Chapter 8 SUSPENSE

Roma?a did not return to Mr. O'Hagan's house. He guessed that every member of the household would be under suspicion; and though his part with the Mollendists was not known, Pardo, if he came on the scene, would not hesitate to trump up a charge against him. So he hung about until nightfall, and then slipped into the town and took shelter with Pedro Galdos, the agent who had dogged Pardo's messenger to San Juan.

Galdos was a strange illustration of the irony of circumstances in Spanish America. At one time, under another name, he had been sub-prefect of a provincial town; but he lost his office with a change of government, and drifted into poverty. He now earned a scanty livelihood by selling lottery tickets and doing any odd jobs that came his way. No one in San Rosario had known him in his official career; none would have suspected that the thin, shabby, down-at-heel old man who haunted the street-corners, pestering folks to buy his grimy lottery tickets, had formerly held a post of authority. As agent and spy of the Mollendists he was quite trustworthy. Since his dismissal he was always against the government; and his services were at the disposal of any opponent of the present prefect, whether Mollendo or another.

He lived alone in a little two-roomed mud cottage at the east end of the town. Here Roma?a sought a temporary lodging. Galdos already had some news for him. Mr. O'Hagan had not been taken to the capital, but was imprisoned in the town jail.

"I will tell you why, se?or," said the old man. "The Prefect wishes to manage things quietly. There is too much sunlight in San Juan! The Se?or Inglés has many friends and a few compatriots there, and they would agitate if the thing were known. The Prefect's own party would be uneasy, for it is no light matter to oppress an Inglés; the British Government would say hard things at Lima, and the Prefect might find himself in hot water. He is a hotheaded, reckless imbecile; but some of his supporters are more prudent, and they would hesitate to provoke the anger of the government. But here, in this out-of-the-way town, many things can be done without making a noise. The Prefect has many creatures who will do just as he bids them. He needs much money; his troops are clamouring for arrears of pay, and he lacks arms and ammunition for the campaign he is meditating against our party. The Se?or Inglés is known to be wealthy; that is his crime."

"What will the Prefect do with him?" asked Roma?a.

"Who knows?" replied Galdos with a shrug. "We shall see. There was trouble at the hacienda to-day. When the Japanese workers heard that the caballero was arrested, they marched to the house and threatened mischief to the gendarmes. It was only the intervention of the se?ora that prevented a fight. She pled with the people to go back to their work for the se?or's sake. The Inglésa is a clever woman. Where is the boy?"

"He is in a safe place, where he will remain until we know what is to be done. If the worst happens he must take refuge with Se?or Mollendo until we can convey him and his mother to Lima. I shall go back to him to-morrow."

Meanwhile Tim had eaten his supper--a tin of beans which he found in the cupboard--and made himself as snug as possible among the rugs in one of the box beds. He was not frightened, but he would not have denied that he felt miserable. For a long time he lay wakeful, wondering how far the Prefect's tyranny might go, and taking a good deal of unnecessary blame to himself for having wished for a motor-bicycle. The machine, of course, was no more the cause of recent events than a ball of worsted is the cause of a kitten's playfulness. Just as a kitten's native energy makes the ball the occasion of leaps and gambols; so the Prefect had seized on Tim's adventure with the gobernador as a pretext for squeezing the gobernador himself, and for venting his spite on the man who would not be squeezed.

Roma?a came back on the following afternoon. The news he brought was not calculated to lighten Tim's heaviness. Mr. O'Hagan was closely confined; gendarmes were flocking into the town, to overawe any who might be disaffected, Roma?a supposed. He left again at dusk, begging Tim to be patient.

Next day his information was even more serious. The Prefect had arrived, accompanied by a number of officers, and it was rumoured that the prisoner was to be tried by court-martial. The ordinary process of law was evidently too slow for the dictator; it left, perhaps, too many loopholes for escape. With a court composed of his own particular tools he might depend on the proceedings being short and swift.

"But it is utterly illegal to try a civilian by court-martial in time of peace," Tim protested.

"The Prefect makes his own law," said Roma?a. "He has proclaimed martial law in the town."

"He means Father to be condemned; what will the sentence be? A big fine?"

"Probably, with a term of imprisonment also," replied Roma?a. In his heart of hearts he expected a much more terrible punishment. The Prefect would not be satisfied with a fine, however large; nor with a term of imprisonment, however long. Nor would he even stop at confiscating Mr. O'Hagan's property, and let him go. There is only one safe way in which tyranny can walk, and that is a road stained with blood. But Roma?a did not impart his anticipations to Tim; there was no need to wring his young heart before the time.

He durst not go into the town next day, but waited in the wood for Galdos to bring him news of the trial. It confirmed his gloomiest forebodings. Pardo was the principal witness against his master. He repeated authentic fragments of Mr. O'Hagan's talk, which, harmless enough in themselves, might be construed as treasonable by prejudiced minds. He swore, falsely, that he had heard his master declare that he would not pay the taxes, which were mere extortion. He declared that the ￡250 which Mr. O'Hagan had sent to Mollendo was not a ransom, but a contribution to the brigands' funds. Similar testimony was given by two former servants of the prisoner. Mr. O'Hagan's denials were scouted. He was not allowed to employ counsel, and in two hours the sorry farce was over. He was found guilty, condemned to forfeit his estate and to be shot in the plaza, three days later.

Roma?a shrank from conveying this heavy tidings to the boy awaiting his return in the cavern. But there was no help for it. He walked back slowly, and broke the news as gently as he could.

Tim was at first utterly overwhelmed. In his most despondent moments he had never looked for anything so bad as this. When his stupor passed, he cried out that he must go to his mother; that he would himself seek the Prefect, and plead with him to annul the sentence; that he must and would do something, he knew not what.

"It would be useless, se?orito," said Roma?a sadly. "You would yourself be arrested; you might suffer the same fate; then the gracious lady would be doubly bereaved, left without a protector, and that would embitter your father's last moments."

"But I can't sit still and do nothing," cried Tim, walking up and down in his misery. "Suppose it were your father! Won't your Mollendists do something? There's a lot of them; wouldn't Se?or Mollendo lead them to the town if I begged and prayed him?"

"He is not strong enough," answered Roma?a. "The town is full of gendarmes. I don't know the caballero's plans, but he cannot alter them for a foreigner."

"He will only send his men to pounce on solitary travellers like the gobernador," said Tim bitterly.

"Remember, se?orito, that he is himself outlawed, in hiding. The men you saw in his camp are not numerous enough; they are ill-armed. There are a crowd of gendarmes and several troops of mercenaries already in the town, and another thousand men can be summoned from San Juan, and would arrive within a few hours."

"But I could get our Japs to join. They would fight like demons for my father."

"What arms have they?" said Roma?a patiently. "It is useless, se?orito. But there are three days. Perhaps the Prefect will think better of it. No doubt he is uneasy at not having captured you; he will never feel safe while you are at large; and he may delay the extreme step. We must hope for the best."

As he became calmer Tim recognised the force of all that Roma?a had said, and his own helplessness. He could but wait and hope.

Very early next morning they were standing near the mouth of the cavern. Roma?a was about to go again into the wood a few miles nearer the town, to receive any further information that Galdos might have for him.

"Ask him to go to my mother, and bring word how she is," Tim was saying.

"Look, se?orito; what is that?" said Roma?a suddenly, pointing down the track in the direction of the town. A mounted party of four was approaching, too far off for the individuals of which it was composed to be distinguished.

HORSEMEN ON THE TRACK

"They are after me!" said Tim at once.

"Back, se?orito!" cried Roma?a, drawing him behind the screen of foliage, through which they peered anxiously at the advancing party.

"There is a lady!" said Roma?a presently. "They are riding very fast."

"Is it Mother?" said Tim. "I believe it is! And, Roma?a, look; I believe it's Father too! Isn't it? Isn't it?"

"For Dios, se?orito!" exclaimed Roma?a, "you are right! It is the se?or himself. He has escaped! Praise to our Lady and Sant Iago! Come! Let us meet them."