simply set me tingling all over, and I'd see him in Jericho -first. If he thought that every time our midshipmen had a row, mine -were to go to the wall, he was jolly well mistaken. - -There was bound to be a row about the damaged boats, and there was--a -regular Court of Inquiry--and a lot of hard swearing on both sides, the -only result of which was that Ginger and I--we'd been glaring at each -other all the time--got badly snubbed for not keeping better control -over our gun-rooms. - -Well, all this, coming directly after the worry about Gerald, made me -feel pretty bad-tempered. I wanted Ginger to yarn with more than any -one, but that was 'finish,' and, as my shoulder wasn't quite all right -yet, I had nothing to do but wander about the ship like a caged monkey. - -Every one knew about San Fernando in two or three days, and by the time -my shoulder was all right and I could go ashore--you bet I kept my eyes -skinned to see that chap who'd knifed me--news began coming pretty -regularly from that town, brought by small sailing-boats which managed -to get through at night--and most of it was pretty bad news. - -Gerald and the insurgents had certainly got possession of San Fernando, -but El Castellar, the strong fort at the narrow inlet to the bay, was -still in the hands of the President, and still stopped all trade. Not -only that, but, worse still, the Santa Cruz gun-boats slipped up there -and amused themselves by bombarding the defenceless town. The whole -Insurgent army didn't possess anything even as big as a field-gun, so -the gunboats could fire away in comfort as long as their ammunition -lasted. We heard that the warehouses and offices along the sea-front -had already been practically destroyed by shell-fire. As these nearly -all belonged to English firms, whose headquarters were at Princes' Town, -the whole colony was in an uproar; and, much to our joy, our Skipper was -ordered--from home--to take the _Hector_ up to San Fernando and report -on the state of affairs. You can imagine how excited we all were, and -how I looked forward to seeing old Gerald bossing round in his General's -uniform. - -That chum of mine ashore--the man who seemed to be 'in the know'--came -up to me in the Club, the day before we were to sail, and made me -introduce him to the Skipper. 'I want him to take a few things to San -Fernando for me,' he told me. 'I've got some machinery for one of our -estates--it's been lying on the wharves for the last six weeks, and they -can't get on without it.' - -I didn't hear what passed between them, but knew that the Skipper was in -such high spirits that he'd have done anything for anybody just then. -And so it turned out, for that evening a lighter came alongside, and I -had the job of hoisting in four large crates of hydraulic machinery, -some boxes of shafting, and dozens of smaller crates. The Commander was -furious, but the Skipper had said 'yes,' and although his jolly face -fell when he saw how 'chock-a-block' the battery deck was, with all -these packing-cases, he wouldn't go back on his word. - -After we'd finished I was getting a bit of supper in the gun-room when -O'Leary came knocking at the door and wanting to speak to me. He -wouldn't come in. 'Beg pardon, sir, but I wants to 'ave a word with -you, private like.' - -'What is it?' I asked, taking him into my cabin. - -He carefully pulled the curtain across, and then said in a half-whisper, -'We let down one of they small crates rayther 'eavy like, sir, and -started one of the boards, sir.' - -'That doesn't matter,' I said. - -'Eh, but it do, sir! I banged 'im in again, but not afore I'd seen -inside it--a hammunition box--sir--the same as what we've got for our -twelve-pounder.' - -My aunt! that made me all jumpy. - -'Are you quite certain?' I gasped. - -'As certain as I'm astanding 'ere, sir. That ain't no bloomin' -'ydraulic machinery--they boxes marked "shafting" be guns, sir, that's -what they be.' - -Hundreds of things rushed through my head. - -'Did any one else see it?' I asked, and was jolly glad when he shook his -head. - -'N'ary a one, sir; I covered 'em up too quick; and I ain't going to tell -no one neither, sir, for I 'ears your brother is takin' a leadin' part -in this 'ere revolution, and maybe he'll be wantin' a goodish deal o' -'ydraulic machinery before he's through with it. That's why I tells you, -sir. I couldn't keep it all to myself--in my chest--without tellin' -some one.' - -My brain was so hot that I couldn't think properly. - -'Don't mention it to a soul; I'll think over it,' I told him. - -'No, that I won't, sir; good-night, sir;' and O'Leary left me. - -Well, if he was correct, and it was ever found out, the Skipper would -get in an awful row; if any one found out that I knew about it, it would -mean the 'chuck' for me, and if I told what I knew, and it turned out to -be true, old Gerald wouldn't get his guns. - -You can pretty easily guess what I did--kept as mum as a mummy--and how -I gloated over all that jumble of boxes and packing-cases and the long -boxes marked 'shafting for hydraulic machinery' when I walked through -the battery next morning on my way to the bridge. - -As we passed under the stern of the _Hercules_ I saw Ginger on watch, -and I was just going to wave to him when I remembered that we'd parted -'brass rags' and didn't. I wished to goodness that we hadn't -quarrelled. - -All that watch, as we drew nearer and nearer to the mainland, I kept on -thinking of these crates and boxes, frightened lest any one else should -have any suspicion about them, and couldn't help remembering the words -in that document which the Skipper had shown me, 'All law-abiding -subjects of his Britannic Majesty are hereby warned to abstain from -affording assistance to the aforesaid Gerald Wilson, on pain of being -indicted for felony.' - -'Felony' has a jolly nasty sound about it. And there was another thing. -Suppose Gerald came off to the ship when we anchored at San Fernando. -Well, they couldn't arrest him unless he actually came aboard, and I -determined to stay on deck all the time, and warn him off before he -could get alongside. I'd tell all the watch-keeping lieutenants, and the -'Forlorn Hope' and the 'Shadow' too, for they kept watch in harbour. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *The *_*Hector*_* goes to San Fernando* - - - _Written by Captain Grattan, R.N., H.M.S. 'Hector'_ - - -As the English merchants in Prince Rupert's Island were kicking up no -end of a fuss about the stoppage of their trade with Santa Cruz, I -received orders from home to take my ship to San Fernando and report on -the state of affairs there; so one morning I left old 'Spats' -comfortably anchored off Princes' Town and toddled across. Young -Wilson--my Sub-Lieutenant--has told you about that fort at the entrance -to La Laguna, the fort which had been firing on our merchant steamers -and stopping all trade to San Fernando, at the head of the bay, fifteen -miles farther on, and as we steamed towards the gap in the high cliffs -which marked the entrance, all of us on the bridge were anxious to know -whether the insurgents had managed to capture it yet. We could see the -little white lighthouse on the port side, the rambling white walls of -the fort itself, perched high in the air, on the starboard side, and -presently the yeoman of signals reported that a small cruiser, lying -close inshore, was flying the Government colours--you could tell them -because the stripes were vertical--so we guessed that it still remained -in the President's hands. - -The heat, however, was so great that the glare from the water and the -mirage from the baking rocks made it difficult to see anything -distinctly, and it was not till we drew nearer that we made out a large -yellow and green flag, hanging limply down over the fort itself. That -settled the question. - -In another quarter of an hour we were passing through the entrance, -when--well, I couldn't believe it myself, and I saw it, so can hardly -expect you to believe it--the miserable sons of Ham in that fort had the -colossal cheek to fire a shot across my bows. - -'Accident, my dear boy!' I told Wilson, who was officer of the watch; -'of course it was an accident; but I'm blowed if, before we'd got a -cable length past the entrance, a second shot didn't come along and make -as neat a furrow across my fo'c'stle deck-planks as you'd see anywhere. -It scattered the stokers and bandsmen basking under the awning, and I -quite enjoyed their little obstacle-race into the shelter of the -battery.' - -'My dear boy, they don't mean it; but just put your helm hard a-port and -go full speed astern starboard--if you please. Give 'em back a 9.2 -common,[#] please, Commander; they've only fired by accident, but -accidents are bound to happen sometimes in the best-regulated ships.' -Round we swung on our heels--we just had room--and I dropped my eyeglass -to laugh more easily, because that little cruiser--one of those piffling -little things I'd towed out of Los Angelos six weeks ago--had hauled -down her flag, and was scurrying off as fast as she could go. The poor -idiots who'd had their little accident in the fort thought, I suppose, -that we were running away, so didn't ease off again, and by the time -Montague, my Gunnery Lieutenant, had reported the for'ard 9.2 cleared -away, and the fo'c'stle awning had been furled, we'd turned and were -coming back past the fort. 'Have your accident, Montague--as soon as you -like; but I'll only give you one, so don't miss.' - - -[#] 'Common' = common shell, A thin-walled shell with a heavy bursting -charge. - - -His accident was quite a success, and when the smoke of the bursting -shell had cleared away, there was a hole in the walls through which even -my coxswain could have steered the galley without breaking an oar, and -that yellow and green monstrosity was being hauled down with a run. - -Angry! Rather not! I can't afford to get angry; it's bad for my gout; -I'd had my accident, and proceeded on my way quite ready to apologise -for my gross carelessness directly they apologised for theirs. I suppose -I should have had to be angry if that shell, or whatever it was, had -killed any of my people--except my coxswain, and then I should have -blessed them, for he was the most exasperating idiot I'd ever known. - -An hour later we came up to San Fernando--a miserable deserted-looking -collection of dingy white walls and warehouses, fizzling in the awful -heat, and, 'pon my word, there was another dirty little cruiser there at -anchor, with the yellow and green ensign flying, calmly potting at the -town--firing a gun every other minute. We could not see what damage she -was actually doing, but the white walls along the sea-front were riddled -with holes, and that was good enough for me. - -'Front row of the stalls, old chap,' I told my navigator, and though -he'd have walked about on his head, or shaved it, if he thought it would -please me, he hadn't a sense of humour, and looked puzzled. 'As close to -her as you can,' I explained, 'between her and the town;' and there we -dropped anchor, and awaited the next item on the programme. It was -jolly lucky for her that she didn't have any _accidents_. We hadn't -been comfortably anchored for more than five minutes before dozens of -black and green flags were hoisted over the town, people began to -venture out into the front street, and I had hardly gone below, when one -of the signalmen came running down. 'A boat's pulling this way, sir, -from shore, sir, with a black and green flag flying.' - -My coxswain--I called him the 'Comfort' because he was such a nuisance -to me--pulled my cap out of my hands and gave it me, seized my telescope -from under my arm, rubbed the bright part up and down his sleeve, and -handed it back, gave me two right-hand kid-gloves from the table, and I -was ready to receive anybody, the Insurgent Provisional Government, or -the Queen of Sheba, on my quarterdeck. A clumsy white boat, with a huge -ensign, came wobbling off, very careful to keep us between her and the -little cruiser. The crew were rowing atrociously, each man pulling the -time that suited him best, and it occurred to me that perhaps the -Provisional Government might possibly accept the services of the Comfort -for their official barge. Then they were near enough for me to see that -there was a white man there, among several dark-skinned people, under -the stern awning--a white man with yellow hair and his right arm in a -sling, my Sub's brother, as sure as life. I looked round and saw Wilson -himself, the colour of a sheet, trying to attract the boat's attention, -and looking piteously at me, 'Here! Hi! give me a megaphone--some one!' -I sung out. A dozen people fell over one another to get one, and I -shouted through it, 'Lay on your oars,' and when my Sub's brother had -made them stop, I sang out, 'Is that Gerald Wilson aboard?' - -[Illustration: "IS THAT GERALD WILSON ABOARD?"] - -'Yes,' he shouted, putting his head out from under the awning. 'Then, -for goodness' sake, don't come aboard my ship, or I'll have to arrest -you. I've got your warrant on board. You can come alongside, but don't -leave your boat.' - -'Thank you,' he shouted; and it amused me to see my Sub's face. I -believe that he was even grateful enough to stop the mids. doing -physical drill early in the morning over my head on the quarterdeck. The -Provisional Government--for that it actually was--did manage to get -alongside, and the first man to tramp up the ladder was the -Vice-President--de Costa himself. I recognised him at once from having -seen him in the cathedral at Santa Cruz. Poor chap, he had on a black -frock-coat and beautifully brushed tall black hat--in that awful heat -too. No wonder, if it was necessary, as head of the Provisional -Government, to wear it, that he looked ten years older than when I saw -him last. - -His face looked more yellow and flabby, and his black eyes more shifty -than ever. He bowed, and I bowed, and then he waved his secretary at -me--a little chap in another frock-coat and silk hat who followed him. -The little chap's patent-leather boots were giving him trouble, and he -came along the quarterdeck on his toes, like a cat walking along a wall -covered with broken glass. Fortunately he could speak a little English, -and whilst his boss was mopping his forehead, he said, 'Presidente de -Costa thank you for coming,' almost breaking himself in half, he bowed -so low. Four or five more chaps came along, every one of them with an -enormous black and green rosette in his coat. These were soldiers--two -of them niggers--and very mild-looking soldiers they were, just the sort -you'd imagine would hang about at headquarters, and get soft jobs where -there weren't many bullets flying round. However, I was wrong in -thinking so. - -They spent half an hour on board, explaining that the Dictator's flag -(Canilla's) flew nowhere throughout the province of Leon, except over El -Castellar--the fort which had had the accident two hours before--and of -course swore that they were now strong enough to march on Santa Cruz -itself, and intended to do so very shortly. The upshot was that they -demanded official recognition from the Foreign Powers. That was the -whole matter; they wanted recognition so that they could buy warlike -supplies from abroad openly, for of course at the present time no -Foreign Power would allow its subjects to assist them. 'We have this -policy foreign, we encourage the merchants, and we permit all trade very -much of the foreign peoples, and very much the _Inglesas_ also. Always -they shall be first now that the noble _Inglese_ ship of war visit San -Fernando--the first ship to come,' the little secretary told me. - -He looked so diminutive and so important, and was evidently in such -discomfort with his boots and his tight frock-coat, that I had to screw -my eyeglass into my eye till it pained--I wanted to laugh so much. - -Not a word did they say about the little cruiser which was lying close -by, waiting for a chance to pot them on their way ashore, or about the -shell-marks on every wall. Not much, for that would have drawn -attention to the perfectly obvious fact that they could do nothing till -they had command of the sea, and also to the fact that they were -absolutely without any artillery. A couple of well-fought six-pounder -guns, if they'd had them, would have been quite sufficient to drive off -the wretched little cruiser-gunboat kind of affair. Poor chaps! you -couldn't help seeing that they were terribly in earnest, but I couldn't -possibly give them any hopes of their Provisional Government being -recognised, the most I could do was to forward their demand by -'wireless' to the _Hercules_ at Princes' Town for her to cable home. I -saw them over the side, and interrupted the brothers Wilson yarning at -the bottom of the gangway. - -'Ask your brother if he'll show me round the place if I come ashore for -a toddle,' I sang out. - -'Certainly, sir; he'll be only too pleased,' my Sub answered. - -'If he dyed his hair I might ask your brother to dine with me to-night,' -I told him, as we watched them slowly splashing ashore; 'I shouldn't -recognise him with his hair dyed--not officially.' - -Botheration take it! I'd never said anything about that wretched -hydraulic machinery I'd been bullied into bringing across. Still, you -can't talk to Provisional Governments about packing-cases, can you? -However, my Sub relieved my mind on this point. - -'I told Gerald that we had a lot of things for a firm here, sir,' he -informed me. 'He's going to tell them.' - -'Good lad! Good boy!' I said, and went below. The commander of the -cruiser wasn't showing any signs of calling on me, in fact he was -beginning to raise steam, so I got ready for my toddle ashore. - -'Yes, please; usual leave to officers,' I told the Commander, who -hammered at my door (he always was noisy, thought it made him breezy--it -didn't), and sent the Comfort with my compliments to Dr. Watson, my -Fleet Surgeon, and would he come ashore with me for a walk. He was so -lazy that he wouldn't be able to walk far, and would therefore act as a -check on my Sub's brother if he wanted to rush me over the country. I -had thought of taking my Sub himself, but he couldn't come, had to get -out that hydraulic machinery. - -The Comfort and five loafing sons of sea-cooks, whom the Commander had -given me as my galley's crew, pulled us ashore, and a miserable-looking -place it was, a long sloping beach covered with rubbish and stinking -seaweed, dead dogs here and there, and live ones, not much more -healthy-looking, prowling about in search of food. - -We ran alongside a crumbling wooden jetty, and Wilson was waiting for -us, dressed in white duck riding gear, smart brown gaiters, and with a -smart white polo helmet on his head. His arm in the sling gave just the -wounded-hero appearance to complete the picture. He had a carriage -waiting for us, but before we got in he pointed out a very -weather-beaten pillar of granite, about five feet high, standing on the -shore. 'Pizarro landed there with thirteen men in 1522 or thereabouts to -conquer this country--thirteen men, their armour, and ten horses. Just -think of it!' - -This pillar was one of the most sacred things in the Republic, and there -was a white flag flying close to it, so that the gunboats could give it -a wide berth when they shelled the rest of the town. There were traces -of shell-fire everywhere, but it was astonishing to see how little -actual damage had been done. 'Five men and a little girl killed, and -they've fired over six hundred shell into the town during the last -fortnight,' Wilson told me. There was one two-storey house close by -with at least twenty holes in the side facing the harbour, and yet it -seemed little the worse--rather improved, from my point of view, because -the holes increased the ventilation. - -The place was swarming with people, practically all were men, and nine -out of ten of them had rifles slung round their necks--a ragged -unkempt-looking lot of scaramouches they were, you couldn't call them -soldiers. Most of them had no equipment at all--a cotton bag to hold -cartridges slung with string over their shoulders, a loose white shirt, -and a ragged pair of cotton drawers, legs and feet bare, and very often -nothing on their heads at all, or, if they had, a rough-plaited, -wide-brimmed grass hat. Their attempts to salute, as Wilson and we -drove along, were praise-worthy but ludicrous. There were shrill cries -of '_Viva los Inglesas!_' and they would have followed us if Wilson had -not stopped them, but they were eminently respectful, and the slightest -word he spoke seemed law to them. - -'You're a bit of a nob here,' I said. I wanted to say 'my boy,' but I'm -hanged if I could. He was two or three sizes too big for me, was Gerald -Wilson. I'm a pretty big boss on board my ship, but I'm hanged if I was -in it compared with him on shore. I've cultivated the 'for goodness' -sake, get out of my way; don't you see it's me' air pretty successfully, -but he'd got it to perfection, apparently without knowing it, and when -he stopped the carriage, and we got out, he strode along with the -chin-strap of his polo helmet over his grand square jaw--simply a -blooming emperor. - -He was taking us to the cathedral, on one side of the usual Plaza you -find in all Spanish types of towns, and as we passed the 'Cuartel de -Infanteria,' two or three hundred so-called troops were hurriedly -forming in front of it. The trumpeter was the only chap in anything -approaching a uniform. - -'Kicked out of the regulars for blowing so badly,' Wilson said; and I -didn't doubt his word when I heard him try to sound some kind of a -salute. - -'My dear chap!' Thank goodness, I stopped myself in time and didn't say -that, but wanted to ask him if he thought it possible to knock the -troops I had seen in Santa Cruz with these he had here. - -There was something in his face, 'a keep off the grass' look, that made -me, me a Post-Captain commanding one of the finest armoured cruisers in -the Royal Navy, take soundings jolly carefully before I spoke to him. - -He saw what I was thinking, and smiled, 'I'm licking them into shape -gradually. We've only just begun.' - -He took us into the cathedral, a crumbling old place with a huge crack -across one side--the result of an earthquake some years ago--and the -cool, musty, religious gloom inside was very comforting after the dazzle -and glare of the sun outside. Two little stars of light, far away at -the end of the chancel, made the gloom all the more mysterious, and -then, as our eyes became more accustomed, we could make out the gaudy -image of the Holy Virgin, looking down, with calm patient eyes, on the -high altar and its tarnished gaudy tapestry. - -At the foot of the steps, below the altar-rails, many women, shrouded in -black hoods, were praying before it. - -'They come here when the gunboats start firing; the cathedral is -spared,' Wilson whispered, as we tiptoed out into the glare again. - -'Where do the men go?' I asked. - -'They carry on with their work,' he answered; and that came with rather -a 'thump' after seeing the men. Perhaps they were better chaps than they -looked. - -'Not one shell in twenty bursts,' he said, as an afterthought. - -Then he took us across the square to the English Club, the only clean, -cool-looking building there, with a shady creeper-covered verandah all -round it, and long easy wicker-chairs simply inviting rest. - -'I shan't get you away from here, doctor, I fancy,' I said to the Fleet -Surgeon, who was already streaming with perspiration, and I didn't. He -went to sleep the whole of the afternoon in one of those chairs. We -always chaffed him about the book he said he was writing: 'Clubs I have -slept in.' - -In the reading-room all the dear old English papers and periodicals, ten -weeks old, were neatly laid on a table, and about a dozen thin, -lantern-jawed Englishmen had come to welcome us. De Costa, looking -nervous and uncomfortable, was there too, with his secretary (he'd -changed his boots). We all had a green bitters, and I was given the -longest cigar, and the best I'd smoked for many a day. - -I wanted to do as Watson had already done--stretch myself on one of -those long chairs on the cool verandah, with my feet up, and stay there -till it was time to go aboard--but I was much too afraid of Wilson, and -drove away again. 'I'll take it out of my Sub if his brother bullies me -too much,' I chuckled to myself as we bounced along into the country to -see what preparations were being made to defend San Fernando against the -army which fierce old General Zorilla was leading to attack it. Luckily -the carriage had an awning, but it was horribly hot all the same. - -We got out of the town, passing along shady lanes, with little -palm-hidden villas standing back in the shadows of olive groves and -vineyards, and gradually clattered up to some high ground, a regular -tree-covered ridge, at the back of San Fernando, from which we had a -grand view of the town at our feet, the square cathedral tower, the -grand sweeping bend of the head of La Laguna, and, far away to the left, -the faint outline of the rocks which marked its inlet--El Castellar -could not be seen because of the dazzling haze and mist which hung on -the water. The wretched little cruiser had just weighed, and was -steaming slowly past my ship, covering her with black oily smoke. I -only hoped that the Comfort, or the officer of the watch, had had the -'savvy' to shut my stern windows. - -Wilson turned me round to look inland. - -Sloping gently downwards at our feet was some open ground, dancing in -the heat, and pigs and goats and some wretched cattle were lazily -browsing there. The road in which we were standing ran down it, a broad -red streak, to a sluggish stream at the bottom, crossed it by a ford, -and gently rose over some more bare, parched, open ground, and was -swallowed in the dark shade of a forest. Everywhere beyond, look which -way I would, there was nothing but forest, stretching away in the -distance in every direction till the outlines of the trees were lost in -a dim confusion of mist on the horizon. The town of San Fernando, but -for that bare ground on each side of the stream which swept round it, -was simply built in a great clearing, and it gave me the impression that -that dark motionless forest was silently awaiting the opportunity to -claim its own again and swallow it up. - -'That is our first line of defence, and our last,' he said, sweeping his -arm round the horizon. - -'Sometimes, when it is not so hot, you can see the dim outlines of the -mountains of Santa Cruz away over there,' Wilson said, pointing to the -north. 'You see that road--Queen Isabella's road they call it--it runs -straight as a die for fifty miles through the trees. Three hundred -years ago the Spaniards cut it through the forest, and from here to -Santa Cruz you could travel by coach in five days, but now the part -through the mountains has been destroyed by earthquakes.' - -'But where are your defences--your trenches?' I asked. - -'We have none,' he said, 'we don't want any. General Zorilla is marching -down that road to attack us. He is a grand old man' ('I know him: he -is,' I said, beginning to understand), 'and a grand soldier, but his -only way through fifty miles of virgin forest is along that road. It is -a big job, and he knows it. Six days ago he and his army plunged into -it, and they will never leave it, for my little brown forest-men, with -rifles and _machetes_, hover all round him. We are drawing him on, the -farther he gets away from Santa Cruz, the greater difficulty he has to -feed his troops--he has four thousand of them and artillery--and is -already short of food, sending out strong parties to forage, but they -find nothing, and we capture fifty or sixty of his men every day. - -'You see that dark mass over there?' he pointed. - -I pretended I did see it. - -'There's a big clearing close there--just twenty-four miles from -here--and his army camped in it last night. My little chaps gave them a -rotten time.' - -I could not help thinking of those little brown-skinned, half-naked -natives, with their bags of cartridges and their rusty rifles, gliding -from tree to tree, through the thick undergrowth, and never giving the -regulars a moment's rest, day or night. At night-time too! I shuddered -to think of it, and began to have a most wholesome respect for those -tattered ragamuffins of his. - -'How many have you?' I asked him. - -'I don't know,' he said. 'We have something like five thousand rifles, -but whenever there is a spare rifle there are hundreds to claim it. -Here come some who would be soldiers--that is, riflemen; they are taking -food to the front.' - -A long train of heavily laden mules came past us, ambling wearily down -towards the stream, each mule led by a little native. As each passed he -doffed his hat to Wilson, who stopped one of them and made him show me -the _machete_ he carried in his waistband--a long curved knife something -like a bill-hook, only heavier, and not so curved and the blade broad at -the end. I felt the edge; it was very keen. - -'They can cut an arm clean through at a stroke,' he said; 'these -_machetes_ are better than rifles--at night,' and I shuddered again as -the little man, with a grin of pride on his face, ran after his mule. -It wasn't the kind of warfare I'd been brought up to. We watched them -all splashing across the ford, forcing their mules through it as they -tried to stop and drink. Before the last mule had entered the forest, -the head of another train began to emerge from it. - -'Those aren't mules,' I sang out, as they came towards us. - -'They're horses,' he said, and walked down towards them. - -There were thirty or more thin, hungry-looking beasts, with military -saddles and equipment, each led by a little native, whose eyes sparkled -with pleasure as he saluted Wilson. - -'That's good news,' he said, after speaking to one of them; 'we cut off -a whole squadron of Zorilla's cavalry early this morning. These are -some of the horses. Look at the boots the men are wearing!' - -I hadn't noticed them before, but now I couldn't help smiling, for the -little half-naked men were shambling along with big cavalry boots on -their feet, the soft leather 'uppers' half-way up to their knees. - -'Quaint little chaps, aren't they? Their whole ambition is to be proper -soldiers. The first thing they want is a rifle, and the next boots. -They'll wear these now till their feet are so blistered that they can't -walk with or without them.' - -'Surely Zorilla will have to fall back,' I said, as we drove back to the -town. - -He shrugged his shoulders. 'My only fear is that he will break away -towards El Castellar. About sixteen miles along that road there is a -forest track leading there, and he may have to fall back on it; but -he'll have to leave his wagons and his guns if he does, and his -reputation will be lost. He's been ordered to attack San Fernando, and -the fierce old man will do so, even if he and his two "A.D.C.'s" are the -only ones left.' - -We rattled past the string of captured horses, and drove down to the -shore where I had landed, calling at the Club, on the way, to wake the -Fleet Surgeon and bring him along. - -Two big lighters were aground at the bottom of the beach, and hundreds -of natives were swarming round them, wading into the water, bringing -ashore the packing-cases of hydraulic machinery, and making a noise like -a lot of bumble-bees as they dragged them up the sloping foreshore. - -Thank goodness we'd got rid of them at last, for the Commander had been -like a bear with a sore head ever since those cases had lumbered up his -battery. - -'Why the dickens don't they get rid of their rifles when they're -working?' I asked, because most of them had rifles slung over their -backs. - -Wilson smiled, 'That's a regulation I've made. If a man drops his rifle -for any purpose whatsoever, any man without one may pick it up and -becomes a soldier and a _caballero_--a gentleman--and has a _machete_ -man to carry his food for him on the march. That's why they won't part -with them!' - -That was a quaint idea if you like. - -My galley was waiting alongside the little tumble-down jetty, and the -Comfort pushed his way through a crowd of awestruck natives to give me a -signal-paper. 'The Commander thought you'd like to see it, sir--a -"wireless" from the _Hercules_.' - -I read, '_La Buena Presidente_, under command of Captain Pelayo, left -the Tyne yesterday.' - -I thought it would interest Wilson, so I read it to him. - -His eyes gleamed. 'What! Captain Pelayo! That's Captain don Martin de -Pelayo--our man--a de Costa man--he's managed to get hold of her after -all,' and he sang out some gibberish to the natives standing round. In -a moment they had leapt in the air, shouting and waving their hats, and -hugging each other, bolting away towards the town screaming shrilly, -'_La Buena Presidente! La Buena Presidente! Viva Capitaine Pelayo!_' - -I had some inkling of what had happened. - -'Don Martin was the best captain in the Navy,' Wilson told me; 'chucked -out because he demanded ammunition for his ships. We sent him to -England, and if that telegram is correct, he has managed to get hold of -the big cruiser. In three months de Costa should be President of Santa -Cruz.' - -I could not help telling him--not officially, of course--how glad I was; -and as my lazy crew pulled us aboard, the town seemed to be buzzing like -a bee-hive, the bells in the cathedral ringing joyously, and green and -black flags hanging over every building. - -'Your brother wants you to ride out to the front with him to-night,' I -told my Sub. 'You can go when you like.' - -As usual, the most beautifully cool crisp night followed the terrible -heat of the day, and the town of San Fernando looked extremely -picturesque, a mass of white roofs and clear-cut shadows, bathed in the -light of a full moon. The road leading up the ridge behind the town -stood out a silvery streak, and the mere thought of it, plunging into -the appalling shadows of that grim forest beyond, made me shiver as I -held my breath and listened for sounds of the struggle I knew must still -be going on twenty miles away. Huddled together in some clearing of the -forest, or strung wearily along the road, brave old Zorilla and his -half-fed men were still surrounded by those fierce, silent, little -forest-men with their terrible _machetes_, their bags of cartridges, and -their rusty rifles. I turned in feeling rather creepy, and hoped that -my Sub wouldn't do anything foolhardy. - -What he did he will tell you himself. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *General Zorilla falls back* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -You may bet that I was glad to see Gerald, and to know that, although he -still kept it in a sling, his arm was practically well again. I had a -long yarn with him in that boat alongside, and told him my suspicions -about the so-called hydraulic machinery we had brought across from -Princes' Town. He knew that two 4.7's on field-carriages, four -field-guns, and two pompoms, with plenty of ammunition, had been waiting -there for weeks, so I pretty well guessed that they weren't very far -away now, and implored him to send lighters off for them as quickly as -he could, before any one else gave the show away. He had to wait for -the Provisional Government, but could not have wasted a moment after he -did land, for hardly had the Skipper and the Fleet Surgeon gone ashore -than lighters came hurrying off, and I had the job of hoisting all those -packing-cases into them, my heart in my mouth all the time lest anything -should happen. Careful! Why, I lowered them down as if they were -new-laid eggs or valuable china. - -'What the Moses d'you mean by taking such a confounded time?' the -Commander bellowed, and stood by my side yelling down orders to hurry. -Thank goodness, O'Leary was in charge of the working party, and wouldn't -be hurried for any one, although the Commander kept on shouting that he -was a disgrace to his uniform, and that he'd disrate him to ordinary -seaman. - -Didn't I feel relieved when the last little lot had shoved off from the -ship and was on its way ashore, the Santa Cruz cruiser taking no notice -whatever. She didn't seem to suspect anything, got up her anchor, and -steamed down towards El Castellan. - -When we received that wireless message from the _Hercules_, nobody had -the slightest idea that _La Buena Presidente_ had actually been collared -by the insurgents, so you can imagine how happy I felt when the Skipper -came off and told me. He was as pleased as I was. 'Fine chap, your -brother! The Provisional Government isn't in the running with him. -He's the boss.' - -He told me, too, that Gerald wanted me to ride out to the front with him -that very night, gave me forty-eight hours' leave, and, fearfully -excited, I dashed below. Bigge, Montague, Perkins, the Forlorn Hope and -the Shadow, Dr. Clegg--nearly every one, in fact--came along to have a -word with me, whilst I tumbled into riding breeches, flannel shirt, and -jacket--they would all have given anything to be going too. The Angel -and Bob filled my 'baccy' pouch, and I stuffed some sandwiches into a -haversack; the Angel lent me his panama hat, and then I jumped into the -skiff, and was just shoving off when O'Leary came running down the -ladder. - -'The petty officers, sir, are going to ask leave to-morrow, sir. I'm -thinking that that 'ere 'ydraulic machinery kind of wants a little -putting together, sir.' - -'What the dickens d'you mean by delaying my skiff? Shove off in that -boat or you can swim ashore,' the Commander bellowed at me, from the top -of the ladder, as a parting shot. - -I was so happy that I can hardly describe how I felt when I did get -ashore. It was just getting dark, and the last of those packing-cases -was being carried away by a crowd of men still chanting, '_Viva los -Inglesas! Viva La Buena Presidente!_' and the little messenger who had -brought Gerald's letter to Princes' Town was waiting for me, with a -broad smile on his face. He was dressed very smartly as a groom, with a -clean white shirt and clean white duck riding breeches. He had one of -Gerald's old polo helmets on his head and a brilliant red sash twisted -round his waist, but his feet and legs below the breeches were bare. He -looked very proud of his finery, and guided me quickly to the Club, -along dark narrow streets, and across the square, where hundreds of -natives were lighting camp fires. - -Gerald was there. - -'Come along, the horses will be round in a minute. You will do all -right,' he said, glancing at my rig-out. He introduced me to several -Englishmen; they all shook hands; we toasted _La Buena Presidente_ and -Captain Pelayo, the _Hector_, 'Old Tin Eye,' and the King. My head was -in a whirl; horses came round; I sprang on one, half-a-dozen chaps were -round me making my stirrup-leathers comfortable; Gerald was helped into -his saddle (his right arm was still in a sling); some one sang out from -the dark Club verandah, 'Three cheers for the two Wilsons,' and off we -cantered, the little groom, with his red sash, on ahead, and -half-a-dozen natives clattering behind us on more horses. - -My horse was one of Gerald's own--Jim--a grand little stallion with a -mouth as soft as anything, and he arched his neck, snorted, and danced -about like a kitten. 'I wish you'd given me an English saddle,' I told -Gerald presently, for this one was a huge native thing with a back to it -and a big raised pommel in front. It was impossible to fall out of it, -except sideways, and you could not do that very easily, because the -stirrups were such a queer shape that your feet couldn't slip out of -them. But every other second either the back or the front part thumped -against me. - -'Lean well back, Billums, you'll find it all right then--you'll be glad -of it soon--we've got a twenty-mile ride in front of us.' - -I did get used to it in time. - -It was absolutely dark now; Jim had stopped cantering and had fallen -into an amble; we got into some lanes under trees, and fireflies were -darting from side to side ahead of us. It was simply grand, and I jolly -well wished old Ginger was there with us; he would have enjoyed it -immensely. I was so annoyed, and despised myself so much for having -quarrelled with him, that it really made me miserable every time I -thought of him. At the top of a ridge we stopped, Gerald wanted to -speak to some native soldiers who silently stole past us in the -darkness, and got me to fill his pipe for him. Off we went again, the -soldiers cheering my brother and the big ship which was coming to knock -the Santa Cruz Navy out of time; down a hill we clattered, splashed -through a ford, trotted uphill, and then suddenly plunged into absolute -darkness. - -'We're in the forest, Billums,' Gerald sang out; 'old Zorilla's in the -middle of it. You'll hear bullets before the sunrise.' - -I didn't feel quite so enthusiastic about bullets just then--it was too -gloomy under those trees--and it was lucky that the horses could see -where they were going, for we ourselves could not. - -We kept on meeting long strings of pack mules on their way back from the -front, and some of them were carrying wounded men. It was jolly -disconcerting at first, because they came upon you so suddenly, and made -so little noise--the men being barefooted and the mules unshod. On -ahead we'd hear our little messenger-groom sing out something, and then -we'd come right on the long string of dark shadows, the mules breathing -heavily under their creaking packs as they shuffled past. - -Gerald told me they were clearing the country of food, and were taking -it all into San Fernando. - -'How did you learn all this war business?' I asked him, after he had -told me his plans. - -'Common sense, Billums, common sense!' - -There was no need for me to ask him why he'd left his rubber plantation. - -'Getting enough excitement?' I asked. - -'Not yet,' he said, stopping for me to fill his pipe again. - -'Do you know,' he said presently, 'that, nearly three hundred years ago, -twenty-two Spanish cavaliers rode along this road, as we are riding -to-night, to capture Santa Cruz city. San Fernando was a fortified -Spanish settlement then, and a native ruled in Santa Cruz. He'd -collared the Governor's daughter; she'd been shipwrecked somewhere up -the coast whilst on her way to Spain, and the twenty-two in their -armour--fancy armour in this climate--riding their big Spanish horses, -with a couple of hundred native bowmen in their quilted cotton armour[#] -to help them, actually sacked the town. They stopped there, too, and -built the fort of San Sebastian.' - - -[#] In those days the natives wore thick quilted coats, stuffed with -cotton fibre, as a defence against sword-cuts. - - -'Did they rescue the girl?' - -'Yes,' Gerald told me. He was full of such stories--the good news about -_La Buena Presidente_ had made him quite talkative--and you can imagine -how the glamour of the past chivalry excited me. I almost imagined to -myself that I was in armour, and should presently have to put lance in -rest and charge through crowded ranks of archers and swordsmen. - -At about nine o'clock that night we crossed a small stream, and stopped -at a _Posada_, or wayside inn--very cheerful it looked under the trees, -with a blazing log-fire gleaming through the open windows. People came -hurrying out to take our horses, and Gerald and I had a grand feed. -They cooked a ripping omelette, and their home-made bread was grand. - -'Feeling better now?' Gerald asked me, as I stretched myself and asked -for another omelette. - -Before we had finished, a lot of officers rode up and came in--all very -courteous--and I looked at them curiously; for they had just come back -from the firing line, and their white cotton or blue-striped uniforms -were covered with mud. When they first came into the room they all -stared at the two of us, not quite knowing, for a moment, which was -which. One of them, who particularly attracted me, was very short and -fat with bandy legs. He had a broad-brimmed, soft felt hat on his head, -the front turned up, his face and neck almost hidden by great bushy -black whiskers, and he was so stout that his sword-belt wouldn't meet, -and was fastened with cord. He had jolly, twinkling eyes, as black as -night, and in the flickering shadows of the wood-fire looked like a -gnome or goblin under that huge hat. He was very proudly handing round -a large revolver for every one to look at, showing grand white teeth as -he smiled, and shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands. Gerald -handed it to me: 'He captured a cavalry officer this morning, and bagged -this.' - -The little 'Gnome' drew his stool across and explained its action. It -was a Webley-Foster automatic revolver, and as I had not seen one -before, I was jolly interested. I liked the little chap very much, and -could just imagine him tackling one of those beautifully dressed dandies -of cavalry officers we had seen at Santa Cruz. - -These officers had come to tell Gerald how everything was progressing at -the front, and they seemed to be holding a council of war, or rather -listening to what Gerald had to tell them; for my brother was laying -down the law pretty considerably. - -At last everything was satisfactorily settled, there was more bowing, -and most of them rode off again into the forest. - -'Everything going on all right,' Gerald told me. 'Come along; hope you -aren't getting stiff.' - -We left the cheerful fire; the innkeeper refused any money; my brother -sang out, 'Jose! Jose!'; the little groom with the red sash brought our -horses round, and, with the 'Gnome' and three or four other officers, we -were just going to mount when a dozen little _machetos_ came up, leading -some men. As they got into the light I saw that these were regular -troops, and had yellow and green rosettes on their hats, tall, gaunt, -hungry-looking chaps they were, and very much relieved when they saw my -brother. He spoke to them and the excited little chaps guarding them, -and then off we started. - -'Deserters,' he told me. 'They all have the same tale; not enough -food.' - -Although 'deserter' has a horrid sound to it, I felt sorry for them, -they looked so miserable, and meeting them seemed to make Zorilla's -army, of which I had heard so much, much more real. I watched them -being taken away to San Fernando, till they were lost in the darkness. - -A full moon had risen whilst we were having our meal, and where the -trees did not meet across the road there were patches of very comforting -light. However, the moonlight on the road made the forest on either side -of us look blacker and more forbidding than ever, and when two of the -officers turned into it, by a path their horses seemed to know, I felt -jolly glad I wasn't going with them. - -'We had a bit of a scrap this afternoon, Billums,' Gerald told me, 'and -lost a few people. Old Zorilla fought his way along to another -clearing, but we captured some more of his cavalry, and he's left a -field-gun behind him. The horses and rifles will be very useful to us.' - -'How far off is he now?' I asked excitedly. - -'About eight miles: Zorilla has halted for the night and our people are -all round him again. He can't move till daylight. He has only advanced -four miles since yesterday; his men are so played out, and his horses -too. I can't understand him. It seems absolute folly to do what he is -trying to do, especially as his chaps are deserting.' - -My supper had made me rather sleepy, but presently, a long way in front -of us, I heard the report of a rifle, and sat up so quickly that I -bumped my back against that wretched saddle. - -'That was a rifle! That's the first I've heard fired in war,' I cried -out, and I felt fearfully excited, wondering where the bullet had gone. -You bet that my ears were tingling to hear more, but none came for some -time, only the crackling and rustling of dead branches snapping in the -darkness on either side of us. Then three or four went off, still a -long way ahead, and as each one cracked I could not help thinking: 'I -wonder what that hit.' - -Without meaning to do so, I dug my heels into Jim's ribs and made him go -faster, but my brother sang out, 'No hurry, Billums,' and I pulled him -back. I believe the little stallion was getting as excited as I was. - -Away to the left there were some more shots, and then suddenly, right in -our faces, a red glare shone through the trees, coming and going so -quickly that I'd only time to say 'Oh!' before it had disappeared, and -almost immediately afterwards there was another brighter glare and a -tearing bursting noise. It didn't seem a hundred yards ahead of us, and -the little stallion, Jim, began jumping about. - -'What was that?' I sang out, though I knew perfectly well that it was a -shell, but couldn't help singing out, my nerves were so jumpy. A -scraggy spluttering volley came back from the trees, and then all was -still again. - -'Zorilla is firing a field-gun down the road,' my brother said; 'I -wonder what good he thinks he is doing.' - -I heard a crash and a noise of breaking branches. 'What's that, Gerald?' - -'My chaps are cutting down trees to haul across the road,' he answered; -'making a barricade.' - -That glare--more distinct now, and right in front of us--showed up -again, and a shell came tearing and crashing through the trees on one -side of us, and we heard a soft 'plump' as it buried itself in the -ground without bursting. There was the crash of another volley, and -then nothing but darkness and silence. - -'Our chaps see them when they fire that gun, and let "rip" with their -rifles,' Gerald told me. His coolness irritated me, for my nerves were -tingling all over with excitement and the funny feeling inside me of -being under fire for the first time. I rather wondered whether Ginger -would have felt as--well--nervous if he had been here. I'd never known -him frightened at anything. A little further along a couple of wagons -slowed up in a patch of moonlight at the side of the road, some ragged -little natives hovering round them. Gerald stopped a moment to speak to -a white-faced officer, and on we went again. 'That's our only doctor, -Billums; we keep him pretty busy.' If that was the doctor I knew that -we must be close to the firing line, and my heart began thumping very -rapidly. We could only go very slowly now, because the road was blocked -with wagons and mules jumbled together. - -'Jump off, Billums; keep close to me!' Gerald sang out cheerily. - -I was jolly glad to be on my feet again, and followed him, Jose taking -the horses. On each side of us I heard axes chipping, a tree fell with -a crash quite close to me, and then we got up to the barricade which -they were building across the road. Men were swarming here, some -dragging more trees out of the forest, others cutting off small branches -with their _machetes_. - -'The field-gun is right ahead,' my brother said; 'they'll be firing -again in a minute or two.' He'd hardly spoken before I saw the glare of -it, heard the dull bang, and a shell burst overhead. It lighted us for -a second; I saw hundreds of the little brown chaps in their white shirts -scurrying about among the trees, and then a regular hail of shrapnel -bullets spattered on the road and against the tree-trunks, more rifles -went off, and bullets sang past. Behind me a mule screamed, fell on the -ground with a thud, and began kicking. I felt myself wriggling up -against the barricade for shelter, but Gerald sang out for me, and I -followed him round it to the road, in between it and the gun. I didn't -like being there, in the open, a little bit. - -'Must do it, Billums--we're the only Englishmen here--must go to the -outpost lines--they're a hundred yards ahead of us--come on,' and he -began striding along the road, very conspicuous in his white clothes, -and, as far as I knew, walking straight towards that field-gun. - -I found myself trying to walk _behind_ him, but pulled myself together -and walked by his _side_. 'We're at the edge of the clearing now,' he -said; 'bear off to the right,' and you may guess how glad I was to step -off the road. We wormed our way in among the trees, and Gerald had just -whispered, 'We're right in the skirmishing line,' when a rifle went off -not two yards from me, and I jumped almost out of my skin. Rifle firing -burst out to right and left--I could see the little spurts of flame -among the trees--and then a very short way in front and below hundreds -of rifles went off and bullets flew past, branches and leaves falling -down behind me. - -Gerald pulled me round some thick undergrowth and whispered, 'Look down -there.' I peered through and could see nothing at first, but our people -fired again, and immediately I saw hundreds of little spurts of fire--a -whole line of them. Then that field-gun fired--the flash seemed almost -in my face--and for a second I saw the glitter of the gun itself and the -dark figures of the men fighting it. - -'The whole of Zorilla's army is there,' Gerald was saying, when we heard -cheering running far into the woods on each side, down below, and then -sweeping far away--it seemed to be running round a huge circle. I could -hear '_Viva La Buena Presidente! Viva La Buena Presidente!_' - -'They've heard the good news; old Zorilla will pretty well guess what it -means. Like a shot, Billums?' and Gerald sang out to the native -crouched down beside us. He gave me his rifle with a soft cooing -'_Buenos, Senor!_' and I leant it against a branch and tried to see -something to shoot at, my fingers trembling with excitement. 'Wait till -you see the flashes of their next volley, and try and get your sights -on,' Gerald said, and I knew that he was smiling. I didn't wait, I -thought I saw something, and fired, the recoil bumping my shoulder -because I hadn't held the rifle closely enough. It seemed to start -every one else firing, and the regulars began firing volleys; you could -see the ring of rifle spurts below us, thousands of them, and bullets -were flying overhead, pit-patting against the trees, and cutting off -branches and leaves. - -'"Any one assisting the aforesaid Gerald Wilson will be----"' Gerald -chuckled. - -'Shut up, you ass,' I sang out. The native gave me another cartridge, -and, the field-gun blazing again, I just had time to get my sights more -or less 'on' and fire, which started all our chaps easing off too. - -'Can't afford to keep you in the firing line,' Gerald chuckled, and took -me back. 'You've made my people waste about two hundred rounds, and I -can't afford to waste one. Listen to Zorilla's chaps. You'd imagine -they had millions to blaze away. - -'Something's wrong, Billums; I can't make it out. He usually keeps quite -quiet, he's too clever at this game to throw away a single round. You'd -imagine from that field-gun firing down the road, and from all those -volleys he's firing, that he means to advance this way.' - -He was talking as coolly as a cucumber; I was sweating with excitement. -'There's a mule track through the forest from here to El Castellar, and -I believe he means to break away there. That's why I came out -to-night--to make sure which way he's going. We'll know soon.' We got -back behind the barricade, and several hundred of the little brown, -whited-coated men began gathering there, gliding noiselessly out from -the trees. The moon was hidden now, and it was pitch dark, so that I -couldn't see them, except for a moment when the field-gun fired, but -only hear them murmuring to each other all round me. - -To know that there were four thousand regulars standing by to attack us, -in the dark, was anything but comforting, and the bullets whipping past -were not any too comforting either. All this while Gerald had been -talking to some officers, the 'Gnome' among them, but now they went -away, and he came to me. - -'This excitement enough?' - -'I should think it was,' I told him--rather too much if I had told him -the truth. I supposed I should get used to it, but suddenly to find -myself in the middle of a fight, in a forest, in the dark, was just a -little bit too trying, especially when not a soul, except Gerald, could -understand a word I said. - -Just then I heard a lot of firing much farther away on our front, and -some messengers came dashing up, singing out, '_Yuesencia_![#] _Don -Geraldio_!' - - -[#] 'Yuesencia' is a contraction for 'excellencia.' - - -'It's just as I thought, Billums; that firing at us was all a bluff. -Zorilla has broken through our chaps on the right and is marching along -the track to El Castellan.' - -Somebody brought a lantern, and he began scribbling orders, tearing the -pages out of a note book and handing them to messengers, who ran off. He -was doing it quite calmly, and was actually smiling. Some officers -sitting on the ground, with their swords over their knees, looked -absolutely played out, but they roused themselves when Gerald spoke to -them, got on their feet, and took their natives into the forest again. - -'If these messengers do their work in time,' he said, 'Zorilla will -never get through to El Castellan. I've turned on the _machetos_. We'll -go round there and see how things are going.' - -I shuddered to think of these little chaps, with their awful-looking -_machetes_, gliding among the trees all round them. - -He had just sent for our horses, when another bare-footed messenger came -panting into the light and was led up to him. - -Something glittered in his hand; he held it out to Gerald, and what do -you think it was? My cigarette case! - -'It's mine,' I sang out; 'I changed cases with Navarro, Zorilla's fat -little A.D.C., when he was decent to me in San Sebastian.' - -'Well, he's a prisoner now and badly wounded,' Gerald said, after he'd -spoken to the man. 'He's sent it to me hoping I shall recognise it and -do something for him. He was in command of a foraging party we cut off -this morning, and is lying with the rest of the wounded in some hut -about two miles away--so this man says.' - -Well, it was up to me to do something for him, and I told Gerald so. - -'Right you are,' Gerald nodded. 'This chap will show you the way. -You'll be as safe as a house with your yellow head of hair. Do what you -like. He's badly wounded, I fancy. Get back here by daylight, and if -you don't find me, make your way into San Fernando.' - -I looked at my watch by the lantern light. It was ten minutes to one, -and there would be another two hours and a half before daylight. - -In five minutes I was on my horse, the man who'd brought my cigarette -case was leading him, and we had plunged into the forest to the left of -the road, Gerald going away to the right, after Zorilla. How the little -chap found his way I don't know, but he did somehow or other, cutting -through the brushwood with his _machete_, and jabbering to me in Spanish -all the time. - -The bush and the fallen trees were so treacherous that, after Jim had -stumbled badly once or twice, and was trembling with fright, I got off -and helped to lead him too, and wished I'd left him behind. - -Now I had a job of my own to do, I didn't mind the beastly darkness, and -gradually gave up jumping with funk whenever some natives glided past, -speaking softly to my little chap, and then hurrying away to the right. -I'd hear, '_Yuesencia!_' '_Hermano!_' '_Don Geraldio!_' and they'd -disappear. - -The field-gun had stopped firing, but rifle firing was continuous, and -seemed to be travelling away towards El Castellan. - -Once we met quite a large party, with an officer, all hurrying after -Zorilla, and he would not let us pass till he'd struck a match and seen -my face. That was enough for him, and he passed on, full of apologies. - -This made me think, more than ever, what a 'boss' old Gerald was, and -what a 'boss' I was, too, simply because I had the same coloured hair. - -Somehow or other, after barking my shins and elbows a dozen times, we -got to a small clearing, where there was a kind of a hut and a jolly -welcome light burning in it. - -Some one shouted, '_Quien Vive!_' my guide answered, '_Paisano! La -Buena Presidente!_' and a score of natives thronged round us, bowing, -taking my horse, and saying, '_Buenas_,'[#] _Yuesencia!_' I went into -the hut, and found about fifteen men lying on the ground or propped up -against the wall--cavalry men all of them--and I spotted my little -friend, although he'd grown a scraggy beard. - - -[#] Short for 'buenas noches!' = good-evening. - - -He was as white as a sheet, and seemed rather 'off his head.' '_El -Medico_,' he sang out, as I went in--all of them sang out, '_El -Medico_,' holding out their hands to make me notice them. - -'William Wilson,' I said, and held out the cigarette case he'd sent me, -but he only looked at it vacantly, muttered, '_El Medico!_' again, and -his chin dropped on his chest I thought he was dying, and was in a -terrible stew. I couldn't see any wound about him, and felt his arms; -they were all right, and I felt his legs. Ugh! then I knew, for -half-way above his left knee the bone was sticking through a rent in his -breeches and they were sticky with blood. He groaned when I touched it, -muttering, '_El Medico_'--'_San Fernando!_' '_Ag-ua! Agua!_' - -One of the _machetos_ brought him some water. - -I scratched my head, I didn't know what to do, and he went on rambling, -'_Zorilla_,' '_El Castellar_,' '_William Wilson_,' '_Don -Geraldio_'--'_El Medico_'--'_San Fernando_.' - -'All right, old chap, I'll get you to San Fernando if I can,' I said to -myself. - -Well, I knew enough about 'first aid' to lash the two legs firmly -together, and somehow managed to make the natives understand that I -wanted a stretcher. They made a rough litter out of branches in next to -no time. I found a blanket tied to the saddle of a dead horse outside -the hut, and covered the litter with it, and then I told off four of the -most sturdy of the _machete_ men to carry him. They obeyed me like -lambs. - -I hated to have to leave these other wounded men there--they cried -piteously when they saw me going--but there were not enough natives to -carry them, so I could not help it. I would try and get Gerald to send -for them. - -Phew! it was bad enough for me, but poor little Navarro, in his -stretcher, had a most awful time as we stumbled back through the -forest--he was shrieking with agony,--and when we struck the old Spanish -road again, after a most fearful time struggling among trees and -brushwood, he was quite delirious. You can imagine how thankful I was to -feel it under my feet, and, leaving him on his litter by the roadside, -and tying my horse to a tree, I tramped down towards the barricade. - -It was just getting light enough for me to see some empty deserted -wagons standing at the roadside and the fallen tree-trunks dragged -across it, but there was not a single living man there, only one or two -dead men hanging across the barricade, with their _machetes_ still in -their hands. - -I had not heard the field-gun firing for at least an hour, the rifle -firing had died away almost as long ago, and it was quite plain that -every one had followed Zorilla towards El Castellar. - -I climbed round the barricade and walked rather nervously down towards -where the field-gun had been, and stopped because the weirdest sounds -were coming up from below. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *Zorilla loses his Guns* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -As I stood there, rather nervous and uncertain what to do, listening to -the queer noises which were coming up from the clearing, where Zorilla's -army had camped the night before, I heard the sound of naked feet, and -stepped back among the dark trees. There was just sufficient grey light -for me to see the road, and, as I watched it, two natives, breathing -very heavily, hurried past me. They were weighed down with all sort of -things; one had a saddle over his head and a huge cavalry sword under -his arm, and the other had covered himself from head to foot with a blue -cavalry cloak. - -I guessed now what those noises were, and felt certain that Gerald's -people were busy in the clearing looting the camp. I don't quite know -why I went down there, but I did, and it was a most extraordinary sight -in the uncertain light. First I came to that field-gun which had fired -at us, its wheels and small shields white with bullet-marks. An empty -ammunition limber was standing behind it, and the naked bodies of two -dead men lay close by, mixed up with some dead mules. I stepped across -them, and came upon a lot of regulars sitting at each side of the road, -quite a couple of hundred of them, with their hands tied behind their -backs. Poor wretches, they looked as if they expected death at any -moment. - -Hundreds of natives were swarming round some wagons, hauling boxes out, -forcing them open with their _machetes_ and scattering the contents on -the ground; and a dozen of them were fighting over a case of brandy, -breaking the necks off the bottles, and cutting their faces and hands in -their struggles to drink some of the stuff. Nobody was taking the -slightest notice of two field-guns, with their limbers and mule teams, -which were standing in the road a few yards further down. The little -half-drunken brutes were simply looting as hard as they could, not even -troubling to pick up the rifles which lay about in hundreds. I felt -sure that Gerald had sent them to take the guns into San Fernando, and, -jolly angry, strode down between the two rows of prisoners, who, seeing -me, thought I was Gerald, and began singing out a whining '_Don -Geraldio! Don Geraldio!_' I saw by their uniforms that they belonged -to the same regiment as those fellows who had collared me in Santa Cruz, -and that didn't make me love them any more, but their mistaking me for -Gerald gave me an idea. - -Close by, an officer lay drunk as a fiddler, another had broken the neck -of a champagne bottle, and was trying to swallow the stuff before it -bubbled all away. I seized him by the neck, knocked the bottle out of -his hand, and shook him. - -He turned round, looked at me, and fell on his knees in absolute terror. -I jerked him to his feet, singing out, 'San Fernando!' sweeping my arm -round the camp, pointing to the guns, and then along the road towards -the barricade. - -'San Fernando!' I roared. He had a revolver in his belt, I pulled it -out--it was unloaded, but that did not matter--and ran up to the wagons, -kicking and cuffing the miserable wretches. They shrieked out, '_Don -Geraldio!_' and bolted, but two of them.--rather drunk they were--came -for me with their _machetes_, and didn't stop when I pointed the -revolver at them. - -It was a jolly awkward moment, but I gave the first a blow on the point -of his jaw, which knocked him flying, and before the second could get at -me, there were shouts of '_Yuesencia! Yuesencia!_' and the officer from -whom I had taken the champagne bottle cut him down, clean from the top -of his skull to his mouth. He did it with a _machete_. More -officers--half fuddled--came running up, and whether they thought I was -Gerald or not, they were in a hopeless fright, and began to lay about -them with the flat of their swords, and soon got their natives into -order, although I saw a good many of them stealing away among the trees, -laden with spoil. - -[Illustration: "I GAVE THE FIRST A BLOW ON THE POINT OF HIS JAW"] - -Ugh! the brutes had evidently killed all the wounded. It was a -perfectly sickening sight. I was beside myself with rage. - -Then just as some mules were being hitched to that first field-gun, I -saw a native trying to lead away a big black horse. The poor beast was -limping badly every step he took, and the man was beating him cruelly. -I rushed across, and the man saw me coming, and ran off. The horse had -a very elaborate head-stall and blue saddle-cloth, and I felt certain -that I had seen him somewhere before. 'Poor old fellow,' I said, -stroking his nose. He was simply sweating with pain, and seemed to know -I was a friend. I rubbed my hand down his legs, and looked at his feet, -and soon found what the mischief was. One of his rear shoes was half -off, and a projecting nail had made a gash in his frog, so no wonder the -poor old chap was in such pain. - -I found a bayonet and managed to lever the shoe off altogether, and then -led him up to the field-gun. He came along as gently as a lamb, still -limping a bit, but I do believe he was grateful, and as I led him -between the lines of prisoners, one of them got quite excited, -struggling to his knees, then to his feet, singing out, '_Yuesencia! El -General! General Zorilla! Caballo del General Zorilla._' - -Ah! now I knew. He was the very horse on which Bob, the 'Angel,' and I -had seen Zorilla ride across the square at Santa Cruz. He seemed to -know the prisoner, so I thought he might have been his groom, and undid -the cord round his arms. Directly they were free, he threw them round -the horse's neck and loved him. - -'_San Fernando!_' I said, pointing up the road, and he nodded, '_Bueno, -Senor! Bueno, Yuesencia!_' and was as pleased as Punch. - -The officers had, meanwhile, found enough mules for all three guns, and -I sent them rumbling and rattling up towards the barricade, which the -natives were already hauling away. You may bet your life I was jolly -glad to see them make a start, for I knew that they were worth all the -world to Gerald, and there was always the chance of some of Zorilla's -regulars turning up and recapturing them. - -There were not mules enough for all the wagons--I felt perfectly certain -that the natives had simply bolted into the forest with a lot of -them--but there were sufficient for four, and I chose two, full of -field-gun ammunition, and sent them up the road, and then we set about -and collected all the rifles lying on the ground, and as many boxes of -rifle ammunition as we could stow on another two, and I felt jolly -pleased with myself when all four were jolting on their way to San -Fernando. I made the officers understand that the prisoners' arms were -to be untied, but it wasn't till I began cutting the cords adrift myself -that they, rather sullenly, ordered their men to release the others. -You can just imagine how gratefully they looked at me, and I felt -certain that they wouldn't be such fools as to try and escape, with five -hundred fierce little _machetos_ all round them, and thousands more in -the forest. It was quite light by the time every one was under way, and -I began to feel most horribly hungry and tired. Up above in the clear -sky a number of vultures were slowly circling round and round with their -long necks stretching downwards, waiting till we went away before they -came down for their horrible feast, and as I left the clearing, and -looked back, I saw any number of the little brown men sneaking out of -the woods again to carry on looting, but I couldn't be bothered with -them, and they would keep those vultures away. I had rescued all that -was most valuable, and wanted to get back to San Fernando as quickly as -possible. - -When we got up to where poor little Navarro was lying, by the roadside, -I gave him some brandy from a bottle I'd stowed away in a wagon; it did -him a power of good, and he now seemed quite sensible, looking very -miserable when he saw the guns coming along. - -'The horse of _El General_,' he said sadly, as the black horse limped -past with the groom. - -I put him on top of one of the wagons, but the jolting was so painful -that he had to be carried on the litter again. He knew me all right -now, and I gave him back my cigarette case, pulling his own out of my -pocket to show him. - -'San Sebastian,' he said, smiling; 'I remember always.' - -Well, off we went, the three guns and the four wagons on ahead, the two -hundred prisoners, surrounded by the little _machetos_, marching behind -them, and Navarro, on his litter, the groom with Zorilla's black horse, -and myself, on my little stallion, 'Jim,' bringing up the rear. I'd -found some ammunition for that revolver, and had loaded it, but my face -and yellowish hair was all that was wanted to make any one obey me, and -I rode along on my tired little horse, absolutely bossing the show. - -You may laugh if you like, but there I was in charge of the whole -blooming crowd, feeling simply dead tired, but kept awake by the -excitement of it. - -'Any one assisting the aforesaid Gerald Wilson----' kept running through -my head, and I grinned every time I thought of it. - -At about ten or half-past we came to that wayside inn where Gerald and I -had had those omelettes last night. It was most appallingly hot, and, -though there was no food there, I determined to halt for an hour to rest -the mules and men. - -The prisoners lay down at the sides of the roads, under the shade, the -little _machetos_ curled up under the trees, and went to sleep in a -twinkling, the officers went into the inn, and Navarro's stretcher was -laid down outside it, in the shade of the projecting roof. I could -hardly keep my eyes open, and dare not even sit down for fear of falling -asleep, because I wasn't going to trust those officers again. They -didn't look in the least pleased (of course by this time they knew that -I wasn't Gerald), and a good many of their men had a sullen look on -their faces, which I didn't like a little bit. Still, so long as I kept -my eye on them I wasn't afraid of them playing the fool, and I spent -that hour walking up and down the line of guns and wagons with their -dejected mule teams, passing a word or two occasionally with Navarro, -who was much brighter now, sitting up on his litter smoking a cigarette. - -I thanked him for the letter which he had written to me from Santa Cruz, -warning me about that ex-police agent. 'Very bad man--he will never -cease from revenge--next time you see him kill him,' he said; and I -rather wish that I hadn't mentioned it, because I hated thinking of the -little brute. Of course he was as anxious to get to San Fernando as I -was; he wanted to see a doctor as soon as possible, and have his broken -leg looked after. - -At the end of the hour I tried to push on again, but I'm hanged if I -could. I walked up to the inn and sang out, 'San Fernando!' to the -officers sitting inside it, with half-empty bottles of wine in front of -them, but they shook their heads and didn't even stand up. This, I knew -well enough, was meant to be rude. Only the chap who had killed the -native as he was going for me, the one whom I had prevented drinking -that champagne, stood up and came out, shaking his head, and jabbering -Spanish. '_Mucho caliente! Mucho caliente!_' - -'He say no go San Fernando till night,' Navarro explained. 'Too hot.' - -Well, as I've told you before, I've got a beastly bad temper: I wasn't -going to stand any nonsense, and I was inside that place in a twinkling. - -'San Fernando!' I shouted, pointed to the blazing white road, where the -mules were lying panting in the glare. - -They only smiled. - -I pulled my revolver out and roared again, but they only pulled theirs -out and shook their heads. - -I knew that I was up against something 'tough,' and I don't know what -would have happened if I hadn't heard my name called. - -Navarro was beckoning to me, and I went out, the officers laughing, and -only that one following me. - -'Prisoners obey me--give them rifles--I want El Medico--San -Fernando--quick,' and he pointed to where the regulars were all lying -asleep. - -I knew well enough what he meant, and was in such a towering rage that -I'd have taken any risk. I held out my hand, he held out his, and we -shook. - -'Right you are, old chap, I'll trust them.' - -He jabbered to the officer who had followed me, and then said, 'Take me -to prisoners,' so we picked up the litter and carried him to where they -were, the other officers laughing, and not even getting up from their -benches to see what was going to happen. - -Then he introduced the officer to me. 'Don Pedro de Castilio--Senor -William Wilson,' and we bowed to each other. I thought it an awful -waste of time when every second mattered, and what we had to do had to -be done quickly. - -He went among the regulars, waking them, and half-a-dozen glided to a -wagon and came back with rifles. Don Pedro took four of them along to -the inn, and I saw them pointing their rifles through the windows. - -'Don Pedro make them prisoners,' Navarro whispered, with his eyes -gleaming. - -That was a jolly smart move, and the officers never made a sound. If -they'd sung out or fired a shot, we should have had the _machetos_ round -us in a second. - -As fast as the other two woke their comrades, they stole away and got -rifles, some of them bringing back a box of ammunition. - -Not a _macheto_ moved, and you bet I kept my eyes skinned lest they -should wake, handing out ammunition as fast as the regulars came up for -it. By the time I had seventy or eighty armed, I made them climb on top -of the four wagons, so that they could defend themselves better in case -the little forest-men tried to rush us with their _machetes_; I lifted -Navarro on top of one of them too. - -One of these wagons was right in front of the inn, so that my five young -friends inside it had about twenty rifle-muzzles to look at. Still not -a macheto stirred--they seemed dead to the world--so I went across to -the inn. - -It was they who were up against something 'tough' now, and they knew it, -stood up, began unbuckling their sword-belts, and were just going to -hand them to me, when I heard cries of '_Senor! Senor!_' heard men -running, and, looking over my shoulder, saw the rest of the regulars -swarming round the wagon with the rifles in it, making a tremendous -noise as they pulled them out. I ran along the road, and, as I ran, I -saw the _machetos_, under the trees, all rising to their feet, gripping -those horrid _machetes_. - -I pointed to the wagons, there was no need for orders, the regulars -simply scrambled on top of them like drowning rats on a log, running -from wagon to wagon to find room, and crawling underneath them when they -couldn't. I jumped across to where Jim, my horse, was standing, got on -him, and pulled him into the middle of the road. - -The little _machetos_ hadn't quite got the hang of affairs, and looked -half-dazed to see the regulars on top of the wagons and the rifles -pointing at them. - -I roared out, 'San Fernando! San Fernando!' but they were too startled -to obey; and Don Pedro and his four men, too frightened to stay where -they were any longer, bolted for the nearest wagon, the officers -bursting out after them, and plunging into the forest among their own -men. - -'San Fernando!' I shouted, pointing down the road, and some of the -little forest-men seemed to want to obey, but I saw those contemptible -officers going in among them and dragging them back. - -My aunt! I was in a jolly awkward fix. If they only made a rush, my -chaps would simply be eaten up. I dare not get them down from the -wagons to stir up the mules, for I felt absolutely certain that that -would only be the signal for a massacre. We couldn't move the wagons -till the guns went on--the road was not broad enough to pass them--and -the leading one was at least a couple of hundred yards away. I saw a -lot of the _machetos_ dart across the road ahead of us, and my heart -went thump, for I thought they were making ready for a rush, but the -little brutes simply unhitched the leading gun's mule teams and led them -into the forest. - -Well, that was checkmate with a vengeance. - -One of the officers now came up to the wagon on which Navarro was -sitting and spoke to him. He sang out to me, and I went across. - -'He say, "No go San Fernando till night; if soldiers no give up rifles, -_machetos_ kill them. Officers tell _machetos_, soldiers take guns to -Zorilla."' - -He was in a funk himself; the trees on both sides of us were simply -swarming with the fierce little men, and I didn't know what to do, my -brain seemed all woolly, but I dare not let the regulars throw their -rifles down. - -'Oh! that I knew Spanish and could talk to the little chaps and explain -things,' I was thinking, when there was the sound of a horse galloping -along the road, behind us, and the 'Gnome' dashed up. I was glad to see -him, if you like. - -He looked at the regulars on top of the wagons, timidly pointing their -rifles across the road, and at the crowds of _machetos_ in the woods, -and didn't know what to think of it. Before he'd caught sight of me, I -saw one of the officers running to him. I knew he'd tell him lies, so I -cantered up to him too. He looked startled to see me, but quite -pleased, and I made him come to the wagon where Navarro sat. 'Tell -him--ex-plain,' I sang out. They seemed to know each other very well. - -You should have seen him after he and Navarro had talked for a few -seconds. He was in a towering rage, and he rode backwards and forwards -along the edge of the road, evidently telling the officers exactly what -he thought of them, and I knew that things were going right, because -Navarro looked so chirpy and the officers so ashamed of themselves. The -regulars, too, began to put up their rifles, and those who had crawled -under the wagons crawled out again. Then, at last, the little -forest-men stuck their _machetes_ back into their belts, and a couple of -hundred of them came along, looking like naughty children, and took -charge of the mule teams. My aunt! I was so relieved and thankful and -tired and hungry and hot all at the same time that I would have done any -mortal thing for my fat little 'Gnome.' - -He sent the officers and the rest of their men away into the forest--to -rejoin Gerald, I suppose--and jolly glad I was to see the last of them. -Then we shoved off, rattling down the road, and you may guess that I -never wanted to see that inn again. The 'Gnome' stopped with us for -about a mile, and then, taking off his hat to me, galloped on ahead, -leaving me with no one to question my authority any more. - -Still, I didn't feel in the least sure that those other fellows wouldn't -come back, so, with help from Navarro and Don Pedro, I got the two -hundred regulars into some sort of order, fifty of them well in front of -the guns as an advance guard, fifty between the guns and the wagons, -fifty as a rear guard, and the remainder riding on the wagons -themselves. - -I wanted to make the little forest-men, who were leading the mules, give -up their _machetes_, and explained that to Navarro, but he smiled, shook -his head, and said, '_Machetos_ good men now,' so I had to be satisfied. - -We tramped along like this, the mules getting slower and slower, till -half-past one, when a violent thunderstorm made it almost as dark as -night, and wetted us to the skin. It was jolly refreshing whilst it -lasted, cooled the air splendidly, and afterwards we got along much -faster. By three o'clock we were out of the forest; I had nothing to -fear from the forest-men, and was as happy as a king. We rumbled down -to the stream, splashed through the ford, after a lot of trouble with -the mules, who would fill themselves with water before they'd come on, -breasted the slope again, and got on top of the ridge looking down over -San Fernando. - -You can jolly well imagine how glad I was to see it, and the old -_Hector_ lying offshore. From here it was simply a triumphal -procession. The 'Gnome' must have let the people know what had -happened, for they met us in hundreds, flocking round me, trying to lead -my horse, even to kiss my gaiters, dancing and shouting and clapping -their hands, and fighting for the honour of holding on to the gun -traces. '_Viva los canones! Viva los Inglesas!_' they shouted, and -dragged the guns along, much to the relief of the mules. - -The cathedral bells were clanging joyously when we marched into the -square, I in front, Navarro on his litter beside me, Zorilla's charger -behind us, then the two hundred regulars walking in front of the leading -gun. You can guess how jolly important I felt, for the whole population -had turned out, huzzahing and throwing their hats in the air, and on the -steps and verandah of the Club were a lot of the _Hector_ chaps and the -Skipper himself. - -As I took off my panama hat to salute him, he sang out, 'Good lad! Good -lad!' and Navarro, seeing them, called out, '_El Medico!_' - -Clegg, our Surgeon, was leaning over the verandah, so I stopped and had -him taken in there. 'Look after him, will you?' I called out to Clegg; -'his leg's badly broken,' and on we went again. - -The regulars, in their hated uniforms, were a bit of a puzzle to the -crowd, but they thought they had deserted to the insurgents, and soon -swarmed round them, shouting, '_Viva los cazedores!_' tearing off their -own green and black rosettes and pinning them on the soldiers' sleeves. -Many of them had already got rid of their green and yellow badges, and -you may bet your life they didn't object to the black and green ones, so -long as their skins were safe. - -Ever since I had been stabbed by that wretched little ex-policeman, and -whenever I got in among a crowd of natives, I found myself looking round -to see if I could recognise him. I was doing so now without knowing it, -looking from face to face all round me. Perhaps it was because of what -Navarro had said, 'He will never cease revenge,' but I had the most -extraordinary feeling that he was there, somewhere, and had his cunning -little eyes fixed on me. I couldn't see him anywhere, and thought the -strange fancy was probably due to my being so sleepy. I pulled myself -together, because we were now abreast the cathedral, the front of which -had been hung with black and green flags, and, on the steps, the whole -of the Provisional Government was waiting for me, bowing and taking off -their top-hats. It was all I could do to keep from laughing, although I -was so tired and sleepy and hungry that I could hardly sit in my saddle. -They made me dismount, and would have kept me there for ages, but I -seized hold of Mr. Don Pedro, pushed him forward, took my hat off, -bowed, and led my plucky little stallion back to the Club. I knew that -he would explain everything, and I always hate being fussed over. The -crowd made way for me as if I'd been a blooming emperor; but I felt a -touch on my shoulder and jumped, for I was still thinking of the little -brute. - -'Beg parding, sir,' I heard some one say, and there was O'Leary, his -funny old face simply as excited as a child's. 'We'd just like you to -see that 'ere bit of 'ydraulic machinery what we brought along with us, -sir.' - -'Right you are,' I sang out--I know I yawned, I couldn't help it--and he -took me through a side street to the water front and a long low -building, which ran along the shore, with a tumble-down 'yard' in front -of it. Inside the tumble-down gates there were thirty or forty of our -petty officers, with their jumpers off, digging out like pepper among a -crowd of half-naked natives. - -'Look what we've done, sir,' O'Leary grinned, and there I saw the long -chases of two 4.7's sticking up from their field carriages. - -'Pretty good work that,' I said, yawning again. - -'They didn't know nothink about 'em, sir, but for us, sir,' he grinned; -they were all grinning with delight, and the armourer's crew, as black -as paint, came across from a forge, in a shed beyond, stood by the guns, -and grinned too. - -'Your brother's done a good day's work, we hear, sir,' Griffiths, the -boatswain's mate, said, saluting me; 'these 'ere guns'll be a pleasant -sur--prise to him when he gets back.' - -Then Bob and the 'Angel,' Barton, the senior mid., Blotchy Smith, -half-a-dozen more mids., and Marchant, the 'Inkslinger,' with their -coats off, and covered with grease and dirt, came running across. - -'What are you up to?' I asked, and they dragged me to another corner of -the yard, and I found they'd been 'assembling' the pom-poms. - -'We've just been giving the chaps a bit of drill,' Bob squeaked. 'We're -having a glorious time. I wish we could stay on shore till the morning. -We'd have everything finished by then. Won't Cousin Gerald be pleased?' - -Well, I was much too tired to stay any longer, and shoved off, all of -them hurrying back to finish their job. - -O'Leary followed me out. 'They don't know how they came 'ere, sir. I -gave them English gents the "tip," and they were all out of their -packin'-cases when I comes along, innercent like, with all these chaps. -We just looks in at the gateway, and sees 'em all lying "'iggle de -piggledy" like, a-lying on the ground, and, well, I says to 'em, "Mr. -Wilson, our Sub, what the Commander bullies, 'as a brother fighting for -these 'ere niggers, so one good turn deserves another, so 'wot oh!'" and -we just 'as a quiet arternoon's fun, and you sees what we've done, sir.' - -'He'll be awfully pleased. Thank you very much indeed,' I said, and -tramped back to the Club, more dead than alive, looking from side to -side all the time, in case that little brute was lurking about anywhere -with his knife. I was so stiff that I could hardly move one leg in -front of the other, and my back aches now when I think of it. - -Zorilla's black charger was tied up to the Club railings, the groom -apparently waiting for me, and I handed over both of the tired horses to -one of the Englishmen who was there, stumbled up the steps, and fell -back in one of those easy-chairs on the verandah, pretty well played -out. Dr. Clegg came along. - -'What do you think of my pal?' I asked him. - -'He won't be on his legs again for six months,' he told me, 'I'm going -to take him on board the _Hector_ for the Fleet Surgeon to see.' - -I was absolutely too weary just then to worry about anything, but I know -that there were a lot of formalities to go through before he could be -taken aboard, and that the Skipper and one of the San Fernando -Englishmen bustled about and managed it all right. The Provisional -Government would have done anything for us just then. I was jolly glad, -because I owed a great deal more to little Navarro than I could repay. - -I don't know when I had felt so tired, and though any number of our -chaps were crowding round me wanting me to talk, and the townspeople -were thronging against the Club railings to see me, I hardly noticed -them, and just wanted something to drink and then go to sleep. I really -couldn't keep my eyes open. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *Zorilla attacks* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -I slept like a top for an hour, and woke up in a fright; I thought that -little brute was trying to stab me, but it was only one of the local -Englishmen, a man named Seymour, shaking me. - -'I'll be more careful next time,' he said, smiling and rubbing his -shoulder where I'd caught him 'one' as he bent over me. 'You yelled as -if you were being murdered.' - -'I thought I was,' I said, waking up. - -He had just come back from Gerald, and had a message for me. Gerald -wanted me to go out to him again. He was at a place called Marina, -about eight miles along the coast-line, half-way to El Castellar, and -was making it his headquarters for the night. - -'You'll see lots of fun if you go out there,' Seymour told me, 'he has -Zorilla's army surrounded just above Alvarez's farm, not two miles from -Marina, and expects to collar the whole lot to-night or to-morrow -morning. He's done a great day's work and has captured the last gun -they have.' - -He was sending his own buggy to Marina with Gerald's bag, and offered me -a lift. - -You may bet I jumped at the offer; there was just time for me to have a -wash and some tea; along came the carriage with two jolly smart ponies -in it; one of the Club servants brought down Gerald's kit-bag--one of -the last presents the mater had given him before he left home--in I -jumped, and away those ponies flew, bumping the carriage along at a fine -rate. - -There was no more going to sleep then--it was as much as I could do to -hold on to my seat, and prevent myself being chucked out. - -We rattled down to the foreshore and turned along the coast road, -bowling along it at a great pace, every now and then meeting wounded men -limping wearily towards San Fernando. Some of our own ward-room -officers were tramping back to catch the 'dinner' boat off to the ship, -and they must have envied me pretty considerably. Thank goodness, the -Skipper had given me forty-eight hours' leave, and I hadn't to get -aboard till to-morrow at noon. I was so jolly keen to see some more -fun, and to tell Gerald how I'd managed to bring those guns back to San -Fernando, that I forgot all about being so sleepy. - -The road ran along the top of the beach, skirting the shore all the way, -and the forest came right up to the side of it, and made it beautifully -shady, but it was in such a terrible state of holes and ruts, crumbling -down here and there on the beach side, and overgrown with bushes on the -forest side, that it looked as if the sea and the forest between them -would swallow it up pretty soon. - -Four miles out from the town there were two poor chaps lying by the -roadside; I expect they had been wounded during the night, and had tried -to make their way into San Fernando, but died before they could do so. -Horrid-looking crows, something like vultures, were hopping about round -them. I hated the brutes--they hardly got out of the way of the wheels. - -Just as it was getting dusk we passed some bungalows, and the native -driver shouted, '_Marina! El Casino!_' pointing ahead to a large -building in front of us standing close to the beach. - -'_Don Geraldio!_' he nodded. - -Then we splashed through a stream, and it wasn't too dark for me to see -a little native chap squatting by the side of a low garden wall there, -or to recognise him. It was that ex-policeman--I could see the scar on -his forehead--somehow or other I was expecting to see him--and, without -thinking, I jumped out of the carriage, stumbled for an instant, and -then sprang at him, but he'd seen me too, and fled. I had Don Pedro's -revolver with me, and fired as he jumped the low wall and darted among -some trees. I was after him in a second--of course I had missed him, I -always was a rotten shot with a revolver at any time--and then he fired -back, and a bullet sung past my elbow. I caught sight of his white -shirt among the trees, and fired at him again, and he bolted out of the -garden, across the road, and into the forest. - -It was hopeless to follow him there. - -The pistol-shots had frightened the ponies, and they were dashing madly -along the road, Gerald's kit-bag flying out. I picked it up, and lugged -it along to the front of that big building--a gaudy-looking kind of -place, nearly all windows, with a flat roof, verandahs and balconies all -round it, and '_El Casino_,' in big gilt letters over the door, -half-hidden by a huge black and green flag which hung down over the -entrance. - -Gerald, surrounded by officers, was standing at the top of the steps, -and I was only thankful that that little brute had not gone on another -hundred yards. - -'Hello, Billums!' Gerald sang out. 'Got my bag all right? I thought, -when the buggy dashed past a moment ago, that old Zorilla would get it. -Come along with me, I'm going to have a shave and get into clean -things.' - -He took me along with him, and whilst he was shaving himself, and his -little groom, Jose, was unpacking his bag, I told him about the -ex-policeman. - -'For goodness' sake, take care of yourself, Gerald,' I said; 'he'll get -you if he dies for it,' but 'Don't worry,' was all I could get out of -him, as he scraped his face. I don't mind telling you that I was -thoroughly frightened--much more for Gerald than myself, though the more -I bothered him to take some precautions, the more angry he got. - -'Blow it!' he said; 'you've made me cut myself. Confound these safety -razors. My dear Billums, if he's going to get me, he will. I'll keep -my eye skinned for the beast, but they're all so much alike that you -can't tell t'other from which--scar or no scar. Nobody's life is worth -a cent in this country unless you trust to luck.' - -'But why don't you have an escort?' I pleaded. - -'Have an escort? My dear Billums, if I had an escort, they'd think I -was afraid.' - -I gave it up, and told him all about bringing those guns and -ammunition-wagons back into San Fernando, and all the troubles I'd had -with the officers and their men; I didn't forget to tell him about the -'Gnome' coming up in the nick of time. - -He was jolly pleased, though he didn't say much. 'That chap you call the -'Gnome' is one of the best people I've got, I don't know what I should -do without him.' - -All this time orderlies came in and out, and Gerald did not seem to have -a moment's peace. Then a man came in with a note. - -'It's from Zorilla,' Gerald said. 'He wants to know what's become of -Navarro, his fat little A.D.C. You ought to know--that chap with the -cigarette case.' - -I told him he had been taken on board the _Hector_. - -'Jolly glad,' he said, sent for some paper, sat down with the soap -lather on his face and a towel round his waist, and wrote a reply. -'Wouldn't be the proper thing not to write it myself.' - -'Tell Zorilla we found his horse, and have brought him into San -Fernando,' I sang out. - -'Good stroke, Billums, good stroke. We'll send him back when he's -fit--always make friends of an enemy, especially if he's a good chap -like Zorilla,' and he added a postscript. - -'Where is he?' I asked, as the messenger darted away. - -'About three miles off--in another clearing, for the night.' - -'But the horse won't be much good to him,' I said, remembering what the -Englishman had told me. 'You've got him surrounded, and he must -surrender, mustn't he?' - -'Yes, I have,' Gerald smiled, 'three thousand men round about the same -number. I don't believe I have more--hundreds have gone off to their -homes with loot. I tell you what. Old Zorilla isn't beaten till he's -dead, and he may be up to any tricks to-night. It's seven miles to El -Castellar and it's eight to San Fernando, and he'll lose his job and his -reputation if he falls back on the fort. He's lost his guns, and he'll -get 'em back, and San Fernando too, if he dies for it. I know the dear -old chap.' - -'I thought you'd won,' I said, feeling very worried. - -'Oh, bother! You've never won in this country. The more you win, the -more enemies you make--there are plenty of people, on our side, who want -me out of it. That is why those chaps wouldn't obey you this -morning--they're as jealous as thieves. I run the show, and they don't -like it--a good many of them don't--not the men, the officers. They -want their siesta in the middle of the day, and eight hours' sleep -besides--it's the custom of the country--they don't get it. They've -always run revolutions on those lines, and I don't.' - -He'd dressed himself now and brushed his yellow hair well back. 'That's -better; come along and have some grub.' - -Well, I hadn't any appetite, but he had--and ate a jolly good meal in -spite of all the orderlies and officers coming and going. He did want -to dine on the open verandah, close to the road, but I thought of that -little beast creeping up with the revolver, and managed to get him into -an inside room, by complaining of the cold. The air was so still that -all the time he was eating we could hear firing going on far away in the -forest, but that didn't interfere with his appetite in the least. -'Zorilla's not made a move yet,' he said at last. 'Come and have a game -of billiards,' and we did actually play on a French table with balls as -big as oranges, in a room overlooking the sea, the cool breeze blowing -through wide-open windows, and the noise of rifle-shots almost drowned -by the lazy noise of the water on the beach. Jose, who seemed to follow -Gerald about like a dog, squatted in a corner, a young insurgent officer -scored for us, and Gerald, playing stiffly with his bad arm, was as keen -on beating me as if we had been in the pater's billiard-room at home. -We were half-way through the game, and he was piling up cannon after -cannon, sprawling over the table to make his strokes, and I was standing -at his side, when I suddenly heard something snap outside, saw the -insurgent officer look out--fright on his face--turned my head, and -there was that little beast, with a joyful smile on his ugly face, -pointing a revolver straight through the window at Gerald. - -I don't know how I did it, but I'd pulled Gerald off the table, and he -was sprawling on the floor, before the room filled with smoke and noise, -and a bullet had cut clean across the green cloth. I saw the insurgent -officer whip out a revolver and fire, I sprang out into the dark with -mine, and Jose, with a yell, a _machete_ in his hand, dashed past me, -down on to the beach. But there wasn't a sign of any one. - -People rushed into the room, the lights were knocked out, and then -Gerald sang out, asking what was the matter. - -'My dear Billums, I wouldn't have had that happen for worlds,' he said, -when the lamps had been relighted, and I'd shown him where the bullet -had ripped across the table. - -'What happen?' I asked. - -'Why, you knocking me down, of course.' - -He was quite hurt about it, and wanted to finish the game, said the cut -across the cloth would make it all the more 'sporting,' but the noise of -firing in the forest became more furious, and orderlies came in with -news that Zorilla was on the move at last. - -Gerald wrote out more orders and shrugged his shoulders. 'He's marching -towards El Castellan. I suppose he thinks I shall try and prevent him.' - -'But won't you?' I asked. - -'My dear Billums, of course not; he can go there as fast as he likes. -He thinks I shall try and get in front of him, and then he'll double -back to San Fernando. Not much! Come along and we'll have a look -round.' - -I followed him out of the Casino--it was quite dark, the forest -absolutely black--we mounted horses, and, with a lot of officers, -trotted down the road. I was so nervous and overwrought in the dark -lanes, which we presently rode through, that my heart thumped every time -I heard '_Quien Vive!_' or '_Que Gente!_' called out by sentries or -pickets we couldn't see, and the murmurs of '_Yuesencia!_' or '_Don -Geraldio!_' from hundreds of unseen mouths. Gerald found some officers -and seemed satisfied; somehow or other we got back, and the night was so -still, except for the distant firing, the rustling trees, and the very -faint noise of the sea, and the darkness was so intense, that I was -jolly glad to be inside the Casino again. - -More orderlies were waiting for Gerald here, and a prisoner was dragged -into the light. - -'That settles it,' he said decisively, looking at the poor, miserable, -frightened, whining brute. 'He's been caught in the El Castellar -direction--where they are advancing. He belongs to the 5th Santa Cruz -_Cazedores_--the worst fighters in the army. Old Zorilla wouldn't put -them there if he was in earnest. I'm going to bring back every man I can -get hold of, place them the other side of that stream--down the road -there--it runs nearly straight inland for four or five miles, and I wish -to goodness the moon would come out.' - -Whilst he was speaking, a whole crowd of bare-footed riflemen and -_machetos_ went silently past, going back towards San Fernando, the -officers, haggard and dirty, stopping to salute Gerald and ask for -orders before disappearing after them. It was the noiselessness of them -all that was getting on my nerves, and the feeling of hopelessness at -not being able to speak to any one except Gerald. All this time, too, I -kept looking out for that ex-policeman, expecting him to spring out at -any moment. - -Every one who came along I half expected to be he, and little Jose, I -think, did so too, standing close to Gerald, just like a cat, with a -_machete_ in his hand. Gerald saw it once, and made him throw it away, -but he picked it up again when Gerald wasn't looking. - -The 'Gnome' appeared from somewhere, and I saw that my brother was very -glad to see him--he came across to me, and we bowed, and I squeezed his -hand. He was sent away along that stream with some men he'd brought. -'Come and finish our game of billiards, Billums,' Gerald sang out. -Honestly I don't know whether he was showing off, or was nervous, or -whether he did really want to finish it, but we heard a heavy carriage -splashing through that stream, and the new President--de Costa -himself--appeared. They both went into the Casino and, I was thankful -to see, into an upstairs room, where they couldn't be shot at. I went -with them and sat down in a chair--their voices seemed to be floating -away somewhere--and the next I know was that little Jose was pulling at -my sleeve, it was just getting light, very heavy firing was going on -close by, yells and shrieks were coming from the forest, and men were -running noisily along the road beneath the window. Gerald wasn't there. - -I sprang up and followed Jose. The Casino was empty, and, as I dashed -out, a window, above me, broke and fell in little pieces at my feet. I -heard bullets flying everywhere. - -I looked down towards the stream, and people were lying on the road, -beyond the ford, firing in our direction. Jose pulled me back behind -the Casino, and we ran along the shore, waded through the stream as it -flowed over the sands, and got behind our people. Gerald wasn't there -either, only the 'Gnome,' in his big hat, waddling backwards and -forwards. - -[Illustration: William Wilson and the Gnome] - -'Geraldio? Don Geraldio?' I asked, and he stopped a moment to point -away up stream. - -He was trying to stop the shooting, because there was nobody in sight, -although bullets were flying past all the time, and very heavy firing -was going on further inland. He managed to stop it presently, and then -I had time to look round. - -Just across the stream was the little wall under which the ex-policeman -had been sitting last night. It enclosed the garden of a small bungalow, -and one side of it ran along the road, and the other along the stream. -It was light enough for me to see the road running up to the Casino, -about a hundred and fifty yards further on--the black and green flag was -still hanging there--and about three hundred yards beyond this it turned -away to the left, and we could only see the glimmer of light on the -water. As far as I could tell, we had none of our people in front of -us, but it was impossible to make out anything in the forest, on the -left of the road, and it turned out that we still had a lot of chaps -there. - -The 'Gnome' was extending his people down the beach, making them scrape -up a kind of breastwork in the sand, right down to the edge of the sea. -They began digging away like a lot of hungry wolves, and some of them -had found fishing nets, and were laying them down on the far side of the -stream. I suppose one always thinks the position one happens to be in -must be the main point of attack, and I wished to goodness that Gerald -would come along, for I didn't like the way the chaps lying in the road -kept looking back. I guessed that what Gerald had expected last night -had happened, and that Zorilla had turned at last, and thought what a -grand old chap he must be, after all his bad luck, to be able to make -his disheartened, half-starved troops attack us. - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *The Fight round the Casino* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -Well, if Zorilla intended to try and cut his way past us into San -Fernando, I'd learnt enough about the old man to know that it would be -jolly hard work to stop him, and it struck me that the little chaps, on -each side of me, were not placed in a very good position to defend the -road and the beach, and that the 'Gnome,' however plucky a chap he was, -did not seem at all certain what to do. - -The good sleep which I had had must have cleared my brain. Whatever was -the cause, I seemed to realise, all at once, exactly what ought to be -done. Of course I was tremendously excited, but I tried to calm myself -by imagining that this was only a sham-fight, and to think what would be -the natural thing to do. - -It was all very well to make our little chaps lie down behind the ford -and behind the stream where it trickled down the beach, but, however -deep it was farther inland, it was so shallow here that it hardly -covered one's boots and wouldn't stop a cat. To stop where we were, and -leave that bungalow garden wall, on the enemy's side, unoccupied, was -perfectly silly, and I looked about to see if there was not something we -could use to barricade the road itself. - -I saw those empty wagons standing in front of the Casino, and knew that -if we only pulled them across the road and put some of our chaps behind -them, it would be grand. - -First of all, for that bungalow wall, I thought, and, almost before I -knew what I was doing, I found myself dashing across the stream, and -looking over it to see if it would be any use to make the little chaps -fire over it. But for the giant palms and ferns, in the garden, I could -see right along the road, and fellows behind it could easily sweep the -road with rifle-fire. I called Jose, and he came, then the 'Gnome' came, -stood on tip-toe, looked over, and knew exactly what I meant. I seized -a _machete_, jumped over the wall, and began lopping down the palms, and -in a minute he'd sent thirty or forty chaps to help me, and began -bringing riflemen over to line the wall--he made some climb on the roof -of the bungalow, too, where they could get even a better field of fire. - -Now for those wagons, I thought, and began trotting down the road -towards the Casino, hoping that the others would come along as well, but -only Jose panted after me, singing out 'No, no!' - -'_No, Senor, no!_' the Gnome shouted, but I wasn't going back, for -another idea came to me. How about the top of the Casino itself? - -I got up to the Casino, dashed in, and ran upstairs--I knew that there -must be a way to the roof, as there were railings all round it, and it -was flat. I found a staircase leading up there, and was on top in a -jiffy, Jose following me and pulling me down to my knees, because, -directly my head had shown above the railings, there were yells from the -edge of the forest, and bullets came splattering against the house. I -wriggled myself to the edge and looked down, really only wanting to see -whether it commanded the road properly, but--my eye!--beyond that -corner, three hundred yards further along, collecting there, as far back -as I could see, were hundreds of cavalry, and the woods were thick with -infantry. - -I beckoned to Jose, and he crawled across and looked too; his face got -almost white when he saw what I had seen. - -I heard the people at the ford opening fire. '_Senor! Senor!_' Jose -cried, and pointed down into the road at our feet, and I saw there, -right below us, twenty or thirty regulars streaming across the road from -the forest to the front of the Casino--the leading ones were already -springing up the steps. - -We were down off that roof like redshanks, and as we got down to the -first floor we heard them clambering up the main staircase. We raced -down the corridor and saw the first of them. They saw us and yelled. I -fired my revolver in their faces and dashed into a back bedroom, Jose -slamming the door behind us. I knew there was a verandah outside, and -we jumped out, swarmed down a supporting pillar--like monkeys--and swung -off back along the beach, the soldiers firing at us from the verandah -we'd just left. I split one of the knees of my riding breeches, I ran so -fast. - -I didn't run so fast entirely on account of those bullets, but because I -wanted to let the 'Gnome' know what I had seen round that corner. Jose -told him, pointing up the road. - -They had commenced firing at us now from the Casino; one of our chaps -kneeling in the road dropped his rifle and fell backwards, the 'Gnome's' -big hat spun round and fell on the ground. He picked it up, put a -finger through a bullet-hole, and stuck it on again. He didn't look -frightened, but muddled--he didn't seem to know what to do. - -My aunt! it was all clear enough to me--now. - -All that heavy firing, away on the left, where my brother had gone, was -merely Zorilla's bluff, just a piece with his pretending to fall back on -El Castellar, in the night, and he meant to make his real attack along -the road. As soon as his cavalry were ready he'd launch them along the -beach and across the ford, and simply gallop into San Fernando, clearing -the way for his infantry. - -Oh, why wouldn't Gerald come and tell us what to do! - -'_Geraldio! Don Geraldio!_' I shouted to Jose, pushing him to the left, -and he understood, and bolted along the edge of the stream in among the -trees where our little men were swarming. - -We couldn't stay where we were, for the regulars simply rested their -rifles on the verandah and the window ledges and fired point-blank at -us. Several of our chaps, lying across the road, had been hit already, -and although the 'Gnome' brought more men and made them form a double -line, with fixed bayonets, ready to spring to their knees directly they -were wanted, they were terrified and kept turning to look backwards. -Every second I expected to see the cavalry come thundering round that -bend in the road, and I knew that we couldn't possibly stop them. Our -own chaps behind the low wall were certainly potting at the regulars in -the Casino, but they didn't even aim properly, they were too frightened, -simply popping up over the wall and firing haphazard. - -Three more of our men were hit, the 'Gnome' couldn't make any more fill -their places, and I knew that, in a few minutes, those who were there -would creep back among the trees. The 'Gnome' stood in the middle of -the road, behind them, one hand on his sword-hilt and the other on his -revolver holster, as brave as a lion, but I could see that he hadn't an -idea what to do. - -I knew, I knew well enough, that we couldn't stop the cavalry, but if we -could only capture the Casino and occupy that flat roof before they -charged, we might possibly check the advance of his infantry till Gerald -came back. I couldn't explain all this to the 'Gnome,' who stood there -looking stupid, with bullets flicking all round him. - -Oh, why wouldn't Gerald come and lead them!--I couldn't. - -I heard the sound of a horse galloping towards us--from behind--from San -Fernando way. Some one in white was coming along as hard as his horse -could go. Gerald at last, I thought, and my heart thumped with joy, but -it wasn't, it was Seymour. As he leapt off his horse it fell in the -road, dead, and before it had finished shuddering, half-a-dozen chaps -were fighting to take cover behind it. - -'For God's sake, help!' I said, jumping towards him. 'Zorilla's cavalry -is all round that bend--the woods are full of his infantry--they're -firing at us from the windows of the Casino, and I can't make a soul -understand.' - -'Where's your brother?' he said, out of breath. - -'Over to the left--there's been very heavy firing there--I've sent to -tell him.' - -'I've come on to tell him there's a pom-pom coming along the road--Jones -and Richardson are bringing it--it will be here in half an hour.' - -Half an hour! Good God! In half an hour all would be over. - -'We must capture the Casino,' I said, trembling with despair. 'They've -only about twenty men there at present. Tell him--tell that chap,' -pointing to the 'Gnome', who was kicking and cuffing some of the little -men, squirming on their bellies and fighting each other to get behind -two dead men who lay in the road. - -'Right you are, old chap,' and Seymour shouted to him. - -I saw his face clear, he dashed off, and in a couple of minutes had got -hold of some men--those who were lining the beach--harangued them, and -then we all rushed along the shore to the Casino. We were hidden, a -little, by that bungalow and the garden, but I saw several hit before we -got into the open, and then a dozen fell. Seymour was in front of me -with a _machete_ in his hand, I was a good second, and the 'Gnome' and -thirty or forty natives were close behind us. We poured over the -verandah into the billiard-room, but not a sign of any one was there, -and all the regulars were upstairs. Seymour yelled something, and some -of our fellows began firing up through the ceiling, bringing the plaster -down in clouds. I and some others dashed for the main staircase, but, -at the top, the regulars were gathered, and were firing down. - -It was the most appalling din--rifles firing, mirrors and glasses -smashing, and wood-work splintering all round us. Our men wouldn't face -the stairs. - -'There's a back staircase,' I heard Seymour yell, and I went after him. -We clattered up and burst on those chaps from the rear. There was a -scuffle, Seymour shouted down for our people to stop firing, and in five -minutes there wasn't a living regular in the house. Most of them had -escaped by sliding down from the verandah, and had run back into the -forest again, shooting at any one who went near a window. - -'On the roof!' I heard Seymour shouting, and rushed back to find him -leaning on the banisters--the excited little brown men, thirsting for -more blood, crowding up the stairs, past him. He looked awfully white. - -'What's the matter?' I yelled. - -'Shot through the stomach--make these chaps line the roof.' - -I saw the 'Gnome' dashing from room to room, placing his men at the -windows, and I rushed up to the roof, pushing all the chaps in front of -me, and made them lie down along the four edges, shoulder to shoulder -with their rifles pointing over the concrete ledge--across the beach at -the rear of the house, back towards the stream where Seymour's dead -horse was lying, across the road in front of the Casino, and, on the -fourth side, right along the road and round that bend in it. The -cavalry men were still clustered there, and they were so numerous that I -couldn't see the end of them among the trees; some were dismounted, so -that Zorilla evidently was not ready yet. - -'Fire! Fire!' I yelled, pointing towards them, but the little chaps -seemed numbed and frightened at the sight of them and wouldn't fire. I -suppose they were overawed by the sight of the cavalry, or perhaps they -knew there would be no escape from that house if Zorilla's people won, -and feared to anger them. Perhaps, too, as no bullets were coming at -them they didn't want to draw their fire. Whatever it was I couldn't -get them to shoot, so I seized a man's rifle, kicked him out of the -way--pulled back the bolt to see if it was loaded--leant it against the -edge, aimed right in among the cavalry, and fired. I saw a horse fall -down in a heap, and his rider extricate himself, looking this way and -that to see where the bullet had come from. I fired again and -again--there was a stir among them--the little chaps on either side of -me bucked up and began to let off their rifles--the cavalry began -fidgeting, crowding and jostling together--more horses fell--there was a -sudden turning of the horses' heads, and they all began to retire. My -little chaps squealed with delight, the little fellow whose rifle I'd -bagged, seized it, imploring me with his black eyes to let him have a -turn, and I crawled away, breathing freely again, for the cavalry had -all retired behind the next bend in the road, and I knew that they were -not yet ready to charge. But we had drawn a tremendous fire from the -infantry in the woods, and we could not see any one to aim at. - -Then I thought of Seymour, and jumped down the stairs to see what I -could do for him. He was still leaning on the banisters--deadly pale. -'The cavalry have retired. We've time for a breather. Show me where you -are hit.' - -He pointed just below the middle of his stomach, and I knew what was the -only thing I could do, for Dr. Clegg had been teaching us 'first aid' -ever since we left Gibraltar. I tore a sheet off a bed, tore it in -strips, and wound them round his stomach as tightly as I could. 'For -God's sake, fetch me a drink,' he gasped, but Dr. Clegg had said: 'If -any of you get shot through the stomach, throw your water-bottle and -biscuits away and lie down. It's your only chance.' - -'No, not a drop!' I said, and wanted him to lie down--he wouldn't. -'I'll go on the roof. I can help there.' - -I carried him up, very gently, and laid him down in the middle--with the -little men's naked feet and their yellow soles and toes all round him. -I got a mattress, too, and made him lie on it. - -'I can just see that bend in the road,' he said; 'I can manage all -right; get those wagons across the road.' - -I had forgotten them. I ran below, slipped on the stairs--they were wet -with blood--steadied myself, and got down to the ground floor. The -'Gnome' was there, tying a table-napkin round the arm of a native. He -smiled at me. - -'Wagons!' I shouted, pointing through the doorway to where they stood. -He knew what I meant, dropped the napkin, roared to his men, and they -began pouring out from the lower rooms. We ran across the road under a -very heavy fire, got hold of the wheels of one, and, shoving for all we -were worth, pushed it into the middle of the road. The man next me -fell, shrieking, and clutched my feet; I shook him off, and we rushed -back for another wagon, and were just getting a 'move' on it when I -heard yells of '_Yuesencia! Yuesencia!_' The little chaps on the roof -who were lining that side of the Casino began shouting, '_Don Geraldio! -Don Geraldio!_' and I saw Gerald galloping up to the ford and the few -men who still lined that garden wall. I shouted out 'Hurrah!' we all -shouted, and then came a roaring noise from the road, the clatter of -horses' hoofs, and round the bend thundered the cavalry. They were -coming along the beach too, their lances and pennons lowered--and my -fellows on the roof began firing like 'billy loo.' - -'One more push--shove altogether!' I yelled. The front wheels were on -the road, but the rear ones stuck fast, and the 'Gnome' and his men -dashed back to the Casino. - -Before I could follow them, Zorilla's cavalry were on top of me. I -dodged to the rear of the first wagon as they swept round it. Over it -went, there was a jumble of horses and men, and I was dashed to the -ground, my right leg jammed down by a horse. Troopers tried to cut at me -or get me with their lances, but they were swept along by those coming -behind them. The horse which was pinning me down half struggled to its -feet, I drew my leg away, and huddled under the wagon as they thundered -along the road to the ford. - -[Illustration: "I DODGED TO THE REAR OF THE FIRST WAGON"] - -I'd been knocked a bit 'silly,' and the next I know I was hobbling up -the stairs to the roof with my right leg giving me 'gyp,' and the little -brown chaps firing like mad. - -'Look! Look!' Seymour cried, leaning on his elbows and pointing towards -San Fernando. - -Oh! My God! The cavalry had swept clean across the stream and were -dashing madly along the road and beach, but behind them they left a -trail of dead and wounded men and horses. I saw some riderless horses -dashing backwards and forwards, and then had to lie down because the -firing was so heavy. I hadn't seen Gerald, and there seemed to be no -one alive at the ford. - -'The infantry are advancing now,' Seymour told me, but it was that cloud -of cavalry galloping towards San Fernando that I couldn't take my eyes -off--there must have been five hundred of them, and we could hear the -noise they made though they were a mile away. - -'D'you hear that?' Seymour cried; 'Jones and Richardson have started -firing.' - -Hear! Why, I jumped to my feet and yelled with delight, for the -'pom--pom--pom--pom,' 'pom--pom--pom,' 'pom--pom--pom' and the -'crack--crack--crack' of the little one-pound shells bursting, told me -what had happened. - -'Keep down, you fool!' Seymour shouted. Bullets were shrieking past, -chipping against the concrete every second, and Zorilla's infantry were -coming down the road and through the trees, in close order, sweeping -past the Casino towards the ford. - -My aunt! how we shot! I'd never heard any noise like the noise of the -firing that went on then, and I wonder, now, how many of those rifles -were properly aimed. - -The Casino seemed to be trembling and shaking, my little chaps began -scrambling in the bottom of their bags for cartridges, and I knew that -they were running short of ammunition, but then they began shrieking -with joy, because the infantry couldn't stand the fire from Gerald's -chaps along the stream, and we saw them dodging back again from tree to -tree, and clearing away from the road--a tall gaunt officer, on -horseback, trying to stem the retreat and turn them round again. - -Even at that distance I recognised him. It was General Zorilla, but he -couldn't make them face the stream again, and they swept past him out of -sight. - -'The cavalry are broken!' Seymour cried joyfully, and, turning my head, -I saw them coming back again, the pom-pom shells knocking up little -spurts of dust and smoke among them, and some of Gerald's people at the -side of the road firing point-blank at them. They were having an awful -time, horses and men coming down every second, and as a horse fell, it -brought down others behind it, in a heap of struggling bodies and legs, -the little white-shirted men darting out from the trees with their -_machetes_ to kill the wretched troopers before they could get to their -feet. - -Those still on horseback came nearer and nearer, the leading ones were -almost up to the ford, and I could see them lying down on their horses' -necks, their arms raised in front of their heads, as Gerald's people -crowded to the side of the road to fire at them; they burst through the -stream and came flying past the front of the Casino, many horses -riderless, their flanks streaming with blood from sharp spurs, and their -blood-shot eyes almost sticking out of their heads. We could hear the -sobbing noise they made in their distress--poor brutes, they were -absolutely foundered. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF OPERATIONS ROUND SAN FERNANDO.] - -Those of my chaps, on the roof, who had any cartridges left let off -their rifles at them again, and at others who were lashing their poor -tired brutes through the sand, along the beach, at the back of the -house. I don't think that more than a couple of hundred got back beyond -that bend in safety. One, a powerful-looking native, half-nigger, was -the last to come struggling along the beach. Hundreds of bullets were -hitting the sand all round him and splashing in the water beyond, but he -seemed to bear a charmed life. He'd thrown away his rifle and his -lance, and as he came to that line of Gerald's people across the beach, -he put his hand in front of his face, bent low over his horse's neck, -and charged right through them. I felt jolly glad to see him safe and -coming towards us, but then one of my own little chaps ran out from the -Casino, down the beach, knelt down, raised his rifle, and waited for -him. - -The trooper saw him, struck his poor beast with the flat of his sword, -and made one gallant effort to ride him down, but the horse was so -exhausted that he could hardly raise a trot in that loose sand. The -little kneeling man fired, and the horse plunged on to its head and -rolled over, the trooper slipping to his feet and jumping clear. With a -yell he grabbed his sword and rushed at the little man, and I thought my -chap was finished, but he had another cartridge in his rifle, fired -again, and the big trooper slithered forward, clawed at the sand, and -was dead. I felt jolly sorry, but the men on the roof, watching with -bloodthirsty eyes, jumped to their feet and yelled, and the little man, -bending over the body, pulled off the big trooper's boots, stuck them on -his own feet, and came awkwardly up to the Casino again, his face -beaming with pride. - -I felt rather sick, and looked round. Seymour was on his knees. - -'We've won,' he cried, with a wild look in his eyes. 'I've done my bit, -too.' He raised himself to his feet, and would have fallen if I hadn't -caught him and lowered him on his mattress. - -I heard shouts of '_Don Geraldio!_' '_Viva los Horizontals!_' and -looking over into the road, saw dear old Gerald stalking along smoking -his pipe, making big strides over dead men and horses, and Jose, in his -red sash, leading his horse behind him. I ran down to meet him as he -came up the steps. - -'We've won, Gerald!' I sang out. - -'You've made a beastly mess of the Casino, Billums; I hope no one has -collared the mater's bag,' was the only thing he said. - - -Well, that finished the 'Two Days' Fight' as it was called; Gerald's -chaps were too worn out and too short of ammunition to follow Zorilla -immediately, and gave him time to withdraw, with the remnant of his -people, along the road to El Castellar. - -Jones and Richardson came along presently with their two pom-poms and -five or six hundred riflemen they had brought from San Fernando. They -were awfully full of 'buck.' - -'We frightened those cavalry chaps with our shells, and these little -brownies stopped them with their rifles,' they told us, as we all -carried Seymour down from the roof and put him in his buggy, which -turned up from somewhere or other. - -They took him back--very slowly and gently--to San Fernando, and -intended to take him on board the _Hector_. - -'Thank God, you came!' I said. 'You were just in time.' - -He smiled wildly, wanted to say something, but didn't, and was taken -away. - -And now came the saddest of all things, for the wounded began to creep -out of the forest and make their way to the Casino or be carried -there--hundreds of them--and there wasn't a piece of lint or a bandage -in the place. They simply squatted down and waited--for what I don't -know. I got a good many of them water from the Casino well, and they -were very grateful, but I couldn't do anything else. - -I missed Gerald, went in search of him in the Casino, heard the noise of -splashing water, and found him having a cold bath, Jose standing by to -rub him down. - -'Only thing which keeps me awake, Billums,' he laughed. 'I've given my -chaps a couple of hours' sleep, and shall follow Zorilla as soon as -those field-guns you took into San Fernando come along. I've sent for -them.' - -'They don't seem to be going to sleep yet,' I said, for there was any -amount of noise outside and shouting of '_Viva Don Geraldio! Viva los -Inglesas!_' - -'They want me, I expect,' he said; 'chuck us a towel, Billums,' and, -winding it round him, he went out. He still had a nasty scar on the -right arm--where that bit of shell had hit him a month ago. - -'Tidy your yellow mop a bit,' I sang out, 'it's all over your eyes,' so -he smoothed it back and went out on the balcony overlooking the road. - -My aunt! there must have been thousands of the little brown men and -their black-bearded officers there, and they made a tremendous noise, -shouting, '_Viva Yuesencia Don Geraldio!_' - -I was looking out from behind a door, and you bet I was proud of old -Gerald. Wouldn't the mater have just loved to see him there, the only -white-skinned chap among them, and wouldn't the old pater have grinned -and chuckled to think he'd been the father of him. I could just imagine -him patting Gerald's naked shoulder and tipping him a sovereign. - -There were more yells. - -'Come out, Billums, they want you!' - -I went cold all over. - -'Come out, you ass! Take your hat off too--let 'em see your straw -thatching.' - -I went and stood beside him, and it was the proudest thing that ever -happened to me; it was nothing but a sea of brown heads and white hats, -rifles and bayonets, and then they yelled and waved their hats--even -those of the wounded who could stand, stood up and shouted, '_Viva los -Hermanos!_'[#] - - -[#] Hermanos = brothers. - - -When the noises stopped a bit, I sang out, '_Gracias! Gracias! Muchas -Gracias!_'--about the only Spanish words I knew. They cheered more than -ever. - -'Quite effective show, that,' Gerald smiled cynically, as he went back -to dress, 'you and I standing there by the side of the insurgent flag. -They love anything like that.' - -I hadn't really noticed the flag--I'd been much too nervous. - -'That little fiend of yours tried his tricks on again last night, tried -to knife me,' he said presently. - -'And you killed him?' - -'I took away his knife and boxed his ears,' he told me, lighting his -pipe with one of my last matches. 'It's a treat to get a decent match, -Billums, I hate those "stinkerados"[#] we get in this confounded -country.' - - -[#] 'Stinkerados' is a term applied to the ordinary foul-smelling -Spanish sulphur matches. - - -'Confounded country!' I answered angrily. 'You seem to be risking a -good deal for it. I wished to goodness you'd killed the beast." - -'My dear Billums, I'd fight on either side so long as I could get a bit -of excitement--so long as I could boss the show.' - -'I wish to goodness I could chip in with you,' I told him. 'I don't -even boss the gun-room--not properly, the Commander thinks.' Oh, bother -the _Hector_! I remembered that my leave was up at noon. 'Bother it -all, Gerald, I've got to keep the "afternoon" watch, and see that a boat -doesn't shove off with the fenders over its side, and listen -respectfully whilst the Commander bellows at me that a man hasn't got -his chin-stay down, and that I'm an incompetent, useless fool. It's -nearly ten o'clock now and I must be off.' - -He got me a horse, and I left him, his worn-out little brown chaps, and -his wounded, and shoved off back to San Fernando, galloping along the -beach, and learnt then what an unsuccessful cavalry charge meant; for -the shore was strewn with dead and dying horses, dead men, rifles, -swords, lances, and, more conspicuous than anything else, the red -blankets they'd thrown away in their retreat. The tide, too, had risen -and was half covering some of the bodies with sand, as if it wanted to -hide the horrid sight and wipe out all traces of that awful morning's -work. - -I was looking about me for something to take back for the mater, and had -passed any number of ordinary swords, which were not worth the trouble -of dismounting, but at last saw one with a very elaborate hilt and -sword-knot, lying close to a body stretched face downwards in the sand, -so jumped off and picked it up. The uniform on the body was that of an -officer, and out of curiosity I turned the head round with my foot. -Ugh! It was Zorilla's black A.D.C., the chap who had been so impressed -with our after 9.2 gun that day we anchored off Los Angelos. I -scrambled back into the saddle with his sword and rode on, shuddering -and thinking a lot of things which I couldn't write down, without you -laughing at me. - -Presently, as I got a bit more chirpy, and began looking round again, I -saw a little chap trudging along ahead of me, splashing through the edge -of the sea where the sand was firmer. Something about him seemed -familiar, and as I overtook him he looked round, gave a yelp of fright, -and bolted, drawing a _machete_ out of his belt. It was the little -brute, and I dug my heels into the horse and was after him like a shot. -I simply rode him down--he couldn't run fast in the loose sand--and at -last turned, holding up the _machete_ to protect himself. I was jolly -glad that he'd lost his revolver, for I had lost mine somewhere. I -meant to kill him, and I saw that he knew it, and that he couldn't be -springy on his feet in the sand, and struck at him for all I was worth -with the A.D.C.'s sword, meaning to beat down his guard and get at his -head, but the horse swerved when he saw the sword flash, and the blade -only came down on the back of the hand which held the _machete_ and -lopped the fingers clean off, the _machete_ falling down. I wrenched -the horse round and went at him again, and was just going to finish him -when, I'm sorry to say, something inside me wouldn't let me kill him now -that he couldn't defend himself, and, like the ass I am,--how I cursed -myself for it afterwards--I jumped off and tried to stop the bleeding. -He thought me a fool, I know, and so I was. - -Then I made him step out alongside me, and was so angry with myself for -being so soft-hearted that I prodded him in the back when he wouldn't go -fast enough. - -But the miserable brute, with his bleeding stumps, was nearly dead with -fright and could hardly put one foot in front of another, so at last I -swung him up in front of me, and took him into San Fernando like that, -riding up to the _Cuartel de Infanteria_, where a 'red-cross' flag was -flying, and handing him over to the people there, trying to explain that -he was a prisoner. - -My Christopher! the look he gave me when I went away! - -I left my horse at the barracks, walked down to the shore, stood on that -jetty, and waved my arms about till one of the _Hector's_ signalmen -spotted me, and the skiff was sent in to take me off. - -I had just time to change into uniform, and get a bit of grub in the -gun-room, before the 'Forlorn Hope,' who'd kept the 'Forenoon' watch and -wanted his lunch, sent down an indignant message to know when I was -going to relieve him, so up I went, buckling on my sword-belt, and -tramped up and down the quarterdeck for four hours. I'm certain that I -could never have stopped awake had not Cousin Bob, the 'Angel,' and -young Marchant walked alongside me and made me tell them all that had -happened ashore. - -When I went down below again, I showed the black A.D.C.'s sword to -Navarro, and told him, as well as I could, all that had happened. He -was very depressed, chiefly because he was so fond of old Zorilla, but -didn't seem to worry in the least about the black A.D.C., and made me -keep the sword. - -He shrugged his shoulders when I told him about not killing that little -ex-policeman, and said, 'Till he die he always make revenge,' which made -me think myself more of an ass than ever for not having killed him when -I had the chance. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *San Fernando attacked from the Sea* - - - _Written by Captain Grattan, R.N._ - - -Much to my relief, young Wilson came off in time to keep his afternoon -watch, none the worse for his extremely exciting forty-eight hours' -leave, and directly he had told me that all fighting had ceased, I sent -Watson, my Fleet Surgeon, and my young Surgeon, Clegg, ashore to help -patch up the wounded, giving them as many chaps as they wanted to take -to help them, and writing a polite note to the New President's Secretary -informing him of the fact. I knew that every doctor would be wanted, -because the fighting had been very severe and all that morning we had -seen streams of wounded men dragging themselves back from Marina along -the road by the sea. Already one Englishman, a man named Seymour, had -been brought off to the ship, badly wounded, but he died as he was being -hoisted on board, so his friends took the body ashore again. - -I went ashore, myself, soon afterwards, and found everybody at the Club. -A cheery lot of chaps they were, in spite of their pal's death, and when -the little Secretary, who had heard that I had come ashore and followed -me there, bowed himself in half and said, 'The President is much -gratitude for the guns,' they yelled with delight. - -'The hydraulic machinery you brought from Princes' Town,' they roared. -'We couldn't have managed without it--just came in the nick of time,' -and then bundled my little friend into the next room. They told me that -the whole of General Zorilla's artillery had been captured, and, before -I went back to the ship, drove me down to have a look at it--four -field-guns of French manufacture, four English field-guns, and two 4.7's -on field carriages. - -'Those English guns don't seem to have done much work,' I suggested, -screwing my eyeglass in very hard, 'do they?' and they explained that -they'd been busy polishing them up ever since they'd been brought -in--that was why they looked so new. - -It struck me that, now the insurgents--or I suppose I should say Gerald -Wilson--possessed all these guns and had knocked Zorilla so hopelessly, -they had only to capture El Castellar to make themselves safe from the -Santa Cruz Navy. Once they had captured it, the guns there would -prevent any cruisers passing through the narrow entrance, and they could -sit still and wait till that big cruiser, _La Buena Presidente_, came -along and made them masters of the sea. - -I told my friends, the Englishmen, about that little 'accident' down at -El Castellar with our 9.2, and they were highly amused--everything -seemed to amuse them that day. A most cheery lot they were, and when I -wished them good-bye, before getting into my boat, and asked them what -they actually had done with the hydraulic machinery I had brought them, -they were more amused than ever, and I left them enjoying some little -joke they had. - -Old 'Spats' sent me a wireless signal from the _Hercules_ next day to -tell me that _La Buena Presidente_, flying the black and green flag, had -put into Madeira to coal, but had been refused permission. If that was -the case, she'd have a good deal of trouble to arrange for colliers to -meet her at sea, and it might be many weeks before she arrived here. - -Things went along remarkably peaceably for the next few days, my two -doctors were up to their necks in work ashore, and hardly had time to -come aboard and ask after my gout, and we heard that Gerald Wilson had -driven Zorilla and his army into El Castellar and was investing it. - -Then, one fine morning, along came the whole of the Santa Cruz fleet, -cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo-boats, escorting half-a-dozen -tramp-steamers filled with troops. - -They anchored close to El Castellar--we could see their smoke plainly -enough--and began firing--shelling Wilson's trenches, we presumed. Of -course we all thought they'd do the natural thing--land their troops -there, drive off the insurgents, join hands with all that was left of -Zorilla's army--about two thousand infantry--and come marching along the -seashore under cover of the ships' guns. This was evidently what -Wilson's brother thought, for we could see his people streaming out from -San Fernando, along the road to Marina, towards El Castellan. - -Well, I suppose I'm a bit of a fool, but when I was a youngster I should -have been mad to have missed anything like that, so I sent for the -Commander, and told him he could give leave to the mids. and as many of -the officers as he could spare. Most of them were already crowding on -the fore bridge and up in the fore fire-control position, trying to see -the Santa Cruz ships through their telescopes, but they clambered down -in a twinkling, and cleared ashore in less than half an hour. - -'Don't get into mischief or there'll be the dickens to pay,' I sang out -to them, and, of course, immediately afterwards regretted letting them -go. - -They had been gone about two hours, and we'd seen them driving or -walking out towards El Castellar, when the firing ceased, and it was -reported to me that the fleet and transports were standing towards us. - -I went along to my spare cabin, which I had given up to fat little -Navarro (Zorilla's A.D.C.) whilst he was aboard, with his broken thigh, -and told him what was happening. He was very excited, and craned his -neck out of his scuttle to see the advancing ships. - -In an hour they were abreast the _Hector_, and steamed slowly past. -First their flagship, the _Presidente Canilla_, then the still smaller -cruiser, _San Josef_, the old-fashioned torpedo gunboat, _Salvador_, the -rakish _Estremadura_, an armed steam yacht, and the _Primero de Maie_, -looking like a Gosport ferry steamer. They were steaming at about seven -knots, but even at that speed the _Primero de Maie_ and the _Salvador_ -could not keep station. Although I had a marine guard on the -quarterdeck, my fat Subaltern of Blue Marines--the Forlorn -Hope--flourishing his sword, and the bugler sounding an Admiral's -salute, as the flagship crawled past, she took not the slightest notice -of us, and we were all intensely amused to see the officers on her fore -bridge gazing everywhere except in our direction, absolutely pretending -to ignore the fact that we were there at all. - -When you remember that barely seven weeks ago my ship had towed the -whole five of them out from behind the breakwater of Los Angelos, it was -all the more funny. - -They fired a few shells into the town as they went past it, not more -than three hundred yards from the shore, and I wondered whether my -humorous friends at the Club were laughing quite so heartily. Half a -mile astern of them came the two old-fashioned French torpedo-boats and -the first of the transports, crowded with blackamoors, with yellow and -green stripes in their hats, hooting and hissing as they passed close to -us, though their officers, standing up amidships, took off their hats -and bowed to make up for their men's rudeness. I took off mine and -swept it to the deck in the most approved Spanish fashion. - -Three more little transports lumbered by chock-a-block with troops, and -the whole armada anchored at the head of the bay, about two miles beyond -the town, and immediately began lowering their boats. My Sub was -terribly put out. 'I'm afraid they've caught my brother napping this -time, sir,' he said to me. 'He must have rushed all his troops out -there early this morning, and look, sir, you can see them hurrying back -again. They'll be too late.' I proceeded to give him a little lecture -on the advantages of possessing the 'Command of the Sea.' 'A very neat -illustration, my boy, right in front of your eyes. Canilla moves his -troops about by sea--dumps them here and there, wherever he likes, -whilst your brother, uncertain where he's going to land 'em, runs his -chaps off their legs, backwards and forwards.' - -'It's jolly hard luck, sir,' he answered, not relishing my short course -of instruction on strategy. - -In half an hour we saw three or four boats crowded with troops make for -the shore, saw the black ragamuffins jumping into the shallow water, -scrambling up the beach and lining the top of it, whilst more boats came -along from the transports. They went to and fro so rapidly that, before -the insurgents could get back to San Fernando, they must have had nearly -a thousand men ashore. At last some insurgents began to pour out of the -town along the beach, but directly they came in view, the cruisers began -to fire at them, their shells bursting right among them on the beach, -and the road, and among the trees behind it. The insurgents scattered -like smoke. - -Presently we heard a good deal of rifle firing from the same spot, and -Wilson sang out, very excitedly, 'They're still there, sir; I can see -them crawling along the beach, and there are others in the woods. The -regulars are firing rifles at them now, sir.' - -However, regular troops were being landed in such numbers, and we could -see that they had already begun to push their way towards the town so -determinedly, that I thought there was every likelihood of San Fernando -being captured within an hour or two, and wished to goodness I had not -allowed all those officers of mine to go ashore. - -I had just sent for the Commander, to see what could be done about -recalling them, when suddenly two loud reports of guns fired from -somewhere behind the town made me jump--they sounded so close, and were -so unexpected--and two spouts of water leapt up among the anchored ships -close under the bows of the _Presidente Canilla_. I guessed at once -that they came from those two 4.7 guns I had seen ashore, and smiled to -see my Sub's face brighten. We all looked through our telescopes again -to see what would happen. 'Bang! Bang!' the reports knocked against -our ears, the two guns had fired again, and two more water-spouts sprang -up just beyond the flagship. The noise came from the back of the town, -but I'm hanged if I could see the guns, though I searched the whole of -that tree-covered ridge most carefully. - -I turned my glass on the ships and saw that they were all in confusion, -their crews running about like ants, and then a spurt of flame shot out -from the fo'c'stle of the flagship, and a large shell screamed and -shrieked over the town. The other cruisers began firing too, their -shells dropping all over the place, but very seldom bursting. One -struck a patch of swamp, and sent the mud flying up in fine style. - -The two shore guns fired again, and this time I did see the thin -brownish smoke for a second, but a moment later couldn't see the guns -themselves. - -'The flagship's got one aboard, sir!' several people shouted. She was -covered with smoke for twenty or thirty seconds, but when it cleared -away we could not see what damage had been done, and she still fired the -big gun on her fo'c'stle and the little ones on one side of her battery. -She was searching that ridge, trying to find those guns, but was making -execrable shooting. - -'They're going back to their boats, sir!' Wilson shouted, and turning my -glass on the shore, I saw the ragamuffins hurrying down as fast as -they'd scampered up half an hour ago, clustering at the edge of the -water, and wading out towards the boats. I watched one boat-load pulling -like blazes back to its transport, and, just as it got alongside, these -two guns fired again and, simultaneously, I saw two black gaps appear in -the transport's side. One spout of water sprang up on the lee side, so -I knew that one shell must have gone clean through her, but the other -evidently burst aboard, for smoke poured up from amidships. - -These transports didn't do much waiting for boats then, they simply -slipped their cables and got under way, steaming farther out from the -shore--the boats pulling frantically after them. - -The cruisers, too, weighed their anchors and hauled off in a hurry. In -fact, they were in so much confusion, and in such a hurry, that the -_Estremadura_, whilst trying to avoid being rammed by the flagship, ran -'slap' into the little _Primero de Maie_, and when they separated, we -saw that her stem was twisted, and that the little gunboat had a big gap -in her side. She suddenly fell over to starboard, and was so evidently -sinking that I sent the Commander away in the picket-boat to help save -life. By the time he'd reached her, only her one mast and the top of -her funnel could be seen, and the water was thick with little black -heads. - -The other ships left most of the 'save life' business to the -picket-boat, and steamed off, firing wildly all the time, though as we -who were near could not see those two shore guns, _they_ certainly -couldn't, and hadn't a chance of hitting them. - -The whole flotilla steamed very slowly along the opposite shore, waiting -there a little while for their boats, but those two guns soon picked up -the range again, and quickened their retreat, actually having the cheek -to fire once or twice at them when the _Hector_ was in the direct line -of fire, the shells going right over my ship. - -The cruisers and transports got out of range presently, and again waited -for those of their boats which were still pulling desperately after -them. - -One wretched boat, crowded with soldiers, had taken a short cut past the -town, and as it came towards us, we saw that it was under a heavy -rifle-fire from the shore, bullet splashes jumping up all round it. - -The men were pulling frantically, ran the boat under our side--the side -away from the town--where they were safe--and stopped to take breath. I -recognised the officer standing in the stern-sheets--the smart chap who -had put old 'Spats' and myself into our seats in Santa Cruz Cathedral. -He recognised me too, and, taking off his hat, sung out, '_Permis--sion, -Yuesencia_, to stay.' - -'Tut! tut! boy! Stay as long as you like,' I called down, and pointed -to the gangway. 'Come on board and have a drink.' - -He got his boat alongside, and was up the ladder in a twinkling. I took -him down below. He was very excited, and kept shrugging his shoulders -and spreading out his hands. - -'_Nous sommes trahis--trahis_! Before that we depart from Los Angelos, -ze guns of ze forts make _plusieurs coups_--bang!--bang!--bang! We all -up jump--we ask _pourquoi_ they do so? They tell us General Zorilla has -won _une grande bataille--los insurrectos sont vaincus -completement--allez!--allez!--San Fernando est le votre. Nous sommes -trahis--trahis! Nous arrivons a El Castellar_--what we find? _El -General? Oui! Mais l'armee?_--where is it? _L'artillerie_--all -gone--_peuf_! We are brave--we advance--_et quoi_!' he shrugged his -shoulders till I thought he'd dislocate them. 'You see what arrive--and -they leave me en arriere--behind. _Peuf! Nous sommes trahis!_' - -I tried to soothe him, praised his great courage, and sent the -picket-boat, which had already brought back the few people from the -sunken gunboat who had not got aboard their own ships, to tow him and -his boats down to the transports. I knew that the insurgents would not -fire on her when she was protected by the steamboat's White Ensign, and -as we had helped them several times, we might as well do the Government -troops a good turn--once in a way. Then I went ashore myself--the smoke -of the gallant armada smudging the opposite side of the bay as it -steamed back to El Castellar. I went ashore in uniform, too--Perkins, -my First Lieutenant, coming with me, and the Comfort, my coxswain, -following at a respectful distance behind. - -I was doing my best to work myself into a temper, for I wanted to know -what the dickens the Provisional Government and Mr. Gerald Wilson meant -by firing over my ship, but I'd hardly got ashore, before Mr. Gerald -Wilson came galloping past--on his way back along the coast--and I -forgot about the shells over my ship, and sung out, 'Beaten 'em again! -Good lad! Good lad!' - -'I hope he didn't hear the "good lad" part,' I said to Perkins, as -Wilson galloped on. 'Afraid I wasn't very angry with him.' - -'I don't think you were,' he said, smiling. I really don't think I was. - -We met hundreds of the insurgents pouring back through the town, -sweating like pigs, but wild with enthusiasm at the defeat of the -Government troops, shouting '_Viva los Inglesas_' as they passed us on -their long march back to El Castellar. - -'I don't see how we helped 'em to-day,' I said to Perkins, who was -hobbling along on his game leg beside me. - -'Nor do I, sir, but they seem jolly pleased.' - -I found de Costa and his blooming Provisional Government--they were all -bows and scrapes and hand-spreading. - -'I want to know how you had the confounded impertinence to fire over my -ship?' was what I said to the little Secretary. - -I don't know what he repeated, and for a minute there was terrible -consternation among them. They all--theoretically--grovelled in the -dust before me. But then they began to smile. - -'His Excellency the Presidente will take you to see ze two gons,' the -Secretary told me, and I think there was a twinkle in his eye. - -He did take us, I, de Costa, and his Secretary driving solemnly in one -carriage, Perkins and the rest of the Provisional Government crowding -into another. We rattled through the lanes, along which Gerald Wilson -had driven me, and stopped on top of the ridge. Here we got out, and -had to tramp along it. - -'You will see a sur-prise,' the Secretary bowed--I'm certain that now -there was a twinkle in his eye. - -We tramped along for a hundred yards or so, turned round a bit of a -cocoa plantation, and there, behind a slope, was the first gun, and -sitting on the top of one wheel was Bob Temple, and on the other, young -Sparks--the 'Angel' they called him--both as black as my hat, swilling -kola bitters,[#] whilst my young clerk, Marchant, with his hand bound up -in a blood-stained handkerchief, and half-a-dozen other mids. were lying -on the slope, most of them doing the same. Twenty or more ragamuffins -were standing by with baskets full of more bottles of kola, and trays of -pastry, and the ground was littered with empty brass cylinder cases. - - -[#] Kola bitters is a sweetish pink aerated water. - - -So it was they who'd fired over the _Hector_, was it! and I wished to -goodness that I could look impressive and angry when I wanted to. - -They'd sprung to attention when they saw me, and the only thing I could -say was, 'Tut! tut! disgraceful!--go on board at once--your leave's -stopped for ever--tut! tut!' and as they picked up their coats and -obeyed me, I stalked away to the other gun, fifty yards farther along. - -Well, the rest of my beauties were there, but I'd had time to fix my -eyeglass, and had worked up a fierce glare--I can glare much more -successfully behind an eyeglass. - -Mr. Bostock, my Gunner, was with them, too, in plain clothes, looking -very sheepish, and trying to put one foot on the ground between two -brass cylinders which would roll together. - -'You ought to have known better, Mr. Bostock,' I said. - -'Beg you pardon, sir,' he muttered humbly, 'but it was like this. I -'appened to stroll up 'ere, arter the firing began--just to 'ave a look, -sir--and I sees the young gen'l'men 'aving a bit of a spree.' - -'And you helped them--you ought to be ashamed of yourself.' - -'Well, sir, it was like this, sir, I didn't want the young gen'l'men to -disgrace 'emselves in front of all this kittle cattle, so I just stays -'ere, sir, to see they do the drill proper, sir.' - -'Well, go aboard and report yourself to the Commander. I'll see you -to-morrow.' - -'_Viva los Inglesas! Viva la Marina Inglesa!_'[#] yelled the -ragamuffins, as I solemnly marched back to the carriage, and drove back, -trying to avoid the eyes of de Costa and his Secretary, who were -tittering and grinning delightedly. - - -[#] Hurrah for the English Navy. - - -'Hi, lad! Get in here,' I called to Marchant, as we overtook the boys -from the first gun. 'What's the matter with your right hand?' - -'Jammed it in the breech-block, sir. They let me do cartridge number,' -he answered proudly. - -'Bad?' I asked. - -'One finger's nearly off, I'm afraid, sir.' - -'Tut! tut!' I said. 'You won't be much use for writing, boy, not for -some weeks.' - -'I'm afraid not, sir--I'm very sorry, sir.' - -Dear, dear! If all this got known, I knew I should get into a terrible -row at the Admiralty--it was very tiresome. - -When I got aboard I sent for my steward. - -'How many can I ask to dinner to-night, please, Mobbs?' - -'We might do eight, sir,' he allowed, after a time. - -'Give my compliments to Mr. Bostock when he comes aboard, and ask him to -give me the pleasure of his company at dinner to-night, the same to Mr. -Marchant and the five senior midshipmen when they come aboard.' - -'Very good, sir,' he said, much annoyed, 'but it won't be what we call a -'igh-class dinner, sir.' - -'Tut! tut! That doesn't matter, Mobbs. We'll not grumble,' I told him, -as he went away to consult the cook, scratching his head in despair. - -We didn't grumble, and I made the Comfort stand behind young Marchant -and cut up his meat for him--it was about the only job he was fit -for--and we finished the evening in poor little Navarro's cabin trying -to cheer him. - -He was very down on his luck--poor little chap. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *How We fought the Four Point Sevens* - - - _Written by Midshipman Bob Temple_ - - -You _must_ hear about that lark we had at San Fernando--the day the -Santa Cruz fleet steamed up from El Castellar with the transports. - -The Angel and I were perched on top of the for'ard fire-control -position, watching the ships shelling Cousin Gerald's troops at the -entrance, near the fort, but though we could hear the guns plainly -enough, and sometimes see their flashes, the ships themselves only -looked like black specks under a cloud of smoke. - -Mr. Montague, the Gunnery Lieutenant, who was in the control position -beneath us, kept on craning his neck round the edge of the sloping iron -plate we were squatting on and singing out, 'Don't you two midshipmen -fall off! You'd probably kill the Captain and make a nasty mess on the -deck, so be careful.' - -'Right, sir,' we sang out, and jammed our feet against one of the -foremast backstays, and made ourselves as snug as sparrows on a -water-spout. - -'I think we should land on the shelter deck and bounce off on top of the -for'ard turret, don't you?' I said, as my chum and I looked down. - -'Wouldn't old "Bellows" (the Commander) be in a rage if we splodged his -best enamel paint!' he said, and we jolly well knew that he'd roar out -for Billums, curse him, and tell him he didn't know how to boss the -'Pigstye' (our name for the gun-room) and keep discipline. - -'Try one of their caps,' the 'Angel' whispered, 'and see where it -falls,' so I crouched over the edge just under which several of the -mids. in the control position were crowded together, watching the ships, -and whanged off two of their caps, sending them whizzing down on deck. - -One fell right at old Bellows's feet. - -I hadn't time to scramble back before he spotted who'd done it, and -roared for me to come down at once. He was going to make me take them -up again when the Captain sang out that we could all go ashore, and you -should have seen all those chaps swarming down the mast to get into -plain clothes. - -Young Marchant wanted awfully badly to stick to the 'Angel' and me when -we did get on shore, and we told him he could if he didn't talk. It was -jolly kind of us, and he was awfully grateful. - -There weren't any of Cousin Gerald's troops left in the town by this -time, we only saw a few frightened-looking old men and women about, and -not a horse or a cart was to be had--not even a mule--for love or money, -so we had to start footing it, on our flat feet, out along the sea road, -towards the fighting. On our way we passed the stable where General -Zorilla's black horse--the one Billums had captured--was kept, and -popped our heads in to see how he was going on. He hadn't been sent -back to Zorilla, because that foot was still too lame to do any work. - -But long before we got to Marina and the Casino, where Billums had -fought that battle from the top of the roof, we saw the fleet coming -along the coast towards us, and some of the insurgents coming back, too, -as fast as they could. - -We guessed at once what would happen, and that the regulars would be -able to land long before enough insurgents gathered to prevent them -doing so. We were jolly frightened. - -'I wonder what's become of those two 4.7's we helped put together?' the -'Angel' said, and we both wondered, because they were the only guns -Cousin Gerald had which might be of any use in driving off the fleet. -We were hurrying back to the town with Marchant and a lot more mids., -when an Englishman overtook us, so we called out and asked him. He -pointed to the ridge behind San Fernando and galloped on. - -It was awfully hot, and by the time we did get into the streets and -across the square we were sweating like pigs, the leading ship was -hardly a mile behind us, and though we tried to hurry along those lanes -leading to the ridge, they were so crowded with women and children -carrying things and looking back over their shoulders at the cruisers, -that we only pushed our way along very slowly. Then a mule-cart came -rattling along, the driver yelling out and driving straight through the -crowd as if he were on a fire-engine. - -'Come on! Let's run!' we shouted, and doubled along behind the cart. -At the top of the ridge it stopped, half-a-dozen chaps, who were waiting -there, pounced on it, opened the back, and lugged out some 4.7 shells. -Then we knew the guns couldn't be far off. - -'Come on!' we shouted. 'Here's a go!' and each got hold of a shell and -tramped along after the grinning natives. We found the guns just behind -the top of the ridge, dumped down our shells, and doubled back for more, -meeting young Marchant staggering along with one under each arm. - -We burst out laughing, because he'd shipped such a funny, excited 'death -or glory' look on his face. 'Go it, young Inkslinger!' we yelled, and -rushed along to the cart. Two fresh wagons had come along with some -more shells and cartridge-boxes, more men too, and it was as good as a -gun-room 'scrap.' Officers were shouting and yelling, the soldiers were -panting and running backwards and forwards, and the _Hector's_ gun-room -jolly well took a leading part, unlocking the cartridge-boxes, slinging -out the brass cylinders of cordite--the beauties--and keeping things -humming. Even some of the women chipped in, dropping their bundles and -children, and carrying shells to the guns. - -The ships were passing the town now--we could just see them by popping -our heads over the top of the ridge--and they fired off a few rounds. -We heard the shells bursting in the town, not anywhere near us, but the -noise was enough for most of the native soldiers, who dropped whatever -they were carrying and grovelled on the ground. - -The rest of them were more plucky, and carried on unloading the wagons, -but by the time they were empty, and all the ammunition had been carried -across to the guns, the fleet had anchored two miles below us and past -the town. Almost immediately the troops began coming ashore from the -transports, and the insurgent officers worked themselves into a -tremendous state of excitement, gesticulating and pointing down to the -cruisers, and getting their two guns' crews round the guns. We thought -that they would open fire in a minute, so climbed up the slope between -them, and lay there to watch what would happen. What did happen was -that a shell came along and burst in some trees close by, making a most -beastly noise, and when we looked round, both the guns' crews were -squirming on their bellies. 'Why the dickens don't you open fire?' we -yelled, and Barton and Sarah Jane jumped down and began kicking them. -They pulled an officer out from under one of the guns and shook him, -singing out, 'Fire! Fire! Bang! Bang!' - -'_Mucho malo! mucho malo!_' was all he could jolly well say, he was -shaking all over, and when another shell came lolloping along over our -heads, he bolted under the gun again like a rabbit. - -'On the word "action," officers hide under their guns,' the 'Angel' -laughed. - -The troops were simply pouring ashore all this time, and though we -couldn't actually see them land, on account of the trees near the sea, -we were in an awful funk, because hardly any of Cousin Gerald's men had -got back to the town yet. - -We tried to make those cowardly brutes fire, but they wouldn't; they -were afraid of the ships spotting them, I suppose, or perhaps they were -afraid of the guns bursting or doing something like that. - -'Come on, you chaps,' the 'Angel' sang out, 'let's show 'em the way. -We'll do it ourselves.' - -We tumbled down from the slope, threw off our coats, Barton rushed away -to the second gun, with Blotchy Smith, Sarah Jane, Young Lawson, and -four more, singing out that he bet us a sardine supper in the gun-room -that his gun made first hit, and the 'Angel' and I, the Inkslinger and -the rest, rolled up our sleeves, pushed the natives out of the way, and -fell in behind the gun. - -Oh! it was a lark if you like. - -The 'Angel' stood on the trail and squinted through the telescopic -sight, I lugged open the breech, somebody jammed in a shell, the -Inkslinger pushed in a brass cylinder after it, I whanged the -breech-block back with a bang, hung on to the firing lanyard, and -shouted out 'ready!' whilst the rest of them tried to train the gun, the -'Angel' singing out all the time, 'right,' 'right a little,' 'stop, you -idiots,' 'left.' - -'Do let me fire the first shot,' the Clerk squeaked. - -'Get out of it, Inkslinger!' I yelled. 'Get another cylinder.' The -'Angel' sang out, 'stand by!' and then 'Fire!' I gave the lanyard a -tug, and off she went, and off went Barton's gun as well. We cheered; -the grass and stuff flew up in front of the muzzle; the gun jumped back -and slid forward again, and we dashed up the slope to see where the -shots had gone. We were just in time to see the water shoot up in two -great splashes, just short of their biggest ship, and then we dashed at -the gun again, slung the breech open, hauled out the smoking cylinder, -one of the mids. shoved in another shell, and the Ink-slinger, white -with excitement, shoved in the cylinder. I shut the breech too quickly, -and caught his hand. - -'Pull it out,' we yelled, and he did, just giving a yelp, and wrapping -his handkerchief round it. Then I locked the breech and we fired again, -'Missed 'em--both of you,' a gruff voice sounded behind us, and there -was Mr. Bostock, the Gunner, standing with his hands in his pockets, and -looking vexed. - -We jolly well thought that we'd have shells coming all round us, but -they didn't, though the ships started easing off quickly enough, and -their shells banged about all over the town. The native gun-crews had -cleared out altogether--they were so terrified. - -'You ain't doin' no credit to the Royal Navy,' Mr. Bostock snorted, -lighting his old pipe, when we'd fired twice more and not hit anything; -'maybe you never learned the drill.' This of course was meant nastily. - -'Come and help,' we sang out, and he did, showing us where we were -muddling things. It was the training gear which bothered us, and he -showed us that we hadn't slacked it away enough. - -'You can't do nothing afore you number off,' he snorted again, and then -took his pipe out of his mouth, and roared, 'Gun's crew, fall out!' We -jumped back. 'Gun's crew, at'shun!' Then he gave us our proper -numbers. 'Gun's crew, number off! 'Ere, fall out, Mr. Marchant. Yer -'and's bleeding; what 'ave yer bin and done with yer 'and?' - -'It don't hurt, I can manage all right,' the ass sang out. - -'Who closed the breech?' he yelled. - -[Illustration: MR. BOSTOCK TAKES COMMAND] - -'I did,' I said; 'I closed it too quickly.' - -'Silly ass, don't meddle; you takes too much on yerself. Just give Mr. -Marchant the firing lanyard, and take on 'is job--and be nippy with 'em -cylinders.' - -So I had to do the hard work, and wasn't the Ink-slinger proud to do the -actual firing! - -'Gun's crew, fall in!' Mr. Bostock roared again. - -We jumped to the gun and took up our proper stations, and fired twice -whilst he watched the result. - -'You ain't 'it nothin' yet,' he growled. 'Cease firin'; you're a -disgrace. Fall out.' - -He went for the 'Angel' like anything about his telescopic sight, put it -right for him, and then stalked off to Barton's gun, but he'd done -everything properly, so back he came. ''Ere! get down off there--I'll -take a shot,' and the 'Angel' didn't like it a little bit when he slung -him off the trail. We rather wished he hadn't come and spoilt our fun. - -Well, that shot got the biggest cruiser amidships somewhere, and we were -so jolly pleased that we didn't mind anything. The ships had found out -now that we were perched on top of the ridge, but I'm certain they never -spotted us, because nothing came really close, and most of the shots -went overhead, and we heard them bursting amongst the trees in the -forest beyond the stream. - -You bet your life we were full of buck when the cruisers began to get -under way, and then Mr. Bostock told us to aim at the nearest transport, -and, after a few misses, we both hit her together and that did the -trick--it jolly well saved Cousin Gerald, and San Fernando too--because -the troops began embarking again, though the ships went off so quickly -that a lot of the boats had to pull after them. - -We saw the _Hector's_ picket-boat dashing to where the little gunboat -sank, and then you know exactly what happened, the whole fleet cleared -off, and we followed them as best we could, till they got out of range, -or, rather, till we had no more ammunition left. But long before that -the proper guns' crews and their officers came doubling back, and wanted -to carry on with the job, though we wouldn't let them, and they stood -behind us grinning and capering, shouting '_Viva los Inglesas!_' -whenever we nearly hit a ship. Mr. Bostock didn't worry his head any -more after the transports had begun to move off, coiled up close to -Barton's gun and had a snooze. - -'It's done me a power of good,' he said--'just like Ladysmith, only them -Boers was always firin' back.' - -You can guess how dirty we were by this time, and we were sweating like -anything--our tongues feeling as if they didn't belong to us, and we -would have given anything for a drink. - -One of the natives was sucking at a bottle of kola, and it looked so -jolly appetising that the 'Angel' bagged it, drank it, and then had a -grand idea. - -He tapped the bottle--opened his mouth--pointed to all of us (we all -opened our mouths)--sang out '_mucho bueno_'--and then pointed down to -the town. - -The officer whom we had hauled from under the gun--he was brave enough -now, and stood with his feet wide apart, twirling his moustaches and -scowling fiercely--understood what my chum meant, and sent all his men -down to the town, whilst we went on with their job, and in twenty -minutes or so, just after we'd fired the last shot, they came back with -dozens of bottles of kola and trays of buns and cakes of all sorts. - -''Aving a stand easy?' Mr. Bostock sang out, waking because the guns -weren't firing, and he chipped in, and we all had a grand feed. - -Wasn't that kola bitters good, that's all! and in the middle of it along -came the Captain, the First Lieutenant, the New President and his boss -men and fairly nabbed us. What made the Captain so angry was that we'd -fired once or twice right across the _Hector_. It was the 'Angel's' -fault--he was so excited. - -We were jolly frightened, because he glared at us from the eyeglass eye, -although he couldn't keep the other from twinkling, and he ordered us -back to the ship at once and stopped our leave for ever. - -The New President was smiling all over; I don't think he'd smiled very -often lately--he didn't look as if he had--and then we tramped back down -the lane, giving young 'Inkslinger' a bit of help, because his hand was -awfully painful and he was as pale as a ghost. They caught us up in -their carriages, and the Captain gave him a lift and took him aboard in -his own galley, a very great honour. - -'He introduced me to the President--he called me his Secretary,' he told -us, full of buck, when we got on board. - -The 'Angel' and I rushed off to find Billums and tell him what we'd -done. - -'That makes up for that silly ass newspaper "business" at Princes' -Town,' he said, and was jolly pleased. It made a lot of difference to -the gun-room when he was in a good temper, and he'd been beastly ever -since that forty-eight hours' leave. - -The 'Angel' and I didn't dine with the Captain that night, because we -were so junior, and only the five senior mids. and the Inkslinger were -asked. We were rather glad because we always felt terrified in his -cabin. - -Next day we heard that the transports had gone off in such a hurry that -more than three hundred troops were left behind, and had, of course, -surrendered to Cousin Gerald. The rest were landed down at El -Castellar, brought General Zorilla's army up to nearly four thousand -men, and in a couple of days he began marching along the coast towards -us again, the fleet steaming along with him. - -Cousin Gerald had to fall back, because he had very little ammunition -left and his men couldn't stand the shells from the ships. - -It was fearfully worrying, because every day we saw the cruisers and -those two rotten torpedo-boats getting nearer and nearer to Marina and -that Casino place which Billums had defended. With our telescopes we -could still see the black and green flag on it very clearly if there was -any breeze to blow it out. - -Then one horrid evening we saw that the ships were shelling the Casino -itself, and we were all frightfully worried and afraid that, even now, -after all we'd done, General Zorilla would win. - -The Captain wouldn't let anybody go on shore, so we got very little -news; but that day two of the Englishmen came off from the Club, and -made us more miserable than ever. They told us that Cousin Gerald had -hardly any ammunition left at all, and that the New President and the -Provisional Government were packing up and standing by, to fly into the -forest again. They thought that the town would be captured in a day or -two, and wanted to be taken on board of us, if that happened. They'd -helped the insurgents too much to stay there in safety when once the -Government troops came along. Everything was just as bad as it could -be, and we were awfully miserable. - -I do believe that the fat little A.D.C. in the Captain's spare cabin was -sorry for Cousin Gerald. We often went in to talk to him and cheer him -up, and he always had Billums's cigarette case near him, and was awfully -grateful for anything we did for him. - -'When the revolution finish, you two come and stay with me--at Santa -Cruz--I will show you the bull-fight,' he often said, and, you bet, we -promised to go. - -One morning the cruisers were only four miles away, and a great yellow -and green flag hung over the Casino, so we knew that things were pretty -black for Cousin Gerald, who, for all that, must have been hanging on -like grim death, because all that day and throughout the night rifle -firing went on, and in the dark we could see the shells bursting among -the trees. - -We hardly slept at all, fearing that Cousin Gerald would have to fall -back on the town, and feeling horrid because we'd used up all his 4.7 -ammunition, and he wouldn't be able to prevent the fleet shelling him -out of it. - -The 'Angel' and I went up to the bridge before daylight and found -Billums there--he hadn't turned in at all. - -'There's been a great deal of firing for the last hour,' he said, his -face all drawn and tired-looking, 'but it died away all of a sudden. I -don't know what to make of it--it didn't seem to get any nearer--I'm -very much afraid Gerald has surrendered or taken his chaps inland.' - -He groaned, and we waited and waited--not a sound coming from -shore--till it became light enough to see the land. - -Our eyes ached with trying to look farther than we could. Still there -was no firing. This was strange, because generally at daybreak there'd -been any amount of firing, as, in the dark, the people often got very -close to each other, or lost themselves, without knowing it, and then -fired point-blank at each other when the light showed them up. - -'What _has_ happened?' Billums groaned again. - -Then it was light enough for us to see where Cousin Gerald's men had -been last night--but there weren't any ships near there--then presently, -as we saw farther and farther along, the Casino showed up under the -trees--still no ships near the shore. - -'Look, sir! Look!' a Yeoman of Signals, who was using the big -telescope, sung out, and pulled Billums across to it. - -'Hurrah!' he shouted; 'there's a black and green flag flying over it.' -In a minute we could see it with our own telescopes, and knew that -Cousin Gerald must have recaptured it during the night. Every one -'started cheering and shouting, and woke up the Commander, who was -furious, but then joined in because the Captain came up with his -greatcoat over his pyjamas, and chuckled and cheered too. - -Well, we all stood there watching, seeing farther and farther along the -shore every minute--not a sign of the ships--till we could actually see -the high land at the entrance, near El Castellar, with a great cloud of -smoke beyond it, out to sea. - -'They've chucked it,' the Captain chuckled, and we all burst out -cheering. You should have seen us all there--fat Dr. Watson in his -pyjamas, the Forlorn Hope and the Shadow in theirs--the Shadow shivering -and his teeth chattering,--Mr. Perkins as red as a lobster, and even the -Padre had come up in a nightgown, and had been in such a hurry that he'd -forgotten his wig, and stood there as bald as a coot, all except a -little tuft of hair that stood up by itself, and made him look like that -advertisement of a hair-restorer. Nearly every one was up on the -bridge. Then the church bells in San Fernando began ringing like mad, -and we could hear the people, ashore, cheering. - -Wasn't it grand? though nobody could imagine why the fleet had gone -away. - -'I expect the Provisional Government are unpacking their bags,' the -Captain said to Dr. Watson, as they went below. 'They'll be asking for -Recognition again. They ought to get it this time.' - -We rushed off and told Billums what we had heard, because we knew that -if the Government at home _did_ recognise the Insurgent Government, -Cousin Gerald wouldn't be punished for chipping in. - -We did so hope they would. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *Bad News for Gerald Wilson* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson_ - - -Later on in the morning, after all those things had happened about which -that young ass of a cousin of mine has just told you, and after the -Santa Cruz Navy and the transports had disappeared, a boat came pulling -off to the ship with a note from old Gerald. - - -'DEAR BILLUMS--The whole "caboodle" has shoved off home--haven't an idea -why, but they were in such a hurry that they left behind them a grand -lot of ammunition--the very thing we wanted. Old Zorilla has gone back -without his black horse--never mind. There's a report that a white flag -is flying over El Castellar. I'm just off to see. GERALD.' - - -I read it out to the gun-room. Wasn't it grand for old Gerald? He'd -just about swept the board. - -I thought I'd show the letter to the Skipper, and did so--he was jolly -pleased. - -'Tut, tut, boy! I'll tell "Old Spats,"' he chuckled, and sent for a -signalman, but had hardly spoken before one came tearing in with a -'wireless' message from the _Hercules_--she was still at Princes' Town. - -'_La Buena Presidente_ put into San Josef two days ago, after carrying -out target practice, and, under shelter of Punta Rejos, coaled from a -collier. She is flying the insurgent flag.' - -'Now we know, lad! That's the reason the Santa Cruz fleet cleared off, -lad! They've heard about her. She'll be off the coast any day, and -they're flying back under the guns of Los Angelos.' - -He sent the signalman back with his message for Captain Roger Hill. - -'Tut, tut, boy! I'll be able to ask your brother to dinner in a few -days, I hope--that is, if he isn't too big a swell--makes me feel a -worm--p'r'aps he won't come--hope he will.' - -He pointed his telescope towards the shore. 'Look at those black and -green flags flying over the town. The Provisional Government are -unpacking their bags again, I expect, and if they demand Official -Recognition they'll probably get it.' - -'I hope they will, sir,' I said, and went below. You can guess how jolly -cheerful I felt, and how I blessed _La Buena Presidente_ and the people -who'd coaled her. - -I knew how awfully happy the news would make them at home, so I got -permission to send a telegram to tell them that Gerald was safe. It -went to the _Hercules_ by 'wireless,' and I jolly well hoped that some -one on board her would pay for it to be telegraphed to England. I did -so wish that old 'Ginger' and I hadn't parted 'brass rags,' and that I -could have asked him to send it. - -That afternoon the Captain sent for me; he'd shipped a sea-boot face, -and I knew that something had gone wrong. - -'I've just had that signal, lad,' he said, and handed it to me. - -'From Captain, _Hercules_, to ditto, _Hector_.--The following signal has -been received from the Admiralty: "The cruiser known as _La Buena -Presidente_, flying the unrecognised flag of the insurgent Provisional -Government, left San Josef on the 22nd. She is to be arrested as soon -as possible, and handed over to the Government at Santa Cruz. Force is -to be employed if necessary. Steps are to be taken to inform the -Government Authorities that she will not be allowed to afford any -assistance to the insurgents." - -'Identical orders have been received by the Governor of Prince Rupert's -Island from the Foreign Office.' - -'That's a bit of a knock-out for your brother, I'm afraid,' he said -sadly. - -I don't know what I answered, I'd never been so miserable in my life; -this simply turned everything upside down again, and whatever Gerald did -now, he could never hope to win--things were too hopelessly against him. -The possession of _La Buena Presidente_ was the insurgents' only chance -of success, and without her they could do nothing. I knew that Gerald -was too proud to escape from the country, and he'd probably end by being -killed in some rotten little action or shot against the wall, between -those saluting guns, in San Sebastian. The only bright thing at all, on -that miserable day, was a 'wireless' from dear old Ginger. 'Have sent -your telegram home.' I wished he was here, I'd have banged him on the -chest, made up that silly row on the spot, and we'd have talked over -things. - -The Provisional Government did come aboard, later on, smiling all over, -the New President's unhealthy face looking happy for the first time, and -his little Secretary bobbing about as if he were on springs. They came -to formally demand Recognition from the Foreign Powers, and of course -the Captain passed on the demand, by 'wireless,' to the _Hercules_ for -her to transmit to London. - -Neither the Captain nor any one else had the heart to tell them the bad -news, so they all went ashore as cheerful as crickets, fully expecting a -favourable reply. - -'I'll let you know as soon as the reply comes,' the Captain sent his -coxswain to tell me, and I waited all the rest of that wretched day, -wandering about like a lost sheep. I couldn't even turn in at night, -and spent most of it on the bridge waiting for the reply to be -telephoned up from the wireless room. - -The answer came at last, and it seemed to blotch out the last hope. - -'The existence of the Provisional Government cannot be recognised.' - -'Don't send it ashore till the morning,' the Skipper muttered; 'bad news -will keep. The Government are evidently anxious to make up for their -slackness in allowing the insurgents to get hold of that ship in English -waters, and I'm afraid no Provisional Government can expect to last long -now that we have to hand her over to the Santa Cruz people.' - -Next morning we weighed and steamed slowly down the bay of La Laguna, -past the Casino where the great fight had been, and anchored under El -Castellar. The green and yellow flag was still flying over it, and they -had made no attempt to cover up the hole my for'ard 9.2 gun had made in -the walls. Every now and then we heard rifle shots, and saw parties of -the little insurgents running about among the trees beneath the fort, so -knew that Gerald was still investing it. - -The Captain sent for me. - -'I'm going ashore, boy! going to see the Commandant of that fort and you -can come with me. Have to inform him about our Government's decision and -about _La Buena Presidente_. I don't like the job, boy, that I don't.' - -In half an hour we were alongside a small jetty, built below the fort, -and had landed in white uniform, helmets, and swords. An officer and a -couple of black soldiers came running down a zigzag path to meet us, the -officer saluting and bowing and the two black chaps presenting arms. - -'_El Commandante?_' the Skipper said, shipping his 'tin eye,' and -pointing up to the fort. - -'He will have much honour,' the officer bowed. - -'Thank goodness some one knows a bit of English,' I heard the Skipper -mutter as we followed him. My aunt! but it was hot, and the Skipper was -sweating like a bull as he walked up that blazing path. The stones -under our feet seemed to burn through the soles of our boots, and the -withered palm and cactus leaves, stuck in between the rocks, looked as -if they'd never known what rain was or a breeze either--they were -covered with a thick white dust. - -The officer didn't sweat, he looked as dry and shrivelled as the leaves -themselves, and as if he hadn't had a drink or a square meal for weeks; -his uniform was dirty and torn. Across the flap of his revolver holster -there was a long furrow, made, probably, by a bullet, and, to judge by -its appearance, within a few hours, but he gave you the impression that -he'd never known anything else except war and forest fighting, and that -one bullet, more or less, didn't matter. - -'Pretty swanky!' the Skipper grunted, taking off his helmet and wiping -his forehead. - -'I no savvy,' the officer said, and then 'tumbled' to it and smiled for -a second, his yellow leathery face looking as if it would crack. - -As we reached the top we passed any number of ox bones and skulls, and -the smell was pretty unpleasant. It looked as if they'd been thrown -over the walls. Then we passed inside the fort, through a small iron -door in the thickness of the wall, not that part of the wall which our -9.2 had damaged, but round a corner, and it struck me that we had been -purposely taken this way, so as not to see the hole. - -As we entered, we found ourselves in a great square red-tiled -parade-ground. There were open thatched sheds all round two sides of -it, and a dozen or more soldiers were hurriedly pouring out from under -them to form a guard of honour. A couple of antiquated 'smooth bores' -lay on the ground with their trunnions smashed, in the centre was a -broken-down well, and the whole place was littered with rubbish, old -clothes, bones, and empty ammunition boxes. We'd hardly had a look -round when who should come across, from some buildings on the far side, -but old Gerald, a grey-haired, sunburnt, and bent-backed officer talking -very fast to him. For a second I wondered whether he was a prisoner, -but then I saw my friend the 'Gnome' and several others of Gerald's -officers. The 'Gnome' recognised me at once, showed his white teeth, -smiled, pointed up to a flagstaff where that green and yellow flag hung, -and then to a roll of green and black bunting which he was carrying -under his arm, and I knew at once that Gerald was there to accept the -surrender of the place, and that my bandy-legged chum was going -presently to hoist the insurgent flag. - -Poor old Gerald! He looked so splendidly English, in his white -riding-gear and polo-hat, and so proud, that I hated to meet him and -tell him the awful news. - -He introduced the Skipper, and then me, to the weather-beaten -Commandant. - -'I no speak the English,' he said, bowing. - -'We're just arranging the terms of surrender,' Gerald told the Skipper. -'You've come in the nick of time, because the Commandant won't trust -himself in de Costa's hands. They are old enemies, and I cannot -persuade him.' - -Oh! Fancy having arrived at this very moment to spoil all poor old -Gerald's hopes. - -I saw the Skipper ship his 'sea-boot' face again, and felt certain that -he was wondering whether it was possible to let things go on as they -were, and not tell the news. - -He 'tut-tutted,' screwed in his eyeglass, took off his helmet, and ran -his fingers through his long hair, as he always did when worried, and -then burst out with, 'Wilson, I've bad news for you--very sorry, lad, -very sorry; the fleet and the transports cleared out because that -cruiser of yours, _La Buena Presidente_, may be here at any minute, and, -very sorry, lad, but I've got to capture her and give her up to the -people at Santa Cruz. Our Government won't recognise the insurgent -Provisional Government, and I'm ordered to inform the Commandant. -That's why I'm here now.' - -I could hardly bear to look at Gerald. - -He caught his breath for a moment, and his grand jaw tightened the least -little bit as he said slowly, 'We shall have to make a fresh start, -Captain Grattan.' - -'What shall I do?' the Skipper asked him. 'You'd better explain to the -Commandant.' - -That struck me as being too much to ask of Gerald, but he only tightened -his jaws a little more, and began jabbering away in Spanish to the -Commandant, whose tired, hungry-looking eyes opened out with pleasure -and cunning, so that I knew that my brother had told him everything, and -knew perfectly well that there would be no surrender. It wouldn't help -old Gerald much now, even if he did get possession of the fort, because -that cruiser, whose coming we'd been longing for so much and now so -dreaded, would, after we'd handed her over to the Santa Cruz Navy, -batter down its walls with the utmost ease. - -If I'd been Gerald I'm hanged if I would have told him the truth, and -would have taken my chance with the fort. Oh! wasn't it cruel luck? - -'The Commandant thanks you for the information,' Gerald said, turning to -the Skipper, 'and under the new circumstances will not surrender El -Castellar.' - -We saw the Commandant speak to the officer who had met us, and he must -have passed the news round, for, in a minute or two, a couple of hundred -ragged half-starved soldiers surged out from under those thatched huts, -swarmed round us, and began shouting out, '_Viva los Inglesas!' 'Viva -la Marina Inglesa!_' The brutes--they'd have cut our throats, ten -minutes ago, with the greatest pleasure. I saw the 'Gnome's' hand go to -his revolver, for they jolly well looked as if they wanted to cut his -throat and the other officers'--he was bristling with anger. - -'Come along, boy, we've done enough harm here,' the Skipper said. - -'Hadn't we better see my brother safely out of it first, sir?' I -suggested, for I didn't like the Commandant's eyes or those -treacherous-looking soldiers. - -'Brain wave, lad! Good brain wave!--we will.' - -We did see him out, tramping along through the main gateway, over a -drawbridge, and took him down to where his own little brown men -clustered, at the edge of the forest, waiting to see the black and green -flag hoisted above the fort they hated so much. - -[Illustration: It was the most miserable walk I have ever had] - -It was the most miserable walk I have ever had, and I could have killed -the men shouting '_Viva los Inglesas!_' as they lined the wall and -crowded through the gateway behind us. I feel certain that, if we -hadn't been there, and the _Hector_ lying close inshore, they'd have -shot Gerald and his officers in the back. - -I told Gerald about my having cut the fingers off that little -ex-policeman, and implored him not to let him go again, and before we -got to the forest we stopped to wish him good-bye. As I was going, he -said: 'I know Captain Pelayo, Billums, the Captain of _La Buena -Presidente_--he and old Zorilla are about the only types of the old -fighting Spaniard left in the country--and he won't surrender his ship -without fighting. He's got good men aboard too.' - -We left old Gerald there, but I turned to watch him and the 'Gnome' -disappear into the gloomy forest among their little men, before I -followed the Skipper--a big lump sticking in my throat. - -'I'd have asked your brother to come on board, lad,' he said, 'hang the -arresting part of it and that warrant, and have taken him out of the -country in safety, but I know he wouldn't; he isn't the kind of chap to -leave his fellows in a hole.' - -He was about right there. - -The same officer who had met us took us back, and this time we were -obliged to pass that hole our 9.2 had made. The pathway was almost -hidden by the blocks of stone and scattered bricks which had been hurled -down by the explosion, and we had to pick our way very gingerly across -them, so that it was impossible not to notice the huge gap above us. - -The officer waved his hands and shrugged his shoulders, 'We forget--you -forget--all _mucho bueno_.' - -'Do you expect that ship to come here, sir?' I asked him, as we pulled -back to the ship. - -'Don't know, lad, she _should_ make for San Fernando first, and I'm -going to stay here to see that she doesn't get there, but I've told "Old -Spats" to take the _Hercules_ to Los Angelos, in case she should attempt -anything there.' - -I told him what Gerald had said to me about Captain Pelayo, and asked -him what he would do if she did not stop when told to do so. - -'Shall we have to fight her, sir?' - -'I suppose we shall,' he answered, with a wink. He looked as though he -almost hoped she wouldn't stop. So should I have done but for old -Gerald. - -'She'll be a pretty hard nut to tackle, sir; she's got eight twelve-inch -guns on a broadside.' - -'Well, we've got four 9.2's and four 7.5's. Don't bother about that, -she won't know how to use them.' - -Still I couldn't help thinking that, unless we had the _Hercules_ to -help us, it would be a pretty hard job. - -Most of us on board thought so too, that is, if it did come to a scrap, -but the general opinion was that her crew could not possibly be trained, -would not be able to fight her guns properly, and, if she couldn't run -away, would have to surrender. - -Raynor, the Engineer Sub, who knew all about her, pointed out that she -was supposed to have three knots more speed than the _Hector_, so might -be able to escape. - -'Running away won't do her any good,' I said, 'or Gerald's people -either.' - -However, the possibility of having to fight made every one of us in the -gun-room, except myself, extremely cheerful and excited, and when late -in the afternoon we began to 'clear ship for action' and 'prepare for -battle,' you would have thought by the way we all jumped round and got -the ship in fighting trim that we were expecting to pay off old scores -on some deadly enemy. It almost made me smile to hear the mids. talking -now. At the back of their minds there was a feeling that perhaps the -fight might be a bit more even if the _Hercules_ came along to help, and -they made quite pleasant remarks about her and her hated gun-room. - -I know that I myself hoped that if it did come to a 'scrap,' old Ginger -Hood would be there to share the fun. - -Cousin Bob must tell you what did actually happen. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - _*La Buena Presidente*_* fights* - - - _Written by Midshipman Bob Temple_ - - -After we had had that ripping lark with those two 4.7's on shore, the -insurgent President sent off a great basket of fruit--oranges, -grape-fruit, melons, and bananas--every day whilst we remained off San -Fernando, so we were jolly sorry to get up anchor and steam down to El -Castellar. - -Of course we were very sorry for Cousin Gerald's sake that we had to -collar _La Buena Presidente_, but thought it would be splendid fun if -she showed fight, and we all hoped that she'd come our way and not give -those beastly _Hercules'_ mids. a chance. Then we heard what Cousin -Gerald had told Billums about her Captain being such a fine chap, and -Raynor, the Engineer Sub, told us so much about her, her armour and her -big guns, that though we didn't get exactly frightened, we rather felt -that we'd like the _Hercules'_ mids. to chip in with us after all. - -A lot of our chaps thought that she'd simply haul down her flag directly -we signalled to her to do so, but Mr. Bostock the Gunner shook his head. -He'd seen a revolution out in these parts, years and years ago, and said -we were wrong: 'She'll not 'aul her flag down whilst she's got men to -fight the guns and shovel coal in the bunkers.' - -He told us the story of the fight between the _Shah_ and the _Huascar_, -which was just about the same kind of show. There had been a revolution -and the _Huascar_ had joined the insurgents down the coast. She ran -short of coal, and not being able to buy any, took it by force out of an -English steamer, so the _Shah_--she was our flagship out there then--was -sent after her and they had a stand-up fight. The _Shah_ was a wooden -ship with thin armour-plates along the side, and the _Huascar_ was an -iron one with turrets and very thick armour, so the English ship found -herself up against too big a mouthful and got the worst of it. - -'I was Captain's coxswain aboard 'er,' Mr. Bostock told us, but we sang -out that he couldn't have been more than twelve years old at the time. -'Believe me or believe me not, young gen'l'men, I was Captain's -coxswain, and a nice kind gen'l'man he was too. In the middle of the -haction 'e sees a big round shot from the turret-ship come bobbin' along -towards us--straight as a die. "Full speed astern," 'e says to -me--"Full speed astern, Bostock,"--just like that--not turnin' a -'air--and full speed astern we went, and that shot just 'it the water -under our bows. Another time, about 'arf a 'our arterwards, we was -gettin' pretty tired of shootin' against 'er thick sides and seein' our -shot bouncing off 'er armour like peas, 'e sees another round shot -comin' along. "That'll just about 'it the Admiral's cabin," 'e says, -"and aggravate 'im," 'e says, "if we don't 'urry along a bit. Full -speed ahead, Bostock." - -'Well, 'e was a wonder, was the Captain, but the leadin' seaman, who -passed the order down to the engine-room, wasn't very smart about it, -and though we did go full speed a-'ead, we didn't do it quick enough, -and that shot just took off the life-buoy a-'angin' under our stern. -Took it off without even a-damagin' the gilt scroll we' ad there, but -that 'ere leadin' seaman 'ad 'is pay stopped till 'e'd paid for it--an' -serve 'im right. - -'Of course that was in the days of muzzle-loaders, when the shot didn't -go along as smartly as they do now; but that Captain was a smart 'un--'e -'ad judgment, 'e 'ad.' - -'They must have been pretty sick of life at your dodging their shots -like that,' we said, laughing. - -'Believe me or believe me not, but as true as I'm a-sittin' in my cabin -'ere at this moment, they started a-'easin' off two at a time, 'oping to -catch us with one of them.' - -'What did the Skipper do then?' we asked. - -'What d'you think?' he snorted. 'There was those two great black shell -comin' racin' along towards us, side by side, and 'e turns to me, as -quiet as a babe unborn, and 'e says: "'Ard a starb'ard"--that's all, and -our old tub turns round on 'er 'eel, just faces them two shell and 'e -shoved 'er nose in _between_ them an' they just splashed the men in the -batteries a bit. We can't do nothin' like that nowadays, young -gen'l'men--nothin' like that.' - -'We shouldn't think we could,' we shouted, as he seized his cap and ran -up on deck, for the Commander wanted him. - -We cleared for action that afternoon and just before dark got under way -and stood out into the open sea, past El Castellan. - -This clearing for action made it certain that the Captain was doubtful -whether she'd surrender without fighting, and of course made us all more -excited than ever. - -'If she does fight, I hope the _Hercules_ will come and help; she'll be -a bit of a handful to tackle single-handed,' Barton sang out, and -Billums laughed sarcastically and said, 'I thought you'd rather die than -let them help you,' which made us rather angry. - -The 'Angel' and I went in to have a yarn with the fat little A.D.C. and -hear what he thought about it. He was very excited, and said that -Captain Pelayo would die sooner than surrender--he seemed to know him -very well. That night the Captain had him taken down below in the -'tiller flat,'[#] so that he would be out of danger if anything _did_ -happen, and his being taken down there made us all feel a bit creepy. - - -[#] A space right aft, below the water-line, where the steering engine -and emergency hand-steering mechanism are situated. - - -Well, nothing happened all night; we simply 'mooned' about, backwards -and forwards, near the entrance, and _La Buena Presidente_ must have -been hovering round, too, waiting till it was light enough to see her -way into La Laguna, for, as it grew light enough, she was sighted not -five miles away, steaming leisurely in towards the entrance. Although -she was painted white she looked enormous. - -The Captain was called, and ran up on the fore bridge in a twinkling, -and sent 'Blotchy' Smith down with a wireless message to the _Hercules_. -He showed it to me as he passed along the upper deck, '_La Buena -Presidente_ is eight miles off El Castellar steaming towards it. Shall -prevent her entering. Come south and prevent her escaping to sea.' - -'She'll be here in three hours and a half,' 'Blotchy' shouted, as he ran -aft, and I felt jolly glad, but rather wished it was minutes instead of -hours. - -Then 'General Quarters' was sounded, and we all rushed to our stations. -Mr. Bigge and I got through the back of our 9.2 turret--the for'ard -starboard one just under the projecting end of the fore bridge--and when -we'd reported everything 'cleared away' and had filled our 'ready' rack -with more shells, we climbed out of the sighting-hood and squatted on -top of the turret, whilst they trained it for'ard and aft as far as it -would go and raised and lowered the long gun, to test the hydraulic -machinery. It was a perfectly lovely morning, the sea like glass, and -the _Hector's_ bows seemed just to push the water aside, not even -breaking the surface. It was so jolly clear that we could see thousands -of jelly-fish--all the colours of the rainbow--floating past under our -sponson. It really was grand, and we sat there and watched the big ship -coming slowly towards us with the sun rising just behind her. - -'That's bad for shooting, if it comes to a fight,' Mr. Bigge said; 'it -will dazzle the "Gunlayer's" eyes.' - -'I don't expect it will; do you, sir?' I asked nervously, because she -was so huge, and I knew that she had so much more powerful guns than we -had, that, now it came to the pinch, I was in a funk. - -'Don't know,' he answered; 'we'll know in ten minutes.' - -The signalmen began running about the bridge above us, we heard the -Chief Yeoman's voice saying 'Hoist,' and up went three flags and the -white international code pendant. - -'What's that mean, sir?' I asked, as the halyards were jerked to shake -out the flags. - -'"Stop engines," I think,' Mr. Bigge said, squinting through his -telescope to see if she took any notice. - -Something did go fluttering to her masthead--she only had one mast, a -tripod one, amidships--but it was the black and green flag, and a huge -one at that. - -'She's not going to stop,' Mr. Bigge muttered. 'The Sub was right after -all. We'll have to fight her.' - -I did feel so uncomfortable and horrid 'inside,' and looked to see that -the sighting-hood was open so that I could crawl down into the turret -again--quickly. - -Every one was simply gazing at the big ship, wondering what she would -do, and you couldn't hear a sound, except the hissing noise of some -steam, escaping from a leaky joint near the syren fog-horn up on the -foremost funnel. Just aft of our turret was the first 7.5 turret, and -the 'Forlorn Hope'--just a little pale--was leaning against the side of -it looking at the ship--I was jolly glad that I wasn't so fat, I felt -much too big already--and the 'Shadow' slipped out of the next 7.5 -turret to yarn with him and then ran back again and shut the door. - -Dr. Clegg came cheerily along from under the fo'c'stle, and stopped near -our turret to look at her too. - -He sang out asking if we had our 'first aid' bag, and I put my head down -the sighting-hood to find out. - -'Yes, sir!' I shouted down--it did me good to shout. - -'Just seeing that all our things are rigged,' he said, smiling at Mr. -Bigge, looking along at the sunrise for a moment with a funny expression -in his face before he dived down below. - -'He may not see it again,' Mr. Bigge said, and I understood and felt -shivery all over. - -Inside my turret I could hear the Gunlayer, who had his eye to the -telescopic sight, talking to the Sight Setter. 'Now don't you go -a-playing none of your tricks, Bill. Tie a bit of spun yarn round your -right thumb and you'll know it from your left, and won't be playing the -ass with the deflection as you did at the battle practice--a-spoiling -the whole ship's shooting.' - -Raynor, the Engineer Sub, came along too, and went down into our turret -to see if the hydraulic machinery was all right. He climbed out of the -sighting-hood in a few minutes, borrowed Mr. Bigge's telescope to have a -look at the white ship, told us that everything was working well, and -climbed down on deck. - -Then, up in the for'ard fire-control position--high up the mast--I heard -the 'Angel's' voice reading off the ranges on the long range finder, -'eight thousand nine fifty--eight thousand nine hundred--eight thousand -eight fifty'--and I popped my head down inside to see if _our_ range -indicator was working properly. It was, and the figures were slipping -round all right. I looked up again, but he had his eyes glued to the -range finder and didn't see me. - -Marchant, the Inkslinger, leaned out of the 'control' position, caught -sight of me, and waved his bandaged hand--he was beaming all over. - -Mr. Montague, too, looked down and sang out to the fore bridge for some -of the signal halyards to be hauled aside as they were fouling the range -finder, and I could just see the feet of Pearson, the Assistant -Paymaster, who was sitting, straddle-legs, on the top of it, doing -'spotting officer'--to spot whether shots fell short or over. I was -jolly glad that I wasn't up there, and that, if it did come to a fight, -I had six inches of armour to get behind. - -The ship was so close now that we could see her huge guns, but she -didn't seem to have cleared for action. - -'Fire a port twelve-pounder!' we heard the Captain say; 'they may not -have seen the signal.' - -Men began running about, the Commander bellowed at them, and the little -gun fired almost immediately--to leeward--away from _La Buena -Presidente_--and we watched to see if that would have any effect. - -It had. A long string of flags went jerking up the tripod mast and the -international code pendant was hoisted to her yard-arm. We heard the -Chief Yeoman scurrying into the chart-house to find the signal-book, and -in a minute the Captain called out to the Commander, 'They refuse to -stop. Keep my signal flying and fire the foremost 9.2 across her bows.' -Billums was in charge of that turret. - -All this time the 'Angel' had been singing out the range. It had got -down to 7250 yards, and we were turning a little in towards the -entrance, to prevent the ship closing too rapidly. Then round slewed -Billums's long gun over the starboard bow, pointing up in the air. - -The Captain sang down to him to fire as soon as he liked, and almost -before he'd said it, off went the gun with a roar--back it flew--my cap -went flying overboard, and the brown cordite smoke came stinging into my -eyes. - -'Why the dickens don't you stick your cap on properly?' Mr. Bigge -snarled. 'You aren't a blooming infant,' and we watched to see where -the shell would fall. - -It seemed an awfully long time, and then there was a shout of 'There it -is!' all along the ship, and up spouted the water a couple of cables -ahead of the white ship. - -Mr. Montague shouted down to know what range Billums actually had on his -sights, so as to see whether the range finder was working properly or -not, and then there was another shout of 'She's turning!' and I was -never so relieved in my life as to see her put her helm over and run -away. - -The Captain roared for the Engineer Commander, and sang out, 'Tell the -_Hercules_ she's steaming seaward.' - -The morning seemed to be quite lovely again, and we headed after her, -smoke pouring out of all our funnels, and that leaky steam joint hissing -more and more. Our bows began to break the water now, and the -jelly-fish streamed past like a flash. - -_La Buena Presidente_ was covered with smoke too, and seemed to be in a -jolly hurry to escape. - -'She isn't going to fight after all,' I laughed, feeling awfully -pleased. - -'Don't know--they're getting down her rails and awnings,' Mr. Bigge -said, looking through his glass. - -So they were. We could see the men swarming on her quarterdeck and the -awning coming off her. - -I felt all shivery again, and heard the Gunlayer sing out from inside -the turret, 'The longer they take about it the farther the sun'll be up, -and it won't get in my bloomin' eyes so much.' - -'It seems a shame to go killing people a morning like this, doesn't it?' -Mr. Bigge muttered to himself, and I jolly well agreed with him. - -We were buzzing along finely now, and could feel the ship shaking and -throbbing. - -The 'Angel' was still at the range finder, and our indicator showed -6250, when suddenly the big ship turned again--she was going at a -tremendous speed--and--oh, it made my backbone feel cold--made straight -for the entrance and El Castellan. - -We still had our signal 'Stop Engines' flying, but there wasn't the -least doubt now that she was simply going to rush past us. Clatter, -clatter, came the signalmen down from the fore bridge to take shelter, -everybody disappeared into their turrets, popping down the -sighting-hoods like rabbits, the Captain and the Navigator came down and -clambered through the top of the conning-tower, the 'Forlorn Hope,' with -a grimace at me, squeezed himself into his turret and closed the -armoured door, and, with my heart in my mouth, I wriggled down into -mine. - -[Illustration: The big ship turned again] - -'Aren't you coming, sir?' I asked Mr. Bigge, but he shook his head. I -felt a little safer inside there, and stood watching the range -indicator. It was simply altering every few -seconds--5400--5300--5200--there was no time to show the fifties. - -Mr. Bigge sang out for me--he wanted to know something--and I popped my -head out again and couldn't see the ship--she had slanted away a little, -to pass along our port side--but I just caught sight of Billums sitting -on the back part of the top of his turret, on the fo'c'stle, with his -knees drawn up to his chin, resting his field-glasses on them. - -You couldn't hear a sound anywhere--except that escaping steam--and then -the gong inside the turret began sounding the 'stand by'--the next time -it sounded it would mean we had to fire. The able seaman at the -telephone sang out, 'The port battery's just got the order to fire, -sir,' I almost fell down inside the turret again, and then the whole of -our guns that could bear on the port beam fired, and some of them had -time to fire again before we heard the roaring 'clap' and the crash of -the shells bursting against the big ship's side. The range indicator -showed 3200 yards, and we couldn't miss her very easily at so short a -distance. - -She was passing down our port side and going in the opposite direction, -so that we had to circle round to follow her, and I knew that the -starboard turrets would then come into action. - -Mr. Bigge shouted down that we were turning to starboard, the bell at -the telephone from the conning-tower rang, the able seaman jammed his -ear against it, sang out, 'Starboard guns, stand by, sir!' and the gun's -crew jumped to their proper stations. - -'Remember your right hand, Bill!' the Gunlayer called out, and wedged -his eye into the indiarubber sleeve of the telescopic sight. - -'Train aft,' Mr. Bigge shouted down through the sighting-hood, and round -we slewed. - -The gun's crew was ready, the gun loaded, and the next shell lying in -the loading tray, so I had nothing to do except to see that the Sight -Setter kept the same range on his sights as the indicator showed, and -that everything was done properly. - -'We're coming "on,"' Mr. Bigge sang down. 'Stand by!' - -The Gunlayer jerked out, 'I've got her, sir'--he'd spotted her through -his telescope--and I just had the pluck to pop my head out for a second -and caught sight of the big white ship tearing across our stern as we -swung round, and then the fire-gong clanged loudly and I slipped back -again. - -There was a roar and a shake, men jumped about, banging and -clattering--I heard the ammunition hoist rattle-rattle up to the gun, -and the breech-block snap 'to,' and off she went again. - -'We're hitting her!' Mr. Bigge sang out. 'Aim under her mast and -bridge.' - -'She's going to fire,' he shouted, a second later, and almost before -he'd said it, there was a most awful roar, like a thunder-clap, and then -the most appalling noise and hot glare--the whole ship shook and seemed -to be tearing in pieces. The Gunlayer was cursing that he couldn't see -out of his telescope, and wedged his arm along it to wipe the glass. - -'That's better,' he growled, and fired again. - -The range indicator, all this time, had been showing bigger ranges, and -it had just showed--3650--when that same awful thunder-clap sounded a -second time, and then the noise and the hot glare; the ship seemed to be -breaking in pieces again, things came crashing down on deck, and she -trembled as if she'd run aground. Something had struck her, somewhere -close below us; a huge flame shot up just in front of the gun port, I -was banged against the side, the Gunlayer came tumbling down from his -sighting platform, and we could hardly breathe. I felt quite silly, -too. - -The Gunlayer scrambled up again and fired, but we didn't know whether he -was hitting her, because she was covered with smoke and almost hidden by -the spray and the smoke of shells which burst short. I began to get my -breath back. - -'The range indicator ain't working, sir!' the Sight Setter called out. -'It ain't altered for the last three minutes.' - -I jumped across. It still showed--3650--and I tapped it to see if it -had jammed, but it didn't move. Just as I was going to tell Mr. Bigge, -_La Buena Presidente_ fired again, there were those awful noises, and -something came crashing down on top of our turret, bulging in the roof. - -'Can't move her, sir, the turret's jammed,' the Gunlayer yelled. He -sprang up through the sighting-hood--something red and slippery was -dripping down through the holes in the top of the turret--and I followed -him. Mr. Bigge wasn't there, but the top was covered with the twisted -rails and smoking burning planks of the projecting end of the bridge--I -knew it was the bridge because the stump of the semaphore was still -fixed to a rail. - -I didn't really realise anything or know quite what I was doing. I -burnt my hands trying to pull the wreckage away, but we couldn't move -it, and I had to keep my eyes down so as not to see the big ship -firing--I couldn't have stayed there if I had. I knew that Mr. Bigge -must have been killed, and that I was now in charge. - -Then that awful thunder-clap sounded again, there was a terrific crash -behind us, a huge mass of iron crashed down on the deck, and one of the -men said quite calmly, 'The foremost funnel's gone, sir,' but I dare not -look--I was too terrified. - -We couldn't move that wreckage off the fore bridge, so I ordered the men -inside the turret, and then tried to ring up the conning-tower, but -couldn't make the telephone work. I tried the telephone to the -transmitting station, the room below the water-line, at the foot of the -foremast, which passed all messages to us from the fire-control -position, on the mast above it, and I heard the Fleet Paymaster's voice -at the other end. 'Please tell the Captain----' I'd just got as far as -that when the ship shook and trembled again, and we could feel something -crashing and bursting inside her. - -I tried the telephone once more, but it wouldn't work at all. I knew -that I ought to tell the Captain and ask what should be done, so I bit -my lips and crept out of the turret, down the rails at the back, and -jumped down on deck, but it was all covered with burning bits of wood -and twisted and torn, almost red-hot, iron plates. Smoke and steam was -pouring up from where the foremost funnel had been, and flames from the -boiler furnaces were licking the grey paint off, but the rest of our -guns, on the starboard side, were still firing very fast. - -[Illustration: THE EFFECT OF THE SHELL] - -I kept my eyes down and dashed through the smoke to try and get under -the fo'c'stle and nearly fell through a hole in the deck. The gangway -was blocked up with wreckage. Several bodies lay underneath it, and I -saw one arm sticking out, a signalman's badge on the sleeve. I ran back -and had to crawl under the fallen funnel, through a gap where it had -crumpled up, wondering when that next thunder-clap would come and kill -me. I crawled under it, noticed that the 7.5 turret next to ours seemed -out of place and the deck very uneven, saw the Shadow's face in the -sighting-hood of the second 7.5 turret just as his gun fired, and darted -between the funnel casings to the port side. I had to go quickly -because the paint was burning on the iron plates on each side of me. -That thunder-clap seemed to be awfully long in coming, and I thought -that perhaps, after all, we'd beaten the huge ship and scrambled -for'ard, over more smoking wreckage, towards the fo'c'stle, 'Blotchy' -Smith looking out from the port for'ard 9.2 turret, very white in the -face, and yelling to know how things were going. - -I couldn't stop to speak to him because of the smoke pouring up from the -foremost funnel hatchway, and I just put my sleeve in front of my eyes -and my mouth and darted through it, under the fo'c'stle. Even then I -couldn't get to the conning-tower, where the Captain was, because the -whole of the shelter deck was crumpled up like paper, but the port door -leading on to the fo'c'stle had been blown off, and just as I looked -through it, the for'ard 9.2 fo'c'stle gun fired. I heard Billums shout, -'Hit!' and there he was still perched on top of the turret, his head -bare, and his yellow hair showing. - -'We're jammed! Mr. Bigge's killed! I want to tell the Captain,' I -shouted, but he couldn't hear what I'd said, and only pointed over the -starboard quarter. He put his hands to his mouth and shouted, 'The -_Hercules_!' - -Oh! wasn't I glad, and was just going to try and climb up to the -conning-tower, when I saw O'Leary put his head out of the sighting-hood -and speak to Billums. I heard Billums shout, 'Cease fire.' Then the -Commander came scrambling along past me with some men, a bugler sounded -'Collision Quarters,' and I noticed, for the first time, that we had a -tremendous list to starboard. The Commander bellowed at me to make -myself useful, and sent me down below with a message to the First -Lieutenant, so I hadn't time to ask any one what was the matter. - -I could hardly find my way along the lower deck. Everything was wrecked, -the mess tables and lockers were burning furiously, and I could hardly -see for smoke, which poured out through great gaps in the port side. I -managed to find one of the hatchways open--the cover must have been -blown off--and got down into the 'bag flats,'[#] but it was worse here, -pitch-dark, and water, up to my knees, was rolling from side to side. -There was a sickening smell there too. As I groped my way along to try -and find the for'ard hatchway leading down to the ammunition passages, -where the First Lieutenant was, I saw a light and heard the Fleet -Paymaster's voice. He was looking out of the fore transmitting room, -and some candles were burning inside it. 'We haven't been able to make -any one hear for the last quarter of an hour,' he said. 'What's gone -wrong?' - - -[#] Narrow spaces, below the water-line and behind the upper -coal-bunkers, where the men's bags are stowed. - - -'I don't know, sir. The ship has escaped, I think; Mr. Bigge's killed.' -Mr. Perkins came along, splashing through the water, so I gave him the -message and climbed up on deck again. I met Billums under the shelter -deck--or rather what had been the shelter deck--and he told me that some -armour-plates had been smashed in below the water-line--that was why we -were heeling over so badly. - -'Two shell struck almost together, drove a plate clean through the side, -and killed every one in the after bag flats--Dr. Clegg, the Padre, and -the whole of the 'stretcher party' aft there.' He was very sad. - -'Is the "Angel" all right?' I asked, feeling perfectly miserable. He -put his hand on my shoulder and led me back out on the fo'c'stle again. -I knew at once that my chum was killed. - -'Be brave, Bob; look up!' he said. - -I looked; oh! it was awful, the topmast and the control-position had -disappeared, and there wasn't anything left there, except a few bits of -wire hanging down, and a copper voice-pipe sticking out by itself. - -'One shell in that second broadside burst against it, Bob,' and Billums -put his hand on my shoulder, very gently, to steady me; 'it must have -been all over in a second. They felt no pain.' - -I simply buried my face in his monkey-jacket and sobbed and sobbed. - -'Pull yourself together, Bob,' he whispered, 'remember that you are an -officer. They felt no pain.' - -I heard the Commander bellow at Billums; he roared my name too and -cursed me, sending me down to the Engineer Commander for as many stokers -as he could spare. - -I was too absolutely frozen to care about anything, and when I met -'Blotchy' Smith, half blubbing, and he told me that Barton had been -killed in the after turret and the Forlorn Hope in his, I hardly heard -what he said--I felt quite silly and 'wobbly' in my head. - -I really could not tell you what happened for the next five hours--I was -so dazed and numbed--but I found myself going down into a boat with a -lot more of our mids., and we crawled up a ladder on board the -_Hercules_. We huddled up in a corner of her gun-room, and they brought -us something to eat, but it nearly made me sick to look at it. The -_Hercules_ mids. let us alone and didn't ask any questions, and for -hours we sat there, covered with dirt and smoke, till some one led us -away and made us clean ourselves. Some one lent me a pair of pyjamas, -and I crawled into a hammock, but daren't shut my eyes, and had to get -out and sit close to a light. I don't know how long I sat there, but -one of the _Hercules'_ doctors found me, and lifted me back into my -hammock. He injected something into my arm, and was going away, but I -clutched his sleeve--I couldn't be left alone--and then cried till I -thought I should die. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *The Santa Cruz Fleet again* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -For days after that awful morning we seemed half stunned. We had left -El Castellar the night before, as smart a ship and as cheery a lot of -officers and men as there were in the Navy, and fifteen minutes after -_La Buena Presidente_ fired her first broadside the _Hector_ was a -complete wreck above the waterline, and was so badly holed beneath it -that she only managed with difficulty to keep herself afloat and crawl -back into shallow water. Fortunately one anchor and cable had not been -destroyed, and we anchored under El Castellar, the _Hercules_ anchoring -as close as possible in case it should become necessary for us to -abandon the ship. - -She sent working parties aboard at once, and we eventually managed to -make the _Hector_ fairly water-tight, pump her dry, and get her on an -even keel again. But that was not until the third day, and those three -days and nights have always been like a horrible nightmare. - -We could not get away from things--the stump of the foretopmast and that -single copper voice-pipe, sticking out where the fore control had been, -to remind us that Montague, Pearson the A.P., Marchant the cheery little -Clerk, and the 'Angel' had simply disappeared--blown to pieces; the -stump of the after 9.2, inside the turret of which Barton had been -killed, and the wreckage of the bridge, on top of the starboard foremost -turret, which had crushed poor Bigge. - -It was two days before it was possible to cut a way into the wreck of -the Forlorn Hope's turret and get out what remained of him and his crew, -and really I don't know what we should have done had we not had to work, -hour after hour, day after day, trying to make the _Hector_ seaworthy, -and ready to tackle _La Buena Presidente_ again. - -Practically everything above the level of the armour had been either -completely destroyed, or so crumpled and twisted, as to be almost -unrecognisable. We had not one single boat left, and the _Hercules_ had -to lend us two of theirs. The foremost funnel had fallen during the -action, and the next one was so damaged that it fell overboard that same -night. The fo'c'stle mess-decks, the sick-bay, the whole of the lower -deck, the ward-room, and nearly all the upper cabins were now simply -great blackened spaces, filled with tangled and crumpled iron bulkheads, -deck plates and beams, from which every vestige of paint had been burnt -off. - -Our galleys had been completely destroyed, and it was impossible to do -any cooking, so the _Hercules_ cooked food for us and sent it on board -till we could rig up temporary fittings. - -Of Dr. Clegg and the poor little Padre, or of their stretcher party, not -a trace remained. We did find a foot in the wreckage of the after -magazine cooling-room, but we could not tell to whom it belonged, and it -was buried at sea by the _Hercules_ with the remains of Barton, the -Forlorn Hope, and what we thought were thirty-two bodies. - -Twenty-four men were missing besides these, and we sent forty-one -wounded on board the _Hercules_ to be treated there. - -To think that---- No! It's no use thinking. - -Strangely enough the Captain's quarters had not been damaged, nor had -the gun-room and the gun-room flat; and when I first went below from -that scene of desolation above to where the midshipmen's chests stood in -four rows, their hammocks slung above them, and their blankets hanging -down untidily, just as they had been left when 'General Quarters' had -sounded, and the gun-room clock was still ticking cheerfully, I almost -imagined that I _had_ woke from some horrible dream. - -I am thankful to say that the mids. were all sent on board the -_Hercules_ to get them away from the ship, and also to let the ward-room -officers come down into the gun-room. Their chests were sent after them -the following day, and it was the saddest thing in the world to see the -four belonging to Barton, the 'Angel,' the Assistant Paymaster, and -Marchant standing alone by themselves. We could not stand the sight of -them, and Mr. Perkins had them taken away somewhere. - -The only bright spot in those dreary days was that Ginger and I told -each other that we were silly fools, and made up our stupid quarrel. -His mids., too, had behaved so jolly well to mine that there was every -chance of them also making friends. - -The fact that _La Buena Presidente_ had escaped did not even give me any -pleasure, for Gerald's sake, because the Skipper was determined to sink -her as soon as he could steam to San Fernando, off which she had -anchored, and whatever she did, and however she damaged us above the -water-line, she could not, in the narrow Laguna, escape our torpedoes. - -I had a long yarn with my chum Navarro, the fat little A.D.C. Strangely -enough he seemed quite pleased that the insurgent ship had escaped. - -'It was a great fight,' he said, his eyes glistening, 'for Santa -Cruz--the Santa Cruz Navy have much honour to beat the great English -ship.' - -'But if we'd captured or sunk her the Santa Cruz fleet would have been -safe,' I said, wondering why he was not sorry that she had got away. - -He shrugged his shoulders: 'Captain Pelayo is the best officer in the -Navy of Santa Cruz--all men on board her belong to Santa Cruz Navy--it -has much honour to Santa Cruz.' - -Nobody was allowed ashore, and no boats came off to the ship, so I never -heard from Gerald; but the green and black flag now flew over El -Castellar, and we knew that the Commandant had at last surrendered. I -thought of the 'Gnome' marching across that dirty red parade-ground with -the black and green bundle under his arm, and hoped that Gerald had -allowed him to hoist it himself. - -In a week there was no danger of our sinking, and the _Hercules_ went -across to Princes' Town to land the wounded at the Colonial Hospital, -and to telegraph home news of the engagement and request orders. I got -Ginger to send a telegram to the pater to tell him that Bob and I were -all right, although, as a matter of fact, I was very worried about my -cousin. He had not 'bucked up' in the least. Ginger told me that he -hardly spoke a word to any one, and moped all day, so I very much hoped -that the change to Princes' Town, and getting away from the sight of the -_Hector_ and of that broken mast, would do him good. - -Whilst the _Hercules_ was away the Skipper got out a kedge-anchor -astern, to keep us 'broadside on' to the narrow entrance, in case _La -Buena Presidente_ tried to put to sea, and each night we swept 'La -Laguna' with our searchlights, and stood ready to fire our torpedoes. -However, nothing happened, and when the _Hercules_ returned with orders -that _La Buena Presidente_ was to be sunk at all costs, if she would not -surrender, we almost immediately weighed anchor and steamed towards San -Fernando. - -Captain Roger Hill wanted to lead the way in the _Hercules_--as we were -crippled--but the Skipper would not hear of this at any price, so with -our mutilated foremast, wrecked bridge and upper works, and our two -remaining funnels we started up the bay. - -All our big guns, except the after 9.2 and two of the 7.5's, were fit -for action, Mr. Perkins took charge in the after fire-control position, -and I do not think we cared what happened to us so long as we sunk the -insurgent ship, and avenged our defeat. - -The Skipper did not mean to stand off and plug at _La Buena Presidente_, -but to steer straight at her and torpedo her. In fact, if he found her -still at anchor, he intended to send everybody, even the guns' crews, -down below the water-line, only himself and enough people to transmit -orders and fire the submerged torpedo-tubes remaining above in the -conning-tower. - -We went to 'General Quarters' before we were abreast Marina and the -Casino, and I sat on the top of my turret with the long 9.2 cocked up in -the air in front of me. - -I soon spotted _La Buena Presidente's_ tripod mast, and as we gradually -drew nearer expected her to open fire any minute, but she didn't, and we -crept along for another ten minutes or so. She seemed to be very low in -the water, and I was wondering whether that would be due to the mirage, -when a signalman, perched on the wreck of the fore bridge, shouted that -she was sunk, and, sure enough, as we drew still nearer, we saw that her -upper deck was all awash, and only her tripod mast, funnels, and upper -works showed above water--the black and green flag hanging from her -gaff. - -We were too astonished to feel relieved, and anchored within a couple of -cables of her. - -Almost immediately the Provisional Government came off to make the most -abject apologies for what had happened--they wouldn't have come, I -suppose, if their ship had not sunk--and with them came Captain Don -Martin de Pelayo--just such another as General Zorilla, as Gerald had -told me. He wore eyeglasses, talked English, was awfully polite, and -genuinely sorry for the damage he had done. - -'I had my orders--you had yours,' I heard him tell the Skipper, after -they had shaken hands very heartily. 'I am very sorry. We are not -enemies of the English. I try to run past you without firing, -but--_voila!_' (and he shrugged his shoulders) 'you shoot so fast and -you damage my ship so much, I fear that I shall never arrive at San -Fernando. Fifty times you fire--I do nothing--but then I had to -fire--it was necessaire, and my guns--_voila!_ they are very big.' - -'Why did you sink her?' the Skipper asked. - -He shrugged his shoulders. 'Treachery--the night after that we come -in--we land our wounded--they are many--and many killed--some traitor -open our valves, and in the middle of the night we sink in the mud.' - -'We should have sunk you with our torpedoes, so it doesn't make any -difference,' the Skipper said. - -Well, that was the end of _La Buena Presidente_ and the end to all the -hopes of the insurgents. The Santa Cruz fleet could come and go where -and when it pleased, land another army, and drive Gerald and the -Provisional Government into the forest again, beyond the reach of their -guns, and there was not the slightest chance either, whilst the fleet -controlled the coast, of joining forces with the insurgents in the north -and of attacking Santa Cruz itself. - -That same evening our young red marine subaltern, the 'Shadow,' went -mad. - -He'd been very peculiar ever since that awful morning when his chum, the -Forlorn Hope, had been killed, and the strain of the next few days, -followed by the prospect of fighting the insurgent ship again, was too -much for his brain. He went raving mad, and had to be shut up in his -cabin and his marine servant shut in with him, to see that he did not -hurt himself. For three days and nights, although the Fleet Surgeon -tried everything to make him sleep, he did not stop shouting and -knocking on the cabin bulkhead, and as his cabin was in the gun-room -flat we couldn't get away from his shouting, and it got on our nerves -most terribly, so much so that we were all beginning to feel jumpy -ourselves. On the fourth morning he was quiet, and the Fleet Surgeon -hoped he would recover, but he died early in the afternoon without -having ever regained intelligence. - -This had a most awfully depressing effect on us all, and, in addition, -Cousin Bob was giving Ginger and me a lot of worry. Several times I had -been across to the _Hercules_ to see him, and I didn't like the look of -him at all. He could talk of nothing else but that awful fifteen -minutes, and of his poor little chum the 'Angel,' so that I feared that -his brain, too, might be affected. - -'He's young,' the Fleet Surgeon said, 'he'll get over it;' and I only -prayed that he was right. - -Gerald, I heard, was all this time busy mounting some of _La Buena -President's_ small guns on the walls of El Castellar and on that ridge -behind San Fernando, hoping to drive off the Santa Cruz fleet if it came -again and brought old Zorilla with another army. Still, even if he did -drive the fleet away, he had no possible chance of bringing the -revolution to a successful termination till he had destroyed it, and -there was not the slightest chance of his doing that. - -There had been a good deal of trouble ashore since we left San Fernando, -because, as soon as the insurgent troops learnt that _La Buena -Presidente_ was to be captured by us and handed over to President -Canilla at Santa Cruz, and heard of the part we had played in delaying -the surrender of El Castellar, they were so bitter against the English -that they burnt the Club, and would have killed the Englishmen if the -Provisional Government had not, with much difficulty, prevented them -doing so. Now, however, that the big ship had been sunk by treachery -and El Castellar had surrendered, they, in some way or another, thought -that we would again help them, and were just as keen on us as ever. The -Provisional Government simply loaded us with fruit and fresh food whilst -we remained at San Fernando busy trying to make the poor old wrecked and -gutted _Hector_ seaworthy. No leave was given because of the trouble -ashore, so that I could not go and see Gerald, and of course, with that -warrant for his arrest still lying in the Skipper's knee-hole table, he -could not come and see me. - -We heard that General Zorilla and the fleet were preparing for another -attack on San Fernando--now that _La Buena Presidente_ no longer could -prevent them--and every day we expected to hear the guns firing from El -Castellar and to see the ships steaming past it. - -And one afternoon they did come; they were half-way between us and the -entrance before they were sighted, and we rushed on deck to see them, -very glad of any excitement to make us forget our own troubles, but we -couldn't understand why we hadn't heard any firing, and how it was that -Gerald had allowed the ships to slip by him without making an effort to -stop them. Poor old Gerald, he'd had a good many 'ups' and 'downs,' but -now it seemed to be all 'downs.' - -I ran below to tell Navarro, and he was as puzzled as I was, shrugging -his shoulders as he always did when he couldn't understand, or didn't -care to tell what he thought. - -I ran up on deck again, and on shore we could see the people running -about in a scared kind of way, and the small guns on that ridge being -manned. I only wished that our mids. could have fought them again. - -The flagship was already abreast of El Casino, the three remaining -ships, the two torpedo-boats and one wretched transport, following her. - -Why only one transport, we wondered! - -As we watched and waited for the small guns to fire, the torpedo-boats -suddenly increased speed and came steaming quickly towards us. - -'What can be their game?' we were all thinking, when there were shouts -from all over the ship, 'Look at their flags! Look at their flags! The -stripes are horizontal! It's the black and green flag! It's flying on -the flagship as well! Look!' - -There wasn't a doubt about it. Each torpedo-boat had a huge black and -green flag at her masthead, and in ten minutes we could see the colour -and the horizontal stripes with the naked eye, as they dashed along -close to the shore. We heard hurrahing, and saw hundreds of the little -brown forest-men crowding down on the beach as they passed, jumping -about on the sand, wading into the sea up to their waists towards them, -and waving their rifles. The shouting and the hurrahs spread along the -road till the town itself was full of voices, all the bells in the place -began ringing, and hundreds of black and green flags were hoisted. - -'I'm blowed if they haven't become insurgents themselves,' the Skipper -muttered, dropping his eyeglass in his surprise; and there couldn't be -the least doubt of it, for now we could see the crews of the -torpedo-boats waving their caps to the troops on the beach, and could -hear the crews of the ships cheering. - -Well, that pretty nearly knocked us all 'flat aback,' and we realised at -once that now Gerald, with the Santa Cruz fleet to help him, would be -master at sea and could do anything he liked, join forces with the -insurgents in the northern province, and attack Santa Cruz itself -whenever he was ready. It was so grand and so jolly unexpected that I -hardly know what I felt, only awfully thankful that the revolution would -be over soon, and that Gerald wouldn't be worrying them all at home. - -The two torpedo-boats slowed down as they came towards us. '_Viva los -Inglesas! Viva la Marina Inglesa!_' their crews shouted, and then they -were past and abreast the poor old _La Buena Presidente_, with the water -running through her upper works and the top of her foremost turret just -showing above the surface like the back of a whale. - -They stopped, their crews stood to attention along their rails and -saluted the flag that drooped over her, and suddenly burst into cheers, -shouting, '_Viva El Capitaine Pelayo! Viva Pelayo! Viva la Marina -Santa Cruz! Viva Presidente de Costa! Viva los Horizontals! Viva Don -Geraldio!_' - -The last shout made me warm up all over. Good old Gerald! they hadn't -forgotten him, didn't bear him any ill-will, and were proud of him too. - -'I'll be able to ask him to dinner after all,' the Skipper said, -twinkling and rubbing his hands. 'The Government is almost certain to -recognise the Provisional Government now. Don't expect he'd come, -though--wouldn't care to dine with the poor Skipper of a beaten ship.' - -The ships themselves came along now, and this time they _did_ notice us, -their crews crowding behind the hammock nettings and in the gun ports to -see the awful destruction _La Buena Presidente_ had done to us. The -flagship had only 'Presidente' on her stern--the 'Canilla' part had been -knocked off--and she slowed down and fired seventeen guns to salute the -sunken ship. - -For the first time since that awful morning I felt happy, and rushed -down below to tell Navarro what had happened. - -He did not seem in the least depressed, and shrugged his shoulders. 'I -make the guess. When you tell me El Castellar no fire guns when they -pass, I had the suspic--ion. De Costa will now be Presidente--Canilla -will fly.' - -'What will become of General Zorilla?' I asked him. I didn't want to -see the old chap go to the wall. - -He raised his eyebrows. 'He never change. If Canilla tell him "fight," -he will fight till he killed; but when de Costa is _Presidente_ and tell -him to fight, he also fight till he killed.' - -I knew what Navarro meant, and it was just what I thought the grand old -chap would do. - -Well, that is what happened and how everything was changed in a single -hour; the Santa Cruz Admiral came to call on the Skipper and explain -matters, and the Provisional Government came off to renew their claims -for Recognition. It was just as Navarro had thought. The news that -their old comrades in _La Buena Presidente_ had beaten one of the finest -cruisers in the English Navy had come to the ships huddled under the -breakwater at Los Angelos, expecting every hour that she'd come along -and sink them, and they were so proud of her and her people, and so -enraged when they heard that she'd been treacherously sunk after her -glorious fight, that they hoisted the black and green flag and came -along to throw in their lot with the insurgents. - -The Provisional Government, as a reward for his great services, made the -Admiral Vice-President and gave his job to Captain Pelayo. - -This pleased the fleet even if it did not please the Admiral, who must -have known that it was only done so that there'd be no chance of his -altering his mind again. Gerald told me, long afterwards, that he'd -been given the choice either of becoming Vice-President or of being -shot. - -The _Hercules_ went off to Princes' Town to renew the Provisional -Government's demand for Recognition, and came back again, two days -afterwards, with the welcome news that both the British and United -States Governments had granted it. This was like a weight off my chest, -because Gerald now could come and go wherever he liked without fear of -arrest. - -The Skipper sent a private note to de Costa telling him the news, and -let me go with him when he and Captain Roger Hill went ashore to -communicate it officially. We could hardly get through the crowds that -blocked the streets and filled the square in front of the _Alcade's_[#] -offices, where the Provisional Government were installed; thousands of -the insurgent troops surged round us cheering for all they were worth, -but we got through them eventually and I spotted Gerald. - - -[#] Mayor. - - -'It's all splendid,' he said; 'won't the mater be glad? D'you know that -that transport they brought is "chock-a-block" with ammunition and -stores from Los Angelos?' - -'I expect you'll be back at the rubber plantation soon,' I laughed, I -felt so jolly happy; but Gerald only smiled and shook his head, 'Not -exciting enough.' - -'How about that little beast?' I asked. 'Is he safe in hospital?' - -'You cruel brute!' he answered; 'you maimed him for life. He's cleared -out somewhere--they let him go--no one knew him.' - -I felt awfully vexed and angry about that, and implored Gerald to be -careful, but he only smiled and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. He -was looking as fit as a fiddle, he'd done away with the sling for his -arm, and it did please me so to see him, in the same smart white riding -things and polo helmet, 'bossing' it among all the other fellows, who'd -put on their most gorgeous uniforms for the occasion, and were covered -with huge green and black sashes. - -The Skipper came up to congratulate him, and I went off to shake hands -with the 'Gnome'--he hadn't put on any rotten sashes--and with Jose, who -was squatting outside, on the steps, holding Gerald's horse. Then we -went back to the _Hector_. - -'Couldn't get your brother to dine with me,' the Skipper said, looking -as if he'd been snubbed, 'he's too busy and has no clothes.' - -I was very sorry, because I had so looked forward to showing him off to -every one on board. - -Next day we crawled across to Prince Rupert's Island, the _Hercules_ -close by, in case we wanted assistance, and people came swarming off to -see us and the wreck we were. Navarro was sent ashore to the Colonial -Hospital, the mids. were still kept aboard the _Hercules_, and the local -ship-repairing yard commenced to patch us up and make it safe to find -our way to Bermuda for a more thorough repair. - -The black 'washer' ladies came crowding aboard, as before, and were -struck all of a heap when they saw the mess we were in. - -Arabella Montmorency had brought back some of the 'Angel's' washing--it -had been left behind--and when I told her that he'd been killed, she -burst out crying, sobbing out, 'De Good Lo'd take de pretty little boy; -why He no spare him for Arabella to vash his clo's. Oh, de pretty boy, -de pretty boy!' She was terribly upset about Perkins's washing too. A -shell had entirely destroyed his cabin and everything in it, so that he -had absolutely nothing to wear except what he stood up in. - -She burst out into fresh sobs. 'Poor Massa Perkins! poor Massa -Perkins!--no clo's--no vash clo's--Arabella more sooner vash for him for -noddings than Massa Perkins have no clo's for Arabella to vash.' - -For five weeks we remained anchored off Princes' Town, and everybody -began gradually to brighten 'up' as the memory of that awful fifteen -minutes and the next week of woe became less vivid, though we still had -not the heart to arrange any matches with the _Hercules_ or with -Princes' Town. At first the shore people were always saying, 'Couldn't -you arrange a cricket-match for this day or that?' and we'd answer, 'Ask -our doctor, ask Clegg. He runs the cricket,' and then remember that he -had disappeared, and that Bigge, our best bat and bowler, and Montague -and Pearson, two others of our team, had also been killed. It was very -difficult to forget about them. - -We had plenty of news, all this time, from San Fernando, because those -local steamers, which had been lying idle for the last few months, -resumed their work and ran regularly up to La Laguna. Gerald even found -time to write a letter and let me know that preparations were being made -for the final attack on Los Angelos and Santa Cruz, but he wrote that -there would be some delay as the insurgents in the northern province -were not yet ready. They were exhausted, temporarily, by the effort of -driving Canilla's army into the mountains and wanted rest. I knew that -if Gerald was there they wouldn't get much rest, but he couldn't be in -two places at once. He didn't mention the ex-policeman, so I hoped that -the little brute had disappeared for good. - -From Santa Cruz we heard very contradictory reports, but there was no -doubt that President Canilla was making desperate efforts to defend the -city, and that the batteries above Los Angelos were practising almost -daily. He was issuing fiery proclamations to encourage his troops, but, -in spite of them, and in spite of General Zorilla's popularity, his men -were deserting in great numbers. - -It was known that directly the insurgents commenced to make their final -attack on the city, the _Hercules_ was to go across to Los Angelos, to -be there in case any trouble arose and she might be wanted to back up -the authority of the British Minister. As the _Hector_ was to go to -Bermuda you can imagine that every one on board her was rather sorry not -to be able to see the end of the revolution. Of course I was especially -sorry because of Gerald. You can therefore guess how jolly pleased I -was when the Skipper sent for me one morning and told me that he was -transferring me to the _Hercules_. One of her lieutenants had been -invalided home and I was to take his place. - -'Tut, tut, boy!' he said; 'I chose you because I knew you'd like to keep -an eye on that haughty brother of yours.' - -It was jolly good of him, and when the local repairs had been completed, -and the _Hector_ was fit to steam to Bermuda, I packed my gear, was -taken across to the _Hercules_, and, with Ginger and Cousin Bob, watched -her slowly crawl past us, out through the northern entrance. The band -struck up 'Rolling Home' and 'Auld Lang Syne,' and I felt rather -mournful to see my old ship steaming away without me, looking, even now, -very desolate and dreary with her jerry foretopmast, patched bridge and -upperworks, and only her two after funnels. - -I had a very jolly time aboard the _Hercules_ with Ginger, found Cousin -Bob much brighter, and Ginger and I often chuckled to see how his mids. -and mine had become as thick as thieves. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *The Attack on Santa Cruz* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -Ten days after the crippled old _Hector_ had crawled away from Princes' -Town, we heard of her arrival at Bermuda, and very glad we all were to -know that she had reached there safely. - -I heard from Gerald once or twice, and he wrote that the departure of -his expedition from San Fernando was still delayed, owing to the -difficulty of obtaining transports for the troops, but the Provisional -Government now had an Agent at Princes' Town, who was chartering any -steamer which would take the risks--a pretty penny they were -charging--and he hoped to be ready in a fortnight or so to put to sea -and effect a junction with the troops from the northern province in -front of Los Angelos. - -It was rather monotonous waiting, all this time; but at last one of the -local steamers came in from San Fernando with the news that the -expedition was on the point of departure, and we immediately weighed -anchor and steamed across to Los Angelos, anchoring once more off the -white breakwater and lighthouse at the foot of the gloomy mountains of -Santa Cruz. - -On shore they must have known of the imminent approach of the -insurgents, because we could see them working like ants on the -breakwater and wharves, piling up sand-bags to form breastworks for -rifle-fire and emplacements for field-guns. Once I felt sure that I -recognised Zorilla, tramping among the men and encouraging them. - -That night half-a-dozen steamers, of sorts, came down the coast from the -northern province of San Juan, and anchored outside us, and outside the -range of the guns in the forts. How President Canilla must have raged -when he saw them, and cursed his Navy for having deserted him! - -They waited there till morning, then got up their anchors and stood out -to sea. We guessed that they were waiting for Gerald, and, sure enough, -by mid-day, the four insurgent men-of-war and the two torpedo-boats -appeared from the south, escorting seven steamers; they joined forces -with the other transports and steamed towards us. - -'There, lad!' the Skipper said, chuckling and pointing his telescope at -them. 'There's an illustration for you of the value of sea power. If -those four miserable cruisers still flew the yellow and green flag, not -one single transport could have moved.' - -It really was a very striking example of how the possession of the -cruisers and the 'Command of the Sea' had entirely altered the chances -of the two sides. - -If _La Buena Presidente_ had been allowed to destroy those cruisers, -whilst they flew the green and yellow flag, the same thing would, of -course, have happened, but if, after she had been sunk, they had not -revolted, Gerald would still be wandering about the forests, and the -insurgents from the northern province would still be confined to their -plains, and San Fernando and every town along the coast would still be -liable at any moment to bombardment or capture by any expedition -President Canilla chose to land there. - -The transports anchored before they came within range of the guns above -Los Angelos, but the men-of-war and the two torpedo-boats stood boldly -inshore, and immediately came under a very heavy fire. We had to -'weigh' and steam off, so as not to interfere with it, but you can -imagine that we stayed as close as we could, in order to see all that -was going on. - -The firing was very rapid, and very badly directed, the shells striking -the water anywhere but near the ships, and what we noticed chiefly was -the peculiar noise the long dynamite shells made--there were two -dynamite guns in the forts, you remember--hissing through the air like -enormous rockets, though they did not make much more noise when they -struck the water than the ordinary shells. I and the rest of my mids. -aboard the _Hercules_ were, of course, authorities on shell-fire now, -and most of them gave themselves tremendous airs, although Bob and one -or two others changed colour, and got very white every time a shell -burst anywhere near the ships--that wasn't often--and I knew pretty well -that they were still suffering from nerves, and hadn't recovered from -those fifteen minutes which wrecked the _Hector_. - -The cruisers never took the trouble to reply; they knew the weak spot in -the defences of Los Angelos; steamed right inshore, where the big guns -in the forts, high up above their decks, couldn't touch them, and began -blowing the sand-bags about in fine style. - -The torpedo-boats darted in along the wharves and inside the breakwater, -firing their machine guns, at point-blank range, into the crowds of -troops there, and the amount of ammunition expended was enormous. - -A good many rifle-bullets and a few shells from field-guns came our way, -but no one was touched. - -Late in the afternoon, when the firing was slacking down, one of the -torpedo-boats came buzzing along quite close to us. She was on her way -to the transports, and as she passed us, we saw that her funnel and some -boiler-plates she'd built up on deck, round her machine gun, were pitted -with bullet-marks. They looked, for all the world, like the inside of a -nutmeg grater. Two bodies were lying close to the machine gun, but the -rest of the crew were coiled down, resting, and not taking the least -notice of them. - -She went alongside one of the transports and came hurrying back. -Standing just for'ard of the funnel was old Gerald, smoking his pipe. -He was still in the same rig--brown boots and gaiters, white duck riding -breeches, white duck Norfolk jacket, and white polo helmet--and Jose, -with his scarlet sash, was squatting on the deck at his feet. He looked -up as he went by, and nodded cheerfully as I waved to him, and he saw -who I was. He was then taken alongside the flagship. - -Firing did not cease till dark, but none of us thought that the green -and yellow flags would be flying in the morning, and we were quite -right. Los Angelos itself was deserted, and white flags as big as -table-cloths were hoisted above the forts up the mountain-side. - -The transports immediately went alongside the wharves and began to -disgorge their ragged little brown troops; the cruisers and gunboats -took up their old moorings behind the breakwater, and we anchored again -outside it and just clear of the lighthouse. - -You can imagine how keen we were to go ashore and see what was -happening; but Captain Roger Hill was as strict as he was prim, and -refused to give any leave whatever. - -'If we had your Skipper--"Old Tin Eye"--here, Billums, I bet every soul -would be ashore by now,' Ginger said; but I don't know, he had had a bit -of a fright when our mids. fought those 4.7's, and had been much -stricter ever since. - -We could only hang about on deck with our telescopes and watch the -little insurgents pouring out of Los Angelos, and crowding along that -road, up the mountain-side, towards Santa Cruz. A long way up, at a -place where it curved sharply, the yellow and green flag was still -flying, and we could make out trenches and could see the wheels of some -field-guns half hidden among the trees. The trenches were continued up -the mountain-side, and it looked, from where we were, as if a hundred -brave men, behind them, could stop a thousand. - -Before nightfall Gerald's people were swarming below this line of -trenches, and during the middle watch desultory firing went on -continuously, but in the morning the yellow and green flag still flew -there, and when we could see the little white-shirted insurgents dodging -in and out among the trees, they hadn't got any nearer to the guns. -Next night there was still more firing; the field-guns were booming -every few minutes, their shells bursting, with a vivid glare, lower down -on the mountain-side. It was most fascinating to watch, but, as Bob -said, gave us a 'crick in the neck' looking up all the time. - -The flags and the field-guns were still there in the morning. - -'Your brother will find that a pretty awkward road to Santa Cruz,' -Captain Roger Hill said, speaking to me, off duty, for the first time -since I joined the ship. I bridled up and got angry at once, for he said -it in such a tone as to imply, 'What the dickens can a mere -rubber-planter know about war?' - -'He's beaten General Zorilla once, sir; I expect he'll manage it again -somehow,' I answered, as he stalked away, smiling in his superior way. -I'd jolly well like Gerald to meet him and take him down a peg. He'd -sized up Captain Grattan, my own Skipper ('Old Tin Eye'), and put him in -his place quick enough--good chap though he was--and he'd have an easy -job with Captain Roger Hill. - -The Captain went over to the insurgent flagship that afternoon to see -about some complaint which our Consul at Los Angelos had made, and I -slipped a note for Gerald into his coxswain's hands, hoping it would get -to him. - - -'Hope things are going all right. For goodness' sake, get Bob and -myself ashore--I'm sick of this ship. Get my chum, Hood, ashore, too, -if you can.--BILLUMS.' - - -By a bit of luck he actually was aboard, and sent me back an answer -scribbled on the envelope. - - -'Will do my best--things are humming.--GERALD.' - - -The coxswain brought it back when the Captain returned, and I'd hardly -read it when I was sent for. - -'Ha! Hum! Mr. Wilson, I met your brother on board the flagship. He -seems to be the head of the revolutionary army, and will--Hum! Ha!--be -a very important man in the country if it is successful. He's asked me -to let you accompany him in the advance. Ha! Hum! I've no objection. -If you want to get killed, you can.' - -'Thank you very much, sir,' I answered, though I jolly well wanted to -kick him. - -'Did he ask for Hood or my cousin, Bob Temple?' I asked, putting in a -word for them. - -'Ha! Hum! he did, but Mr. Hood is a _valuable_ officer, and Mr. Temple -too young. Good-morning!' - -He _was_ an irritating chap, if you like, and the amusing part of it was -that he thought every one was fearfully impressed with his importance. - -And Gerald sent for me too-sent the same little harbour launch which had -brought me on board the _Hector_, after I'd been released from San -Sebastian--sent it fussing out from behind the breakwater, and it waited -alongside whilst I shifted into plain clothes. - -'I've done my best for you both,' I said, as Ginger and Bob watched me -'change,' 'but it can't be done--very sorry--the Captain says you're a -valuable officer--meaning that I'm not--and that Bob is too young.' - -I filled my baccy pouch, shoved the mater's last letter into my pocket -to show Gerald, and went ashore, feeling as happy as a bird and jolly -important. - -How the chaps did envy me! - -Jose was waiting for me on the wharf, smiling all over his honest ugly -face, and took me along with him, though it was pretty awkward 'going' -because of the sand-bags scattered everywhere. The shops and warehouses -along the front were simply riddled with bullets and shell marks, and -some men, with a mule-cart, were searching round for bodies and dumping -them into it. - -We tramped along--it was so hot that the place was like an oven--and -found Gerald inside an office kind of place with the black and green -flag flying over it, and I knew he was happy by the way he puffed his -pipe. There were a great number of officers there, many of whom I had -seen before at San Fernando, and they bowed and smiled in the most -friendly way; I almost felt one of them. - -'Hullo, Billums! Just in time! Go inside and get some grub--you'll get -no more till to-morrow,' Gerald sang out, looking up from some papers. - -'Your next meal will be in Santa Cruz--with luck,' he said, coming in -when I'd got through a 'fid' of tinned meat. - -'Not in San Sebastian, I hope!' I answered, stuffing down the last bit. - -'Don't be an ass!' - -'You're not making much headway along the road, are you?' I asked -presently. - -'No, we aren't, and we don't mean to. That's not the main attack. I'm -going over the mountain to-night--hope to be above Santa Cruz at -daylight--you've got a pretty stiff climb before you.' - -'But won't all the paths be defended?' I asked, jolly excited to think -of what was going to happen. 'Surely old Zorilla would do that?' - -'He's left one open,' Gerald winked, 'one that chap you call the 'Gnome' -knows. He's going to lead us, but you'll have to wait here till it's -dark.' - -'What became of that black horse?' I asked him, as he was going out of -the room. - -'Brought it round from San Fernando, and sent it up to Zorilla -yesterday. He's awfully grateful. I can't stop any longer; I must go up -that road and show myself, below those trenches, before it gets too -dark, or Zorilla will begin to imagine we're not intending to attack -that way.' - -Then I had to tramp up and down and wait for the sun to set, thinking of -Gerald riding up the mountain road towards Santa Cruz, till he was close -enough to those trenches we had seen to be recognised and be potted at. - -At last it was dark--rather too dark, because a tremendously black -thunder-cloud came sweeping in from seawards--and Jose came for me and -took me away through narrow steep streets which were almost pitch-dark -because the electric light from Santa Cruz had been cut off. There were -bonfires at the street corners, but they only seemed to make the -darkness greater. - -We got up past the houses, well above the town, and came to a flatter -piece of ground, and although it was pitch-dark, and I couldn't see -anything, I knew, by the smell and the murmur of voices and rattling of -rifles, that there were thousands of the little brown men all round me. -We found Gerald at last, the 'Gnome,' in a great state of excitement, -with him. - -'We're just going on. We've a five-hour climb before us,' Gerald -said--he didn't seem excited. - -'It's going to be a beastly night,' I whispered--I could not help -whispering, because I was so excited. - -'So much the better,' he said cheerfully. 'We shan't be heard.' - -Then he gave some orders very quietly, said, 'Come along;' and we four, -the 'Gnome' leading the way, began climbing. I was in pretty good -training, but it was all I could do to keep up with them; I hadn't nails -in my boots, either, which made climbing all the more difficult. - -'Hold up, old chap; you can't afford to slip,' Gerald said, clutching me -as I stumbled, a few minutes after we had started, 'it's a long way to -the bottom.' - -I told him about my boots. - -'Boots are a nuisance,' he answered; 'those little chaps of mine looted -an army boot-store yesterday; they think boots make them look more like -real soldiers. They've never worn boots before, and will be footsore in -an hour, but they _will_ wear them. I can't prevent them.' - -I could hear them slipping and sliding behind me in the darkness. To -make matters worse, after we'd been climbing for a couple of hours, the -rain came down in bucketsful, drenched us to the skin, and made -everything more slippery than ever. - -'I'm going to take mine off,' I told Gerald when I had slipped badly -again, and so I did, hanging my boots round my neck, and stuffing my -socks inside them. - -Presently we heard a sliding noise behind us, a rifle went bounding and -clattering down, a man gave a scream, and then, far below, we heard a -crash, as if the body had fallen into dry bushes. - -'That's one gone over the edge,' Gerald said, quite coolly, 'I wish the -others would do as you've done and take off their boots. Keep well to -the right.' - -I didn't like it at all, and you bet I put each foot down jolly -carefully before I trusted my weight to it. - -We were walking, or scrambling, up a rock path, and I knew that on our -left the mountain-side sloped down very precipitously, and far below, -under my feet, could hear the noise of a rushing stream; it sounded -thousands of feet below. - -Noise! Why, it didn't much matter what noise we made! For, although -the rain had ceased nearly as quickly as it had commenced, the night and -blackness was full of the noises of mountain torrents, splashing down -the rocks above and below us--all round us, in fact--sluicing stones -along with them, and making a great rattle. - -We knew that the 'Gnome' was still plodding on ahead, for he kept -calling softly back every few seconds. Then a great black gap seemed to -open right out at our feet--it looked like the end of the world for -blackness. My nerves were pretty jumpy--they hadn't yet recovered from -that fight with _La Buena Presidente_--and I clutched at a rock and -shivered in my wet things. We had stopped, and the 'Gnome' was taking -off his boots. - -'You'll have to be careful here,' Gerald said. 'Lean well to the right -and get a good grip before you put your weight on your feet. Come on!' - -I heard the 'Gnome' scrambling round something, sending stones flying -down into space, Gerald disappeared, and I followed with my heart in my -mouth. - -'Dig your toes in and get a good grip,' he sang out, and I stuck them -into a ledge and a little crack I felt, skinning them, I know, and -worked my way along. My shoulders were hanging over that black pit -below, and I had that awful feeling that I wanted to let go and fall -down. I dare not move hand or foot, but just as I was beginning to -sweat with fear, Gerald caught me by one hand and pulled me round. - -'That's the worst bit, Billums; we shall lose some of them here.' - -I couldn't answer--my jaws were chattering so much. I was trembling all -over. - -No! I certainly hadn't quite got over that terrible fifteen minutes -while the poor old _Hector_ was being shattered. - -I followed him in a second or two, but we had barely gone twenty paces -before we heard some one slipping at that corner we had just passed; -there was a scream--it sounded again hundreds of feet below us--then -absolute silence, while I waited, with my ears tingling, for the crash. - -At last it came up to us out of the darkness, just like the noise a plum -would make if you threw it on the ground. I dug my bare heel among the -stones and clutched some bushes. - -'Come along!' Gerald whispered nervously, but stopped again because -there were more screams from that awful corner. He groped his way back. -'I'll make them join their belts together and form a line round there,' -he said, as the 'Gnome,' Jose, and I waited shivering for him. - -'_Don Geraldio, mucho bueno_,' the 'Gnome' muttered under his breath. - -My brother's voice sounded again after what seemed like half an hour, 'I -had to go round that blessed corner place, Billums, but I've got a dozen -belts fixed together and men holding them on each side, so it's pretty -safe now.' - -I myself wouldn't have gone round that corner, or whatever it was, for -anything in the world. - -We scrambled on, and the rain came tumbling down; in five minutes the -path we were in was a raging torrent, and my naked feet slipped back one -step for every three I made. They were getting tender now--very tender. - -'We're past the worst part, put your boots on again,' Gerald sang out, -and I tried to do so, but they were so wet and my feet so swollen that -they wouldn't go on, so I had to do without them. - -'What's the time?' I asked Gerald presently, when we'd halted to let the -column close up. 'Is it safe to light a match?' - -'My goodness, no! Zorilla's people would see us for miles; he has -watchers all over the hills. Whatever time it is I'm afraid we shall be -late.' - -We _were_ late too, and by the time it was light enough to see my -wretched feet--and wasn't I jolly glad to begin to see anything--it was -half-past two, and we still had a long climb before us. But we went -much faster now, and began edging away to the right, bearing round a -tremendous mountain shoulder that loomed up over our heads. - -'On the other side is Santa Cruz,' Gerald whispered. That was exciting -enough, if you like. He was busy hurrying on his men, who now began -slipping past us, going on ahead. They looked pretty well exhausted, -and most of them had done as I had done--hung their boots round their -necks; but in spite of their being soaked to the skin, and in spite of -their tremendous climb, they were cheerful enough, and their eyes were -flashing all right--at the prospect of sacking Santa Cruz, I expect. -The officers looked much more weather-beaten than they did. - -Then we went on again, and I asked Gerald whether we had lost many men -during the night, but he didn't know. We were walking through coarse -grass that cut my feet and made them smart like the mischief, so I stuck -my socks on. That eased things a little. - -'We can see Santa Cruz from here--in daylight,' Gerald whispered -presently, as we reached the top, and I knew by the waver in his voice -that he was--at last--excited; I know that the blood went tingling to -_my_ ears at the mere thought of being so near the city. - -The men were thrown out in a single line; we stopped to get them into -something like order, and as they marched into position they threw -themselves down on the wet ground, clutching their beloved rifles -feverishly, and looking down through the gloom and the mist to where -Santa Cruz lay at our feet. That long line of little crouching men with -their glittering eyes all trying to pierce the dim light and see the -city they'd heard so much about and come so many miles to capture, was -the most extraordinary sight. - -As I looked at them I couldn't help thinking what an awful fate was -waiting for Santa Cruz if they should get out of hand and sack it. They -were more than half-savages, and their officers, standing there among -them, didn't look as if they could control them once they began to see -'red.' - -'Is everything all right?' I asked Gerald, who had come back out of the -mist from where the far end of the line extended, out of sight, and he -nodded cheerfully, so I didn't mind being wet through and hungry, and -longed for him to give the signal to rush down to the city below us. -Poor old Zorilla! I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. - -Presently he did give a sign, the officers drew their swords, and the -whole crouching mob sprang to its feet, and we began scrambling and -sliding downhill. It was a jolly sight easier work than scrambling up, -but we made the dickens of a noise. - -In a quarter of an hour we could smell the city, and then the faint -outlines of the old cathedral tower showed up, the fierce little men -drawing in their breath with a hissing sound as they pointed it out to -each other. Suddenly, right under our feet, I recognised San -Sebastian--we were looking down on top of it and on those short saluting -guns along the parapet. - -As I pointed it out to Gerald there was the crack of a rifle and then -another, then hundreds of bullets came flying past, hitting the ground -in front of us and whizzing overhead. Gerald's men sank to the ground -behind us, and I could hardly see them among the brown rocks. - -The 'Gnome' came waddling along--out of breath--Gerald told me to lie -down, and he and the 'Gnome' and about a hundred men crept forward to -reconnoitre. I crawled after them, and caught up with my brother just -as he was looking round a big boulder. - -'Look there!' he whispered, 'down to the left!' - -I peered through the dim light, and there, drawn up between us and San -Sebastian, on some level ground, I saw several regiments of regulars. A -few companies, already extended, were lying down and firing up at us, -some were deploying as rapidly as they could, and others were crowding -into San Sebastian and lining the walls. Four field-guns came bumping -along out of the mist and began unlimbering and a little group of -horsemen galloped up behind them. - -'There's old Zorilla!' we both sang out. You couldn't possibly mistake -him and his black horse. - -'He's too late,' Gerald whispered excitedly. 'We'll rush 'em.' - -He got up and back we climbed to where we'd left our men. Bullets were -spluttering and splashing all round us, but no one was hit. Gerald -collected some of the officers and jabbered away to them in Spanish. I -saw their tired eyes begin flaming. - -'Look here, Billums!' he said, turning to me. 'Would you mind hurrying -down in front of those chaps on the left? I'm going to take the right -of the mob--I'm going straight for the guns--but you cut along to the -left and try and get into San Sebastian. Shout, wave your arms, but keep -going, and they'll follow all right. Here, take my polo helmet, that'll -make you all the more like me. It's all right; Zorilla won't get his -chaps to stand when they see we mean things.' - -Off he ran to his part of the line. - -[Illustration: SCRAMBLING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE] - -My aunt! that was fun, if you like. I went across to the left and began -halloaing; the officers began shouting, '_Viva los Horizontales!_' and -before I could say 'Jack Robinson' the whole of those little brown chaps -and I were scrambling down the mountain-side straight for San Sebastian, -yelling blue murder. - -My old boots were knocking up against each other and against my back, -but I jammed Gerald's polo hat firmly on and slid and scrambled, and ran -and slid again. The field-guns fired once or twice, there was an -appalling triumphant shrieking noise behind me--you couldn't call it a -cheer, it was much too savage for that--and Gerald was right. Zorilla's -infantry could _not_ stand the torrent of brown forest-men dashing down -the mountain-side on top of them, and, just as I was wishing that I had -a stick or a stone--anything, in fact--in my hand, they fired a volley -and began running and racing back to the town and behind the walls of -San Sebastian. - -The mule-drivers unhitched the mules from the guns and galloped madly -along after them--helter-skelter--dodging behind the walls, and then -streaming along the road towards the city itself. - -We were after them like smoke, and just as some of them dashed across -the drawbridge and tried to close the heavy iron doors, we rushed in. - -They didn't show fight, I should think they didn't; it was only the -backs of them we saw as they tumbled over themselves to escape, throwing -away their rifles and clambering through the embrasures of those -saluting guns. - -Well, that was how I paid my second visit to San Sebastian--a bit of a -change from my first visit, wasn't it? - -I dashed out again to help Gerald and, as I turned round the walls, -along he came and old Zorilla with him. The poor old chap was mopping -some blood off his forehead, and though he did look so forlorn he bowed -to me in quite a friendly way. I gave his hand a jolly good hard grip. - -It turned out that only a very few of his men round those guns had made -any stand, and that Gerald had simply swept through them, driven them -back under the walls of the fort, and the old man had surrendered. The -little brown men were rushing like a pack of hounds after the retreating -regulars, and Gerald's officers were trying to stop them. They did -manage to bring some back, but couldn't stop the rest, who went -careering along towards Santa Cruz, till fifty or sixty regulars, braver -than the others, or perhaps unable to run any farther, faced round, -formed up across the road, and began firing at them, when back they came -grinning and smiling like spaniels who have been ranging too far ahead -and know they deserve a hiding. A lot of them scrambled up the -mountain-side to fetch their beloved boots, which they had dropped -before they began charging down. - -'The revolution is finished,' Gerald said quite quietly, and began -loading his pipe; but his fingers shook a little, and I knew that he was -fearfully excited, although he did his best to conceal the fact. He had -the field-guns brought into the fort, and stuck them through some vacant -embrasures, where they could command the road leading down to the city. -Then he began to get his chaps into some kind of order again. - -'Would you like to hoist the flag, Billums? You can if you like,' he -said; and you bet I would. Some one--the 'Gnome' it was--brought along a -roll of black and green bunting; we climbed up to the flagstaff on top -of the walls, and hitching it to the halyards I hauled it up, hand over -hand. You should have seen Gerald's chaps yelling and dancing about, -and heard them shouting, '_Viva de Costa!' 'Viva los Horizontals!_' and -'_Viva Don Geraldio!_' I need hardly tell you which were the loudest -shouts, but old Gerald never moved a muscle, and took them all as a -matter of course. - -I stood on top of the wall and smiled down on them, and never had had a -jollier spree. It was quite light now--a most beautiful calm morning, -the air crisp and fresh--and the top edge of the ridge we'd just climbed -down was a rosy red. - -Whatever the weather had been it wouldn't have made much difference to -me; I felt simply glorious, and thought of old Ginger, down aboard the -_Hercules_, keeping his morning watch and trying to prevent the men from -making too much noise over the Captain's head and waking him. - -It was grand to be alive! I managed to get on my boots, though they -wouldn't go on over my socks, then I took my coat off and shook some of -the water out of it, for I was still as wet as a rat. Any number of -weird noises were coming up from the city. - -'They'll come and attack us, I suppose; won't they?' I asked Gerald, but -he only smiled and said something to General Zorilla, who smiled too, -rather sadly, and shook his head. - -Then I thought of that room place with the barred iron door where I'd -been shut up, and took Gerald over to have a good look at it, but he'd -had it opened already, and quite a number of 'plain clothes' people were -standing about, not quite knowing what to do, but highly delighted with -themselves. They had just been released. I showed him those three -graves, although they were not very distinct now as grass had already -grown over them. It was a happy time if you like, and I was getting -more hungry every second. - -Half an hour later a carriage came driving furiously up the road towards -San Sebastian, and two civilians and an officer jumped down. They came -up very humbly to Gerald and spoke to him. I knew their news was good, -because Gerald's face twitched so much, and directly he called out -something in Spanish, every one inside and outside the fort began -shouting and yelling with delight. - -'Canilla has vanished,' he told me; 'the place is empty, and they're -going to hoist the black and green flag over the cathedral tower as soon -as they've sewn one together.' - -'Then it's all over,' I said, just a little disappointed that there was -to be no more excitement. - -'Yes! we can march in now, but----' - -'But what?' I asked, seeing Gerald look a little anxious, and he swept -his hand round to where the little half-savage men were cheering and -shouting, dancing about like children. - -'----but if I took them in now, Santa Cruz would be in flames in an -hour.' - -I rather guessed that that was the trouble. - -The carriage drove back again, and General Zorilla went in it, little -Jose went as well, sitting up with the driver and looking very -important. - -Gerald told me that he'd appointed old Zorilla Commandant of the city, -and that he'd sent him in to get together as many regular troops as he -could find to guard the streets and keep order. Funnily enough, it -never even occurred to me that old Zorilla could not be trusted; nobody -who'd seen the old man could possibly doubt his honour. - -'D'you know what the troops will be doing for the next half-hour?' -Gerald smiled. - -'No! what?' - -'Twisting round the yellow and green badges in their hats till the -stripes are _horizontal_, and blacking out the "yellow" part.' - -'What's Jose gone for?' I asked him. - -'He says that I left a clean pair of riding breeches and a new helmet at -the Club, and he's going to see if they are still there.' - -I must say that old Gerald wanted them badly; we both looked pretty -disreputable. Just then the bells in the cathedral began ringing, and -the great cracked bell banged out with its jarring clang. Bells began -ringing, from one end of the city to the other, till the whole place -seemed nothing but bells, and in half an hour a big black and green flag -was hanging down over the old tower. - -'If they don't send food out pretty soon for my chaps, there'll be no -holding them,' Gerald said presently, and looked worried again; but old -Zorilla must have hurried up the townspeople considerably, because very -soon carts came out with bread and fruit and rice cakes, and the fierce -little fellows were soon filling their stomachs. - -Jose came back from the city, his eyes glittering with pride; he'd found -Gerald's room at the Club quite undisturbed, and brought him a complete -change of clothes and some shaving tackle. We went into one of the -living rooms in the fort and made ourselves look more respectable, Jose -coming with us and polishing Gerald's boots and gaiters till you could -see your face in them. - -All this time the men were round those carts stuffing themselves -contentedly; but don't think that old Zorilla had forgotten us, rather -not, he had sent us out some breakfast, and you may guess we were ready -for it by the time we had cleaned. - -'First meal in San Sebastian! I said so!' and I laughed. - -'So it is! Well, here's luck to it!' Gerald answered; 'and thanks very -much, Billums, for coming along with me.' - -'My dear chap, don't be an ass!' was the only thing I could think to -say. - -'I wish I could make my little chaps give up their rifles,' he said, -'but I can't; they're too proud of them.' - -'But surely if you disarmed them the regulars might attack them?' I -asked, but Gerald only smiled. - -'Of course not! My dear Billums, didn't I tell you that they are busy -blacking out the yellow stripes; they'll obey my orders now as -cheerfully as they'd have shot me an hour ago. Now Canilla has vanished -Zorilla only takes orders from the New President--and that means me.' - -'Oh!' I said, and, like the sailor's parrot, thought a good deal. - -Then I gave him the mater's last letter, and, after he'd lighted his -pipe, he sat back in a chair and read it, stretching his legs out in -front of him whilst Jose knelt down buttoning up his gaiters and giving -them a final polish. I did wish that the mater could have seen him. - -Officers with green and black badges in their caps and helmets came -backwards and forwards from the city for orders, and some of them, I -saw, had done just as Gerald had said, simply turned the badges round -and inked out the yellow stripe. It made me laugh, but he kept a face -as sober as a judge, and sent them flying here, there, and everywhere, -and they clicked their heels, saluted, and rushed off, as if he had -always been their Commanding Officer. I don't expect they would have -dared come among our little chaps without blacking out the yellow -stripe, although now, with their stomachs full, they were quite peaceful -and contented, and went to sleep on the slope below the fort or sat -drying themselves in the sun, and forgot, for a time, about looting the -city. - -Mr. Arnstein, the German Minister, came out during the morning to -arrange for the safety of European property, and as he was an old friend -of my brother, was jolly pleasant. Whilst they were yarning together de -Costa's Secretary drove hurriedly across the drawbridge, to say very -excitedly that the New President and the Provisional Government were -coming up the mountain road from Los Angelos, and wanted to see Gerald. -Gerald sent him back again as quickly as he'd come. - -'I'm hanged if I'm going down there,' he told me. 'For one thing, I -daren't leave these chaps of mine. I've told him that it's simply -impossible for me to leave San Sebastian, and told him to warn de Costa -to bring along as many regulars as he can get hold of--as soon as -they've shifted their badges. - -'We shall have them here as soon as they can come,' he added, smiling. -'They'll be so frightened lest I seize the palace and become Dictator -before they can get hold of it, that they'll come along like "one -o'clock."' - -He was right too. An hour later de Costa and the whole of the -Provisional Government came rattling across the drawbridge, and simply -threw themselves on old Gerald; they would have kissed him if he'd only -taken his pipe out of his mouth, but as they'd got hold of both his -hands he couldn't. They shook my hands, too, till they ached, and then -went away to take up their quarters in the palace, feeling more easy in -their minds, I expect, about that Dictatorship. - -I wished that they had never come, for one of them had a note for me -from the Commander of the _Hercules_, ordering me back on board as soon -as possible. - -I showed it to Gerald. 'Confound the ship, I'll have to go back at -once.' - -He got me a horse, and sent the 'Gnome' down with me in case there was -any trouble on the road, shouting out, 'Good-bye! Hope to see you up -again before long,' as we clattered out of San Sebastian. I shouted -'_Buenos! Buenos!_' to the little brown chaps, a great number of them -jumping up and giving me a fine 'send off' as we cantered down to the -city. - -Regular troops were at every corner--their badges twisted round and -blackened--and it really was ludicrous to see the attempts the -townspeople had made to show their loyalty to the New President; for at -nearly every window there was some kind of an attempt at a black and -green flag with the stripes horizontal. - -A great number of people thought I was Gerald himself, so I came in for -quite a royal reception, but we cantered rapidly through the square, -field batteries at every corner, past the front of the cathedral, with -that huge bell still jarring overhead, and as we passed the Hotel de -l'Europe I looked up at the window from which Bob and I and the poor -little 'Angel' had seen the funeral procession and tried to escape that -beastly little ex-policeman. I wondered what had become of him, and -whether the stumps of his fingers had healed. - -It was a long and tedious journey down the road to Los Angelos, because -at many places barricades, thrown up to prevent Gerald's troops -advancing, were being lazily pulled down, and the litter on the road -made it impossible to get along quickly. - -However, I did not want to be caught in the dark, so we made our horses -hurry whenever the road made it possible, and we managed to reach Los -Angelos in two hours and a half. One of the boats belonging to the -Santa Cruz flagship happened to be waiting alongside the wharf; the -'Gnome' said something to the coxswain, and off I went in her, in great -style, to the _Hercules_. Good little 'Gnome,' he was pretty well worn -out by the time I wished him good-bye, and he went away with our two -horses. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *The Ex-policeman* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -As you can imagine, I wasn't half pleased to get back to the _Hercules_, -and there I had to wait, not a soul being allowed ashore, for a whole -week. We heard that order was being maintained in Santa Cruz, and as -this was the chief thing Gerald worried about, I was very glad indeed. -I never told you that, directly the English and United States -Governments had recognised the insurgents, Canilla had sent every -foreign Minister, except Mr. Arnstein, and every European merchant, out -of the country. Now, however, they all came back from Princes' Town, -and things seemed to be settling down peaceably, just as peaceably, -indeed, as after a General Election and a change of Government at home. -Canilla and a very small number of officials, who'd made themselves too -obnoxious to stay, simply disappeared, finding their way down to some -village farther along the coast, and taking refuge on board a Colombian -gun-boat which happened to be there. No one seemed to worry about him -or them--not in the least. - -Then came a formal invitation for the Captain and Officers of H.M.S. -_Hercules_ to attend the inauguration of the new Government. There was -to be a triumphal entry of the former insurgent army into Santa Cruz, a -full dress ceremony in the old cathedral, and a banquet afterwards at -the palace. What made me so pleased was that they'd sent me a separate -invitation, in recognition of my 'services to the Republic of Santa -Cruz.' Just think of that! I've got the card now with a great spidery -signature--Alvarez de Costa--across the bottom of it. - -Captain Roger Hill couldn't possibly refuse to let me go, although I'm -certain he would have done so if he could. - -Gerald sent me a note telling me to meet him at the Club, and Mr. -Macdonald, who had turned up again from Princes' Town, drove Ginger and -Cousin Bob and myself up to Santa Cruz, just as he had done before. - -We had to go in uniform, 'whites' with swords, and as mine was an -old-fashioned helmet, which came down well over my eyes and the back of -my neck, it hid my hair. The result was that hardly any one noticed me -or mistook me for Gerald, though, wherever we went, there were shouts of -'_Viva los Inglesas!_' from the crowds in the streets and at the -windows. The English were tremendously popular, chiefly on account of -Gerald, so Mr. Macdonald told us. 'Look up there!' he called out, as we -came in sight of San Sebastian, and we saw that the slopes of the -mountains, below and above it, were simply swarming with Gerald's little -brown men in their white shirts. - -It was just such another scorching hot day as the first time we'd been -in Santa Cruz, and the whole place was a flutter of green and black, -green and black flags in front of every house, green and black rosettes -in every one's coats, and of course the regular troops were plastered -with green and black badges. - -Troops! Why, there were more regular troops than ever, cavalry, -infantry, and artillery, and not a sign of the fierce little brown men -in the streets or big square, except in front of the cathedral steps, -where about two hundred of them formed a guard of honour, their ragged -shirts and cotton drawers washed for the occasion, new cartridge-belts -round their waists, and brown boots on their feet, but not looking -particularly happy in their finery, although there was a great crowd -watching them curiously. There was a funny feeling of tension in the -air, and every one had the same worried expectant look on his face, just -as I had noticed on that first day we drove through the city. - -'Aren't there any women in the place?' Ginger asked. 'We never seem to -see any,' and Mr. Macdonald shook his head. 'They know when there's -danger. It's always a bad sign when they stay indoors. They're afraid -of the insurgent troops from the forests down south and the plains away -to the north. There's no knowing what they'll do when they enter the -city. Every one's nervous about them.' - -We drove to the Club, and there we found any number of fellows from the -_Hercules_, and most of the European residents too. They had the same -anxious look about them as we'd noticed outside, and one of them, -turning to me, said that practically everything depended on my brother -and his personal influence and popularity with the ragged armed mob who -were going to march into Santa Cruz. He told me that Gerald had just -gone up to his room, so Ginger and Bob and I went up and found him -changing into clean things, Jose, with a huge black and green rosette in -his coat, helping him. I introduced Ginger, and unbuckling our -sword-belts we sat on his bed and yarned to him. - -'How are your chaps going to behave?' I asked him. - -'So long as I can keep my eye on them they'll be all right,' he said, -'but I don't like the idea of leaving them outside when I have to go -into the cathedral, or to that banquet they talk so much about. I wish -to goodness I hadn't to go through this tomfoolery; I have to ride -immediately behind the President's carriage. (How the dickens can he -expect to be popular if he don't ride a horse?) He won't let me off the -job either, although he's jealous of me, and hates hearing people -singing out my name, but he knows he can't keep my little brown chaps in -hand himself, so he's going to keep me as close to him as possible.' - -'But _must_ they come in?' Ginger asked. - -'Yes!' he said; 'they must. They must have their triumphal entry. I've -had bother enough keeping them out as long as this, but they won't go -home till they can say that they've marched through Santa Cruz as -victors. Thank goodness, they've hardly got a cartridge among them.' - -'How many are there?' Ginger began to ask, when there was a gentle tap -on the door, and one of the Club servants came in, handed Gerald a -visiting card, and went out again. - -'I don't know who the chap is,' Gerald said, looking at it; 'I wish -people wouldn't bother me now.' - -There was another tap at the door, and in came a man, dressed in a black -frock-coat and grey trousers, holding a tall silk hat with the thumb and -the stumps of the fingers of his right hand. For a second I seemed to -feel frozen with fear, for it was the ex-policeman, the man whose -fingers I'd cut off on the beach at San Fernando, and as I sprang at -him, he drew a revolver from his breast with his left hand, dodged round -me, and fired point-blank at Gerald. I heard Gerald catch his breath, -and I'd caught the revolver, hurled it away, and got the brute by the -neck in a second, Jose, with a scream, rushing across to help me. He -reeled over the foot of Gerald's bed, and whether Jose choked him, or I -broke his back in my rage, I don't know, but he gave a shudder, slipped -out of our hands, and flopped down on the floor--dead. Oh! that I had -killed him that day at San Fernando! - -I turned to Gerald, who was standing where he'd been shot, with his hand -over his stomach, Ginger and Bob holding his arms. - -'He got me in the stomach, Billums,' he said quietly. - -'Don't move a muscle,' I yelled, 'we'll lift you on the bed.' - -As we laid him down very carefully, people came rushing up from down -below to know what had happened. - -'Get a doctor,' I shouted, and I know that I was blubbing like a child. - -Dr. Robson of the _Hercules_ came rushing up, and I shall never forget -how we three watched his face as he pulled down Gerald's riding -breeches, very carefully, to examine the wound. - -'When did you have food last?' he said, and when Gerald answered, 'Six -hours ago,' he muttered, 'Thank God!' - -'What size bullet was it? Show me the revolver.' - -Bob brought it. It was a Mauser automatic pistol. - -'Well, what's the verdict?' Gerald asked quite calmly. - -'I can't say, must get some one else. Don't move till I come back--not -a muscle,' and Dr. Robson went away. - -Ginger went away too, some one dragged the body out of the room, and -only Bob, white and trembling, with tears running down his face, Jose, -crouching dumb with grief on the floor, and myself stayed with him. - -Oh! that I'd killed the brute when I'd had that chance at San Fernando! - -I saw that Gerald was thinking and worrying about something. Presently -he said: 'Billums, old chap, you've often asked me why I left the rubber -job; I wanted excitement, and I wanted to see how I could run a -revolution. Well, I've run it; I'm the Commander-in-Chief, or whatever -they call it, of the Republic, and this is a great day for Englishmen -out here; we were rather going "under" before the revolution, but now -our chaps are "top of the tree," and an Englishman must be behind de -Costa's carriage to-day. It's up to you now, you must take my place.' - -'I can't, Gerald; I can't really--I can't leave you,' I stuttered, half -choking. - -He thought a moment, and then went on. 'You must, Billums. You know -the reason. They're afraid of my men. Once they get into the city with -arms in their hands they may get out of hand at the least thing, they -are so wild and excitable. I am the only one who can control them, and -for them to sack Santa Cruz would spoil all I have done. In my rig, you -will be as like me as two peas, and so long as they think I'm there, -giving all the orders, they'll obey their officers. They won't -otherwise.' - -Just then there were some firm footsteps outside the door, and General -Zorilla came gently in, in full uniform, covered with medals, his old -war-worn face looking very sad, his thin lips very tightly pressed -together. He smiled at me, and then gripped Gerald's hand, his stern -old face working strangely. They talked together for a minute or two, -and I knew somehow or other that they were not talking of Gerald -himself. - -'Yes, Billums! it's up to you now. You must get into my ordinary rig -out. Zorilla wants you to do so, too--says it's the only thing that can -save Santa Cruz.' - -'But a great many people will know me!' I cried. - -'Many more won't; the people of the city won't, and most of my men will -think you are I. You've only got to ride behind that carriage and -return salutes, and you've done it. You must do it, Billums; my horse -is as quiet as a lamb, he doesn't even mind their atrocious bands or the -guns firing.' - -I'd never felt so utterly wretched in my life. 'All right, I'll try,' I -said. - -Zorilla bowed to me and went out, though, first of all, looking very -sad, he clicked his heels and saluted poor old Gerald as he lay on the -bed. Jose, with red eyes and trembling fingers, began unbuttoning -Gerald's gaiters, while Bob and I held his legs above the knee to -prevent any shaking. The only clean riding breeches Gerald had were the -ones he was wearing, so he made us take them off. I stripped and got -into them; I could not have felt more miserable if I was going to be -hanged, and to make things more wretched, just below the inner left -braces button was the small hole made by the bullet and a tiny stain of -blood. - -I dragged them on, Jose laced them at the knees, then I put on Gerald's -brown boots, and Jose fastened on his gaiters, rubbing off his -tear-marks with his sleeve. He helped me into one of Gerald's white -duck 'Norfolk' jackets and handed me his newest polo helmet. - -'You're the very thing,' Gerald said, looking at me, and even Jose -appeared astonished, so I suppose I must have looked very much like my -brother. - -Then Dr. Robson came back with the Fleet Surgeon of the _Hercules_ and -the swagger Santa Cruz surgeon, an extraordinarily fat man with fat, -greasy, tobacco-stained fingers covered with rings. They examined the -wound again, and the fat man shrugged his shoulders and I saw him draw -one finger across the other hand and look at Robson very suggestively. - -I knew he meant to cut Gerald open. - -The Fleet Surgeon and he talked French to each other for some minutes, -and I could see that our doctor didn't like the idea of an operation, -but the fat chap was evidently talking him round to his own way of -thinking. - -'Well, what's the verdict?' Gerald asked, looking from one to the other -rather anxiously, and the Fleet Surgeon said, in a low voice, 'We must -give you a little ether and have a look at you.' - -'All right, doctor, I'm ready,' Gerald answered quite quietly; thank -goodness, he was in hardly any pain. - -Then the 'Gnome' came in to fetch Gerald for the procession, thought for -a second that I, in his things, was he, but then saw him lying on the -bed. He nearly broke down when Gerald spoke to him. - -'You go with him, Billums,' Gerald said. - -Dr. Robson followed us out of the room. 'We're going to operate almost -immediately; that fat chap thinks it necessary, and as he's the best -surgeon anywhere here, we must take his advice.' - -I darted back, 'Good-bye, old chap! good luck!--there won't be any -pain.' I tried to say it cheerfully, but I had to dart out again, for -there was a lump in my throat and I was afraid it would burst. - -'Good-bye, Billums!' Gerald sang out after me. 'Don't be conceited when -they cheer you. I'm thankful you're to be in my place.' - -Well, I don't mind saying, honestly, that, if I could, I would have -changed places with him then, because old Gerald was such a splendid -chap and had done such grand things and I was only a rotter. - -The 'Gnome' led me down through the Club, but I seemed half dazed and -didn't notice a soul there; one of Gerald's horses was waiting for me -outside the arched gateway where I had first seen that little beast, I -got on his back, and then heard Ginger's voice singing out, 'Buck up, -old Billums! Bob and I will hang round till you come back.' - -Buck up? I could have blubbed more easily as I rode after the 'Gnome' -with a couple of nigger orderlies trotting behind me. - -'Senor! Senor!' I heard the 'Gnome' mutter imploringly, and saw him -pushing up his own chin with his finger and then pointing to mine, so I -sat more upright and held my head higher. - -Directly we got into the main street, the place was one seething mass of -waving arms and flags, people pressed round my horse and even kissed my -gaiters, and the whole air was alive with shouts of '_Viva Don -Geraldio!_' I tried to do what Gerald would have done and smiled, and -by the time we'd managed to force a way through into the great square, -the shouting was really extraordinary. The people stopped my horse, and -if a very officious young cavalry officer had not brought up a -half-squadron of his men, I do believe they would have pulled me off my -saddle in their excitement. - -However, we got through them all right and cantered up the road to San -Sebastian, round which the little brown forest-men were camped. - -My aunt! miserable as I was, it made my blood dance to hear their shouts -and to know how keen they were on my brother. - -As I entered the fort across the drawbridge, General Zorilla was waiting -for me, clicked his heels and saluted gravely as I dismounted. Then he -took me by the arm and led me away to an upper part of the wall, where -it was just broad enough for two to walk abreast, and talked all the -time--in Spanish, of course--and, though I could not understand a word, -I guessed quickly that he'd taken me up there, where no one else could -come and try to talk to me, and where all the people, both inside and -outside the fort, could see me. - -I thought that probably a rumour of Gerald's having been shot by an -assassin had spread, and that old Zorilla feared what the forest-men -would do if they believed it. - -We walked solemnly up and down for, I should think, quite twenty -minutes, and then the President drove up in a carriage, drawn by six -white horses, and it was time for the procession to start. - -General Zorilla gave some orders, and immediately there was a stir among -the little brown chaps. A great column of them, quite two thousand I -should imagine by the time they took to pass beneath us, wound round the -fort and began marching down into the town. - -They had cleaned themselves for the occasion, looking quite spruce as -they surged along that road, their officers trying to make them keep -some military formation--with very little success. A few were wearing -those brown boots which they'd looted, but most of them were barefooted, -so made very little noise on the hard ground, but, for all their lack of -uniform and discipline, their eyes were flashing under their white hats -and they bore themselves very bravely. After them came another mob--men -only armed with _machetes_--the terrible little _machetos_, immediately -in front of the six white horses and the President's carriage. Behind -it was a space of about fifty yards, where I was to go, and then came -more carriages with the Provisional Government, another mob of wild -_machetos_, two companies of sailors from the ships, and those two -hundred regulars who'd helped me bring little Navarro and those guns -into San Fernando. I didn't know that they had come along, and was -jolly glad to see them. - -They had been given the honour of dragging the two pom-poms through the -city--those two pom-poms we had landed at San Fernando with the rest of -the 'hydraulic machinery'--and seemed very proud of the privilege. - -To me, of course, they were the most interesting part of the procession, -and I wondered what they would think if they knew that it was I who had -untied their arms that morning and brought them along through the -forest; but every one took it for granted that I was Gerald, so it was -no use wondering or pretending to be myself. - -Behind them another huge column of riflemen began to defile down into -the road, but by this time we had climbed down from the top of the wall, -Zorilla had mounted his black horse, I had got on to mine, and we waited -in the shade of the weather-beaten walls of San Sebastian, with the -muzzles of their saluting guns sticking out above our heads, till the -last of Gerald's army had marched past, doing their best to look like -real soldiers whether they had brown boots on or not, their eyes -flashing fiercely, and their shoulders well thrown back. - -Thank God! they had hardly a cartridge among them. - -Zorilla motioned for me to ride on, so I cantered away to my place -behind the President's carriage, the 'Gnome' close to me, and the two -orderlies coming after. - -We got into the city just as the saluting guns began firing, and the -great cracked bell in the cathedral began to set my nerves on edge--I -hated the sound of it. We got through the first appallingly hot streets -comfortably enough, but I scarcely noticed anything, because I was -thinking all the time of poor old Gerald and how I could possibly write -home to tell the mater. I was getting intensely miserable, wondering -how the operation was going on, and imagining those fat tobacco-stained -fingers, with the gold rings on them, cutting up old Gerald, when the -'Gnome' startled me by riding up alongside, saluting, and pointing to -his chin, so I tried to buck up and look like a victorious General. The -'Gnome' smiled and dropped back again. I wonder what the people thought -he had said to me. - -As we got nearer the square, the massed bands were making a terrific -noise, and what with that and the cheering, my little horse began to -play the ass--he knew I wasn't Gerald if no one else did and took -liberties. I got him in hand quickly enough, but I must say that the -cheering was sufficient to make any animal lose his head. - -The people were rather quiet when they saw the little forest-men leading -the procession, they rather feared them and their terrible _machetes_, -but began cheering loudly when the President's carriage rolled along, -and then, as I passed, it was one continuous roar of '_Viva Don -Geraldio!_' from the dense sea of heads and waving arms, on both sides -of the streets, behind the lines of regular troops, and from the windows -and even the roofs of the houses. - -I saw the President shift rather uneasily in his seat as the shouting of -Gerald's name drowned his altogether, but he kept raising his hat and -bowing to left and right as if he was still the popular hero, doing it -so vigorously that I saw his collar getting limp and the perspiration -rolling down his neck. - -The little Secretary's face was a picture. I don't know whether he knew -whom I was, but I'm certain that, even now, he was worrying lest I -should suddenly call on Gerald's army, seize the palace, and become -Dictator, and I'm perfectly sure that I could have done it, or rather -that Gerald could have done it, without the least trouble. - -Almost before I knew it, we were passing the Hotel de l'Europe, and I -looked up at that window again. It was full of Europeans, and one of -them sang out, 'Three cheers for Gerald Wilson!' and they waved their -hats and gave three grand cheers--a jolly homely sound it was, and I did -wish that dear old Gerald could have heard it. Then--well, I did sit -upright and tingled right down to Gerald's boots, because one of them -yelled, 'One more for his brother!' that was for me, and they shouted, -'The two Wilsons!' and gave three grand cheers. I wonder how the -President enjoyed them! - -I took Gerald's polo helmet off, waved it to them, and saw them look -puzzled, stretching their necks over the balcony to have another look. - -The 'Gnome' darted to my side, touching his hat and shaking his head. - -I knew well enough what he meant. My face and hair showed just -sufficiently under the polo helmet, but I wasn't so much like Gerald -without it. - -Still, it was grand to be myself for half a second and hear those -cheers. - -The carriage had stopped in front of the cathedral, with its guard of -insurgents, so I dismounted and followed the President up the steps, at -the top of which the old Archbishop was waiting to receive him--with -uplifted hands, just as he had stood when the coffin, with _La Buena -Presidente_ in it, had been borne up those steps three months before. -By his side stood General Zorilla, grim and fierce-looking, and I did so -wish that I knew enough Spanish to ask him, as a joke, whether he had -any more of those blue warrants knocking about him. I wondered if he -would have smiled. - -In we all went, the Provisional Government trooping after us, and jolly -glad I was to take off Gerald's polo helmet and get into the cool for a -few minutes. - -The cathedral was crowded with people, who stood up as we entered and -turned their faces towards us. I saw some of them look surprised, and -heard a murmur of '_No! Don Geraldio!_' when they saw me, and just as I -was thinking what I ought to do, old Zorilla put his hand on my -shoulder, whispered something in Spanish, and beckoned me out again. - -I guessed what was wrong, and clapped the helmet on, but that wasn't -it--Gerald's people were already giving trouble. They were to have -marched out to some barracks, on the other side of the town, where a -huge meal had been prepared for them, but they were still pouring into -the square, pushing the regulars and the people back against the -railings on the other side, and didn't show any inclination to leave it, -although I could see their officers, going in among them, pointing away -to where they should have marched. They were calling out for Gerald; -all over the square I could hear his name being called--it was most -extraordinary; I could feel that trouble was brewing; they looked like -wild cattle driven into a strange place, very nervous and suspicious and -liable at the least thing to stampede, and I knew what would happen if -they once got into a panic. The regulars, too, looked 'jumpy,' -uncertain what they should do, and I saw some artillery men stealthily -opening an ammunition limber. The townspeople were streaming out of the -square as fast as they could, and I knew that if a single shot was -fired, there'd be an awful massacre. - -Zorilla made me get on my horse and we rode in among them. - -Immediately they saw me they broke out into wild huzzahs, and a fierce -roar of '_Don Geraldio! Don Geraldio! Viva Don Geraldio!_' simply -filled the square. Zorilla, smiling grimly, rode away, evidently -thinking that he was better out of it. - -I knew what I was expected to do, the 'Gnome' was at my side looking -anxiously at me, so I nodded to him, pointed across the square, and -began forcing my way among them in the direction they ought to go. The -'Gnome' sang out half-a-dozen orders in a stentorian voice, and the -whole, huge, half-terrified, half fierce-looking mob came along after -us, as good as gold. - -Well, that was simply another triumphal procession for Gerald; the -little _machetos_ were all round me, they fought for the honour of -leading my horse, and, thank goodness, I got them out of the square and -the city without anything going wrong. - -Old Zorilla had evidently gone ahead of me and hidden away all the -regulars, for there wasn't one to be seen. We marched through -absolutely deserted streets, and though the little brown men hesitated a -moment, and began to look troubled and suspicious, when, at last, we -came to the barracks, the smell of the food was so tempting that they -poured in after me. It was a huge rambling barracks, with an enormous -parade-ground, crowded with tables, and an army of timid-looking people -was waiting to serve food. I stayed there half an hour till the little -brown chaps had forgotten all their grievances and suspicions, and then -I bolted back to the palace, where the official banquet was to be held, -and got through that all right, being placed among the foreign -Ministers, who, of course, knew whom I was, and had heard of Gerald -having been shot. - -Mr. Arnstein, in his gorgeous uniform, bent over to tell me that he'd -heard that the operation was going on all right, so that I was quite -happy. - -Every one was awfully nice to me about Gerald, and about my having taken -his place successfully, but after lunch I wanted to get away, though I -could not do so, for some time, because of every one wanting to -congratulate me. Captain Roger Hill actually came up, too, but I'd been -Gerald all the morning, I still had his clothes on, and, somehow or -other, I felt like him and was very 'stand off the grass' when he tried -to patronise me. - -Fortunately, old Zorilla came to the rescue, his eyes gleaming very -curiously, and he led me away to where a closed carriage was waiting. - -We drove away from the palace, and when we'd got some distance off, he -put his hand inside his tunic and pulled out--what do you think?--a blue -packet--another of those warrants--and handed it to me. - -It was the exact counterpart of the one which I had torn up that day in -the Hotel de l'Europe, with Gerald's name written in among the printing, -only this had Alvarez de Costa scrawled across the bottom instead of -Jose Canilla. - -Phew! my heart began thumping and I caught my breath for a moment, but -Zorilla took it out of my hands, shrugged his shoulders, and began -tearing it into little bits and throwing them out of the carriage -window, one by one. - -I simply hugged his thin old hand. - -What a beastly cad de Costa was. Riding behind him, two hours ago, I -thought he meant mischief, and now I knew that he'd only been waiting -till Gerald's men were safely outside the city again. I really don't -know whether he had heard of Gerald's wound, and knew that I was only -his brother or not, but if he had heard of it, I hated him all the -more--the miserable ungrateful coward! - -Presently the carriage stopped outside a big house, and Zorilla took me -in through the courtyard. It turned out to be his own house, and Dr. -Robson, Ginger, and Bob were there. - -'How's Gerald?' I sang out, and gave a whoop of joy when Dr. Robson -said, 'We found several holes to stitch up, I don't think we missed any, -so I hope he'll do well.' - -He stopped me making an ass of myself, 'Your brother is upstairs, you -can't see him yet.' - -Fancy Zorilla having taken him to his own house! Wasn't that just what -you'd have expected of the dear old man? - -I was so brimming over with anger about the warrant that, for a second -or two, I had an insane idea of riding off to those barracks and -bringing back Gerald's men, seizing the palace and the President, and -proclaiming Gerald Dictator. I'm certain that if only I'd known a few -words of Spanish I could have done it. - -I don't know whether Zorilla guessed what I was thinking about, but I -caught him watching my face, smiling very grimly, and then he said, -'Inglese Minister com',' and took me away in his carriage. - -We found him, and Zorilla evidently explained what had happened, for he -said, 'Don't bother your head about your brother; if Zorilla won't -execute the warrant, no one else will, and no one will dare to disturb -him while he's in the General's house.' - -He drove back with us, and then the two of them went away to the palace -and had a pretty stormy interview with the President, leaving me to -potter about with Bob and Ginger till it was possible to see old Gerald. -They came back again before I was allowed to go into his room. - -'We reduced him to pulp,' the British Minister said; 'he caved in -immediately, and apologised to both of us. Zorilla threatened to bring -in the insurgent troops and his own regulars and make him a prisoner if -he didn't immediately cancel the warrant and re-appoint your brother -Commander-in-Chief. He was petrified with funk and wriggled out of it -like the ungainly toad he is.' - -Then Dr. Robson called out that Gerald was asking for me, so I went -softly upstairs into a big bedroom, where he lay, his face very puffy, -with a nun on each side of his bed, looking after him. They dropped -their eyes as I bowed. Jose was crouched in a corner gleaming at me -like a faithful dog. - -'I _am_ so glad,' was all I could say, as I gripped Gerald's hand under -the clothes. - -'Everything go off well?' he asked. - -'Yes, grand! the cheers for you made more noise than anything else.' - -'De Costa will be getting jealous,' he smiled feebly. 'How did my chaps -behave?' - -'Had a little trouble getting them out of the city again,' I told him; -'but I went with them, and as soon as they smelt the grub in the -barracks, they bolted for it.' - -He smiled again, 'Good little chaps!' - -Of course I did not tell him of that warrant. - - -'If he gets over the first three or four days safely he'll be all -right,' Dr. Robson told me; and before the British Minister went away, I -implored him to try and get leave for me to stay in Santa Cruz till -then. He was awfully decent, drove straight away to the Club, found -Captain Roger Hill, got leave not only for me but for Cousin Bob, and -made us stay at his house too--which was jolly kind of him. As it was -not far from General Zorilla's house we could very often run in to see -Gerald for a few minutes at a time. - -They sent our clothes up from the ship, and as Gerald went on very well -indeed, we had quite a good time; but on the second day after he'd been -shot, I had to get into my brother's things and lead his little brown -chaps down to Los Angelos. They wouldn't go without him, were getting -troublesome again, and the city was in deadly fear lest they should -still take it into their heads to sack the place. The little chaps -still took me for Gerald whilst I was on horseback, with his polo helmet -jammed down over my head, but I don't imagine that most of the officers -did so. They pretended that I was Gerald in order to keep their men -under control, and were much too anxious to get back to their homes and -plantations in the provinces to give the show away. - -The 'Gnome' and Jose both came with me to help the deception, and I -heard the 'Gnome' give a great sigh of relief when, eventually, the last -of Gerald's men were put aboard those transports inside the breakwater. -As each transport steamed out of the harbour, the little Santa Cruz -ships cheered wildly and the men cheered back, '_Viva los Horizontals!' -'Viva de Costa!' 'Viva Don Geraldio!_' and as the last one steamed -slowly round the lighthouse and passed the _Hercules_, I could still -hear cries of '_Viva Don Geraldio!' 'Viva los Inglesas!_' - -I stood on the wharf for some time, watching the transports steaming -along the coast, some northwards, the others to the south, and I really -felt very sorry to see the last of the little chaps with whom I had gone -through so many exciting days. I could see that the 'Gnome,' however -relieved he was for them to go away, felt as I did, and they seemed to -have had so little reward for all they'd done in the last three months -that you couldn't help feeling that, after all their pluck and -hardships, they hadn't gained much for themselves. - -We rode slowly up the mountain to Santa Cruz, and at that sharp turning, -where we had seen the yellow and green flag last flying, we stopped and -for a minute watched the transports, little smoky dots on the glistening -sea, a thousand feet below us, as they carried the brave little chaps to -their homes. - -On the fifth morning after the operation, Bob and I had to wish Gerald -good-bye, and go back to the _Hercules_. He was going on grandly. - -'You'll have a pretty big job as Commander-in-Chief when you get well,' -I said jokingly, but he shook his head. 'No, Billums! I shall chuck it -and try and make some money on the estate again. I'm rather bored with -revolutions and fighting just at present, and want to get away from -here. I'll get that little chap you call the "Gnome" to come with me, -and I'll see if I can't pay off some of my debts.' - -No one had told Gerald about the warrant, so it wasn't funk which made -him think of leaving Santa Cruz, and you can guess how pleased I was to -hear him say this, and how jolly pleased the mater would be too. - -'We've had an exciting three months of it, old chap, haven't we? but I'm -going to take a rest. We've done all this fighting and killing, marching -and starving, and we've only turned out one bad President to put -another, just as bad, in his place. The game's not worth the candle.' - -At the back of my mind I really thought the same, and I only hoped that -he would still stick to his determination when he did get strong again. -I had to leave him there, in Zorilla's house--with the two nuns and Jose -to look after him--and Bob and I rode, for the last time, through that -square. - -Dear old Zorilla had lent us horses, and he and the 'Gnome' came with us -along the road past San Sebastian and beyond the spot where Bob, the -'Angel,' and I had knocked over the carriage with the _Hercules_' -midshipmen, right along till the road began to drop down towards Los -Angelos. - -I shook the old man's hand--I felt that Gerald would be safe with -him--and I gripped the 'Gnome's' hand too; it was all I could do, for we -could not speak each other's languages, and we rode away. At the next -turning we looked back and they were still there, watching us, the -General on his big black horse and the 'Gnome' on a little white -one--showing up against the sky. We waved our hats, they gravely waved -theirs, and that was the last we saw of them. We both felt intensely -miserable, and didn't say a word for quite half an hour, when Bob at -last said, 'Do you know what those two remind me of?--the picture of Don -Quixote and Sancho Panza.' - -I smiled at him. No knight of old could have been a grander chap than -was old Zorilla, and I thought of what the British Minister had told me -just before we left him. 'The first time in his life that old Zorilla -has ever been known to disobey an order was when he tore your brother's -warrant into pieces.' - -Funnily enough, the one thing that always makes me feel so glad, when I -now think of this three months, was that I rescued his black horse, and -was the means of him getting it back again. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *The *_*Hector*_* goes Home* - - - _Written by Sub-Lieutenant William Wilson, R.N._ - - -I have not much more to tell you. - -The _Hercules_ went off to Bermuda the morning after Bob and I had come -back from Santa Cruz, and we waited on deck till the long lines of -towering black mountains were lost to sight. I couldn't bear to leave -Gerald up among them, although he was in Zorilla's house, and -practically out of danger, as far as the wound was concerned, but I'd -learnt enough about politics, and the way they were 'run' in the -Republic, to feel sure that his greatest danger lay in the jealousy of -the New President, and that he would never be safe in the country--not -even if he did resign the Command of the forces. - -We ran through the 'Narrows' five days later and anchored in Grassy Bay, -off the naval dockyard of Ireland Island, Bermuda. It was rather a -shock to see the poor old _Hector's_ two funnels and damaged foremast -sticking up behind the dockyard wall, and I noticed that Bob and one or -two of the others looked very white when they saw them. - -As soon as the repairs to her ward-room had been completed the officers -moved out of the gun-room, and I and my mids. were sent aboard her -again. It didn't make much difference to me, but a good many of the -mids. did not like going back a little bit. The still half-dismantled -ship had too many sad memories for them, and I am sorry to say that -Cousin Bob began to mope again--everything reminded him too much of his -poor little chum. - -Every morning, before breakfast, I made them all run round the dockyard -to Moresby Plain, for a hockey practice, below the little Naval Club, -and whilst we remained here we had two very pleasant games against the -_Hercules'_ gun-room, but as we had none to fill, properly, the -'Angel's' place at 'centre-half,' or Barton's at 'outside-right,' were -beaten both times. - -'What a difference, Ginger, old chap,' I said, as we watched them -scrambling into the tea-house together, after the match, just as chummy -as they could be. - -'Difference!' Perkins, who was standing near us, said, smiling, 'I -should think it was a difference. They won't leave a thimbleful of tea -or a bun in the place, and I shall have to go without any, I suppose.' - -'It's taken a good deal to make 'em friends, hasn't it?' Ginger said -sadly. - -A fortnight later Gerald sent me a telegram, as he had promised, to say -that he was allowed out of bed, and I knew that he had sent the same -message home to the mater, and felt awfully glad. - -Nothing more happened at Bermuda worth telling about; we had to work -very hard indeed; in six weeks' time the ship was seaworthy enough to -steam home, and one beautiful Sunday morning in May, the _Hercules_ and -ourselves anchored behind Plymouth breakwater. - -As you can imagine, the poor old _Hector_ was a great object of -curiosity, and paddle-boats were bringing people off from shore, and -steaming round her, all day long. - -Next morning two dockyard tugs made fast alongside us, we slipped our -moorings, and as their paddles began churning the water and we commenced -to move up harbour, Captain Roger Hill unbent, for the first time in his -life, and 'cheered ship.' - -'Three cheers for the _Hector_,' we heard his Commander shout, and the -whole crew swarmed on the upperworks and sent us three great cheers. - -'Tut, tut, lad!' our Skipper stuttered, dropping his eyeglass, '"Old -Spats" has forgotten himself. Look at him! He's actually waving his -cap.' - -He nodded to the Commander, whose great roaring voice bellowed out, -'Three cheers for Captain Roger Hill and the _Hercules_,' and we all -shouted. - -We were taken up harbour and put into dry dock immediately, and we heard -that we should probably stay there for several months. - -As soon as it could be arranged, we got up a subscription for a tablet -to the memory of all our people who'd been killed in that fight with _La -Buena Presidente_, and got permission to place it in Portsmouth Dockyard -Chapel, where you can see it now. - -There were, unfortunately, a great number of names to go on -it--Montague, Clegg, Bigge, Pearson, the 'Forlorn Hope' and his chum the -'Shadow' (whose name was put there because he died as a result of the -fight), Barton, the 'Angel,' Marchant (the Inkslinger), the cheery, -good-tempered, little Captain's Clerk, and below these the names of -fifty-four men--several had died of their wounds at Princes' Town -Colonial Hospital. - -Cousin Bob still moped and slept badly, often waking the whole of the -gun-room flat by shrieking in his sleep, so that I worried very much -about him. I told the Captain. - -'Well, boy! What d'you want me to do? The Fleet Surgeon has been -speaking about him too.' - -'I think it would be best to send him home for as long as you can, sir,' -I said. - -'Right oh, lad! Tell him to leave his address and I'll wire for him -when I want him. Have a bit of lunch?' - -I stayed to lunch with him, and we talked about Gerald. - -'Grand chap! grand chap! a little too haughty for me. Grand chap -though--never thanked me for taking him that hydraulic machinery.' - -'But he never thought you knew about it, sir,' I said, surprised. - -He polished his eyeglass very carefully, screwed it into his eye, and -then very deliberately winked at me. - -I shipped Cousin Bob off home that very day and was jolly glad to get -him away from the ship, although, as a matter of fact, I need not have -been in such a hurry, because all the mids. were sent to other ships a -few days later. Still he managed to get a little longer leave than the -others, and I had a very grateful letter from his sister Daisy. - -I had a long letter, too, from Gerald some time afterwards. He had gone -back to the rubber plantation with Jose and the 'Gnome,' and said that -he was jolly glad to get back there again, start rebuilding the house -and planting more trees, but I feared that he was of much too restless a -disposition to remain there for long. - -Old Zorilla had taken on his job as Commander-in-Chief, and Gerald said -that things were going on swimmingly, though what actual difference the -change of President had made, he was hanged if he could tell. Little -Navarro was limping about Santa Cruz as cheerful as ever, and every one -wanted to be remembered to me. - -Well, however long I live, I shall never forget them. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON FOREIGN SERVICE *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45914 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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