Richard Harding Davis

“ With a shout of amazement, joy, and consternation, Roddy swung the boat back toward the shore, and by the breadth of an oar-blade cleared the wharf. There was a cry of relief, of delight, a flutter of skirts, and Inez sprang into it. In an agony of fear for her safety, Roddy pushed her to the bottom of the launch.
“Get down!” he commanded. “They can see your dress. They’ll fire on you.” ”

“ But even buried as they were many feet beneath the ramparts, they could hear above them the reverberations of the cannon.
“They are firing in half-minute intervals,” whispered Roddy. “I will try to set off the dynamite when they fire, so that in the casements, at least, no one will hear me. When the explosion comes,” he directed, “wait until I call you, and if I shout to you to run, for God’s sake,” he entreated, “don’t delay an instant, but make for the mouth of the tunnel.”
Inez answered him in a tone of deep reproach. “You are speaking,” she said, “to a daughter of General Rojas.” ”

“ It was Vicenti. The face of the young doctor was bloodless, his eyes wild and staring. He raised them imploringly.
“Go!” he whispered. His voice was weak and racked with pain. “Some one has betrayed us. They know everything!”
Roddy exclaimed furiously, and, for an instant, his mind was torn with doubts.
“And you!” he demanded. “Why are you here?”
Vicenti, reading the suspicion in his eyes, raised his hands; the pantomime was sufficiently eloquent. In deep circles around his wrists were new, raw wounds.
“They tried to make me tell,” he whispered. “They think you’re coming in the launch. ”

“ The escape of Vega, and the fact, which was now made public, that he had proclaimed himself in revolt, had given the Rojas faction the opportunity for which it had been waiting. The city was denuded of Government troops. For hours they had been pouring out of it in pursuit of Vega and his little band of revolutionists; and until reënforcements should arrive from Caracas, which might not be in twenty-four hours, the city was defenseless. The moment for the Rojas party had come. ”

“ The noise will bring the whole garrison. It will be like heaving a brick into a hornets’ nest. We must wait for darkness. This is no matinée performance.”
On the return trip to the city they sat in silence, the mind of each occupied by his own thoughts. How serious these thoughts were neither cared to confess in words, but as they passed under the guns of the fortress they glanced at each other and smiled.
“You mustn’t think, Mac,” said Roddy gratefully, “I don’t appreciate what you’re doing. You stand to lose a lot!”
“I can always get another job,” returned McKildrick. ”

“ As he did so, in his eyes there flashed a circle of light; in his ears there sounded a cry, in its joy savage, exultant, ringing high above the tumult of the battle. The light that had blinded him fell clattering to the stones; in the darkness he felt himself held helpless, in strong, young arms. ”

“ Rojas had been assassinated, and his body thrown to the harbor sharks.
From the mob rose a great, moaning cry, to be instantly drowned in yells of rage and execration. A leader of the Rojas party leaped to the steps of the portico. “Their lives for his!” he shrieked. “Death to his murderers! To the fortress!”
Calling for vengeance, those in the garden surged toward the gates; but an uncertain yell from the mob in the street halted them. They turned and saw upon the balcony above the portico the figure of Señora Rojas. With one arm raised, she commanded silence ”

“ As they rounded the point and the whole of the harbor front came into view, they saw that the doors of the bonded warehouses had been broken open, and that the boxes and bales they contained had been tumbled out upon the wharf and piled into barricades. From behind these, and from the windows of the custom-house, men not in uniform, and evidently of the Rojas faction, were firing upon the tiny gunboat in the harbor, and from it their rifle-fire was being answered by an automatic gun. With full speed ahead, Roddy ran the gauntlet of this cross-fire, and in safety tied up to his own wharf. ”

“ Vega tells me, three weeks ago Roddy went to Curaçao to ask Madame Rojas to help him get her husband out of prison. Instead, she turned him down hard. But did that phase him? No! I believe he’s still working—working at this moment on some plan of his own to get Rojas free. Every night he goes out in his launch with young De Peyster. Where do they go? They say they go fishing. Well, maybe! We can’t follow them, for they douse the lights and their motor is too fast for us. But, to me, it looks like a rescue, for the only way they could rescue Rojas would be from the harbor. ”

“ Wherever a few men gathered together the police ordered them to separate; and in the driveways, troopers of Alvarez, alert and watchful, each with his carbine on his hip, rode slowly at a walk, glancing from left to right. At his house, Roddy found gathered there all of the White Mice: Peter, McKildrick, Vicenti and Pedro. They had assembled, he supposed, to learn the result of his visit to Miramar, but they were concerned with news more important. Vicenti had called them together to tell them that, at any moment, the Rojas faction might rise and attempt to seize the city and San Carlos. ”

“ The desire to live was all-compelling. Choking, gasping, his eyes rolling appealingly, he nodded assent. With the revolver at his back he ran down the corridor, and, as he ran, without further direction, fumbled frantically at his keys. At the end of the corridor he separated one from the others, and with a trembling hand unlocked and pushed open a cell door.
The cell was steeped in darkness. Roddy threw the turnkey sprawling into it, and with his free hand closed his fingers over the key in the lock.
“General Rojas!” he called. “Come out! You are free!” ”

“ When San Carlos surrendered, those in charge of the cartel, making a virtue of what they knew would soon be a necessity, threw open the cells of the political prisoners, and Peter, McKildrick, and Pedro found themselves in the street, once more free men. There they learned that Vega and his band had been routed, and that Vega, driven back to the harbor, had taken refuge on a sailing boat, and was on his way to Curaçao. ”

“ But Vicenti feared that the assault on San Carlos would result, not only in the death of many of those who attacked it, but also would be the signal on the inside for the instant assassination of Rojas. It therefore was imperative, before the attack was made, to get Rojas out of prison. He dared not inform even the leaders of the Rojas party of the proposed rescue. It must be attempted only by those who could be absolutely trusted, those already in the secret. ”

“ Roddy held his watch in front of the light and cried out with impatience.
“Ten minutes!” he exclaimed, “and every minute—” He checked himself and turned to the wall. The dynamite, with the cap and fuse attached, was as McKildrick had placed it. For a tamp he scooped up from the surface of the tunnel a handful of clay, and this he packed tightly over the cap, leaving the fuse free. He led Inez back to a safe distance from the wall, and there, with eyes fastened on Roddy’s watch, they waited. The seconds dragged interminably. ”

“ When Roddy arrived they had, subject to his approval, arranged their plan. From what Vicenti had learned, the assault on the fortress would be made at midnight. It was accordingly agreed that at nine o’clock, when it would be quite dark, they would blow open the wall. Roddy, McKildrick and Peter would dine together at Roddy’s house, and at eight, in the launch, would leave his wharf. Pedro, whose presence would assure General Rojas of the good intentions of the others, was directed to so arrange his departure from Miramar as to arrive by the shore route at the wharf in time to accompany them. ”

“ But the government troops were pursuing him closely, and it was probable that an engagement had already taken place.
“By this time,” said Roddy, “Vicenti has told Rojas, and in an hour Pedro will arrive, and then we start. Go get something to eat, and send my dinner out here. I’ve some tinkering to do on the engine.”
Before separating, McKildrick suggested that Peter and Roddy should set their watches by his, which was already set to agree with Vicenti’s.
“For, should anything happen to me,” he explained, “you boys must blow up the wall, and you must know just when you are to do it. ”

“ It’s the other man we’ll stop—Rojas!”
“Yes, yes!” returned Ramon eagerly. “That is the only way left. Rojas must die!”
“Die!” laughed Caldwell comfortably. “Not a bit like it! I’m rather planning to improve his health.” He stopped and glanced up and down the narrow street. It was empty. He laid his hand impressively on the arm of the Venezuelan.
“To-day,” he whispered, “some one will send a letter—an anonymous letter—to San Carlos, telling the Commandante why General Rojas would be more comfortable in another cell.”
•⁠•⁠•⁠•⁠•⁠•
From Miramar, Roddy returned directly to his house. ”