登陆注册
4606600000010

第10章 Smith(1)

Goodwin and the ardent patriot, Zavalla, took all the precautions that their foresight could contrive to prevent the escape of President Miraflores and his companion. The sent trusted messengers up the coast to Solitas and Alazan to warn the local leaders of the flight, and to instruct them to patrol the water line and arrest the fugitives at all hazards should they reveal themselves in that territory. After this was done there remained only to cover the district about Coralio and await the coming of the quarry.

The nets were well spread. The roads were so few, the opportunities for embarkation so limited, and the two or three probable points of exit so well guarded that it would be strange indeed if there should slip through the meshes so much of the country's dignity, romance, and collateral. The president would, without doubt, move as secretly as possible, and endeavor to board a vessel by stealth from some secluded point along the shore.

On the fourth day after the receipt of Englehart's telegram the ~Karlsefin~, a Norwegian steamer chartered by the New Orleans fruit trade, anchored off Coralio with three horse toots of her siren.

The ~Karlesfin~ ws not one of the line operated by the Vesuvius Fruit Company. She was something of a dilettante, doing odd jobs for a company that was scarcely important enough to figure as a rival to the Vesuvius. The movements of the ~Karlesfin~ were dependent upon the state of the market. Sometimes she would ply steadily between the Spanish Main and New Orleans in the regular transport of fruit;next she would be maing erratic trips to Mobile or Charleston, or even as far north as New York, according to the distribution of the fruit supply.

Goodwin lounged upon the beach with the susual crowd of idlers that had gathered to view the steamer. Now that President Miraflores might be expected to reach the borders of his abjured country at any time, the orders were to keep a strict and unrelenting watch. Every vessel that approached the shores might now be considered a possible means of escape for the fugitives; and an eye was kept even on the slopes and dories that belonged to the sea-going contingent of Coralio. Goodwin and Zavalla moved everywhere, but without ostentation, watching the loopholes of escape.

The customs official crowded importantly into their boat and rowed out to the ~Karlesfin~. A boat from the steamer landed her purser with his papers, and took out the quarantine doctor with his green umbrella and clinical thermometer. Next a swarm of Caribs began to load upon lighters the thousands of bunches of bananas heaped upon the shore and row them out to the steamer. The ~Karlesfin~had no passenger list, and was soon done with the attention of the authorities. The purser declared that the steamer would remain at anchor until morning, taking on her fruit during the night.

The ~Karlesfin~ had come, he said, from New York, to which port her latest load of oranges and coconuts had been conveyed. Two or three of the freighter sloops were engaged to assist in the work, for the captain was anxious to make a quick return in order to reap the advantage offered by a certain dearth of fruit in the States.

About four o'clock in the afternoon another of those marine monsters, not very familiar in those waters, hove in sight, following the fateful ~Idalia~--a graceful steam yacht, painted a light buff, clean-cut as a steel engraving. The beautiful vessel hovered off shore, see-sawing the waves as lightly as a duck in a rain barrel.

A swift boat manned by a crew in uniform came ashore, and a stocky-built man leaped to the sands.

The newcomer seemed to turn a disapproving eye upon the rather motley congregation of native Anchurians, and made his way at once toward Goodwin, who was the most conspicuously Anglo-Saxon figure present.

Goodwin greeted him with courtesy.

Conversation developed that the newly landed one was named Smith, and that he had come in a yacht. A meagre biography, truly; for the yacht was most apparent; and the "Smith" not beyond a reasonable guess before the revelation. Yet to the eye of Goodwin, who has seen several things, there was a discrepancy between Smith and his yacht. A bullet-headed man Smith was, with an oblique, dead eye and the moustache of a cocktail-mixer. And unless he had shifted costumes before putting off for shore he had affronted the deck of his correct vessel clad in a pearl-gray derby, a gay plaid suit and vaudeville neckwear. Men owning pleasure yachts generally harmonize better with them.

Smith looked business, but he was no advertiser. He commented upon the scenery, remarking upon its fidelity to the pictures in the geography; and then inquired for the United States consul. Goodwin pointed out the starred-and-striped bunting hanging from above the little consulate, which was concealed behind the orange-trees.

"Mr. Geddie, the consul, will be sure to be there," said Goodwin.

"He was very nearly drowned a few days ago while taking a swim in the sea, and the doctor has ordered him to remain indoors for some time."Smith ploughed his way through the sand to the consulate, his haberdashery creating violent discord against the smooth tropical blues and greens.

Geddie was lounging in his hammock, somewhat pale of face and languid in pose. On that night when the ~Valhalla's~ boat had brought him ashore apparently drenched to death by the sea, Doctor Gregg and his other friends had toiled for hours to preserve the little spark of life that remained to him. The bottle, with its impotent message, was gone out to sea, and the problem that it had provoked was reduced to a simple sum in addition--one and one make two, by the rule of arithmetic; one by the rule of romance.

There is a quaint old theory that man may have two souls--a peripheral one which serves ordinarily, and a central one which is stirred only at certain times, but then with activity and vigor.

同类推荐
  • 灵隐文禅师语录

    灵隐文禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 洗丹沙词

    洗丹沙词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘显识经卷上

    大乘显识经卷上

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 法界图记丛髓录

    法界图记丛髓录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 邱祖秘传大丹直指

    邱祖秘传大丹直指

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 余生一个顾晋南

    余生一个顾晋南

    上一世,苏菀对他避之不及,重生归来,苏菀对他除了深爱还是深爱。“什么?所有人都说顾家大少是个废人?”苏菀舔了舔后槽牙,拿出一根锃亮的银针轻笑道:“瞧见了么?见过活死人肉白骨么?别急……”顾晋南做梦也想不到,自己还能重新站起来,看着跟前巧笑如嫣的少女,他发誓此生必宠她一生!ps:这是一个撩与被撩,宠与被宠的甜文,不甜不要钱。 书友群:856049947
  • 诸天行界

    诸天行界

    仙界至宝钦天卷遗落九州,九州第一大宗门九玄道宗因此被灭,仅剩掌门青云真人关门弟子欧阳路远独活。万年之后,从封印中醒来的欧阳路远欲寻当年真相,不想却慢慢揭开一桩惊天密谋……
  • 终有一人,替代你的孤独

    终有一人,替代你的孤独

    用一颗柔软的心抒写尘世间的冷暖,用清新文艺的笔调教会你在这个世界上勇敢坚强。你可以温柔,也可以做你想做的自己。你要去相信,那个美好的你就一直在不远的地方等你。一句话,世界如此之美,你当学会去享受。致你我未曾未曾妥协的青春岁月,前方纵有苦难再多,也当勇敢前行。总有一段情,温柔过你的岁月,赋万物多情;总有一个人,惊艳过时光,令你念念不忘。
  • 凤居紫禁

    凤居紫禁

    绿草如织,百花斗艳,细柳漫舞,梧桐飘香。宫墙内外,怨男痴女,明媚时光,空蹉岁月。历史的尘埃滚滚而去,依稀见到两位可亲的人,男子如玉,女子似水,正在砥砺前行,而后,一位白净的男子,蹒跚而来。。。让我们回到大明王朝,回到那个如火如荼的时代,感受大厦将倾的颓废,无奈,沮丧,感受力挽狂澜的魄力,谋略,振奋,聆听几位平民百姓的孩子如何艰难的奋斗,如何艰难的成功,如何在情与爱中艰难抉择。。。
  • 暴君刘璋

    暴君刘璋

    一恨世态炎凉,二恨人丧伦常。三恨江山污浊,四恨百姓离殇。五恨愚民短视,六恨道貌君子。七恨奸人当道,八恨胡虏喧嚣。………………………………………………………………三国暴君刘璋*************************************************************穿越武侠大陆,开局一个破高中学校。所有武侠人物粉墨登场,正道邪道魔道风云际会,看何时归如何以一校之长,登上武林之巅*************************************************************新书《打造完美女神从吃鸡开始》,作者名:谭道长,已经十万字,成绩还好,确定不太监。书友讨论群:193604165
  • 海公主

    海公主

    海洋造就了生命,养活了我们无数的人,它无私的奉献着自己的一切,可是似乎人类却忘记了感恩。我们感恩地球,感恩自然,感恩生命,但是却没有感恩大海。童话故事中,海洋是美丽而无私的,而最后牺牲的也是海洋。而在这里,陌上想塑造一个不一样的海洋神话!人类历史上有很多很多的神话,不知道什么时候听过这样一句话,神话就是人创造的!对此陌上深以为然,这就是陌上的神话,有血有肉,有甜有苦的神话!爱情是苦的吗?十个人中也许有九个同样的答案,而苦果之下酿造的又是什么样的果实?看了本文你就知道了!在本文中有宫斗,有神话,有奋斗,有些修仙,反正陌上知道的元素除了穿越都有,哈哈,希望大家喜欢~
  • 从哈佛学院到耶鲁礼堂

    从哈佛学院到耶鲁礼堂

    世界著名学府哈佛大学及美国总统的摇篮耶鲁大学中学子聆听的人生哲理,现在,你也可以与他们共享。
  • 我活在一本书里

    我活在一本书里

    作为高三党的我不愿意跳跃时间,只想好好学习。做为普通的高三党,我表示我知道的太多了。
  • 我这师弟啊

    我这师弟啊

    我这师弟啊,其实还是挺低调的,平时不显山不露水。他呢,不爱惹事,但是对于敌人也毫不手软。当然了动手也是从不拖泥带水,还是带埋的。还算是有点职业操守。
  • 京城四美

    京城四美

    603寝的四位姑娘,占全了火水风土四相星座,26岁的年纪,有的研究生毕业刚参加工作,有的已经生了小孩,有的为找对象苦恼不已,有的游戏人间。理想?当然有。那就是努力生活,活出只属于自己的那份精彩。有没有人对你说过这样的话?——如果此生不能和你在一起,他就一辈子单身,在死之后,把骨灰撒在你的坟头。有没有体会过这样的感觉?——加完班,一个人走在回家路上,活动颈椎的时候会扬起脖子望向北京的夜空。——被四周高楼圈出的一块四角的天空,反射着浅浅的霓虹灯光,最深处有一颗光芒微弱的星。你生命里存在这样一颗星吗?——纵使星光微弱,却一直指引着你。