“I wonder if he is not withholding4 his niece’s inheritance from her,” he thought.
But there was little opportunity for reflection as they were hurried along the white coast road toward Miraflores. All the way they were greeted with jeers5 and execrations.
“Yankee pigs” was the mildest of the epithets6 hurled7 at them with true South American vehemence8.
Behind the file of soldiers which formed their escort came Charbonde and Hank, both mounted on wiry little native horses. The latter held a handkerchief to his face, on which a large, dark bruise9 was rapidly forming. At that moment Hank would have ridden a much greater distance than the few miles to Miraflores to witness Ned’s execution.
At last they entered the town—a fair-sized place under a sloping bank of greenery. In front stretched the sea. In a vain hope of rescue from thence the sailors looked ocean-ward, but the expanse was empty of life. Not a sail or a funnel11 marred12 its glistening13 surface.
Through the town, while women joined the ranks of their tormentors, the dusty, worried Americans were marched straight up to a small building with barred windows.
“The prison!” flashed across Ned’s mind.
But he soon found that the place was a courtroom—dark, cool and dusty. At the head of a long table standing14 on trestles, which occupied the center of the chamber15, Charbonde took his[174] seat. There were some papers there and ink and pens. He wrote rapidly for several minutes, while the prisoners stood dejectedly amidst their guards at the other end of the table. Hank stood by the South American, leaning over and occasionally offering advice, or so it seemed.
At last Charbonde looked up. As he did so a thrill of horror passed through the boys. They realized at last that this room was the courtroom in which they were to undergo the mockery of a trial for their lives. As they waited several other officers sauntered in as if to a show. One of them addressed Charbonde as colonel. This explained at once his precedence at the so-called court-martial.
Standing up, Charbonde read rapidly in a sing-song voice from the indictment16 he had just drawn17 up. As it was in Spanish the Dreadnought Boys did not understand a word of it. So rapidly did the colonel—as we must now call him—read, in fact, that even Midshipman Stark18 and Stanley, both of whom understood the language, had but a vague idea of the charges.
“Well, gentlemen, what have you to say?” inquired Charbonde, as he finished reading from the document.
“Do I understand that you have charged us with conducting a naval19 expedition into your lines for the purposes of ascertaining20 your forces and position?” asked the middy in a firm voice.
“You do, sir,” rejoined Charbonde, sitting back and nibbling21 his pen point in a judicial22 manner. It was evident that he was enjoying the situation thoroughly23.
“But—but I protest,” burst out the young officer, “the navy has nothing whatever to do with this thing. It is purely24 a private enterprise—if you want to call it that. Don’t you understand?”
“I must confess I do not. There now remains25 but one thing to do. Gentlemen, you have heard the evidence and the defense26, what is your verdict?”
He turned to the lounging officers.
“This is an outrage27!” shouted the midshipman. “I demand to be heard. I——”
A touch on his arm quieted him. It was Stanley.
“Keep cool, sir,” he advised, “it ain’t no use appealing to reason when you find yourself in a den10 of tigers.”
After a few moments of whispering among themselves, Charbonde stepped forward from the group of officers. All looked curiously28 at the boys.
“The court finds you guilty as charged,” he said in a crisp, curt29 voice. “It is now my duty to impose sentence.”
Utter silence fell in the gloomy room. Outside could be heard the rattle30 of a sentry’s rifle as he changed arms. The hammer of a horse’s hoofs31 across a distant bridge was painfully distinct.
“I sentence you to be shot to-morrow at sunrise!”
“Great heavens! you can’t mean this. We——”
“Now, then, sir, steady on,” warned Stanley once more, as the middy was beginning a fresh plea. “It won’t do any good, sir.”
“Remove the prisoners and see that they are guarded closely,” came the next command from Charbonde.
“Keep a stiff upper lip, Herc,” whispered Ned, as they were marched from the room where this parody32 of a trial had taken place.
“All right, Ned,” answered the red-headed Dreadnought Boy grittily enough, “but it’s tough, isn’t it?”
Under his freckles33 and tan the lad was ashy white. Ned himself, pluckily34 as he tried to bear it, was not far from breaking down at that moment. Fortunately, however, for their self-respect—for they would rather have cut off their right hands than have shown any weakness before the South Americans—the very suddenness with which their doom35 had been pronounced had partially36 stunned37 them. Stanley shuffled38 forward down the dusty street as if in a daze39. Midshipman Stark was in the same condition. Once when he got near to Ned he said in low voice:
“I hope you’ll forgive me, Strong. I got you into this mess.”
“Cheer up, sir,” comforted Ned, “we’re not dead yet.”
“True for you,” burst out Stanley, “and though this is a tight place we may wriggle40 out of it yet.”
It wasn’t much, but somehow to the condemned41 Americans even this scrap42 of cheerful conversation, forced from despairing hearts, was something. They stepped forward with a new confidence and faced the gibes43 and missiles of the street crowds with stiff upper lips. It was not long before their guard turned into a filthy44 alleyway. Marching a short distance up this narrow thoroughfare, the sergeant45 halted his file of men before a big oak door, studded with huge nails. He opened it, and a rush of fetid air poured out from the dark interior on which the portal opened. It was the Dreadnought Boys’ first taste of the breath of a South American prison.
The guard motioned for them to enter. They did so, stumbling half blindly into the odoriferous, gloomy place. The next instant the door clanged to, and they heard a metallic46 jangling, as the fastenings[179] were secured on the outside. The middy, the full sense of their predicament breaking upon him at last, threw himself on a narrow bench at one side of the chamber. A ray of sun falling through a narrow, barred window high up illumined his shoulders. They were heaving.
“Here, come over this way,” muttered Stanley. “It isn’t good to see an officer that way.”
“Do you think they mean to shoot us?” asked Herc in a shaky voice.
“No, sonny, I don’t. These dagoes are great on bluffs47. I guess they just want to throw a scare into us. They wouldn’t dare to shoot four Americans at the word of a rat like that Chawedbone.”
Although Stanley assumed a light and indifferent tone in the hope of cheering up his comrades, his feelings were anything but confident. Ned also, although he said nothing, could not help recalling outrages48 he had read of in the newspapers in which Americans had been executed by South American troops, without a chance to defend themselves. But Stanley’s confidence had[180] its effect on Herc and Midshipman Stark. Soon they fell to discussing their situation earnestly. Stanley’s first move was to “get his bearings,” as he called it.
With the aid of Ned’s shoulders he clambered up to the window and hung on by the bars.
“I can see the sea, anyway,” he called down.
“Is there any sign of the Beale?” asked the midshipman, with a wild hope for an instant that some chance might have brought her there.
The boatswain’s mate shook his head soberly as he alighted once more on the cell floor.
“No, sir, there ain’t,” he said, “and even if there were it wouldn’t do us any good.”
“Isn’t there a chance of getting out?”
Stanley hit the walls with his mighty49 fist.
“Hear that?” he asked; “solid as Gibraltar, as the advertisements say. And to make sure we don’t gouge50 our way out they’ve got three of those tin soldiers marching up and down in front.”
This was the death blow to their last lingering hope of escape. For a time they sat in[181] silence, with bowed heads. Suddenly Stanley straightened up from the bench on which he had been sitting.
“Hark!” he exclaimed.
The sound of a horse galloping51 furiously was borne to their ears. It came nearer and nearer, and finally, to the prisoners’ astonishment52, the steed was reined53 in in front of their place of confinement54.
“What’s up now?” exclaimed Stanley wonderingly.
“Maybe a pardon or something,” suggested Herc.
But Stanley shook his head as the sound of excited voices outside filtered through into the cell.
“It’s a woman!” he gasped55.
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1
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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epithets
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| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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14
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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nibbling
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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31
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32
parody
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| n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文 | |
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freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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34
pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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38
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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39
daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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40
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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41
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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43
gibes
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| vi.嘲笑，嘲弄（gibe的第三人称单数形式） | |
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44
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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45
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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46
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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47
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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48
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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49
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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50
gouge
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| v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈 | |
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51
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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52
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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53
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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54
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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55
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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