The Marines Have Landed Part 25

"There will be no danger if you do as I will suggest and----"

At that moment the door of the General's house was thrown open, and again the figure of the chief was framed in the lighted doorway.

"Columbus! Columbus! Come here at once!" roared the harsh voice across the clearing.

"I must go, or he will send the soldiers for me. But I will return,"

said the lad, rising, and quickly filling the pail he ran back across the clearing.

CHAPTER XV

THE ESCAPE FROM THE BARRIO

In an incredibly short time Columbus was back, and this time he nursed a large bruise on the side of his head where the General's cane had fallen with no light force.

"If my father were able to fight he would kill that n.i.g.g.e.r," exclaimed the excited lad. "But my father was crippled in the last revolution.

That general, he makes our house his own. He makes my mother to cook for him and to wash for him. We could not leave my father when the rebels occupied the barrio. We had to stay to look out for him. They eat our food and kill our pigs and chickens, and never pay. They----"

"Is your name Columbus?" inquired d.i.c.k in order to cut short the boy's tale of trials and tribulations.

"Si, Senor."

"Well, Columbus, here are two brand new Americano pesos for you, and there will be many more if you do as I tell you," and d.i.c.k pa.s.sed over the silver coins.

"What must I do?"

"First of all tell me how many soldiers are in the barrio."

"Over one hundred, Senor."

"How far is it from here to Sanchez?"

"By the sh.o.r.e road it is nearly three kilometers. The sh.o.r.e road pa.s.ses through the barrio," said the lad.

"Is the road guarded by more soldiers than the group of men I could see before dark on the outskirts of the town?"

"Oh, yes, Senor, they patrol the entire road every night. The big light from the s.h.i.+p does not frighten them."

"Can you see the s.h.i.+p from the beach back of your house, Columbus?"

"No, a point of land prevents that, but it is not far by boat,--a little over a kilometer."

"Who is in your house with the General?"

"The five soldiers who came with him this afternoon, my mother and father and a little girl the general stole from her people. I do not know her name. She weeps all the time, but makes no noise. He has told her he will kill her if she tries to run away."

"Columbus, I want to get the little girl out of that house and return her to her father and her mother. If you help me they will pay you well."

"It is impossible, Senor. I overheard the General making plans to go to Sanchez and attack the house of her father to-night, and he gave his men orders to guard the child carefully. There are to be men both inside and outside the house all the time."

"Would your father and mother help us?"

"No, Senor, they could not afford to. They would fear to go contrary to General Gonzales' orders."

"At what hour does the General start for the town?"

"Very soon, for he expects to be there by ten o'clock, Senor."

"Are there any small boats on the beach?"

"Oh, yes, and the best canoe there is my own."

"Providing I get the little girl out of the house, will you go in the canoe with me to the American s.h.i.+p?"

"No, Senor, I am afraid; but I will place paddles in my canoe and I will do what else I can to a.s.sist you. My canoe is the last one on the beach nearest the town."

"Describe your house, Columbus. Where are the windows and doors?"

"That reminds me, Senor--after all, I can help you. If you approach our casa from the rear you will find a little cocina[#] which opens into the middle room. My father and mother occupy the room on the right as you enter from the cocina. My room was on the left, but it is now the General's, and the little girl is lying in there now, weeping. Long ago I loosened a board at the side near the cocina so that it will slide back, and I used it to go out when my parents believed me asleep. I will tell the child about you and the hole and she can escape that way.

First I will put my paddles in the canoe, and then you can take her in it to your s.h.i.+p. Keep close to the sh.o.r.e until you are around the point, then go direct to the vessel. There are no shoals to fear. The only thing to be careful about is pa.s.sing through the cocoanut grove.

Avoid the hut, for soldiers are guarding a prisoner there also."

[#] Cocina--Kitchen.

"Another prisoner? A native?" questioned d.i.c.k.

"No, he is a sailor who ran away from your s.h.i.+p and came here shortly after noon to-day, and he told the General about the money and the little girl. But the General had him imprisoned, for he distrusts him and he had the sailor's pistol and ammunition seized."

"Did you hear the name of the sailor, Columbus?"

"Yes, Senor, his name is Jose. He is a dark man and very dirty, and wears peculiar blue clothes."

"Joe Choiniski, or I miss my guess!" exclaimed d.i.c.k as he looked towards the lights flickering through the grove on the far side of the road.

"Can you get me some meat, Columbus?" d.i.c.k asked, after a brief pause.

"Has the Senor hunger?"

"No, I don't wish it for myself, but there are many dogs in the barrio, and when they discover me they will betray me to the soldiers if I come near the houses. With the meat I could quiet them."

"Never fear, amigo mio; all the meat in this village would not be enough to satisfy the appet.i.te of the dogs in the barrio nor keep them quiet.

They are ever barking and fighting at night, so the soldiers would not think it strange, especially in the early part of the evening. If that is all, Senor, I will go, for the General may miss me. What time shall I tell the nina to be ready for you?"

"Tell her to wait for three knocks on the wall of her room from the side of the cocina, after the General leaves the house. Then she must slide back the board and I will be waiting for her in the cocina. Make her understand I am her friend and will take her back to her people. And, Columbus, here is all the money I have with me, but I will see that you are rewarded later on, if you carry out our plan," and d.i.c.k pressed all his remaining currency into the hands of the boy crouching by his side.