The Cruise of the Thetis Part 11

"Quite impossible to tell, my dear sir, without possessing a copy of the Spanish Naval signal-book," answered Milsom. "Each navy has its own private code of signals, which no man can read unless he has access to the official signal-book. No; that is no good. Is there no spot ash.o.r.e from which one can get a good view of the offing?"

"Nothing nearer, I am afraid, than Punta Brava; and that is quite two miles from the landing-place by the shortest possible cut," answered Don Hermoso. "One could not walk there and back in much less than an hour and a half, in this heat; and to drive there would, I am afraid, be almost as imprudent as running down to the harbour's mouth in the steam pinnace."

"Quite," answered Milsom. "But"--as he leaned out over the rail and glanced up at the yacht's funnel, which he could thus just see clear of the awning--"we might slip our moorings and go out in the yacht, if you like, Senor. I see that we have steam enough to move; and we are free to go to sea at any moment, now, you know."

"So I understand," answered Don Hermoso. "Yet I think we had better remain where we are a little longer; for I am anxious to a.s.sure myself, before starting on our trip, that the _Potter_ has succeeded in landing her cargo and getting away safely. And if we were to go to sea just now we should be obliged to proceed on our voyage, I think; we could advance no good reason for hanging about outside and watching the movements of strange craft."

"No, no, of course not; I quite see your point," agreed Milsom. "It would undoubtedly be better to remain where we are for an hour or two longer, and see how the affair eventually develops. But I wouldn't mind betting that that signal had some reference to the American boat, for see how furiously they are firing up aboard the cruiser."

They were indeed firing up "furiously", as Milsom had said; for dense clouds of black smoke were now continuously pouring and billowing out of both funnels of the cruiser, to the outspoken scorn and derision of Macintyre, who had his own ideas upon the subject of "firing", his theory being that to make steam quickly, and keep it when made, one should "fire" lightly and continuously.

Meanwhile the preparations for going to sea were progressing apace aboard the cruiser, the boats being all hoisted in except one, which, with a couple of hands in her, was hanging on to the buoy to which the cruiser was moored, in readiness to unshackle the cable from the mooring ring so soon as the vessel had steam enough to enable her to move. The bells of the s.h.i.+pping in the harbour were chiming eight--which in this case meant noon--when the first white feather of steam began to play about the tops of the cruiser's steam pipes; and at the sight the watchers on board the yacht stirred in their chairs and a.s.sumed a more alert att.i.tude, for further developments might now be looked for.

They came--within the next five minutes--the first of them being the sudden lowering of the captain's gig aboard the cruiser, the hurried descent of her crew into her by way of the davit tackles, and the hauling of her alongside the hastily lowered gangway. A moment later an officer stepped into the stern-sheets; and, with the naval ensign of Spain snapping in the breeze at her stern, and her boat pennant trailing from the staff in her bows, she shoved off and dashed away toward the landing steps, with her eight oarsmen bending their backs and making their good ash blades spring almost to breaking-point, as though their very lives depended upon their speed. She swept past the _Thetis_ within a biscuit's toss, and the party on the top of that vessel's deck- house were not only able to distinguish, by the gold braid on his coat cuffs, that the solitary occupant of the stern-sheets held the rank of captain, but also that the poor man looked worried and scared almost out of his senses. Just before coming abreast of the yacht, which of course had her club ensign and burgee flying, the boat swerved slightly from her course, and for a moment it looked almost as though she intended to run alongside; but the next moment she straightened up again and went on her way toward the landing steps, the "bra.s.s bounder" in her stern just touching the peak of his uniform cap with his finger tips in acknowledgment of Jack's and Milsom's courtesy salute. Two minutes later her crew tossed oars and she swept up alongside the landing steps and hooked on; the skipper next moment springing up the steps and disappearing in the crowd of idlers who had gathered at the head of the steps.

Two bells came, and with it the stewards to lay the table for second breakfast, or luncheon, on the yacht's deck-house; and as three bells struck, the little party drew in round the "hospitable board" and sat down to their mid-day meal. They had just about finished when Milsom, who was sitting facing the town and wharf, put down his gla.s.s somewhat emphatically on the table, and, rising to his feet, exclaimed: "Now, what does this mean?"

"What does what mean?" demanded Jack, also rising to his feet and facing in the direction toward which the skipper was looking. "Phew!" he whistled; "the plot thickens! Surely it is not possible that we were seen last night, Phil, eh?"

"I could have sworn that we were not," answered Milsom. "Yet, if we were not, I repeat: What does this mean?"

He might well ask. For there, halfway between the wharf and the yacht, was the cruiser's boat, with the captain and an elderly gentleman in plain clothes in the stern-sheets; and it was unquestionable that they were making for the yacht. Jack s.n.a.t.c.hed up a pair of binoculars that lay in one of the basket chairs and brought it to bear upon the boat.

"Why," he exclaimed, "I'll be shot if it isn't the Capitan-General who is coming off to us!"

"The Capitan--General!" gasped Don Hermoso. "Then, depend on it, gentlemen, your movements were observed last night, and you have been informed upon. What will you do?"

"Why," answered Jack, "we will wait until we have heard what these people have to say; and then--be guided by circ.u.mstances. But--pooh! I believe we are scaring ourselves unnecessarily. If they suspected us of tampering with their s.h.i.+ps it is not in a boat manned by six unarmed sailors that they would come off to us. Come along, Phil, you as skipper and I as owner of this vessel will go down to receive these gentlemen and learn what their business is with us."

And, so saying, and followed by Milsom, he descended to the main deck and stationed himself at the head of the gangway ladder, by which time the boat was alongside. Another moment and the Capitan-General, hat in hand, and bowing courteously to the two Englishmen, pa.s.sed in through the gangway, followed by the captain of the cruiser.

"Good-day, Senor Singleton!" exclaimed the old gentleman genially, offering his hand. "Do you happen to remember me, or must I introduce myself?"

"I remember you perfectly well, of course, General," answered Jack, accepting the proffered hand with--it must be confessed--a feeling of very considerable relief, "and I am very glad indeed to have the honour of receiving you on board my yacht, although you have deferred your visit until the moment when we are about to proceed to sea."

"Ah, yes," answered the General, "so I guessed, from the steam which I see issuing from your vessel's funnel! It is about that that I have come off to see you. But, before we go any further, permit me to have the honour of introducing to you Captain Morillo, of His Spanish Majesty's cruiser the _Infanta Isabel_, which lies yonder."

The introduction having been made and acknowledged with all due formality, the old gentleman resumed:

"Now, a most extraordinary thing has happened here to-day--an occurrence so singular and unique that one is driven to the conviction that certain very clever conspirators have been at work." The old gentleman, whether by accident or designedly, looked Jack square in the eye as he said this; and it was with the utmost difficulty that the latter was able to keep his countenance and retain that nonchalance of demeanour and expression of polite interest which he felt was so necessary to avert any suspicion of his own complicity with the "very clever conspirators".

To cover any indication of confusion which he might have inadvertently betrayed, he shouted to the quartermaster, who was busy about nothing in particular near the stern grating:

"Quartermaster, bring along four basket chairs." Then to the General:

"You interest me immensely, General. I have just sent for some chairs, and when they arrive we will sit and discuss the matter in comfort.

Meanwhile, may I offer you and Captain Morillo a gla.s.s of wine? We have some very pa.s.sable champagne down in our cold chamber."

The Capitan-General and his friend expressed themselves as perfectly willing to partake of Senor Singleton's gracious hospitality; and presently, seated at ease, and with a foaming gla.s.s of ice-cold Mumm before him, the Governor resumed his story.

"I need not ask you, Senor, whether you are aware that the present condition of Cuba is somewhat abnormal, for I feel convinced that a caballero of your intelligence must have long ere this discovered that the island is literally seething with rebellion--to such an extent, indeed, that a rising against Spanish rule may be antic.i.p.ated at any moment. Nor need I point out to you how ruinously disastrous to the rebels and all who might be suspected of sympathising with them such a rising must necessarily be; for it would of course be my painful duty to suppress it by force of arms. It is therefore in the interest of the Cubans themselves that we are adopting certain measures for the prevention of everything of a nature calculated to encourage hope on the part of the native population that a rising against Spanish authority could by any possibility be successful; and one of these measures is the suppression of all importation of weapons and war material of every description."

"Quite so," concurred Jack with a smile. "We had an ill.u.s.tration of the vigour and thoroughness of your efforts in that direction upon our arrival on the coast, in the action taken by the Commander of the gunboat yonder, who was only convinced with the utmost difficulty that we were not engaged in the business of smuggling war material into the country. Indeed, I believe he never would have been convinced, had I not insisted upon his making a thoroughly exhaustive search of my vessel, with the result, of course, that nothing of the kind was to be found on board her."

The old gentleman flushed, fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair, and fortified himself by emptying his gla.s.s. He would rather not have been reminded of that circ.u.mstance, especially at that moment.

"Ah!" he said, shaking his head sorrowfully as he put down his empty gla.s.s and feigned to be oblivious of the fact that Jack promptly refilled it; "yes, that was a most regrettable occurrence--the result of a very unfortunate mistake on the part of certain friends of ours on the other side. I understand, however, that Commander Albuquerque made the _amende honourable_ in a manner that was absolutely satisfactory to yourself, Senor; and, with the expression of my own personal profound regret, I trust that you will have the extreme generosity to allow the deplorable affair to be forgotten."

"Of course I will," said Jack heartily; "I am not one to bear malice.

We are all liable to make mistakes at some time or other of our lives."

"Senor," exclaimed the General with enthusiasm, "I am indeed delighted to find you so generously disposed--the more so that my visit to you to- day is connected with a similar incident; the only difference being that, in this case, there is unfortunately no room for the belief that we are making a second mistake. We have received the most positive information that certain American sympathisers with the revolutionary movement in Cuba have loaded a steamer with munitions of war for the use of the insurgents; and these munitions are to be landed to-day at a spot known as Mulata Bay, a few miles to the westward of this port. The information, most unfortunately, did not reach us in time to allow of our taking measures for the seizure of the cargo upon being landed; but that appeared, at the time, to be a matter of no moment, for I had planned to send a torpedo boat to seize the vessel and her cargo upon her arrival in Mulata Bay. The vessel, I may mention, was to have arrived at her destination at mid-day to-day; and, as a matter of fact, she has arrived, for she was sighted in the offing this morning, and has since been seen heading in toward the bay. And now we come to the explanation of my remark in reference to certain very clever conspirators; for when the torpedo boat attempted to leave the harbour this morning for the purpose of intercepting the smuggling s.h.i.+p, it was found that her machinery had been tampered with, so that it became impossible to send her. It was then decided to send the gunboat; but when she in turn attempted to move it was discovered that she also had been disabled. And finally, to cut my story short, it was discovered that the engines of Captain Morillo's s.h.i.+p had also been so effectually tampered with that she cannot move. Thus, you see, at a very critical moment, we find ourselves absolutely helpless; and unless something can be done, and that instantly, the cargo will be landed, with the deplorable result that an armed rebellion will break out in the island, and incalculable mischief will ensue."

"Yes," a.s.sented Jack thoughtfully; "I must confess that such a result seems not improbable."

"Not improbable!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the General; "my dear sir, it is absolutely certain! We have the very best of reasons for knowing that, once the insurgents find themselves possessed of arms, they will lose not a moment in making a determined effort to throw off the yoke of Spanish rule, and the island will be at once plunged into all the horrors of war. Now, my dear Senor Singleton, it is in your power to avert those horrors, if you will!" ("Precisely!" thought Jack; "I could have bet that the old boy was leading up to this.") "You see exactly how we are situated. That American s.h.i.+p and her cargo must be seized; yet we have no s.h.i.+p available with which to effect the seizure. You, on the other hand, have a s.h.i.+p that is in every way admirably adapted for the service, and you have steam up; you can leave the harbour at a moment's notice, if you choose--"

"Pardon me, General," interrupted Jack; "I understand exactly what you are driving at: you want me to lend you this yacht for the purpose of conveying a party of soldiers or sailors to--to--"

"Mulata Bay," interpolated the General.

"Yes," continued Jack, "to Mulata Bay, to seize an American s.h.i.+p which, you say, is smuggling a cargo of contraband-of-war into the island!

But, my dear sir, has the very extraordinary nature of your request yet dawned upon you? Do you recognise that you are asking me, a private English gentleman, to mix myself up in a quarrel with which I have absolutely nothing to do, and the rights and wrongs of which I do not in the least understand? Why should I interfere with an American s.h.i.+p, even though she be engaged, as you suggest, in affording aid and encouragement to the revolutionaries?"

"Surely, Senor, the reasons that I have already advanced ought to be sufficient," answered the General. "But if they are not, let me give you another. Your friend Don Hermoso Montijo, whom I see with his wife and family on the upper deck yonder, are not altogether free from the taint of suspicion of being in sympathy with the revolutionaries; indeed, it has been whispered to me that--but it would perhaps be unfair to them to repeat suggestions which have not as yet been absolutely proved: let it suffice for me to say that I wish the present predicament of my Government to be laid before them, together with the request which I have ventured to make to you; and let me know how they advise you in the matter."

"But, General, this is absolutely preposterous!" protested Jack. "Why should Don Hermoso Montijo and his family be dragged into the affair?

And why should I be supposed to be governed by their advice? I must positively refuse to submit the matter to them in any shape or form; and I must also refuse to permit myself to be influenced by any advice which they might see fit to give. They are my guests on board this vessel, and, I may tell you, have embarked in her for the purpose of taking a cruise in her for the benefit of the health of the ladies of the family--indeed, we were on the point of getting under way when you boarded us."

"Senor," retorted the General, "I will not pretend to dispute any one of your statements; but I will simply say that if you persist in refusing your a.s.sistance to the Spanish Government in this strait, your refusal will have the effect of very greatly strengthening the suspicions that already exist as to the loyalty of the Montijo family!"

"General," exclaimed Jack, "if you did but know it you could scarcely have said anything better calculated to defeat your own wishes and make me declare that under no circ.u.mstances will I permit myself to be dragged into this business. To be perfectly frank with you, I do not believe that you have the slightest shadow of foundation or excuse for your suspicions of Senor Montijo and his family. But, in order to show you how little grounds there are for them--should such actually exist--I will do violence to my own feelings by acceding to your request, without consulting Senor Montijo in any way, to the extent of conveying a party of your men, not exceeding fifty, to Mulata Bay; upon condition that I am allowed to fly the Spanish man-o'-war ensign while engaged upon the service."

"Why do you attach that condition to your a.s.sent, Senor?" demanded the General.

"Because," snapped Jack, who was now perilously near losing his temper, "I neither can nor will do the work under the British flag!"

"I think, Excellency, Senor Singleton is justified in his demand,"

remarked the skipper of the cruiser, now speaking for the first time.

"The work that he has kindly undertaken to do is essentially Spanish Government work, and can only be properly done under the Spanish flag.

I will bring you a Spanish ensign and pennant to hoist, Senor, when I bring my men alongside," he added, turning to Jack.

"I shall be obliged, Senor, if you will," answered Jack; "for I will do nothing without them."

"Then that is settled," exclaimed the General, rising to his feet.

"When will you be ready to leave the harbour, Senor Singleton?"

"As soon as Captain Morillo brings his men alongside," answered Jack.

"Then, to expedite matters, let us be going at once, Morillo," exclaimed the General. Then, turning to Jack, he said: "Senor, permit me to express to you the grat.i.tude not only of myself, personally, but also of the Spanish Government, for your courtesy in consenting to render us this important service at an exceedingly critical moment, I fear that, in my anxiety, I may have brought rather an unfair amount of pressure to bear upon you in order to overcome your scruples; but I trust that you will ultimately forgive me for that. And I am quite sure that if, as I have understood, you intend to prolong your stay in Cuba, the time will come when you will be glad to have placed us all under an obligation. I offer you a thousand thanks, Senor, and have the honour to bid you good- day!"