the capture was so sudden that it took me a moment to collect my wits. although bruised and bumped to some extent i had not been much hurt, and even before i was jerked to my feet i cried aloud to my men:
“get into the car and watch out! don’t mind me. take care of yourselves.”
they obeyed promptly, but none too soon; for scarcely had they closed the door when a shower of arrows rattled against the dome. all subterfuge and arbitration was now at an end; they had at last “shot the arrow” and we might expect in the future nothing but implacable hatred.
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my captors—two stalwart chiefs—having raised me to my feet now held me firmly secured by means of the thong lasso which still encircled my body. the coils pinioned my elbows so closely to my sides that i could not even withdraw my hands from the pockets of my jacket.
they had begun to hurry me toward the king’s house when a roar of dismay broke from the group we had just left. i turned half around and saw that the automobile had made a short circle and was plunging straight at the king and his warriors. some were wise enough to scatter from its path, but the more dignified hesitated and were bowled over like a company of wooden soldiers and tossed in every direction.
the lightness of the machine prevented many serious casualties, however, and while duncan chased them here and there, managing the huge automobile with consummate skill, the warriors gathered up the stunned and maimed and, dodging the onslaught as nimbly as they could, fled into the palace and houses where the terrible monster could not follow them.
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forgetting for the moment my own unenviable plight, i laughed heartily at the exhibition until the two chiefs pushed me roughly toward a doorway and so along the narrow hall and into the big courtyard.
here the chiefs began to gather, muttering angrily at their recent discomfiture and casting upon me glances of such malignity that they had the effect of sobering me effectually.
the king came limping in and dropped upon his bench with a brow like a thundercloud. he had not been much injured, but his royal dignity had suffered a severe blow.
while one man held the loose end of my lasso and guarded me, the others all ranged themselves back of the king, who said, with what appeared to me to be unseemly haste:
“what shall be the fate of the white stranger?”
“death!” they cried, in a fierce chorus.
“and at once,” added nalig-nad. he glanced around him. “to you, tetch-tsa, i allow the privilege.”
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a stout young fellow with considerable of the royal green in his robe stepped forward with a grim smile and drew his long knife. as i looked at him i clutched with my fingers the handles of the two self-cocking revolvers that were fortunately in my jacket pockets, and which i had been secretly holding when the coil of the lasso settled over me. i was not able to move my arms because of the thong that pressed them against my body, but i pointed the barrel of the right hand weapon as accurately as i could toward my proposed executioner. when he was but a few paces off i blazed away at him.
at the first shot he paused, as if astonished; at the second he threw up his arms and tumbled over.
instantly i whirled and fired at the man behind, and my position was so awkward and my aim so uncertain that i emptied the chambers of the revolver in quick succession to make sure one bullet would take effect.
he staggered back and released the thong, and even while i loosed the slip-noose i ran toward the hall and made my best speed for the door.
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the thong tripped me as it dropped to my feet and i fell just in time to escape a spear that was hurled after me. another, as i jumped up, slipped past my right ear, and a third slashed my hip. but i fled for dear life and in a jiffy was free of the house and heading across the enclosure toward the automobile.
they saw me coming and opened the door for me to tumble in. a spear crashed into the netted glass just as the door swung into place again, hurled with such force that its point stuck half way into the car and taught us we were not so secure within the dome as we had imagined. but now i lay panting upon the floor while bryonia emptied a couple of revolvers into the crowd of my pursuers and brought them to an abrupt halt.
“getting a little warm,” remarked duncan moit, calmly. “i’m not sure, sam, whether we can stick out the day or not.”
“glad you escape, mars’ sam!” said nux, bending over me. “bad hurt?”
“i guess not,” i answered, still breathing hard.
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the black unfastened my clothing, which was saturated with blood just over the left hip. the spear had cut an angry looking gash in the flesh as a passing reminder of what it might do if better aimed, but fortunately the wound was not deep and on account of its location would cause me little trouble beyond a slight stiffness. nux began to dress it as well as he could by tearing up a shirt for bandages and applying plenty of sticking plaster from the supply we had brought with us. i thought he made a very good job of it, being somewhat skilled in the treatment of flesh wounds myself.
i could imagine how furious the san blas would be at my escape. they did not venture out into the open space after these two repulses, but hung around the doorways in an alert and vigilant way, being very sure that we could not get out of the enclosure and would be unable to defy them for any length of time.
duncan rather expected the princess to appear, as she had promised in case of open warfare; but either she did not consider the emergency had yet arisen or she had been prevented from acting as she wished.
“i won’t go without her, though,” he muttered, decidedly.
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“tell me,” said i, “what is your object in wanting to wait until to-morrow before escaping from here? i can’t see that another day will bring any better condition to our captivity, and it’s a settled fact that we can’t get the machine out of this enclosure, in any event.”
“perhaps i ought to explain,” he began, and then paused for a long time, as if absorbed in deep thought.
“take your time, duncan,” i remarked, impatiently.
he did not notice the sarcasm, but my voice aroused him and he said:
“perhaps you remember that i once told you i used a glycerine explosive of my own invention to prime the engines of this automobile. in starting, a tiny drop is fed into the cylinders to procure the air compression which furnishes the motive power.”
“i remember; go ahead.”
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“the feeding chamber is supplied with enough of this explosive to run the machine a year or more,” he continued; “but when i made it, in my own laboratory, the apparatus required was so complicated and expensive that i decided to manufacture an extra supply, to use in other machines which i intended to build later.”
“i see.”
“this reserve supply, in a powerfully concentrated form, i now have with me.”
“oh! isn’t it dangerous, old man?” i asked, glancing around uneasily.
“properly applied it might blow all panama to atoms,” he returned vaguely. “but it cannot be accidentally exploded while it remains in the place i have provided for it.”
“where is that?”
he reached down and removed a square trap in the floor of the car. leaning over, i discovered a small cylindrical jar, having the capacity of about a quart, which was suspended at one side of the driving shaft. the straps that held it in place allowing it to swing in any direction with the movement of the machine, but any sudden jar was impossible.
“is it like nitro-glycerine?” i asked, eyeing the cylinder with an involuntary shudder.
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“not at all,” replied the inventor, calmly closing the trap again. “it is a much more powerful explosive, in its concentrated form, but may be diluted to any strength desired. the mechanism i have invented for its application renders it perfectly harmless when exploded in atomic quantities in the engines, although ordinary concussion would, as in the case of nitro-glycerine, explode the condensed contents of the extra cylinder.”
“i think i now comprehend your idea,” said i.
“yes, it is very simple. under cover of darkness i propose to bore a hole in that barrier and fill it with my explosive. in the morning i will blow up the wall and in the excitement that follows run the machine through the gap and escape.”
“very good!” i exclaimed, joyfully. “then all we need do is to keep these indians at bay until we have an opportunity to do the job.”
“otherwise,” said he, musingly, “i would have to throw some of the explosive at the wall, and that attempt might prove as dangerous for us as are the fierce san blas themselves.”
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the indians seemed for some time unwilling to resume the attack. it was the middle of the afternoon before the king sent a messenger from his council chamber to say that all friendship had now ceased and we must consider ourselves completely in his power. if the senator nux and the honorable bryonia would leave the village alone and on foot, nalig-nad would guarantee their safe conduct to the border, and thus they would be permitted to escape. the white men and their devil-machine were alike doomed, and could in no way survive the vengeance of the techlas. and, unless nux and bry abandoned us at once, they must perish with us.
this proposition enabled us to gain the desired respite. bryonia pretended to consult with nux and then answered the messenger that they would decide the matter at daybreak the following morning. at that time the final answer of the two kings would be given to nalig-nad, and they intimated that they might possibly decide to abandon the miserable whites and save their own skins.
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whether this proposition was satisfactory or not to the king and his council did not appear; but the san blas evidently decided to wait, for they did not molest us again that day.
as night approached we were somewhat worried lest they should resume the attempts to burn us; but they must have been satisfied of the impossibility of such a proceeding. no bonfires were lighted, which suited our plans admirably.
the moon, however, was brilliant during the first part of the night, and by its rays we could see that watchers were maintained in several places, so we were unable to do more than restrain our impatience as best we might. moit raised the trap and carefully removed the cylinder that contained the explosive from its suspended position, placing it on the seat beside him. the very sight of the thing filled me with terror, and both nux and bry moved as far away from it as possible—as if that would do any good if it went off. but the inventor had handled it so often that he did not fear it as we did, and taking an empty glass bottle that was about as big around as your little finger he unscrewed the cap of the cylinder and calmly filled the bottle from its contents.
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i watched him as if entranced, and thought the liquid resembled castor oil in color and consistency. when the bottle was filled duncan corked it and put it in his inside pocket, afterward replacing the cylinder and strapping it into place.
and now he rummaged in his box of tools and took out a brace and a long bit that was about a half inch in diameter. he also picked out a piece of red chalk and placed that too in his pocket.
we were all ready, now, but had to wait, although the strain began to tell upon our nerves.
finally the moon passed behind the king’s house and sank so low that the building cast a black shadow over the enclosure, throwing both the automobile and the barricaded archway into intense darkness.
“in an hour more day will break,” whispered duncan in an anxious voice. “we must work quickly now, or we are lost.”
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he started the machine moving so slowly that it merely crept toward the wall. the watchers had doubtless retired, for we heard no sound of movement in the sleeping village.
when we had approached quite near to the barricade moit softly opened the rear door, left the car, and crawled on hands and knees to the wall. we showed no light at all, and from the automobile i lost sight of our friend altogether.
but presently i could hear the faint sound of the augur as it ground its way into the clay wall. duncan started at about the middle of the barricade, but bored his hole slanting downward, so that the explosive would run into the cavity without danger of escaping. it did not take him more than a few minutes to complete his task, and before long he was back in the car again, holding the empty bottle before our faces with a smile of satisfaction.
and now the machine crept inch by inch back to its former position, and we were ready for the day to break.
