Under The Star Spangled Banner Part 20

"The searchlight!" exclaimed Hal. "Down into the shade at once, or we shall be discovered. These fellows are proving far more wide awake than I had imagined them to be. I should say that they have telephones from all the outlying stations and barricades, which enable them to communicate with the people in charge of the light."

And, indeed, this was the case. Balked in his endeavor to trace the two suspicious characters who had disappeared into the house after violently a.s.saulting him, the Spanish officer had at once rushed to the barricade, and had sent messages along the wires to other parts. Then, too, the outlying pickets had been warned by the blowing of whistles, which was evidently a previously arranged signal in case of trouble occurring.

Before even the searchlight had burst into the night or commenced to revolve, Hal and Gerald were entirely surrounded by a cordon of vigilant men, few of whom knew exactly what was happening, though all could guess that someone was near at hand whom it was desirable to capture. And the electric light would help them. Meanwhile, they would stay in some dark spot, and follow the rays, hoping to catch sight of the fugitives as they darted from side to side in the endeavor to escape them. A dark figure crouching beneath a tree or hedge would satisfy them, and on the instant, up would fly the rifle to the shoulder, there would be just a second's pause to correct the aim, and then--bang!--the hapless fellow would spring into the air with hands outstretched, to fall next second doubled into an inert heap. Oh, yes! it was simple, and an extremely diverting sport to those who had themselves no danger to fear.

As for Hal and Gerald, their desperate position filled them with consternation, for as they ran hither and thither in the vain endeavor to fly from the sweeping beams, the snap of twigs and the rustle of leaves brushed on one side were followed by the sharp crack of rifles fired at random in that direction. Perhaps there was no great danger to them in that; but still, the bullets flew unpleasantly near, and sent them running again, hunting them like hares from point to point.

Suddenly, as they crossed an open s.p.a.ce, the searchlight fell full upon them, and instantly the surrounding darkness was lit up by the flash of many rifles. Ping! ping! ping! The shots rang out with startling loudness, and the bullets hummed and pelted through the air overhead.

"Halt there, and surrender!" a voice cried from the trees. "If you move a step farther away I will shoot you."

"We are caught, and must make the best of it," said Hal to Gerald, with a groan. "Tell them that we give in, old fellow."

Holding his hands above his head, Gerald did as he was asked. Then they stood still in a patch of brilliant light, which was made all the more glaring by the contrast of thick darkness all around. A few minutes later some Spanish soldiers advanced towards them, rifle in hand, and, forming a ring round the lads, marched them away, their path lit up all the while by the electric light which followed every movement. Pa.s.sing down the street, they at length came to a large building, into which the prisoners were at once taken.

"Sit down there, and do not stir a finger, or you will be shot," said the sergeant who was in charge of the party, indicating a rough bench with a curt nod of his head. "I will go inside and ask his excellency the colonel to interview you. By the time he is ready, those who warned us from the barricade will have arrived to give their evidence; and then, my friends, it will be a case of a rope, a friendly branch, and plenty of air to dance on."

He glanced at his captives, favoring them with a malicious grin as he outlined their probable end. Then he went to a door close at hand, and, having knocked upon it, entered, and closed it behind him.

"I suppose he has gone to explain matters," said Hal coolly. "Keep up your p.e.c.k.e.r, Gerald. The case looks precious bad, but we'll pull through, depend upon it."

"Right. I hope we may. But things look ugly. That pleasant gentleman who has just done talking to me is good enough to tell me that we shall soon be hanged. If it comes to that, Hal, why, we must face it out, and die as those at the hacienda would have us do."

He looked into his companion's face and smiled bravely, for Gerald was determined to show his friend that he, too, possessed a fund of pluck which would carry him through an unpleasant difficulty.

"We will, old boy," Hal answered cheerily; "but let us hope that it will not come to that. Hallo! Who's this?"

At this moment an officer, who was dressed in the usual Spanish uniform, emerged from the inner room, and was walking hurriedly across to the door, being bent evidently upon the performance of some special duty, when his eye fell upon Hal and Gerald. Almost instantly a startled cry escaped him, and he sprang backwards in astonishment.

"What! You!" he exclaimed, in tones of surprise, surveying them with an air of delight. "You two from the hacienda! Idiots! You have played into my hands. Men, close round your prisoners, and take the best care of them, for I can vouch for it that they are Americans. They are spies, and have come here to find out our secrets."

He strode towards them, and grasping Hal's hat, tore it from his head.

Then he laughed sardonically in his face, and, with a triumphant glance at the two prisoners, turned upon his heel, and re-entered the room from which he had emerged a minute before.

"What bad luck! What hard lines!" exclaimed Hal, with something approaching a groan. "That fellow Jose d'Arousta again!"

It was, indeed, an unfortunate meeting, and one fraught with the greatest peril for Hal and his friend. They were prisoners, and practically under a charge of spying upon the enemy; but for all that, a minute or more before, the aspect of affairs had not been altogether hopeless. How changed it was now! The very man of all others in Santiago whom it was most desirable that they should not meet had run up against them, had recognized them, and now, burning to avenge a private grievance, had promptly denounced them as spies. No wonder that Hal shuddered. Across his mind flitted the recollection of Mr. Brindle's tale of the _Virginius_, and of the fate meted out to her hapless crew--captured at night, condemned, and promptly shot at dawn. That was the sequence of events; and what was to prevent a similar fate from befalling them?

"The letter! Of course, the letter which Mr. Brindle gave me," exclaimed Hal, aloud, as if Gerald had been following the train of thoughts which had been running through his mind.

"Why that letter?" asked the latter, looking at him in astonishment.

"What are you talking about, old fellow?"

"I was wondering what we could do to prove our ident.i.ty, and the innocent intention we had in coming here. Jose d'Arousta, you may be sure, will not let such a golden opportunity of revenge slip by without making the utmost use of it. He will proclaim us as spies, and if you will only take the trouble to look at matters as they appear to others, you will admit that that is the most natural conclusion for any Spaniard to arrive at. War is declared, and, indeed, exists, between Spain and America; and no doubt the whole of the island of Cuba, including the towns, is under martial law. You are the son of a naturalized American, and I his overseer. We are discovered at night in Santiago, and when called upon to surrender, we fly from the soldiers. Naturally, we shall be put down as spies who have come to see what defensive arrangements have been made, so as to be able to communicate them to our friends. But the letter which your father gave me will exonerate us. It states in clear terms that we are endeavoring to leave for Tampa, and tells for what purpose. Do you see, old boy? We put a spoke in D'Arousta's wheel which I fancy will upset the whole apple-cart, so far as he is concerned."

"Splendid! I am relieved to hear it," cried Gerald. "I'll be honest, and tell you that I was beginning to feel in a blue funk; but now, of course, it will be all right, and we have nothing to fear."

"Ye-e-s, perhaps," Hal answered doubtfully. "But someone will have to pay for that officer's broken nose. I hit him heavily, I can a.s.sure you, and fairly laid him out. Hush! The door is opening."

At this moment Jose d'Arousta pushed his head into the outer room, and signaled to the sergeant.

"Bring in the prisoners," he said in triumphant tones, "and see that you surround them, for these foreigners are capable of playing the maddest tricks, and might throw themselves upon his excellency if you were to relax your watchfulness."

Shouldering their rifles, two of the soldiers grasped Hal and Gerald by the arm; then the others took up their positions in front and behind, and, at an order from the sergeant, the party marched into the room. It was a large, bare compartment, dimly lighted by a single oil lamp standing upon a table in the center. The atmosphere was thick with the fumes of burning oil and stale tobacco smoke, and even a widely opened window failed to clear it and make it more pleasant for those who were there.

Seated behind the table was a middle-aged officer, with stern but not unkindly features. A clerk in military attire stood at the desk beside him, and was taking down a letter at his dictation.

"These are the prisoners, then--the very first we have taken, I understand," said the officer, suddenly looking up and closely scrutinizing Hal and Gerald. "Who are they? Why have they been taken?

Where is the evidence?"

"Captain Volaga is the chief witness against these spies," answered Jose d'Arousta, stepping forward from the shadow, "and I am the next, your excellency. They are known to me as Americans. But it would be better, perhaps, if my brother-in-arms told his tale first."

"Americans! Ah, they look it! Then we will employ their language. We who have lived in these parts soon pick up English, and, if we use it, all will be able to understand. Come, what are their names, and where do they hail from?"

The colonel turned to the lads, and asked them the question in tones which betrayed little accent.

At this moment the door of the room opened, and the officer whom Hal had struck entered with his face bound up, and scarcely more than his eyes showing.

"Who is this?" demanded the colonel.

"I am Captain Volaga, excellency," was the answer, in a voice which trembled with suppressed rage. "I have come to give my evidence against these men."

"Then step forward, and tell me first of all whether you identify them."

"Yes, excellency, they are the same," the officer replied, looking at the two prisoners with no friendly eyes, "and this young ruffian is the one who struck me and injured one of my men. I will tell you how it happened, Senor. The dolt at the barricade pa.s.sed them through without question; but I was sharper. Seeing them stealing beneath a lamp, and being suspicious of them, I called to the rogues, and ordered them to come to me so that I might find out who they were. Then, without provocation, this one"--and he pointed at Hal with the end of his sword, favoring him at the same time with an angry glare--"struck me violently in the face, and followed up the attack by hurling one of my men against his comrades. Both then ran from us into a house standing near at hand, and when we searched it they were gone."

"Indeed! I trust that you are not greatly hurt, Senor Capitan," the colonel answered. "But, surely, your men were armed? How, then, did these prisoners escape? One is only a boy, and the other cannot be twenty yet. It is strange to hear that an officer and several of his Majesty's soldiers were insufficient to capture them."

It was, indeed, a peculiar tale, real though it was, and it scarcely redounded to the credit of the officer. He had no answer to give to his chief's questions, but stood there, a look of bitter hatred upon his face.

"Well, now for your story, Senor Jose d'Arousta," said the colonel.

"What do you know of these lads?"

"They come from the hacienda Eldorado, and are Americans, and therefore spies, your excellency. Search them, and I am sure that you will find that they are armed."

He turned to the men who were holding the prisoners, and gave them an order. Instantly they ran their hands over them, and produced the revolvers which both lads carried.

"You see," continue Jose, with a sneer, "they meant to look after their own safety. Spying is a dangerous game to play!"

"And now, what have you to say?" asked the colonel courteously, turning to Hal. "A very serious charge is made against you. First of all, you are Americans, it seems. Then you are discovered slinking into the town, and when called upon to surrender and give an account of yourselves, you attack an officer, and contrive to escape from him in spite of his escort of armed men. You are captured finally, and are found to be carrying arms. An explanation is needed."

"And I shall be glad to give it," said Hal quietly. "We come, as this man beside me has stated, from the hacienda Eldorado; but we are not spies. The war is nothing to us, but our safety, and that of our friends, is another matter. Only yesterday, your excellency, we were attacked by a band of cut-throats, who nearly relieved us of all we possessed. Our mission now is to go to Tampa, and return with negroes from Mr. Brindle's other estate, who will help to defend the hacienda.

We entered this town for one reason, and only one, namely, to get a pa.s.sage on a steamer sailing to Tampa."

"The hacienda attacked!" exclaimed the colonel doubtfully; while the face of Captain Volaga showed a smile of insolent incredulity.

"Yes, senor," Hal answered calmly. "Attacked late in the afternoon, and under the leadership of this man." He pointed to Jose d'Arousta, and looked him sternly in the face.

"Ha, ha, ha! He will accuse me of being an American spy next, Senor Colonel!" cried Jose. "You can see that he is fabricating a tale. It is a splendid c.o.c.k-and-bull story from end to end."

"So it would appear," the colonel replied. "Accuse one of my officers of brigandage! It is monstrous--ridiculous! Young sir, you do your cause no good by speaking in this wild manner. Confess at once that you and the boy are spying, for it may very well make your sentence lighter in the end."