the entire ship’s company was aroused by this time, and it amused me to find that every man jack, down to the commonest sailor, was tremendously indignant and most properly incensed because nalig-nad had dared to steal his own daughter—the successor to his throne—from the white men with whom she had fled.
ned britton’s plan was to arm our entire company “to the teeth” and march in solid ranks through the forest until we came to the king’s village, which he figured lay about opposite the point where our ship had stranded. once at the village we could surprise the place, capture ilalah, and bear her in triumph back to the wreck.
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there were several objections to ned’s optimistic plan. in the first place we did not know the forest, and the indians did. they could hide behind the trees and pick us off with their arrows before we could use our fire-arms; or they might ambush us, and annihilate our band. moreover, we were not sure ilalah had been taken directly to the king’s village. they might have hidden her somewhere else.
“it’s another case of automobile, mr. moit,” declared uncle naboth. “if we’re a-goin’ to get that girl you’ll have to use the convertible, as sure as fate.”
“there is no doubt of that,” returned the inventor, promptly. “i have determined to start as soon as it is daylight.”
“what is your idea, duncan?” i asked.
“simply to enter the country of the techlas, show them a bold and fearless front, find out where the princess is, and then rescue her in some way. i’m afraid they will treat her badly, because she defied them and ran away with me.”
“but she is to be their next ruler, after nalig-nad is dead,” said i.
“yes, if she outlives him. but the king has two other children, and he may prefer one of them to rule.”
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“that’s a fact,” i answered. “i’ve seen them. and nalig-nad must have been furious at ilalah for favoring the hated whites.”
“there is no time to lose,” continued duncan, nervously. “we must start as soon as possible and make our plans on the way. who will go with me?”
everyone wanted to go, of course; but finally it was settled that uncle naboth and i, with nux and bryonia, should accompany duncan moit in the automobile. if we did not return within twenty-four hours then ned britton was to land his sailors and march quickly through the forest to our rescue. this arrangement was the best we could think of, and when i frankly told the men that this hazardous duty would not be forced upon them, since the adventure was wholly outside their province as seamen, they one and all declared they would “see us through” or die in the attempt.
only dick lombard, whose arm had been broken, and an old sailor with a bruised knee were to be left behind, that they might care for the ship in our absence.
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“no one can steal the cargo, anyhow; it’s too heavy,” i remarked; “and if the indians manage to do us up entirely mr. harlan will still be able to get his steel beams. so we need not worry over the ship.”
it was a desperate enterprise, and we knew it; but so strong was our admiration for the princess of the techlas that we did not hesitate to attempt in her behalf all that brave men might be capable of.
at the first break of day we got the automobile over the side and safely launched it. there was not a moment’s unnecessary delay, and as duncan was now familiar with the river channel we were soon paddling at our best speed up the river.
by the time the red rays of the rising sun gleamed over the water we had passed the two hillocks and reached the southern tributary that led into the land of the techlas.
we saw no indians in the forest this time. either it was too early for them to be abroad or they had assembled inland for some purpose. the forest was deserted.
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our progress was, of course, much slower than on land. i think the automobile paddled about eight miles an hour in still water, but as we now had to stem a current we made less time than that. but distances are not great in panama, where the isthmus has a breadth of only some fifty miles, so that we were not long in passing the northern forest and coming to the coastal plains.
we left the river at the same spot as before, where the bank was low and shelving; for in talking over our plans we had decided to make directly for nalig-nad’s own village. it was reasonable to suppose that ilalah had been first taken there, it being the nearest point to the ship from whence they had stolen her. the king might intend to hide her, presently, even if he permitted his rebellious daughter to live; but we judged that he would not expect us to give chase so soon. that we would dare venture into his dominions a second time the astute monarch would hesitate to believe.
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we relied much upon the promptness with which we had acted, and although we were forced to travel by a roundabout route we ought, with good luck, to reach the king’s village by the middle of the forenoon.
once on the broad and level plains moit allowed his machine to do its best. we knew there were no obstructions in the way, so we made a wonderful dash across the country.
no effort was made by the san blas to oppose us or interfere with our progress. we observed no warriors at all, and the few farmers we passed scarcely paused in their labors long enough to stare at us.
when we came to ogo’s village, however, we saw by means of the glass that the place was swarming with indians, who were as busy and excited as bees in a hive. this puzzled us, and made us fear the princess might be in this place instead of the village farther on. but we decided to stick to our first programme, so we circled around the town to the north and continued on our way.
much faster than we had covered the distance before we now fled over the plain, and soon the enclosure became visible and our journey was almost over.
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a great jagged section of the wall had been blown up by the explosion, wrecking some of the huts at the same time; but as we drew nearer we discovered that nalig-nad had caused a big ditch to be dug, in the form of a half moon, reaching from one end of the broken wall to the other. this ditch was evidently made on our account, and as it circled outward into the plain it prevented most effectually our entering the enclosure with the automobile.
we smiled at so childish an attempt to bar us from the village, but it informed us plainly that the king had anticipated our return and feared us, which knowledge served to encourage us very much.
we halted the machine outside the ditch, a hundred yards or so from the wall, and then proceeded to take careful observation of the condition of affairs at the village.
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our arrival had created no apparent excitement. there were no crowds to be seen and the few natives, men or women, who stalked across the space that was visible within the wall, going from one building to another, merely turned their faces toward us for a moment and then continued on their way. a woman sat at one side of the gap milking a goat; another near her was hanging some newly washed tunics on the edge of the broken wall to dry in the sun; but neither of these gave us more than a glance or allowed us to interrupt their occupation.
this apathy was mystifying. surely we had created enough excitement at the time we left the king’s village to ensure a degree of interest in our return. if the savages imagined their puny ditch any protection they were likely to find themselves much mistaken.
presently we saw something that aroused us to action. ilalah appeared, crossing the enclosure from one of the side huts to the king’s palace. her hands were bound firmly behind her back and her eyes were covered with a thick scarf which effectually blindfolded her. she was led and pushed along by two sour visaged old women, who showed their princess scant courtesy.
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moit swore roundly under his breath and i myself was filled with indignation at the poor girl’s condition; at the same time we were gratified to know we had found her by coming promptly to the right place.
“now,” said duncan, grimly, “we know what to do.”
“what is it?” i enquired.
“they will bring her out again, sooner or later,” he answered, “and then we must make a dash, seize her, regain the automobile, and fly back to the ship.”
“easy enough!” ejaculated uncle naboth, admiringly.
the women had finished milking and hanging out their clothes. just now the courtyard seemed deserted.
“this is our chance,” cried moit. “follow me, all of you except mr. perkins. he must stay to guard the machine and to wave us a signal when ilalah appears. we will creep up to the broken wall and hide behind it until the princess comes back. then we will make a rush all together and capture her before the indians know what we are about. are you all armed?”
we were, and ready.
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duncan leaped from the car and we followed him. then, bounding across the narrow ditch, we ran silently but quickly to a position behind the wall, where those inside could not see us. there we crouched, panting, to await uncle naboth’s signal.
