Where Duty Called Part 21

There was no opportunity for hesitation. El Capitan was already advancing for his second attack.

"Help me rally them, Riva, and I will do it," replied Ronie.

Swiftly the word was carried along the ranks, when new life was enthused into the men, who were really brave fellows. The young sergeant decided that prompt action would be the most successful, and to meet El Capitan halfway would show him that the forces on the plantation were alive to the situation. So the word for an advance was pa.s.sed along the line. It met with a hearty response, and as Ronie sprang forward with his rousing command he found himself supported by a determined force.

"Open fire--charge!"

The volley of shots was succeeded by loud cheers from the Venezuelans, who bounded forward under the lead of their gallant champion.

"Forward!" cried Sergeant Rand.

Harrie was close behind him, and so was Riva Baez, all three having dismounted from their horses as soon as returning to the estate. A random volley from the rebels answered their first fire, and at the second, in spite of all that the mountain chief could do, his followers fled in wild disorder, disappearing from the scene with a rapidity that was surprising.

That night, at the very outset of his campaign, El Capitan received his first defeat.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE NEWS AT LA GUAYRA.

Great rejoicing reigned at the plantation of Don Isadora following the complete rout of the enemy, and this joy was increased by the fact that the don had not received a fatal wound. In fact, it was believed with careful nursing he would soon be about again. As he deserved, Ronie was the hero of the occasion, while his friends shared with him the praise showered upon them by one and all.

As soon as the news of the victory had been carried to the master of the estate he sent for our hero, and was lavish in his commendation, declaring that he had been instrumental in saving them all from the brutal clutches of El Capitan. But, as pleasant as all this hearty applauding was, Ronie was glad to break away from his admirers in order to be alone with Harrie and Jack. He and the former had much to say, all of which was listened to with sincere interest by the latter.

Harrie explained how he and Francisco had drifted about in their boat, looking in vain for their companions until daylight, when they had sighted land, and gone ash.o.r.e. Soon after, they were captured and thrown into prison, as Ronie knew. Then came the unexpected release, the journey to find Colonel Marchand, the capture by El Capitan's followers, and the rescue by his friends, which seemed the most miraculous part of his adventures. Ronie, in turn, told what had befallen Jack and himself, saying in conclusion:

"There is only one thing more that troubles me. If I knew mother was safe I could bear this troublesome waiting without murmuring. But I am afraid some fearful fate has overtaken her. I shall not rest until I know the truth."

"You know I am with you, Ronie," said Harrie.

"Ay, lad; you can count on old Jack Greenland to stand by you both, through thick and thin."

"G.o.d bless you, Jack!" exclaimed Ronie, clasping one hand, while Harrie seized the other, echoing the words of his friend:

"G.o.d bless you, Jack; a n.o.bler soul never lived."

When the three had hastily reviewed the troubles they had pa.s.sed through they decided unanimously to return to Colonel Marchand with such haste as was consistent with safety. They had important intelligence to bear, beside the fact that El Capitan was upon his track. Under the changed circ.u.mstances, they decided to take the captives with them, and of course Riva and his friend would keep along.

While the don was very loath to see them depart, he knew it was their duty to go, and so he offered to send an escort of fifty men to conduct them on their way as far as might be deemed necessary. At first thought, Ronie felt like declining this, but he finally asked for an escort of ten men, who went with them until noon of the second day, when they turned back and the scouts kept on, reaching the encampment of the Venezuelan regiment that night in safety.

I need not describe the reception accorded our heroes by the impetuous colonel, any more than I need dwell upon the scenes that followed. The campaign had now opened in deadly earnest, and weeks of great activity and considerable fighting and skirmis.h.i.+ng ensued. El Capitan rallying after a few days from his discomfiture at Isadora sought in every way to disconcert and capture the doughty Venezuelan regiment. In his efforts he was encouraged on every hand by the reports of the success of the insurgents in almost every section. First intelligence came of the capture of a town on the island of Margarita by the audacious cruiser _Bolivar_, erstwhile the _Libertador_, and earlier the _Ban Righ_. Close upon this, Castro's troops under Castillo were defeated near San Antonio. In May, reports of insurrections came in from every quarter. Castro suppressed two newspapers which had become p.r.o.nounced against him, and in his lack of sufficient funds to carry on the war, levied a million bolivars from the widow of Guzman Blanco, the former president. Then the revolution broke out in the State of Bolivar, and after five days' fighting the president of the State was driven out of the capital. In June General Matos, encouraged by the success of his followers, announced a provincial government, with himself as president.

This bit of news reached Colonel Marchand at the close of a warm day's fight with his old-time enemy, El Capitan. As usual, it had been a draw game, and the colonel was sitting in his hammock feeling in anything but an amiable mood.

"By the soul of Bolivar!" he exclaimed, slapping his knee by way of emphasis, "he is like a ground mole, that runs for its hole the moment an enemy is in sight. I wish we might meet a foe worthy of our steel.

Orderly, send for Sergeant Rand at once."

Ronie was with his friends, discussing the outcome of the recent meeting with the enemy, and deliberating upon their own fortunes since they had become comrades under Castro, when this order was given him.

"I wonder what this means?" he exclaimed. "Say to Colonel Marchand I will report at once."

Upon reaching the officer, the young sergeant found that he was anxious to send a message to President Castro, and at the same time to reconnoiter the country between them and the capital.

"Castro must take the field himself," declared our hero, in the course of the conversation. "If this growth of the insurgents is allowed to continue much longer his cause will become hopeless."

"By the soul of Bolivar! you are right, Sergeant Rand, and it is just what I want you to say to Castro himself. You can do it and not offend him, while I could not. You will go to him at once, taking as many men as you choose. I have only to instruct you to start as soon as may be."

"It shall be as you say, colonel. I desire to have only three companions, Senor Riva Baez and my countrymen, Harrie Mannering and Jack Greenland."

"As you say, sergeant. Here are the dispatches I wish you to hand to President Castro personally."

Handing this package to our hero, the colonel offered no further delay.

With feelings akin to gladness, Ronie returned to his expectant companions.

"I hail it as good news," he said. "We are to meet the 'Little Captain,' President Castro, with what haste we can. I say we, for I have the honor of being selected by Colonel Marchand to choose such companions as I wish and hasten to the capital. You know whom I select."

Ronie was really pleased with this commission, as it would enable him to enter a wider range of inquiry concerning his mother than he had been situated to do so far. Thoughts of her were last in his mind as he lay down to rest after a day's campaigning and the first to arouse him in the morning.

"Poor mother! how I pity you, and wish that I knew where you are!"

Within an hour the little party was ready to start, deciding to go by the way of La Guayra, which they reached without adventure, This old-fas.h.i.+oned Spanish town is the chief seaport of Venezuela, as well as the entrance way to the capital, situated about five miles inland behind the series of mountain peaks whose chain runs down to the very edge of the water. Our young engineers did not fail to notice, as they looked out over the harbor, the close affinity to the same cerulean hue that touched both sea and sky, so it was difficult to tell where they met on the horizon, and blended like a curtain of the same soft texture. Under the reflections the vessels appeared to rest flat on the mirror-like surface, in the words of the poet:

"Like a painted s.h.i.+p upon a painted sea."

The most conspicuous spot about La Guayra is the little fortress made famous by Charles Kingsley, in his "Westward Ho," as the prison house of his heroine, the Rose of Devon. This was the residence of the Spanish governors in the days when Venezuela was a dependency of Spain.

Past this ancient point of defense against attacks from the sea and the winds lead those three ways of travel to the capital, aptly ill.u.s.trating the changes of centuries; first, but of least importance now, the mule path worn no doubt by the natives in their pa.s.sages back and forth; second, the wagon track, cut, it may be, when the continent was young; and finally, that iron-banded course of modern construction, the railroad. Caracas is embowered among the mountains three thousand feet above the streets of La Guayra.

Their arrival was soon after the bombardment of Macuto by Venezuelan s.h.i.+ps on account of an outbreak there. As this place was near to La Guayra, great excitement was prevailing in the latter place. In fact, the inhabitants everywhere were in an uproar. News came that General Riera, who, it will be remembered, was a pa.s.senger on the _Libertador_ when our heroes were on that vessel, had captured La Vela de Coro, while the insurgents had also captured Barquisemoto, and Riera had sacked Coro, the capital of the State of Falcon.

Our party did not continue their journey to the capital, on account of the fact that Castro was toward Barcelona, where the revolution had become centered. With this bit of news came a rumor which, if it bore but a light bearing on the international contention focused on Venezuela, awakened an anxious interest on the part of Ronie Rand and his friends. Riva Baez first learned of it from a native who had come down from the mountainous districts. This man said an American woman was held by the insurgents as a hostage of war. He could not give the name of the woman, but believed she had not been long in the country.

"It is mother!" exclaimed Ronie, as Riva related the story to him. "I must see this man at once."

"I am sorry, senor, but he disappeared before I started to find you.

Knowing how you would feel about it, and not being able to find you at once, I went to speak to him again, fearing he would slip away. He was gone, and no one could tell me where he had left for. I believe he is a spy."

"Do you not know of some one who saw him?"

"I will see what I can learn, Sergeant Rand."

"Thank you, Riva. Meanwhile, the rest of us will do a little looking around. Describe the fellow as minutely as possible."

This Riva did, with the graphic speech peculiar to him, and then the four went out to look for the missing man. In the midst of this unsuccessful search Ronie learned that Castro had returned to La Guayra.

CHAPTER XXIV.