Part 6

“He grinned again. I got out my microscope and went ashore with him, to find that he was correct. The cripple’s blood swarmed with the malarial organisms, but we managed to overcome them. When I came to leave he was quite out of danger.

“It was about six months later that I was in a little hotel in New York much frequented by people from south of the tropic, when who should come in but Rosenthal. I saw immediately that he was in trouble. His big, swarthy, Satanic face was seamed and lined and his shaggy black eyebrows almost hid his fierce green eyes.

“‘_Bon jour_, Dr. Leyden,’ said he, roughly. ‘I heard that you were here and have come to engage your services.’

“‘Indeed?’ said I.

“‘But yes—it is Jacob again. Ah, _mon_ _dieu_!’ He broke into violent profanity, and his yellow teeth gleamed from beneath his bristling mustache. ‘He is in the prison at Porto Cabello.’

“Personally, Doctor, I thought no doubt that that was precisely where he belonged, but I naturally did not say so to Isidore. Instead I asked him for particulars.

“‘You have heard of “La Fouchère?”’ he snapped, ‘the wife of that nigger doctor from Hayti who spends most of his time hanging around the _Moulin Rouge_?’

“‘They are acquaintances of mine,’ said I.

“‘The ——!’ I will not repeat the term which he applied to the lady, Doctor. ‘When I left Curaçao a month ago,’ said Rosenthal, ‘she was there waiting for the French steamer on her way to Paris. You know she is as white as myself’ (as a matter of fact La Fouchère would have made Rosenthal look a Zulu, as the woman’s skin was like a piece of paper held against the light) ‘and she is as beautiful as sin. Little Jacob must fall in love with her, like the child he is. They go together to Caracas, and while there she falls in with an old flame, General Trocas, and the two of them plan to get possession of the bag of gems which I left with Jacob while in the States.’

“‘Bad business,’ said I. ‘I know Trocas also.’ He was the chap, Doctor, who broke up my Orinoco expedition and landed me in the prison at Cumana.

“‘Is it not, _mon cher_? But the little Jacob is no fool; they have had him arrested and searched on a charge of conspiring in Curaçao, but they have been unable to find the gems——’

“‘And so have lodged him at Porto Cabello until the stones are forthcoming?’

“‘Rather through spite, and it is to get him out that I wish to engage your services, my dear Doctor.’

“‘Indeed?’ said I.

“‘My plan is this,’ said Rosenthal. ‘The fortress is, as you know, full of political prisoners from the last revolution, and, as there is no immediate prospect of another revolution, they are apt to remain there for some time. You know, Doctor’—he grinned at me—‘how very poor are the accommodations of these hostelries. I know of a dozen wealthy exiles in Curaçao who would contribute a large sum toward the rescue of their friends. My plan is to quietly raise such a subscription and proceed to Porto Cabello and get the gems, which I will turn over to the commandant of the prison on consideration that he permits the escape of Jacob. You in the meantime will quietly charter a schooner in Curaçao for a scientific expedition, sail across and on a certain night be off Porto Cabello. We will communicate there. The prison guards on that night will be blind to a boat under the sea-wall, and instead of the escape of Jacob alone there will be an escape of _all_ of the political prisoners. The subscription of the others will reimburse me for the expense of ransoming Jacob.’

“I reflected for a moment, then asked him if he thought the commandant of the prison would keep his faith.

“‘We must take some chances, of course,’ answered Rosenthal. ‘For your part, Doctor, there is no risk, and you may name your own figure. Remember that I am already deeply in your debt.’

“I turned the thing over in my mind, Doctor, and it seemed quite a reasonable proposition. You have seen the prison at Porto Cabello; it is on that little sandy island about five hundred yards from the town and only about eighty miles from Curaçao. The prison guards were a lot of shiftless half-breeds and would no doubt be drunk by ten o’clock of the appointed night. Curaçao schooners were always coming and going—on the whole, it seemed no difficult achievement, and it certainly is a commendable act to get any one out of a Venezuelan prison, whether he belongs there or not. I made a bargain with Rosenthal for five hundred dollars, which he paid me on the spot. The next day we sailed for Curaçao on the Red D.

“There was no difficulty about my part of the programme. I chartered one of the chunky little tubs which you saw in Curaçao, engaged three _Papiemento_-jabbering negroes and a cook and cleared for Porto Cabello, giving it out that I was on a collecting cruise along the coast.

“It took me six days to slam that old tub against the trade to Porto Cabello, about eighty miles in a straight line; weather just as it is now—as it always is down there—the wind dead ahead and blowing the top off the water, and the sky bright and clear and blue. Arrived, I anchored near the mouth of the little inlet, and, after being duly inspected, went ashore to see if I could gather any information; but there was nothing to be learned.

“For a week I hung about that hot, wretched hole; then the Dutch mail steamer arrived from La Guayra, and on going aboard to greet some old acquaintances the first man I met was Isidore Rosenthal.

“The Jew’s Satanic face was more malignant than ever; the glare in his green eyes put one in mind of a jaguar; I saw at once that something had gone wrong.

“‘Ah, the ——!’ he snarled, when we were alone. ‘You were right, Leyden! The pigs! The robbers! The vile liars!’ His rage was positively alarming. His black eyebrows worked up and down, and his yellow teeth gnawed at the corner of his black mustache.

“‘They got your gems?’ I asked.

“‘Yes, and they warned me to leave on the next steamer; they would have thrown me into prison but that they feared to have the story get out and be obliged to divide——’ He broke off suddenly from his tirade and surprised me by grinning with amusement. ‘I should like to see their faces a few days later!’

“‘Whose faces?’ I asked, in surprise.

“‘Trocas and that ——!’ He really had a very poor opinion of ‘La Fouchère.’

“‘Why?’ I asked, although I had my suspicions.

“‘Oh, never mind. There are other things to think of. Bribery has failed; there is left only force.’ He looked at me inquiringly.

“‘Force!’ said I, for at that time a Jew and a fight were not associated in my mind.

“‘_Tiens!_’ said he, ‘we cannot return and leave the little Jacob in that cesspool! Think of his lung, my dear Doctor; besides, it would be necessary to refund the money subscribed by our friends in Curaçao.’

“‘Did you give them receipts?’ I asked, curious to get at the odd principles of the man. He looked at me reproachfully.

“‘There, there, Leyden! Did you ever hear of Isidore Rosenthal going back upon his word?’

“‘I apologize. What is the next move?’

“Rosenthal shrugged. ‘They are not much to be feared, these nigger guards at the prison.’ He glanced at me furtively. ‘Suppose we take a boat to-night and go over and get little Jacob?’

“I did not at once reply. To tell the truth, Doctor, I was too much surprised at the suggestion to reply. I knew that Rosenthal possessed the stubborn courage peculiar to his race; but this policy of cold, aggressive daring seemed incompatible with the Hebrew. He watched me narrowly.

“‘I am not a fighter, my dear friend,’ said he, thrusting out his hands. ‘I am a man of affairs, a financier, a diplomat, but there are times when all of these things fail. No doubt I seem to you like a fool’ (he seemed positively ashamed of himself—as ashamed as might another man, a Gentile, of a display of cowardice), ‘but what would you have? They will not keep their faith; to offer more bribes would be to throw good money away after bad.’ He shrugged, chewed at the end of a cigar, glanced about him furtively, then took to gnawing his nails, while I sat and considered the proposition.

“To tell the truth, Doctor, it was not at all attractive. To be sure, the guards were a scrubby lot, but there were plenty of them, and the prisoners were locked up and had no knowledge of any plan for escape. Moreover, we did not know in what part of the prison they were confined, nor had we any plan of the inside of the place.

“‘You do not object to making an attempt, Leyden?’ asked Rosenthal, who had been watching me narrowly.

“‘Not if I were able to see how it could be done,’ I answered, slowly, for, you see, Doctor, he had engaged my services for a particular piece of work and I was professionally bound. If it had been my custom to abandon a project because it was dangerous I must long ago have sought another profession. ‘Would it not be much better to wait until we can try to bribe the guards or establish some communication with the prisoners?’ said I.

“‘No,’ he answered. ‘It must be done to-night, because Trocas knows with whom he has to deal, and unless I am mistaken there will come an order to-morrow to remove little Jacob, probably to Caracas, and you know he does very badly in the cold, damp air of the mountains; also, the change of altitude is apt to bring out another attack of the fever.’

“‘Have you thought of any definite plan?’ I asked, irritably. He grinned at me like a baboon.

“‘That is for you, my dear Doctor,’ said he. ‘You have had more experience in such matters.’

“‘That is all very well,’ said I, ‘but you seem to forget that I am engaged by you to carry out _your_ orders. Now, go ahead and issue them.’

“His grin left him at this and he began to scowl and reach for the overhang of his mustache with his big yellow teeth. Finally he said: ‘I engaged you, as you say, Doctor, to carry out my orders, but I will do better. One cannot be avaricious when the life of one’s brother is concerned. If you will get the little Jacob out of that hole I will pay you three times what you have received.’

“‘How about the others?’ I asked.

“‘Oh, the devil take the others! If their friends want them let them come after them. I will refund their money.’

“‘Very well,’ said I. ‘And now I will go ashore, as I want to think this thing out alone.’

“Rosenthal grinned his sardonic grin, and I left him and, passing through the custom house, strolled on across the square, past the monument to the American soldiers and over into the park opposite the baths, where I sat on a bench and tried to think against the infernal clatter of the ‘_Q’est ce qu’il dit?_’ birds.

“For about an hour I sat there, and I can assure you, Doctor, that my brain was not idle. There were several very potent reasons for my wishing to carry through the task which I had undertaken. In the first place I needed the money very much. Again, there was an old score to settle with Trocas, but I think that more than all it was a matter of professional pride. It was easy to see that Rosenthal was confident that I could carry the thing through, yet try as I did I was obliged to dismiss each plan as impracticable. If word could be got to the prisoners of our co-operation it would have been so much easier, but I was afraid to bribe any of the guards, as there was danger that he would pocket the money and then betray us.

“I was determined that there must be no bloodshed. I had no doubt that Jacob _had_ been conspiring against the Venezuelan government and had been betrayed by ‘La Fouchère.’ I am averse to killing people, Doctor; moreover, I am a Christian and believe in God, and I try to keep the ten commandments. In spite of the hazardous character of many of my expeditions you would be surprised to learn how very few men I have been obliged to kill or have killed, and the memory of these unfortunate affairs is attended with regret, but no remorse.

“While I was vexedly working at this problem I heard the blare of a discordant bugle and a clatter on the pavement of the square, and, looking over my shoulder, saw a company of dusty soldiers stacking their arms in front of the café. They appeared to be mostly Venezuelans. They promptly swarmed into the café, and I arose and strolled over in that direction. The lieutenant in command was a short, fat young fellow, and as I drew near he said a few words to his sergeant and then left his company and walked over toward the café of the bathhouse. I followed him indolently, and as he entered the building I took a chair on the verandah and called for spirits and cigars. As I was lighting one of the latter my lieutenant came out, glanced at me inquiringly, then seated himself at a table. A moment later some tourists from the Dutch ship, killing time as best they might, strolled up, and to these I bowed casually as to acquaintances of the voyage. They did not know me, of course, but they returned my bow, called for beer, drank it and strolled on. As they were leaving I remarked in English to one of them, apparently an American:

“‘The ship does not sail until night, does she?’

“‘Not until one o’clock,’ he replied, agreeably, no doubt taking me for a passenger from Porto Cabello.

“For awhile we sat in silence; then my lieutenant, who evidently found himself greatly bored, turned to me and said, in fair English:

“‘You are a tourist, sir?’

“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘and much regretting that this is the last which I shall see of Venezuela for many months.’ There promised to be some truth in the last part of this statement, Doctor.

“‘You enjoy Venezuela?’ inquired the officer, evidently pleased.

“‘I have conceived a great admiration for the people and the country,’ said I.

“We talked for some time of the beauties of Caracas, he apparently enjoying the unaccustomed exercise of his English. I extolled the country, the people, their traditions, their bravery, likening their history to that of the United States, Bolivar to George Washington. He expanded like a flower in the sunshine. Presently I asked the honor of drinking a bottle of champagne with him, to which he agreed, remarking that Americans were to him the most delightful of all foreigners. Before long I asked him if his military duties confined him to Porto Cabello. He sighed deeply.

“‘Ah, my friend, it is very sad. No, I have simply come down with my _commando_, which you see across the square. I return to-morrow, leaving the troop in the fortress yonder, as the present garrison was considered insufficient to guard the desperate political prisoners confined there.’

“It struck me that this was rather a tribute to the respect entertained for Rosenthal by Trocas.

“‘Indeed?’ said I, somewhat idly.

“He sighed. ‘It is a tedious journey, but I requested General Trocas to commit the care of the men to me, as I expected to find here a friend’—he smirked at me—‘a lady in whom I am interested.’

“I laughed indulgently. ‘You young officers are roving blades,’ said I. ‘One cannot blame the ladies, however.’

“He brightened, then sighed again. ‘It is very sad,’ said he. ‘I learn from the keeper of the hotel that she has sailed for Curaçao on the steamer before this. She was very beautiful, a Portuguese.’ He twirled his thin mustache.

“‘Permit me to offer my sympathy,’ said I. ‘But, of course, there is still wine left, if the lady has gone,’ and I ordered another bottle of champagne.

“Before the bottle was finished, Doctor, he loved me as a brother. I suggested that we go aboard the Dutch ship and have an American cocktail. It was a little dangerous, but I wished to clinch his confidence in me. He readily agreed and we strolled across the square together. On the way we passed his command, which was what I wished. The men were still drinking, but the sergeant was outside the café and saluted as we passed.

“‘A good fellow—he knows my errand,’ observed the lieutenant, referring to the sergeant, and added that there was no hurry to cross to the fortress; it was a place stiflingly hot, and his men were in need of rest and a little refreshment.

“‘You are, of course, acquainted with the officers of the garrison?’ said I.

“‘No; there is only the _commandante_, a rough old fellow’—he shrugged as if to signify that the man was scarcely of his own social caste. ‘There were many promotions from the ranks after the revolution,’ he added.

“This, as you can guess, Doctor, was valuable information. I changed the subject and we boarded the ship. I caught a glimpse of Rosenthal as we went up the ladder. His eye glinted as it met mine; then he turned his back until we had gone below.

“It was then three o’clock. For two hours I poured cocktails into my officer, and by five he was very drunk, so drunk that I was able to leave him long enough to tell Rosenthal to meet me by the fountain in the park in an hour. Then I returned to my officer, who was nodding over another glass of spirits. I got him upon his feet and managed to return with him to the hotel without being interrupted. There I poured into him another bottle of champagne, after which he quietly subsided into inertia, when, with the aid of the proprietor, whose disapproval I silenced with a fee which he put down to drunken generosity, we undressed and put him to bed.

“The next step was the crucial one. I quickly took off my clothes and put on those of the lieutenant. Then I crossed the square to where the _commando_ was still drinking. I found the sergeant in the dirty little café, himself somewhat intoxicated. At sight of me he sprang to his feet with an oath.

“‘Silence!’ said I, in Spanish. ‘Your lieutenant has persuaded me to take his place for a few hours.’

“‘Where is he?’ demanded the sergeant, suspiciously.

“I gave him a drunken leer and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“‘Can you not guess?’ I asked, meaningly.

“‘But it cannot be,’ growled the man. ‘And who are you? It is as much as his commission is worth!’

“‘It would be worth more than his commission was worth if he were to accompany his command in his present condition,’ I snapped. ‘You do not seem to understand that I am doing him a favor at a personal risk; also, he told me to give you this and to tell you to keep your mouth shut,’ And I slipped some gold into his hand. ‘It is only necessary for me to cross to the fort, deliver the command to the _commandante_ and return. Your lieutenant is not known to any one there.’

“The fellow wavered, grumbled, slid the money into his pocket, eyed me suspiciously; but I laughed and told him that a good sergeant must stand by his lieutenant; then, rising, I told him to get his men together and I would return directly to get them to the fort. Although by no means satisfied, he made no protest, not knowing just what course to take. I left him and walked around the far side of the park to where Rosenthal was waiting.

“He laughed softly as I joined him, and his yellow teeth gleamed in the dusk. I simply told him to have the boat lying off the sea-wall of the prison until he heard from me, and then returned to the _commando_, which was drawn up in a somewhat vacillating formation. The men no doubt took me to be an officer of the garrison to which they were committed, but the sergeant was very ill at ease.

“I put the column into motion and marched them down to the water, where I requisitioned the nearest boats at hand and we crossed to the island. At the gate of the fortress we halted until the arrival of the officer of the guard, to whom I presented the papers which were in the pocket of the lieutenant’s blouse.

“The officer was a dangerous-looking old fellow, apparently a thorough soldier, and, while polite, I could see that he was somewhat disgusted at my condition.

“‘At what time did you arrive in Porto Cabello?’ he inquired, a trifle coldly.

“‘An hour ago—perhaps two,’ I answered. ‘There seemed no great hurry; it was very hot and my men were in need of refreshments. Also, I had some messages from my uncle, his Excellency the President, for some friends upon the _Hollandez_.’

“His manner changed a trifle. He gave a few orders to the sergeant, who marched off his unsteady company, with a backward glance in my direction, which I affected not to see.

“‘Will you come up to the headquarters?’ he said. I thanked him and we strolled off together.

“Before we had reached headquarters I had restored his good nature, told him some good stories, made him laugh heartily and evidently convinced him that I was a careless good fellow and not to be taken too seriously. I declined any refreshment, saying that I had been entertained aboard the ship, and after a rather dull evening I begged leave to retire.

“As soon as he was gone I slipped out into the enclosure. It was a starry night, still, but with no moon. I lit a cigar and walked leisurely toward the casemates fronting the sea. At the end of fifty yards I came upon a sentry sleeping peacefully against the wall. Walking to him, I shook him roughly by the shoulder. He awoke with a start; then, seeing an officer before him, scrambled to his feet and saluted. At the same moment there came from one of the casemates a fit of violent but muffled coughing.

“‘Is this the sort of watch which is kept in the prison?’ I demanded, roughly. ‘His Excellency, my uncle, would be pleased to hear of it.’

“The man was badly frightened. He stammered something about not being asleep; then, as I peered into his face, I recognized him as one of the men of my command.

“‘Ah, my friend,’ said I, in an altered tone, ‘you are one of those who arrived to-day?’

“‘Yes, _Señor Capitan_,’ he answered.

“‘But that is different,’ said I, kindly. ‘How is it that you are on duty? There has been some mistake. I gave orders that you were to have a night’s sleep. There has been a mistake, but never mind, sleep here, if you like; God knows you have reason to be tired, and that there are three times men enough to guard a handful of miserables.’

“‘Thank you, _Señor Capitan_,’ he answered; and as he spoke, the violent coughing broke out again from some dark recess.

“‘There is a poor wretch who seems very ill,’ said I, conversationally. ‘Is it one of the garrison?’

“‘It must be one of the political prisoners, _Señor Capitan_,’ replied the soldier. ‘They are all confined in the casemates yonder.’

“‘Poor wretch!’ said I, and, nodding to the soldier, strolled on toward the ramparts. Before I had gone far I was halted by another sentry. I peered at him through the murk.

“‘Are you one of the new men?’ I demanded.

“‘No, _Señor Capitan_,’ he answered, saluting.

“‘The lazy rascals!’ said I, tersely. ‘I gave orders that they were to go on duty immediately as a reward for abusing my good nature and getting drunk. Are they in the _cuartel_ with you?’

“‘No, _Señor Capitan_; they are in the _cuartel_ yonder at the angle of the wall.’

“‘_Bueno!_ I will soon break up their sweet dreams, the drunken vagabonds. Who is your sergeant?’ He told me the man’s name.

“‘And when are you to be relieved?’

“‘At midnight,’ said he.

“‘Very well. You may return to your quarters, and if your sergeant is awake tell him that I have put one of my men in your place. Go!’

“‘_Si, Señor._’ He saluted and slouched away.

“I proceeded, and in a few minutes had relieved two more of the regular garrison and bid one of the new men sleep at his post.

“It was then ten o’clock; there were two hours ahead of me. I made my way to the sea-wall and, reaching below the rampart with one arm, struck a match, extinguished it, struck another and extinguished that. A moment later I heard the soft grinding of oars and the boat glided out of the darkness. Rosenthal’s great frame hove itself up over the rampart, then dropped into the shadow under the wall, and I heard his discordant laugh stifled to a hissing gurgle. He carried a pick-axe.

“‘_Diable!_’ said he. ‘I heard you relieve the sentries! I was close under the wall. It was funny! Have you found where they have put little Jacob?’

“‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘Follow me.’