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