Richard Harding Davis

“ No man on earth could wish General Rojas free as much as I wish it.” The voice of Captain Codman trembled. For an instant his face, as though swept with sudden pain, twisted in strange lines. “No one,” he protested, “could wish to serve him as I do, but I warn you if you go on with this you will land in prison yourself, and you will bring General Rojas to his death. Take my advice—and go back to Porto Cabello, and keep out of politics. Or, what is better—go home. You are too young to understand the Venezuelans, and, if you stay here, you are going to make trouble for many people. ”

“ But in Willemstad there are no particular places of interest. It is the place itself that is of interest. It is not like any other port in the world.
“It used to be,” Roddy pointed out, “that every comic opera had one act on a tropical island. Then some fellow discovered Holland, and now all comic operas run to blonde girls in patched breeches and wooden shoes, and the back drops are ‘Rotterdam, Amsterdam, any damn place at all.’ But this town combines both the ancient and modern schools. Its scene is from Miss Hook of Holland, and the girls are out of Bandanna Land.” ”

“ Roddy felt that the mind and body of the man were as clean as his clothes, and that the Consul was one who could be trusted.
As Captain Codman seated himself behind his desk he was frowning.
“You must look out for that guide,” he said. “He is from Caracas. He is an agent of Alvarez. It just shows,” he went on impatiently, “what little sense these spies have, that he didn’t recognize your name. The Forrester Construction Company is certainly well enough known. That the son of your father should be spied on is ridiculous.” ”

“ Roddy was staring blankly down the path and shook his head.
“You can subpœna me,” he sighed. “Why should they be afraid of a birthday-party? Why!” he exclaimed, “they were even afraid of me! He didn’t believe that we don’t know those Venezuelans. He said,” Roddy recapitulated, “he didn’t mix in politics. That means, of course, that those fellows are politicians, and, probably this is their fashion of holding a primary. It must be the local method of floating a revolution. But why should Von Amberg think we’re in the plot, too? Because my name’s Forrester?”
Peter nodded. ”

“ Father is not a chatty person. He has often said to me that the only safe time to talk of what you are doing, or are going to do, is when you have done it. So, if the Venezuelan government owes the Forrester Construction Company two millions and father’s making a fight for it, I am probably the last person in the world he would talk to about it. All I know is that he pays me twenty dollars a week to plant buoys. But out of working hours I can do as I please, and my friend and I please to get General Rojas out of prison.” Roddy rose, smiling pleasantly. ”

“ They could not know that the eyes of the tourists were filled with pity, that, at the sight of the villa on the cliff the heart of each had quickened with kindly emotions, with excitement, with the hope of possible adventure.
Roddy clutched Peter by the wrist; with the other hand he pointed quickly. Through a narrow opening in a thicket that stood a few rods from the house Peter descried the formal lines of a tennis court. Roddy raised his eyebrows significantly. His smile was radiant, triumphant. ”

“ From where Peter sat, with his back in their direction, he could not see the Venezuelans; but Roddy, who was facing them, now observed that they had finished their breakfast. Talking, gesticulating, laughing, they were crowding down the path. He touched Peter, and Peter turned in his chair to look at them.
At the same moment a man stepped from the bushes, and halting at one side of Roddy, stood with his eyes fixed upon the men of the birthday-party, waiting for them to approach. He wore the silk cap of a chauffeur, a pair of automobile goggles, and a long automobile coat. ”

“ Willemstad is compact and tiny, with a miniature governor and palace. It is painted with all the primary colors, and, though rain seldom falls on Curaçao Island, it is as clean as though the minute before it had been washed by a spring shower and put out in the sun to dry. Saint Ann Bay, which is the harbor of Willemstad, is less of a bay than a canal. On entering it a captain from his bridge can almost see what the people in the houses on either bank are eating for breakfast. ”

“ It also seemed likely that if, by revolution, the men of the Construction Company intended to put in the field a candidate of their own, they would choose one with whom they could consult daily, not one who, while he might once have been a popular idol, had for the last two years been buried from the sight of man, and with whom it now was impossible to communicate. ”

“ When Roddy invited the two merchants to join them Von Amberg thanked him politely and explained that his table was already laid for breakfast. With another exchange of bows the two gentlemen continued up the twisting path and disappeared among the bushes.
“That’s what I mean!” exclaimed Roddy approvingly. “Now they are our people. They have better manners, perhaps, than we have, but they’re sensible, straight-from-the-shoulder men of business. They aren’t spying on anybody, or sending black-hand letters, or burying old men alive in prisons. ”

“ I am old, but I pray Thee to let me live to see Thine enemies perish, to see those who love Thee reunited once more, happy, at home. If, in Thy wisdom, even as Thou sent forth David against Goliath, Thou hast sent this child against Thine enemies, make that clear to me. ”

“ Roddy nodded and laughed.
“You may laugh,” protested Peter, “but you don’t know. You’ve been in Venezuela only four months, and Captain Codman’s been here eighteen years. These people don’t look at things the way we do. We think it’s all comic opera, but——”
“They’re children,” declared Roddy tolerantly, “children trying to frighten you with a mask on. And old man Codman—he’s caught it, too. The fact that he’s been down here eighteen years is the only thing against him. ”

“ The longer they discussed the matter the more sure they became that Rojas could not be the man for whom the Construction Company was plotting.
“If Rojas isn’t the choice of the F. C. C.,” argued Roddy, “his being free, or in prison, does not interest them in the least. While, on the other hand, if Rojas is the candidate father is backing, the sooner he is out of prison the better for everybody. ”

“ President Alvarez, he put that General Rojas in prison, down in the water, an’ he chain him to the rock, an’ he put that lady in exile. President Alvarez he be very bad man.
“Every day at six o’clock that lady and the young ladies they stand on that cliff and pray for that General Rojas. You like me to drive you, gentle-mans, out here at six o’clock,” he inquired insinuatingly, “an’ see those ladies pray?”
“Certainly not!” exclaimed Roddy indignantly.
But Peter, more discreet, yawned and stirred impatiently. “I am just dying for something to eat!” he protested. “Let her out, driver.” ”