第71章

The houses of several of the friends of Alvarez had been burned and sacked.Alvarez himself had been shot as soon as he had entered the yard of the military prison.It was then given out that he had committed suicide.Mendoza had not dared to kill Rojas, because of the feeling of the people toward him, and had even shown him to the mob from behind the bars of one of the windows in order to satisfy them that he was still living.The British Minister had sent to the Palace for the body of Captain Stuart, and had had it escorted to the Legation, from whence it would be sent to England.This, as far as Mr.Langham had heard, was the news of the night just over.

``Two native officers called here for you about midnight, Clay,''

he continued, ``and they are still waiting for you below at your office.They came from Rojas's troops, who are encamped on the hills at the other side of the city.They wanted you to join them with the men from the mines.I told them I did not know when you would return, and they said they would wait.If you could have been here last night, it is possible that we might have done something, but now that it is all over, I am glad that you saved that woman instead.I should have liked, though, to have struck one blow at them.But we cannot hope to win against assassins.The death of young Stuart has hurt me terribly, and the murder of Alvarez, coming on top of it, has made me wish Ihad never heard of nor seen Olancho.I have decided to go away at once, on the next steamer, and I will take my daughters with me, and Ted, too.The State Department at Washington can fight with Mendoza for the mines.You made a good stand, but they made a better one, and they have beaten us.Mendoza's coup d'etat has passed into history, and the revolution is at an end.''

On his arrival Clay had at once asked for a cigar, and while Mr.

Langham was speaking he had been biting it between his teeth, with the serious satisfaction of a man who had been twelve hours without one.He knocked the ashes from it and considered the burning end thoughtfully.Then he glanced at Hope as she stood among the group on the veranda.She was waiting for his reply and watching him intently.He seemed to be confident that she would approve of the only course he saw open to him.

``The revolution is not at an end by any means, Mr.Langham,'' he said at last, simply.``It has just begun.'' He turned abruptly and walked away in the direction of the office, and MacWilliams and Langham stepped off the veranda and followed him as a matter of course.

The soldiers in the army who were known to be faithful to General Rojas belonged to the Third and Fourth regiments, and numbered four thousand on paper, and two thousand by count of heads.

When they had seen their leader taken prisoner, and swept off the parade-ground by Mendoza's cavalry, they had first attempted to follow in pursuit and recapture him, but the men on horseback had at once shaken off the men on foot and left them, panting and breathless, in the dust behind them.So they halted uncertainly in the road, and their young officers held counsel together.

They first considered the advisability of attacking the military prison, but decided against doing so, as it would lead, they feared, whether it proved successful or not, to the murder of Rojas.It was impossible to return to the city where Mendoza's First and Second regiments greatly outnumbered them.Having no leader and no headquarters, the officers marched the men to the hills above the city and went into camp to await further developments.

Throughout the night they watched the illumination of the city and of the boats in the harbor below them; they saw the flames bursting from the homes of the members of Alvarez's Cabinet, and when the morning broke they beheld the grounds of the Palace swarming with Mendoza's troops, and the red and white barred flag of the revolution floating over it.The news of the assassination of Alvarez and the fact that Rojas had been spared for fear of the people, had been carried to them early in the evening, and with this knowledge of their General's safety hope returned and fresh plans were discussed.By midnight they had definitely decided that should Mendoza attempt to dislodge them the next morning, they would make a stand, but that if the fight went against them, they would fall back along the mountain roads to the Valencia mines, where they hoped to persuade the fifteen hundred soldiers there installed to join forces with them against the new Dictator.

In order to assure themselves of this help, a messenger was despatched by a circuitous route to the Palms, to ask the aid of the resident director, and another was sent to the mines to work upon the feelings of the soldiers themselves.The officer who had been sent to the Palms to petition Clay for the loan of his soldier-workmen, had decided to remain until Clay returned, and another messenger had been sent after him from the camp on the same errand.

These two lieutenants greeted Clay with enthusiasm, but he at once interrupted them, and began plying them with questions as to where their camp was situated and what roads led from it to the Palms.

``Bring your men at once to this end of our railroad,'' he said.``It is still early, and the revolutionists will sleep late.They are drugged with liquor and worn out with excitement, and whatever may have been their intentions toward you last night, they will be late in putting them into practice this morning.I will telegraph Kirkland to come up at once with all of his soldiers and with his three hundred Irishmen.Allowing him a half-hour to collect them and to get his flat cars together, and another half-hour in which to make the run, he should be here by half-past six--and that's quick mobilization.

You ride back now and march your men here at a double-quick.

With your two thousand we shall have in all three thousand and eight hundred men.I must have absolute control over my own troops.Otherwise I shall act independently of you and go into the city alone with my workmen.''