CHAPTER III--AN ARMED PARTY

Will went to his tent, washed and changed into his working clothes, and then set off to report himself to Mr. Jackson, known among the staff as the Chief. Work had been going on since shortly after daybreak, and as a rule Will would have been in charge of a squad; but the Chief had told him the night before that he need not come on duty until ten o'clock, when he wished to see him about a special job. It was just ten when he came to Mr. Jackson, who was perched on a goods wagon, watching the jointing of the rails some distance from the encampment.

"Here you are," said the Chief, taking his watch from his pocket. "I'll say this for you, that you're punctual, in spite of your toy. Broke down yet?"

"Not yet, but I broke a jaguar down this morning: came smack on him just as he was going to get his claws into an Indian."

"Not one of our men?"

"Oh no! It was some miles from here, beyond De Mello's place. I heard a splash, and there was the jaguar, full pelt after the man, who was swimming his hardest. It was a near thing, and----"

"Yes, I dare say, but I'm not particularly anxious to get a fellow to fill your place just as you're becoming useful. Your hydroplane is all very well as a plaything for your spare time; but it's no earthly use, and I only hope it won't lead you into scrapes. A stitch in time saves nine."

Will's eyes twinkled, and the ghost of a smile played about his lips. The Chief had a habit of finishing his little speeches with a proverb, not always appropriate to the occasion.

"Well now, this job," continued Mr. Jackson. "I want you to check some calculations of level about six miles up. Here you are, on the plan: that's the section. You've been over the ground before; it's the most difficult part of the track. You can take Ruggles as rodman. You'll be some time over the job, so take some grub with you, and be as quick as you can. Time and tide waits for no man."

"Can I have the plan?"

"No. Trace a copy of the section: it won't take you twenty minutes. And, I say, make sure your level's in order; it won't do to get there and find there's a screw loose. Look before you leap, you know."

Having traced the plan of the section he was to survey, Will got his instruments (a hand-level, a surveyor's camera, and a pocket compass), his revolver, and a note-book, sent Jose to find Ruggles and saddle a couple of ponies, and in half-an-hour set off on his task. The country, as the Chief had said, was the worst bit of the whole line. It was much broken by hills and ravines, and the surveyor, choosing the easiest way for the iron road, had been compelled to trace out a rather tortuous course, which was indicated by stakes driven into the ground at intervals. The line would twice cross the little stream which Will had recently navigated in his hydroplane. Fortunately it was fordable at both points.

Will rode on with his companion at a steady trot. Ruggles was a sturdy grizzled veteran of about fifty years of age. He was the handy man of the staff. He could act as rodman, chainman or slopeman as circumstances required. He could build a boat, repair an engine, and cook a dinner with equal facility, and once he surprised Will by helping him out in a knotty calculation in trigonometry. It had been a source of wonder to Will that a man whose attainments were so various should have risen no higher than the humble situation he at present occupied. One day he ventured delicately to hint at the matter.

"I'll never earn more than two pound a week as long as I live," said Ruggles.

"But why? I earn more than that, and you could do my work better than I can."

"Drink--that's why. Every sixpence I earned above two pound would go in drink, and so, to be on the safe side, I'm never going to earn a penny more, that's flat."

Will could not help feeling amused at the old fellow's emphatic declaration, more especially because the man was not a teetotaller, but drank his glass of ale at dinner like the rest, and was never known to exceed. He guessed that there was some story in the background, and hoped that some day Ruggles would tell it; but the man was reserved about his own affairs, though as sociable and cheerful a man as any on the staff.

It was near midday when they reached the section Will was to level, and as the sun was high they decided to eat their lunch in the shade of the trees and begin work later. Ruggles produced bread and cheese and a bottle of beer, and when this had been disposed of, filled an enormous pipe and lay on his back contentedly puffing away, throwing out a remark occasionally. At last Will sprang up, saying they must set to work. For several hours they walked over the ground, making calculations which Will entered in his notebook, and taking photographs for after use. Will often found that such photographs when developed disclosed features of the country that had escaped notice. The ground he was now working over was very rough, and even in the few weeks that had elapsed since his predecessor visited the spot the track which had been partially cleared had become overgrown with tropical weeds. Ruggles found plenty of work for his knife and the axe he carried in his belt.

Will proved in course of time that the previous calculations had been very accurately made. In some cases he found lateral deviations of six or seven feet on a ten-degree slope; these he corrected. In one case he saw reason to suggest a slackening of grade on a curve in a long gradient; and he noted an alternative means of crossing a small stream, for the consideration of the Chief. It was tiring work, done in the heat of the sun, and both were glad when it was finished. They returned to the spot where they had left their ponies tethered to two of the surveyor's stakes, and were on the point of mounting when Ruggles drew Will's attention to a number of horsemen crossing an open space between two belts of woodland about two miles away. Will looked at them through his field-glass.

"They're coming this way, in single file. Wonder who they are," he said. "Have a look, Ruggles."

"About thirty of 'em, as near as I can count," said the man, after a long look. "I can't make anything of 'em."

"Are they muleteers?"

"No."

"Perhaps they are soldiers."

"Don't look like it. I can't see any uniform, nor rifles either. We'd better make tracks."

"What's the hurry? I've seen nothing to be afraid of in the natives; they're a pretty poor lot so far as I have come across them."

"That's a fine healthy English way of looking ac things, but if you'd lived in this country as long as I have you'd know that when you spot such a troop in the distance the best thing you can do is to clear out--unless, that is, you have any particular wish for trouble."

"But why on earth should you suppose they're not peaceable folk--a hunting-party, perhaps?"

"Supposing's neither here nor there. Hunters don't ride in a line, without hounds. My belief is that they're brigands, and we shan't have much to say to them with one revolver between the two of us."

"They may be soldiers."

"That's only another name for brigands here. The only difference is that a soldier is a brigand in office, and a brigand is a soldier out of office. And, by Jeremy! they've got a prisoner. There's a man trotting a-foot beside one of the horses; ten to one he's tied to the stirrup. Take a look, Mr. Pentelow."

"You're right; and I can see now they've got rifles slung to their backs. They're making a bee-line this way. What's their game, I wonder?"

"Shouldn't be surprised if they've paid a visit to the mines, to begin with."

"I think I've got it," said Will, the recollection of what Antonio de Mello had said flashing across his mind. "There's a revolution brewing: these fellows are either Government troops or rebels. We had better get back and tell the Chief."

"I said so five minutes ago, if you recollect, Mr. Pentelow. In this country there are always plots against the Government, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent--and it's mostly bad. Revolution is always on the simmer, you may say, and every few years it boils over. It's the curse of the country. Any big job like this railway of ours is like sitting on a powder-barrel: any moment you may be blown sky high, in a manner of speaking. If Government don't interfere with you, then Revolutionists will; and I'll lay ten to one those horsemen are one or the other, beating up recruits. They haven't seen us yet or they'd be coming faster, so we had better slip in among the trees and gallop for railhead. We can at least put the Chief on his guard."

They led the ponies into the wood, then mounted and set off at full speed. Mr. Jackson looked grave when he heard their report, to which Will added the information given him by Antonio de Mello in the morning. He at once whistled up the other European members of his staff from the scattered points at which they were engaged. When they came up he explained the position to them.

"They mayn't bother us," he said, "but if they're making for railhead, as Mr. Pentelow says, we must be prepared for squalls. There's no highway in this direction, and if they're not making for us, where are they bound for?"

"Perhaps they're going to pay a visit to De Mello," suggested Will.

"Maybe. Well, forewarned is forearmed: the question is, what's to be our line if they show up here? Ruggles, you know the country better than the rest of us: what do you say?"

"Speak 'em fair, sir, but have your rifles ready."

"How many do they muster?"

"There seemed about thirty, but may be more. If they're revolutionaries they'll have plenty of cheek, and think themselves more than a match for our handful."

"What will our men do?"

"Nothing but look on. My notion is that they're after recruits, and the men won't join them unless they're obliged. They know they'd only be food for powder. But they've got no arms except machetes and their tools, and they won't run the risk of being shot at."

A tall engineer of about thirty, who had been leaning against a tree, with crossed legs, a pipe in his mouth, then quietly made a suggestion.

"If I were you, Chief," he said, "I'd try a little stratagem."

"How do you mean, O'Connor?"

The man took the pipe from his mouth and pointed with it towards the embankment, thirty yards from the Chief's tent.

"Line that with rifles," he said. "We muster fifteen all told, counting in the foremen, who'll stick by us, I fancy. We've got four or five revolvers, too. Well, my notion is to post our rifles out of sight on the reverse slope, just behind those trucks. The beggars will have to pass on this side, and they won't see us. It's about time to knock off work, and they won't be surprised if they see you on a camp-stool at the door of your tent reading. I can lend you a month-old _Times_."

"What then?"

"Why, they'll speak to you, I suppose, and you'll soon see if they're bent on mischief. Then you can give us a sign and we'll empty a few saddles."

"Rather strong measures, O'Connor."

"Why not try bluff first?" said Will.

"You've got an idea, have you? Come into my tent, and we'll talk it over. You too, O'Connor. You others, go and get the rifles; and, Ruggles, tell the men that a small armed party is coming this way, but they needn't be alarmed. They can get their suppers and keep out of the way."

The Chief, accompanied by Will and O'Connor, walked to his tent. It was separated by a few yards from the embankment on one side, and the tents of the European staff on the other. There was a broad open space in front of these, with a large tree standing in the middle. The approaching horsemen, if they came from the expected direction, would pass between two groups of tents occupied by the labourers, into the compound, as it might be called, of which the tree marked the centre.

The colloquy in the Chief's tent did not last long. O'Connor came out first, still puffing at his pipe. Nobody in the camp was aware of it, but Jerry O'Connor had once held the King's commission in the Royal Engineers. There had been no more popular or capable officer in the corps than Jerry, and many were grieved when he had to leave the army, under a cloud. He was the best-liked member of the engineering staff of the new railway, and none get more work out of his men. He was soon joined by the other Europeans and the Venezuelan foremen, all armed with rifles. Knocking the ashes from his pipe, he put it into his pocket, and led his little company of thirteen to the rear of the embankment, where they lay flat on their faces just below the top, perfectly screened from observation on the other side.

Meanwhile Will also had left the Chief's tent, and made his way quickly towards a little wooden cabin that stood a few yards from the end of the railway line. As he approached, a slight young man with a swarthy sallow face came out of the cabin and walked towards the embankment. Will hailed him.

"The Chief wants you, Machado," he said.

"At once, senor? I was going to watch the horsemen who are said to be approaching. Perhaps I might be able to reassure the Chief."

"You had better come and see what he wants first."

The Venezuelan gave way with a shrug, and walked by Will's side to the tent, at the door of which Mr. Jackson was standing.

"Senor Machado," said the Chief, who was always scrupulously polite to the Spaniards on his staff, "I shall be glad of your assistance. These horsemen will be here in a few minutes, and I want you to remain here as a witness of what passes. Mr. Pentelow will remain also. We shall then have one of their own countrymen and one of mine, a useful precaution, you will agree."

Senor Machado smiled his assent. Mr. Jackson knew that, in dealing with revolutionaries in Venezuela, foreigners, and even peaceable natives, were, as he put it, between the devil and the deep sea. If he should be suspected of giving aid or countenance to the rebels he would be hauled over the coals by the Government. If he refused such aid he might be held in durance or perhaps attacked by the rebels. Whichever party proved victorious in the struggle would refuse to make good any loss he might sustain, while if either could foist upon him any charge of assisting the enemy he would lose all his property, and suffer imprisonment or fine. No evidence would probably be of any immediate avail if matters were brought to extremities; but it would be useful to have such evidence to lay before the British consul.

"You left a man at the cabin to call you if any message comes through?" said the Chief.

"Assuredly, senor; I think always of my duty."

"That's right. Just keep within easy reach. Here's a cigar."

Machado strolled up and down, smoking energetically. Will shot a glance at him. The man was a good telegraphist, and he had nothing against him; but he was not quite pleased to know that he had been so affable with Jose.

Mr. Jackson sat down at the door of the tent, and began to discuss with Will the entries the latter had made in his note-book.

"I think we look pretty easy," he said. "Still waters run deep.... Ah! here they are."