the chart showed santa anna to be a harbor not unlike in formation that of boca del sierras. instead of the town lying on a flat, however, it actually climbed up the sides of the steep range which sloped down to the water’s edge. geographers have termed costaveza a country set on edge. on no part of it was this characteristic more marked than at santa anna. but this feature interested the two persons in the captain’s cabin of the general barrill less than certain red-inked portions of the coast line, marked “forts.” these forts, the captain informed midshipman stark, were built in the rock above santa anna, and rendered the place practically impregnable from the sea.
“then how are we to get in after the insurgent ships?” asked stark, who had been informed that the captured vessels were lying inside the landlocked harbor, under the very guns of the forts, awaiting word to set out for boca del sierras. this, of course, would not be till the two armies had effected a juncture.
as the young officer asked the question, the captain smiled somewhat grimly.
“they will come out to us,” was his reply.
“come out to us!” the boy’s voice held a note of astonishment, as well it might.
“i beg your pardon, sir,” he went on, “but did i understand you correctly?”
“perfectly, my boy. the general barrill is capable of twenty-five knots. the fastest of the vessels lying in that harbor is the manueal calvo. she can make, under forced draught, about eighteen knots. the bolivar and the migueal de barros are rebuilt steam yachts, and can almost come up to this pace, but i don’t imagine that they’ll want to burn coal at that rate unless they have to.”
the midshipman looked puzzled.
“i see that you have some plan, sir, but for the life of me i cannot comprehend it.”
“well,” smiled the south american seaman, “you have seen in your country a retriever follow and make desperate efforts to capture a lame duck?”
“why, yes, but i don’t see——”
“the general barrill will be a lame duck,” said the veteran, with one of his grim smiles. “it is the only way we can draw the vessels lying in that harbor from under the protection of those guns of the forts.”
“i see, sir,” cried the midshipman, in a burst of comprehension. “you mean to play ’possum and drag them out to sea, and then pick their bones at your leisure.”
“well, i don’t know about the latter part of it. but i am pretty certain we can lure them out. but recollect, young man, that it will be no child’s play. the manueal calvo, the flagship, mounts three six-inch guns and a secondary battery of rapid fires. the other two carry bow-chasers and stern guns of the same caliber, besides a battery of small rapid-fire rifles.”
“phew!” whistled the middy. “your country had money to spend on armament, sir.”
“i was minister of the marine for a time,” rejoined the other, with a mild sort of pride beaming on his weather-beaten countenance. “i saw to it that we were as well equipped as possible. little did i dream, however, that one day my own guns would be turned against me.”
he sank his grizzled head in his hands, his impressible latin temperament overcome for a moment at the bitterness of his thoughts. to create a diversion the middy struck in with another question.
“have they torpedoes, sir?”
“only the bolivar. she is, in fact, a semi-torpedo boat. the others were being equipped with tubes when the revolution broke out, and the crews mutinied.”
“the bolivar, then, is the only one that can plump a whitehead at us?”
“that’s it, but she carries a good supply.”
“and so do we, don’t we?”
“i am sorry to say not. the last shipment of[224] whiteheads from your country was delayed. we have on board now not more than four.”
“hum, that’s bad,” mused the middy. “however, captain, we have a first-rate armament, and i guess we’ll be able to give a good account of ourselves.”
“i sincerely hope so,” rejoined the other, with a dubious intonation that, in spite of his courage, made cold chills run down the middy’s spine, “but it is three against one——”
“lame duck!” laughed stark, throwing off his nervousness with an effort. “do you intend to put your strategy into effect at once?”
“no, i think the best plan would be to cruise off here for a time. there is always a chance that they may send out one of the vessels alone to reconnoiter. in that case we could cut her off and have her at our mercy.”
“that is right,” agreed stark, “but there is one serious objection.”
“and that is?”
“they are likely to see us from the shore and report our presence along the coast. that might[225] precipitate a night attack or some sort of sortie that might put us in an awkward hole.”
“by the great bells of sevilla, you are right. what do you suggest? you see, already i am beginning to lean on you americans.”
the brave old captain smiled wanly as he spoke.
“why, sir, i have a plan in my mind. it came to me while we were talking. the barrill is exactly like the beale, is she not?”
“they were built at the same yards. the beale is slightly longer, and more modern, and heavily engined. but why?”
“well, you have an american flag on board?”
“yes,” rejoined the captain, still puzzled, “of course we carry saluting flags of every nation.”
“then why can’t we masquerade as the beale?”
“but how? the deception would soon be discovered.”
“not at all. how?”
“why, to begin with, the beale has four funnels and we have but three.”
“that difficulty is easily surmounted.” the middy was beginning to warm to his subject now. “you have on board canvas, some spare lumber, and ‘war color’ paint?”
“of course.”
“then we’ll soon have a fourth funnel rigged, and then, with the stars and stripes flying, we’ll cruise up and down as we please, without exciting any attention.”
“but, senor, we cannot use the american flag in an action with the insurgents.”
“good heavens, no. as it is, i must swear you to secrecy over our part in the whole affair. no, i only suggested the flag as an additional means of throwing them off the trail. if we go into action, of course, we’ll have to come out in our true colors.”
“by the saints, sir, you have indeed been sent by heaven in the hour of my need!” cried the captain, springing up impulsively and, much to the lad’s embarrassment, flinging his arms about the middy. “i feel new fire in my veins, new[227] hope, new ambitions. give us good luck, and we’ll beat them yet.”
“but there’s a lot to be done,” admonished the practical middy. “and now, if you don’t mind, i would like to call into council my men, strong and taylor and the invaluable stanley.”
so it came about that for two days following a four-funneled torpedo-boat destroyer, flying the american colors, was observed by the outposts at santa anna, leisurely cruising up and down the coast. the presence of the beale, and her description was, however, known to them, and so they took it for granted—as who would not—that the four-funneled destroyer was the yankee. her presence gave them no uneasiness, as the american government, it was known, had only sent the vessel down into tropic waters to safeguard the interests of her citizens. had the wires to boca del sierras not been cut in the engagement to the south of santa anna, the insurgents in the latter place might have put themselves in possession of some information which would have been valuable to them. to wit, that[228] while the supposed beale was cruising about seaward the real beale lay snugly at boca del sierras. but this, of course, owing to the broken communication, they had no means of knowing.
during this interval, life on board the masquerading destroyer was one long round of practice drills in the american loading and firing methods. ned and herc, too, alternated in making test readings with the range-finder, till they became almost as expert as any gunnery officer in reading off the exact range. in the meantime stanley, stripped to a singlet and trousers, toiled and sweated with his yellow pupils, who grew to like this rough-and-ready americano very much. with their liking grew up a feeling of confidence. the bracing effect of the presence of the clean-cut americans, who always went at a thing as if they meant it, had a great effect on the vacillating, hesitating latins, both officers and men.
during this period, too, the dreadnought boys and their companions came to have a sincere respect and regard for captain gomez. not one[229] word of complaint or timidity had they heard him utter since they had been on board. they came to regard him as a man in a thousand. courageous, yet gentle and courteous, he was a fine specimen of sea fighter. in this respect, it may be said in parenthesis, he differed widely from most of his race. possibly his american education had something to do with it.
but whether it was her remarkable pertinacity in sticking to that one portion of the coast, or the fact that from her forward funnel no smoke was ever seen to issue, the commandant of the fortress of santa anna became suspicious on the morning of the third day and ordered the manueal calvo to stick her nose outside the harbor and look the supposed american over. of course, her commander was ordered to make absolutely no move that could be construed into a hostile intention. his instructions, however, were to make a complete investigation of the mysterious craft.
and so it came about that when stark emerged from his cabin before breakfast that day he[230] found considerable excitement to greet him. the lookout had just sighted a moving column of black smoke above the promontory to the south of the town of santa anna.
taking his place with the others on the bridge, the middy eagerly watched the dark pillar moving seaward, till presently the sharp, black nose of a yachtlike-looking vessel emerged from behind the green barrier.
“the manueal calvo!” exclaimed captain gomez, as his eyes fell on her.
at any other time the boys would have admired the picture she made. the water was spumed into a creamy bow wave by her sharp forefoot. her yellow funnels poured clouds of black smoke against the blue heavens as she came on. every line and stay showed sharp, as if etched, and the rising sun occasionally glinted on a bright gun or bit of brasswork. but just now the approach of the calvo meant a lot more to them than a pretty picture. their whole fate, their lives, in fact, might hang upon the events of the next few minutes.
suddenly a string of bright flags broke out on the calvo’s signal halliards between the fore and main masts.
at the same instant a bright flash showed at her quarter, followed by a sharp explosion. captain gomez, in his faded old uniform, trembled with excitement as he raised his glasses to his eyes and scanned the signal.
“they want us to heave to,” he announced.
