The kidnappers were not a moment too soon. The sentry, dazed and half-drowned, struggled from the muddy bottom of the lake just as the yacht put off. Scrambling on to the jetty, he filled the air with his cries. While Azito paddled the boat towards the canal, Will looked back towards the house. Figures were pouring out, some in their night attire, others pulling on their coats as they ran. The air rang with their shouts. They all made for the jetty. One or two fired aimlessly; the little vessel must now be invisible to them in the darkness, and until they inquired of the sentry they would not know what had happened. There were no other boats at the jetty, so that pursuit by water was impossible, but Will wondered anxiously whether he could reach the stream at the end of the canal before the men could gain it by running along the banks. If they posted themselves on the banks of the narrow canal, he would be at their mercy.

The boat was small. It would carry no more than two comfortably. Overloaded as it now was--the General alone was no light weight--it could not make anything like the speed of a man running. But it was taking the diameter of the lake; the pursuers would have to run round the circumference: and Will remembered that when they reached the canal they would find their course checked by the vegetation, the banks having been allowed to return to their primitive wildness. This would give the boat a little time.

It entered the canal from the lake. The shouts of the men drew nearer. They came from both sides. General CarabaÑo cried out continually. The gag was lost, and Will had nothing at hand with which to silence him. Azito plied his paddle desperately, and Machado, as anxious now as Will himself to escape, seized a second paddle and helped to propel the boat.

Had Ruggles brought the hydroplane to the end of the canal? What would happen if he was not there? The pursuers were probably numbered by hundreds, and even if they fired at random across the stream, so many could hardly fail to hit one or other of the occupants of the boat. Will peered anxiously into the darkness. If Ruggles had come, surely he must have heard the noise. Then why had he made no sign? Had the hydroplane broken down? All at once from down the canal came the throb of the engine. Will looked over the bow of the boat. He could just see, on the faintly shimmering surface of the water, a dark shape approaching.

"Ruggles!" he shouted.

"Ahoy!" came the reply. "Look out, Mr. Pentelow, I'm stern foremost."

"Good man! Catch the painter when I throw it. Don't come any farther."

Azito was paddling more slowly now, fearful of dashing into the hydroplane in the darkness. The shouts of the pursuers sounded nearer than ever: Will heard the men crashing through the undergrowth, regardless of snakes, as of all the dangers that beset the unwary by night in tropical jungle. The boat came to a stop within a yard of the hydroplane. Will flung the painter on board: Ruggles seized it and instantly started the motor. At the same moment a shot rang out from the right; another on the left; then there was a fusilade, and Will heard the bullets splashing into the water and singing through the air. The pace of the vessel was quickening; but Ruggles could not drive the hydroplane at speed, for though he was able to steer safely between the banks of the canal, it was so short, and the stream beyond so narrow, that there was a danger of running the vessel against the farther bank if he went too fast. But the speed was great enough to shake off the pursuers, and in another minute the hydroplane swept round the corner of the canal, her head turned in the direction of the tributary of the Orinoco.

"Go on slowly," cried Will to Ruggles. "They won't dare to pursue us now. We are safe till the morning."

"Will you come aboard?" asked Ruggles.

"Not at present. I have got a prisoner."

"Machado?"

"He has been my right-hand man." He was speaking in English, so that Machado did not understand him.

"You don't say so! Who's your prisoner, then?"

"His Excellency the Liberator of Venezuela, General CarabaÑo."

"By gosh! this beats cock-fighting. How on earth did you do it?"

"I'll tell you all by and by. It's the greatest piece of luck. We'll hold him as hostage for the Chief and O'Connor."

"Did you find out where they are?"

"At the General's own hacienda, Las Piedras, fifty miles up-country."

"In any danger?"

"Not now. He was going to shoot them to-morrow--to-day, I should say. But nobody will touch them while we have the General in our hands. We've smashed this revolution, Ruggles."

"Don't hallo till we're out of the wood, as the Chief would say. They'll come after us in the morning."

"We'll be out of their reach. We can go faster as soon as we reach the tributary--but not too fast, for goodness' sake: we don't want to strike a snag. At ten miles an hour we shall be at the junction by the time it's light, and then we shall have a straight run to Bolivar."

"But suppose they run to the junction by train and get there before us?"

"I hadn't thought of that. What a fool I am! That would be the end of us. We shall have to go pretty fast after all. Not yet; this stream's dangerous. It's lucky we haven't far to go before we get to the tributary."

"Look out!" cried Ruggles. "I've just got a whack in the eye from a branch."

His warning came too late. The yacht stopped with a jerk as its mast came into contact with an overhanging mass of foliage. The light pole snapped and fell into the bottom; at the same time the painter broke.

"It doesn't matter, luckily," said Will. "We can drift down-stream. When it begins to get light we'll all board the hydroplane, though it will be a tight fit. Have you got a match?"

"Not one. Why?"

"I wanted to see the time. We ought to get into the tributary by about half-past one. There's plenty of time."

General CarabaÑo had been very quiet since the boat left the jetty. But while Will talked to Ruggles, he had been speaking in a low tone to Machado.

"You shall rue this, SeÑor Machado," he said fiercely.

"Excellency, I am not to blame."

"You expect me to believe that? Could these villains have committed this outrage upon me without your help?"

"They stole into the house, Excellency----"

"What were you about?"

"I was at my instrument, according to your instructions, Excellency. They came in when I was taking the telegram to you."

"That is a lie," said Azito, with a grunt.

"What do you say, dog?" demanded the General.

"I say nothing," replied the Indian. "This man lies: that is all I say."

"You will tell me the truth, SeÑor Machado. You played the traitor to the Englishmen; if you have also played the traitor to me I vow you shall pay for it."

Machado hesitated. On the one hand the General was a prisoner, on his way to Ciudad Bolivar, where unsuccessful revolutionist leaders usually had short shrift. So far as appearances went, he had nothing to fear. On the other hand, prisoners sometimes escaped; it had occurred to him, as it had to Ruggles, that a train might be sent in pursuit: it might reach the junction first. General CarabaÑo at large would be a foe whose revenge it would be wise to shun.

"I will tell you the whole truth, Excellency," he said. "I was asleep in my chair: a click would have awakened me. These villains stole upon me, threatened me with death, and forced me to invent the telegram to decoy you from your room."

"It was false?" cried the General.

"Every word of it, Excellency."

The General gave a gasp of relief. One of his bitterest reflections had been that he had lost 60,000 pesos. Then his anger blazed against Machado.

"You are a cur as well as a traitor, I see," he said. "A man of any courage would have defied these wretches. If I had my hands free I would whip you like a dog."

"It is easy to talk like that," said Machado, stung by the General's contemptuous tone. "Would you have done otherwise with a pistol at your head? At least our lives are safe, and I may yet do you a service."

"How?"

"Captain Espejo will certainly send a train in pursuit, Excellency. Even now I doubt not the engine is getting up steam. The hydroplane cannot go fast in the dark. The train will be first at the junction. We shall be rescued."

"That will be Captain Espejo's service, not yours."

"But we shall be taken on board the hydroplane, Excellency. The painter is broken; they cannot tow us, or if they can, they will not wish so to check their speed. Suppose I am able to damage the engine, Excellency?" he whispered, so that Azito could not hear him. "Then their chance of outstripping the train is gone."

"Could you do it?"

"I could try, Excellency. Such engines are very delicate; a trifle puts them out of order; and we shall have several hours."

"Do it, SeÑor Machado," whispered the General eagerly; "and when I make myself President you shall be--yes, you shall be my postmaster-general. Say no more: the Englishman has stopped talking."

Hydroplane and yacht drifted down on the slow current through the darkness. Now and then one or the other would run aground, which caused delay, but no danger, the speed being so low. None of the party knew what hour of the night it was when they came into the tributary, the scene of Will's first meeting with Azito. It was, in fact, nearly two o'clock--time to transfer the prisoner to the hydroplane and increase the speed. Ruggles threw out the little anchor, to allow the yacht to draw alongside.

"There are six of us. We can never all squeeze into the hydroplane," he said, when Will was only a foot or two away. "General CarabaÑo will take room for two."

"I'm afraid you're right," replied Will. "We shall have to make a hawser out of the halyards, and tow as before. It will put more work on the engine, but I think it can stand it, and if we can get to the narrows safely we shall be all right."

"Won't it take longer to plane?"

"It won't be safe to plane at all, but that won't matter. The current is with us."

"Have you got enough petrol?"

"Yes, I bought some in Bolivar. I came up very slowly, so as not to use too much, and there should be enough to carry us to Bolivar, or at least to the broken culvert, especially as we needn't go fast when we are past the junction."

"That's all right, then. My notion is that I had better board the yacht and look after the General. You will want Azito to pole, and you had better have Machado with you. I wish I had a pistol: it might come handy."

"I've got a spare one: took it from Machado's room. Here you are. Your plan's all right. We must take care that the hawser is firmly fixed."

"All right. I'll keep my eye on the General. He shan't slip his bonds, and won't want to: he could only escape by swimming, and I guess he's too scared of caymans to try that."

The transfers were soon affected. Machado exchanged a meaning glance with the General as he left him. The General for the first time made a formal protest.

"I warn you," he said to Ruggles as that worthy stepped to his side. "You have committed an unpardonable atrocity in laying violent hands on the Liberator of Venezuela. I demand that you set me ashore at the earliest possible moment, otherwise you will have a heavy reckoning to pay when I establish my authority."

"Don't you worry, General," said Ruggles consolingly. "You wanted to get into Bolivar, I understand. Well, we'll take you there, free of charge. Couldn't be a fairer offer."

The General muttered an oath and relapsed into silence.

The hawser having been made fast, Will started the motor and set the hydroplane going at a speed of about ten miles an hour. To go faster while it was still dark was unwise: he hoped also unnecessary. Azito stood forward with his pole: JosÉ was at the engine with his oil-can; Machado, to his disappointment, was given a seat beside Will at the steering-wheel. In that position he was unable to interfere with the machinery. But he still hoped that an opportunity might offer before the night was over.

It was more than fifty miles by river to the junction. Will had pondered his task as the yacht drifted down the smaller stream, and recognized the dangers. First, there was the navigation of the river in the darkness; but the danger of this might be avoided with Azito's care, and by maintaining only a moderate speed. The second danger was that Captain Espejo might run a train to the narrowest part of the river some forty miles away, where the bank was fairly clear of vegetation and the railway line was near the stream. That spot would be reached about dawn. If the enemy got there first and lined the bank, they could riddle the hydroplane with bullets, and a single well-planted shot would cripple the engine, to say nothing of the risks to which the occupants of the vessel would be exposed. The third danger was that Captain Espejo might run the train beyond the narrows to the junction. At this part of its course the river made a wide bend, while the railway ran fairly straight; so that if the hydroplane got safely past the narrows there was still a possibility of the train outstripping it before the junction was reached. But the train, consisting as it must do of heavy goods wagons, could not approach without noise, which would give warning of the necessity of increasing speed. Nor did Will suppose that the Captain would venture to drive the train at full speed in pitch darkness over a new track, in which there were many awkward curves before it reached the straight run to the junction. On the whole, Will felt fairly easy in mind, and since the safety of the hydroplane was all-important, he contented himself with the moderate speed of ten knots.

The voyage had been in progress little more than an hour when Azito suddenly turned round, and said--

"I hear a train, seÑor."

Will instantly stopped the engine. While it throbbed he could hear nothing else. The hydroplane drifted silently on the current. From the far distance, on the right bank, came the characteristic rumble of a heavy train--a sound impossible to mistake. Ruggles heard it at the same moment.

"We must cut and run for it now," he said, "and no mistake."

"Yes, and we must have the General aboard. It will be a near thing at the best. We must make room for him somehow."

As he said this he backed the vessel to allow the yacht to come alongside. Then he gave the wheel to JosÉ, turning to help Ruggles to lift the General on board. Machado thought his chance was come. He took up the light anchor, as though to throw it over and hold the vessel while the transfer was made. He really intended to dash it into the machinery. But just as he was on the point of hurling it, Azito sprang at him and brought his pole down with tremendous force on his forearm. He dropped the anchor with a howl of pain. At the same moment the General was hauled over the side and laid just in front of the engine. Ruggles cast off the hawser and stowed himself near JosÉ; Will returned to his seat; and opening the throttle little by little he set the hydroplane going, at ten, fifteen, and finally twenty knots. The extra weight she carried depressed her in the water, and more power than usual was necessary before she would plane.

Will had heard Machado's cry, but was too intent upon his task to pay any heed to it. He knew full well the frightful risks he was running in pressing the engine so hard in the darkness, but there was no alternative. He must reach the junction before the train. Alarmed at the speed, Ruggles suggested that it would be better to lie up until the morning, but Will would not hear of it.

"We couldn't get past them. It's neck or nothing," he said shortly.

The vessel whizzed along. The rumble of the train seemed to draw no nearer. Azito stood forward, but the pace was so great that in the darkness it was tremendously difficult to give the course. Suddenly there was a jolt and a jar. Azito shot forward on to the wind-screen; those who were seated were jostled violently against one another, and Will narrowly escaped a collision with the steering-wheel. After the momentary jerk the hydroplane rushed on, but only for a few seconds. Then the engine stopped dead, and the vessel was once more drifting at three knots down the stream.