The Rifle Rangers Part 32

"On a little smuggling expedition."

"It is possible, then, to reach the town by these?"

"Nothing easier, unless they may have a guard at the mouth; but that is not likely. They would not dream of anyone's making the attempt."

"How would _you_ like to make it?"

"If the Captain wishes it, I will bring him a bottle of _eau-de-vie_ from the Cafe de Santa Anna."

"I do not wish you to go alone. I would accompany you."

"Think of it, Captain; there is risk for _you_ in such an undertaking.

_I_ may go safely. No one knows that I have joined you, I believe. If _you_ are taken--."

"Yes, yes; I know well the result."

"The risk is not great, either," continued the Frenchman, in a half-soliloquy. "Disguised as Mexicans, we might do it; you speak the language as well as I. If you wish it, Captain--."

"I do."

"I am ready, then."

I knew the fellow well: one of those dare-devil spirits, ready for anything that promised adventure--a child of fortune--a stray waif tumbling about upon the waves of chance--gifted with head and heart of no common order--ignorant of books, yet educated in experience. There was a dash of the heroic in his character that had won my admiration, and I was fond of his company.

It was a desperate adventure--I knew that; but I felt stronger interest than common in the fate of this boy. My own future fate, too, was in a great degree connected with his safety. There was something in the very danger that lured me on to tempt it. I felt that it would be adding another chapter to a life which I have termed "adventurous."

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

A FOOLHARDY ADVENTURE.

At night Raoul and I, disguised in the leathern dresses of two rancheros, stole round the lines, and reached Punta Hornos, a point beyond our own pickets. Here we "took the water", wading waist-deep.

This was about ten o'clock. The tide was just setting out, and the night, by good fortune, was as dark as pitch.

As the swell rolled in we were buried to the neck, and when it rolled back again we bent forward; so that at no time could much of our bodies be seen above the surface.

In this manner, half wading, half swimming, we kept up to the town.

It was a toilsome journey, but the water was warm, and the sand on the bottom firm and level. We were strengthened--I at least--by hope and the knowledge of danger. Doubtless my companion felt the latter stimulant as much as I.

We soon reached the battlements of Santiago, where we proceeded with increased caution. We could see the sentry up against the sky, pacing along the parapet. His shrill cry startled us. We thought we had been discovered. The darkness alone prevented this.

At length we pa.s.sed him, and came opposite the city, whose battlements rested upon the water's edge.

The tide was at ebb, and a bed of black, weed-covered rocks lay between the sea and the bastion.

We approached these with caution, and, crawling over the slippery boulders, after a hundred yards or so found ourselves in the entrance of one of the conductors.

Here we halted to rest ourselves, sitting down upon a ledge of rock. We were in no more danger here than in our own tents, yet within twenty feet were men who, had they known our proximity, would have strung us up like a pair of dogs.

But our danger was far from lying at this end of the adventure.

After a rest of half an hour we kept up into the conductor. My companion seemed perfectly at home in this subterranean pa.s.sage, walking along as boldly as if it had been brilliantly lighted with gas.

After proceeding some distance we approached a grating, where a light shot in from above.

"Can we pa.s.s out here?" I inquired.

"Not yet, Captain," answered Raoul in a whisper. "Farther on."

We pa.s.sed the grating, then another and another, and at length reached one where only a feeble ray struggled downward through the bars.

Here my guide stopped, and listened attentively for several minutes.

Then, stretching out his hand, he undid the fastening of the grate, and silently turned it upon its hinge. He next swung himself up until his head projected above ground. In this position he again listened, looking cautiously on all sides.

Satisfied at length that there was no one near, he drew his body up through the grating and disappeared. After a short interval he returned, and called down:

"Come, Captain."

I swung myself up to the street. Raoul shut down the trap with care.

"Take marks, Captain," whispered he; "we may get separated."

It was a dismal suburb. No living thing was apparent, with the exception of a gang of prowling dogs, lean and savage, as all dogs are during a siege. An image, decked in all the glare of gaud and tinsel, looked out of a glazed niche in the opposite wall. A dim lamp burned at its feet, showing to the charitable a receptacle for their offerings. A quaint old steeple loomed in the darkness overhead.

"What church?" I asked Raoul.

"La Magdalena."

"That will do. Now onward."

"_Buenas noches, Senor_!" (good-night) said Raoul to a soldier who pa.s.sed us, wrapped in his great-coat.

"_Buenas noches_!" returned the man in a gruff voice.

We stole cautiously along the streets, keeping in the darker ones to avoid observation. The citizens were mostly in their beds; but groups of soldiers were straggling about, and patrols met us at every corner.

It became necessary to pa.s.s through one of the streets that was brilliantly lighted. When about half-way up it a fellow came swinging along, and, noticing our strange appearance, stopped and looked after us.

Our dresses, as I have said, were of leather; our calzoneros, as well as jackets, were s.h.i.+ning with the sea-water, and dripping upon the pavement at every step.

Before we could walk beyond reach, the man shouted out:

"_Carajo! caballeros_, why don't you strip before entering the _bano_?"

"What is it?" cried a soldier, coming up and stopping us.