The Hero of Panama: A Tale of the Great Canal

  THE HERO OF PANAMA

  A Tale of the Great Canal

  by

  CAPTAIN F. S. BRERETON

  Author of "Under the Chinese Dragon," "Tom Stapleton, the BoyScout," "The Great Aeroplane," "Indian and Scout," &c.

  Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I.

  Blackie and Son LimitedLondon Glasgow and Bombay1912

  JIM RESCUES PHINEAS BARTON]

  Contents

  CHAP. PAGE

  I. A POST OF RESPONSIBILITY 9

  II. EN ROUTE FOR NEW YORK 23

  III. JIM PARTINGTON SHOWS HIS METTLE 40

  IV. RELATING TO PHINEAS BARTON 59

  V. THE WAYS OF THE STEAM DIGGER 77

  VI. A SHOT IN THE DARK 95

  VII. THE LAIR OF THE ROBBERS 114

  VIII. IN HOT PURSUIT 133

  IX. JIM BECOMES A MECHANIC 152

  X. RUNNING THE GAUNTLET 171

  XI. BARELY ESCAPED 192

  XII. AN AMERICAN UNDERTAKING 215

  XIII. HUSTLE THE ORDER OF THE DAY 235

  XIV. THE RUNAWAY SPOIL TRAIN 256

  XV. JAIME DE OTEROS FORMS PLANS 276

  XVI. THE MAJOR FORMS HIS PARTIES 297

  XVII. ON THE TRACK OF MISCREANTS 317

  XVIII. RESCUE BY MOONLIGHT 337

  XIX. JIM MEETS WITH A SURPRISE 357

  XX. SUCCESS TO THE PANAMA CANAL 375

  Illustrations

  Page

  JIM RESCUES PHINEAS BARTON _Frontispiece_ 46

  "STAND AWAY FROM THOSE BOATS" 32

  JIM IN A TIGHT CORNER 118

  WAITING FOR THE ENEMY 150

  ATTACKED BY NATIVES 212

  "JIM TUGGED WITH ALL HIS MIGHT" 262

  THE RESCUE OF SADIE 338

  "IT'S GEORGE, GEORGE COME BACK TO LIFE!" 358

  THE HERO OF PANAMA

  The PANAMA CANAL]

  CHAPTER I

  A Post of Responsibility

  It was one of those roasting days in the Caribbean, when, in spite of asteady trade wind, the air felt absolutely motionless, and the sea tookon an oily surface from which the sun flashed in a thousand directions,in rays that seemed to have been lent some added fierceness by thereflection.

  Squish! Squelsh! The ground surf, which was hardly perceptible from thecoast, and scarcely so from the deck of a liner, was apparent enoughfrom the old tub which wallowed in it. She rolled in a manner that wassickening to behold, until at times her scupper ports took in water,then a surge of the ocean would take her in a different direction; shewould dive forward, dipping her nose in the oily sea till the hawserwhich had been passed out over her stern, secured to a large anchor,brought her up with a jerk and tumbled her backwards with her stern railawash.

  Ugh! It was enough to make a white man groan. Even a nigger would havebeen inclined to grumble. But the Chinamen aboard the tub seemed, ifanything, rather to enjoy this rocking. One of them stood almostamidships, his feet wide apart to preserve his balance, while he grippedthe handle of the pump he was working, and turned it over and over witha monotonous regularity that seemed to match with his surroundings.

  The man, who was barefooted, boasted of the very lightest of clothing,and wore his pigtail rolled in a coil at the back of his head. Otherprotection against the roasting sun he had none. Indeed, to look at him,he hardly seemed to need it, while the hot blast which came from theadjacent land passed over him without any apparent effect. Ching Hu wasin his element.

  "Nicee place, missee," he sang out after a while. "Plenty nicee andwarmee. Stay long? No? Velly solly."

  On he went, turning the handle without a pause, while there crept intohis slanting eyes just a trace of disappointment. He sighed ever sogently, then assumed his accustomed expression. Not the wisest man inall the world could have said whether Ching Hu were happy or otherwise.

  Just about ten feet from him, sheltered beneath a narrow awning of dirtycanvas, a girl stood on the deck of the small ship, or, rather, sheoccupied a projection which overhung the water. Had this vessel been aliner, one would have guessed that this projection was the gangway fromwhich the ladder descended towards the water to enable passengers tocome aboard. But here a rapid inspection proved it to be merely aplatform built out from the side, and suspended some eight feet from thesurface of the ocean. From it a clear view of the ship's side was to beobtained, and, in these wonderfully clear waters, of the sandy bottom ofthe lagoon at whose entrance the vessel was moored. And it was upon thelatter, upon the bottom of this heaving ocean, that Sadie Partington'seyes were directed.

  "Ching," she called out suddenly, turning towards him, "I think they'llbe coming up right now. Call the boys."

  "You sure, missee? Yes? Velly well."

  Ching Hu raised his eyebrows quaintly as he asked the question, and onreceiving a nod from the girl, who at once turned to stare into thewater, he raised his voice and called aloud in a sing-song style whichwould have made a stranger laugh. "Tom, Tom!" he shouted. "You comee nowwid Sam. Wanted plenty soon."

  A black face popped instantly from the caboose leading to the cabin--abig, round face, the face of a negro of some thirty years of age. Thenthe shoulders came into view, and following them the whole figure of theman. He stood for a moment or two on the topmost step, balancing himselfagainst the edge of the caboose, one hand gripping a plate, while theother vigorously polished it with a cloth. It gave one an opportunity ofthoroughly inspecting this negro, and promptly one was filled with afeeling of pleasure. It was not because Tom was handsome, for he was thereverse of that. Nature had, indeed, liberally provided him with noseand lips, so much so that those two portions of his physiognomy werethe most prominent at first sight. But if his nose were somewhatflattened and decidedly wide, and his lips undoubtedly big andprominent, Tom was possessed of other features which counterbalancedthese detractions. His eyes seemed to attract attention at once. Theyseemed to smile at all and sundry on the instant, and flash a message tothem. They were shining, honest eyes, which looked as if they could donothing else but smile. Then the man's mouth completed his appearance ofjoviality; between the lips a gleaming double row of ivories were alwaysto be seen, for Tom's smile was permanent. The smallest matter wassufficient to increase it, when the negro's ample face would be dividedby a gaping chasm, a six-foot smile that could not be easilybanished--the prelude to a roar of mirth and of deep-toned, spontaneouslaughter. As for the rest of him, Tom was a monster. Six-feet-three inheight, he was broad and thickset, and beside the dainty figure of SadiePartington had the appearance of a veritable elephant.

  "What you say, Chinaboy?" he asked, regarding the placid individualworking the pump. "Come plenty soon, eh?"

  "Ye-e-s. Missee say now."

  "Den dinner be spoiled for sure. Taters boiled to rags ef I wait littleminute. Stew no good ef left on fire for longer dan five minute. Missee,what you say dey do
in'? They ain't gwine ter move yet?"

  "Call Sam; you know as well as I do that the stew won't be spoiled. Comenow, they're going to signal."

  Sadie turned upon the negro with a frown, then again bent her eyestowards the bottom of the sea; for the girl was always ill at ease whenthe divers were working. Somehow or other, since her brothers had takento this particular profession--and she had accompanied them upon theirvarious trips--she had felt impelled to take upon herself the duty ofwatching them at work. She was only eleven now, though tall and old forher age, and for a year past she had almost daily taken her post on thattiny gangway to watch the two figures moving in the water below. Forhours together she would be on the deck of this little boat, careless ofthe sun and heat, superintending the action of the pump and waiting forsignals from the divers. And to Ching Hu, Tom, and the others herveriest nod was law. It was useless to argue with her: Sadie had a wayof stamping her small foot which meant a great deal, and set all the menrunning to do her bidding. It was, therefore, with some show of alacritythat Tom prepared to follow his instructions.

  "You Chinaboy," he commanded, grinning at a second Chinaman, whooccupied the little galley down below, "yo make sure not boil de taterstoo much, and sniff dat stew. Not burn um, or, by de poker, Tom make yosmile. Yo comprenez what I say? Eh?"

  He grinned one of his most expansive grins, and the Chinaman respondedin a similar manner. He jerked his head in Tom's direction, thrusting itout of the galley door as he did so, and sending his pigtail flying. Hislittle, pig-like eyes rolled while he brandished an enormous woodenspoon. "Ling knowee eberyting," he lisped. "See to dinner fine. Hab destew beautiful."

  "Den yo come along, yo Sam, lazy feller," shouted Tom at the pitch ofhis voice. "Whar yo got to, boy? I gives yo de biggest--oh, so yo dare!"he exclaimed, as a negro came from the after gangway, where a smallladder led to some of the men's quarters. "Yo's been sleepin'."

  Tom held out an accusing finger, and gripped his comrade by the barearm; for, without shadow of doubt, Sam's eyes were blinking. He had theappearance of a man who has just awakened. But the negro shook his headvigorously.

  "Yo let go my arm, Tom, yo big elephant," he said, grinning widely."I'se been down b'low fetchin' a bucket o' coal. What yo want?"

  "Missie dar order us both; de boys is comin' up."

  Tom still gripped the second negro, and playfully lifted him from offhis feet as if he were merely a child, then he set him down against theship's rail, while the two at once stared into the water. Truly theymight have been described as brothers, so very alike were Tom and Sam inappearance. In fact, had their two heads been alone protruding from awindow even Sadie would have been troubled to distinguish between them;but the similarity ended with the faces. Tom was huge, Sam was barelyfive feet in height, and slim in proportion; but he seemed to haveinherited all the dignity which Tom had missed. Merry enough at alltimes, Sam was inclined to be a trifle pompous, and of a Sunday, when inport, his get-up generally was sufficient to open the eyes of everyonewho beheld him. Now, however, his feet were bare, and he wore but ashirt and loose cotton trousers.

  Let us join them at the rail and stare over into the water. Beneath theoily surface a wide stretch of yellowish-white sand was spread out onevery hand, till it became a greenish tinge, and was finally lost in theblurr of the ocean; but directly beneath the ship it sparkled in thesun, while one could easily see the tiniest prominence, the few rocksexisting here and there, and the deep shadow of the ship riding to heranchors. A derrick was rigged out over the rail, close to the platformoccupied by Sadie, and from this was suspended a long wooden ladder,with ponderous weights attached to its lower end. Close at hand, througha sort of stirrup, passed a couple of ropes, while the piping conveyingair to those below ran out over the gangway. It was there, too, that thesmaller signal lines were attached.

  As Tom and Sam looked over, their eyes caught the reflection from twometal objects down below, and very soon the latter became apparent asthe helmets of the divers. They could see the two--for there were thatnumber at work--seated on a huge boulder, side by side, while withinsome fifteen feet of them were the broken timbers and debris of what hadonce upon a time been a vessel.

  "They've sat like that this past fifteen minutes," explained Sadie."Seems that there's nothing to be found in the wreck. They'll be wantingto be hauled aboard in a minute. There's George moving."

  As she spoke, one of the helmets swung slowly backwards, while the eyesinside peered aloft. Then there came a jerk at the life line. Sadieinstantly responded.

  "Coming up," she said. "Get a hold of the tackle, boys."

  She still kept her place, superintending operations, while Tom and Samtogether gripped the tackle, and, having pulled gently at first, beganto haul lustily. In a little while one of the divers had reached thefoot of the weighted ladder. At once the tackle was slacked off, whileall watched the man slowly ascending from the depths, dipping deeper asthe swell rolled the ship, and coming nearer the surface as she returnedto an even keel. Then, with a squelch, the top of the shining helmetbroke through the surface, the man reached the rail, and was liftedaboard. Sadie proceeded at once to loosen the screws securing the helmetto the rest of the dress, and lifted the huge metal globe from off theshoulders of the seated man.

  "What luck, George?" she asked impetuously, staring anxiously into hisface, and noticing how tired the man seemed, and how sallow he was. "Youfound something? It's going to pay?"

  "Not if we work a year at it," came the answer in a dull, despondenttone of voice. "Help me to get this dress off, Sadie, my dear. I'mburning in it. I've felt smothered, so hot that I couldn't work downbelow. Jim's coming up at once."

  The second diver was, in fact, already being hauled up, and anyone whohappened to have watched the first make his ascent from the depths wouldat once have remarked the difference between the two. For the diver whonow sat on a box on the swaying deck of the small vessel was biggerthan he who was ascending; at the same time his movements had been farless active. The one now nearing the top of the ladder clambered up therungs with the agility of a cat, in spite of the fact that every foot herose made the weights he carried on his back and chest and on his bootsall the heavier. His helmet shot out of the water with a burst, as thevessel rolled heavily, pulling the ladder up, only to throw it back atonce.

  "You hold on dar tight, yo, Massa Jim," shouted Tom, as he leaned overthe rail. "Yo tink dis all a beanfeast. Not so when de ship roll somuch. S'pose yo lose de hold. Buzz! Yo go right down to de bottom andstay dere fer good. Huh! Come in."

  He gripped the extended hand of the diver, hauled the boy aboard, andpromptly seated him on a second box. Three minutes later the helmet wasoff, and one had an opportunity of contrasting the young fellow who hadappeared with the diver who had first of all ascended.

  The latter was a young man of twenty-five perhaps, and, as we have said,was decidedly sallow and unhealthy-looking; in fact, natural good lookswere marred not a little by his complexion. But with the one who hadbeen addressed as Jim it was different. The young fellow was barelyseventeen years of age, and his rosy cheeks displayed the fact thatdiving did not disagree with him. Then, too, his voice was so different.It was crisp and laughing, and anything but despondent; while, when hehad rid himself of his diving weights and of his heavy boots, and wason his feet, one saw that he was of a good height, held himself well,and moved with the quick step that one might have expected from havingseen him clamber from the depths of the ocean. But there was concern inhis face when Sadie called him.

  "George don't feel over well, Jim," she called out. "He said a minuteback that he was burning hot; now he's downright shivering."

  "Fever," said Jim promptly, taking his brother's hand. "Tom, there, justleave Sam and Ching to haul in the tackle. I want you."

  "Sah, what for? De master ill?"

  Even his smile was almost gone as he looked at George with eyes whichwere startled and wide open, for the happy-go-lucky Tom, so unused tosorrow or sickness, could
tell at a glance that his young employer wasanything but himself.

  "Get along and fetch a bed on deck," commanded Jim; "then rig a shelterover it. Best place it right aft; there's more room, and you'll be ableto pull the awnings over better. George'll stay on deck; it's too hotdown below."

  Pulling his diving suit off hurriedly, he helped his sister to disrobethe sick man; then, with Tom at George's head and Jim at his feet, theycarried him aft and laid him on the bed already prepared. Sadie at oncetook her seat beside him, armed with a fan, while the negro, Tom,hastened to fetch water from the big canvas sack in which it was placedevery day to cool. A strong dose of quinine was given to the sick man,and thereafter there was little to do but to watch him and tend to hisimmediate needs.

  "We'll get up anchor and make right off for Colon," said Jim, as hestood beside his sister, some little distance from the bed. "There'snothing down there to salve, and we're wasting time and money. Betterget back and see if there isn't another job to be had. This salvage workain't paying us at all. We're losing heavily. Guess we'll have to getback on to the land."

  Even he was a little despondent as he spoke, for matters had indeed notbeen going well for George, Jim, and Sadie. Americans born, one only ofthe three could remember their mother; for she had died shortly afterSadie's birth. But their father was a constant and pleasant memory tothem all, for he had been with them till six months previously. A diverby profession, Mr. Silas Partington had managed to save a few dollars,and had bought up a salvage plant, with which for a while he had doneexcellent business. Then he had met with a grave misfortune. He andthose whom he employed had worked for weeks at the salving of a sunkensteamer, and had actually brought her to the surface and commenced totow her into shallow water, when an accident had happened. The bulkheadwhich they had bolted across the huge rent made in the ship's side by acollision that had sent her to the bottom had, for some unforeseenreason, blown out. The air which had been forced into the vessel, andwhich had expelled nearly all the water in her, thus bringing her to thesurface, had escaped at once, and down she had gone under the ocean; buton that occasion she had found her bed in a deep hollow, where divingwas impossible.

  "It just broke Father," said George, when describing the thing to Jim."He lost heavily. There were weeks of work paid for, besides valuableplant lost. It brought him down to this."

  "This" was the purchase of an old vessel, and the seeking of salvagejobs along the Caribbean coast. Silas had brought his children withhim--George because he was already a partner, Jim and Sadie because hecould not afford to keep them on the mainland. The cruise along thecoast of Mexico had proved disastrous, for Silas had been blownoverboard during one of those terrible tornadoes which occasionallysweep the gulf, and George was left to fend for the family--anundertaking he found none too easy. Jobs were few and far between, andthat wretched Caribbean swell, together with a shifting, sandy bottom,made salvage work extremely difficult. The coffers of the Partingtonfamily were, indeed, already very empty, and the time was at hand whenthe ship must be sold to pay wages. And now George was down with fever.

  "It's this hole of a place," growled Jim, as he thought the matter outthat evening. "A man can't work off this fever-stricken coast and escapeit. We'll get back to America. Somehow or other we'll manage to getwork."

  Early that evening George again was in a high, burning fever, and neededcareful watching; but as the night wore on he quietened down. During thefirst hours of the morning the terrible burning again seized the sickman, and in a moment, as it seemed, he awoke in a frenzy and leaped fromhis bed. Dashing Jim aside as if he were a child, and knocking Sam tothe deck, he leaped over the rail and splashed into the water. In thedim light they watched him striking out for the shore, and as theyfollowed in the dinghy they saw him clamber on to the mud banks andenter the forest. But though Jim searched high and low, and lay off thatpestilential part for a solid week, often repeating his search in theforest, there was never any trace of his brother. The sick man wasutterly swallowed up by the jungle.

  "Dead?" asked Sadie sorrowfully, her young cheeks hollowed by thetrouble.

  Jim nodded. "Sure," he said, with emphasis. "Dropped in some corner andnever rose again. There's no manner of use searching further. Sadiedear, we've got to get ashore and set up somewhere for ourselves. I'vegot to be father and brother and everything to you."

  That, indeed, was the position of affairs. Sadie was too young to lookto her own fortunes, while Jim was none too old. But an American lad canmake as good a struggle as anyone: Jim swore that he would. He had longsince tried to remember friends of his father's, but had given thematter up as hopeless. There were only Ching, Tom, and Sam, all three ofwhom had been employed on the salvage plant, and were old servants.

  "Too poor to help us, anyway," he thought. "They'll easily getemployment, and will go their own way. I'll have to hunt out a job inNew York. I'll take anything that'll give me enough to feed and give aroof to Sadie. Besides, there's the boat; there'll be a little left forher when all the wages are paid."

  "And I ain't gwine ter be dismissed, not nohow," said Tom, when Jim toldthe jolly negro of his plans. "Me and Sam and Ching's been doin' a jaw.We're a-goin' to hold on to you and missie. We're all a-goin' ter getwork together till you've made a pile fer yerself and can give usemployment. Yo ain't no right ter order us away."

  Thus it happened that Jim, having sold the boat and effects at Colon,went aboard a coaster bound for New York, Sadie and Tom and Sam, withthe Chinaman, accompanying him.

  "There's five hundred dollars in this bag," he told his sister. "That'llkeep the wolf away till we've had time to look round. Don't you fear,Sadie; we'll land upon something good yet, and, who knows, one of thesedays, perhaps, I'll make that pile that Tom's always talking about. Butguess it'll want a heap of doing."