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Updated: May 5, 2025
"The engineer gave my message to General Yozarro." "He did! It is fortunate for you that you and he did not meet." "More fortunate for him than for me," was the significant comment. The sailboat crept slowly out into the middle of the river, the breeze being so light that only a faint rippling was heard at the bow, and the craft hardly answered her helm.
The tinkling of signal bells and the reversing of screws and the shifting over of wheels brought the two boats so nearly alongside that conversation became facile among all parties. Holding off the General Yozarro, Captain Ortega waited to know the wishes of his chief passenger, who now became the supreme authority on both crafts.
Standing beside one another for a minute or two, the American asked his guide: "Did General Yozarro start for this point when he left Atlamalco in his tug?" "I heard him say he intended to take the Señorita to Zalapata to meet her brother, and Señorita Estacardo went along to bear her company." "That's what the villain told me; did he pass beyond this point?" "He did so for several miles."
"Suppose, when General Yozarro returns, he pursues us?" "It is not impossible; it will be easy for him to overhaul such a slow-sailing boat as this, but he dare not offer us harm. Are we not free born Americans, and will not our government be quick to punish such an offence?"
"I will go back to Atlamalco; I will call the dog to account; what will he dare say for himself?" "I am sure," observed the soft-voiced Captain, "that Major Starland will not be so unwise as that." "Why will it be unwise?" "General Yozarro will not see you when you return." "He dare not refuse! I will bring up my yacht and lay his confounded town under tribute." "He has a gunboat."
"Where can Jack be?" she asked after the mid-day repast, and when the two had talked over every phase of the situation for the twentieth time. "Surely he must soon learn of this and he will be quick to call General Yozarro to account." "I place little hope on that; do not forget, my dear Warrenia, that the Major is only one man against hundreds." "But what of the yacht?"
"There's no denying it," remarked her brother with a grave face; "they will wait till night and then dash upon us from several sides at the same time; the hour or two before the moon rises will be their opportunity." "But why," was the natural feminine inquiry, "does General Yozarro molest us? He has always claimed to be your friend, and, until today, has treated us both with courtesy.
"I will go to Captain Navarro of the guard and tell him I come as a messenger from General Yozarro, who is waiting with the gunboat to take the Señoritas to Atlamalco, and he must not delay in obeying the command." The American looked at him in amazement. "Have you the nerve for that, Martella?" "I await only your permission."
It was Bambos who broke the oppressive hush by saying to him: "The words of General Yozarro are just; comply with what he demands, and he will be glad to restore you to your friends; am I not correct, General?" "I suppose so," was the sour response. "Then my answer is that I'll see the whole gang of you hanged first!
While the native gunners were awaiting the critical second, there was a white puff, a red belch of flame, and a thunderous report rolled over the river and against the shores. A smashing sound, the splintering of wood and a number of yells followed, the ball having torn its way through the cabin and splashed into the river beyond. In this crisis, General Yozarro displayed unexpected coolness.
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