Then a man of a different type was ushered in by an obsequious servant.
He was dressed in American fashion, but his face indicated a Spanish origin. He was a Cuban who had been educated as a civil engineer in one of the scientific schools of the United States. His features were alert and intelligent, but there was a certain shiftiness in his eyes, and something about him gave an indefinable air of dissipation. He had been employed for a time in harbor work at Vera Cruz, but had killed a man in a brawl and been forced to flee the country. On the Ca.n.a.l, there were eighty-seven distinct nationalities engaged in the work, and, in view of the great demand for labor, he had no difficulty in securing employment, the more easily as he was an expert in his profession. He had been a.s.signed to the Gatun section of the work, with his quarters in the city of Colon.
The j.a.panese secret service, in its search for a suitable tool, had become possessed of the facts regarding the murder for which the man, Ofirio, by name, was wanted by the Mexican authorities. With infinite caution and by slow degrees, they had approached and sounded him. They appealed to his fears and his avarice. As regards the first, they could betray him to his pursuers. For the second, they promised him an amount of money greater than he could expect to earn in the course of his natural life, and a safe refuge in j.a.pan. Under the stress of these two primal emotions, he had yielded, and, for a year past, had been in the power and the pay of Namoto, the j.a.panese, in whose library he was at that moment standing. He it was who had dropped the paper that Wah Lee had so fortunately retrieved and which had given Bert the first hint of the appalling disaster that threatened his country.
Bert noticed the subtle something in the air of Namoto--a mixture of power, disdain, and condescension--as he motioned the engineer to a seat. From a stray word or two that came to him, he noted that they were talking in English, which both understood, while neither could speak the native language of the other.
And now it became imperative that Bert should hear the conference that concerned him so tremendously. From where he was, he could see perfectly, but could hear nothing but an occasional disconnected word.
He must leave his safe retreat, take his life in his hands and reach the veranda that ran beneath the open window.
Silently, he removed his shoes, and, tying them together by the laces, hung them over the branch. Then he crept out on the heavy bough that reached within three feet of the porch. Holding on by his hands, he let himself down, swung back and forth once or twice to get the proper momentum, and then letting himself go, landed as lightly as a lynx upon the veranda. A moment he swayed trying to keep his nearly lost balance, while he looked anxiously to see if the conspirators had heard. They showed no sign of disturbance, however, and, with a muttered prayer of thankfulness, Bert dropped on his hands and knees and crept beneath the sill. And there, safe for the instant, with every faculty strained to its utmost, he became a fourth, if unseen, member of the group.
CHAPTER XIII
MARKED FOR DESTRUCTION
Ofirio was speaking.
"I am sure that nothing has been overlooked," he was saying, evidently in answer to a question. "The charges of dynamite have been tamped into the holes, and there are enough of them, fired at the same moment, to wreck the eastern gate. In any event, it will so injure the delicate machinery that works them, that they cannot be moved. Portions of it, no doubt, will be blown into the Ca.n.a.l and block it so effectually that no ship can pa.s.s through. But, leaving that out of the question, if the gate cannot work, the Ca.n.a.l is put out of commission. It would be a matter of weeks, perhaps of months, to repair the damage."
"The longer the better, of course," said Namoto, "but we do not ask even that much of fate. Give us ten days of confusion and panic, with the Atlantic fleet on this side of the Ca.n.a.l and unable to get through to the Pacific, and our victory is sure."
"How about the tunnel?" asked Togi, the oldest of the three. "Are you sure there is no suspicion that it exists?"
"Not the slightest," answered Ofirio. "I came through it myself, last night, entering it at the masked exit near the locks, and leaving it by the secret opening in your cellar. Nothing has been disturbed, and the divers" helmets were in their accustomed place. If the Americans had any knowledge of it, their soldiers would already be in possession."
"Provided that we can keep the secret until the day of the grand opening," muttered Togi, uneasily. "You are sure," he went on, "that the connections are perfect?"
"The wires have been so strung that not one of the charges has been overlooked," a.s.serted Ofirio, confidently. "There will be no interval between the explosions. When your finger presses that b.u.t.ton, there will be a roar that will deafen the city and shake the whole Isthmus."
There was a brief pause, and Bert"s heart beat so hard that it almost seemed as though it must be heard. The hideous plot had been revealed in all its blackness. His face was blanched as he thought of the possibilities, but he exulted in the fact that, at last, he had definite knowledge. He knew what was to be done--the destruction of the Ca.n.a.l Gate. He knew how it was to be done--by an electric current sent through the wires to the concealed explosives. He knew when it was to be done--on the opening day of the Ca.n.a.l.
In his mind"s eye, he could see the progress of the plan that had been conceived and carried on with such infernal cunning. With the patience of moles, they had dug an underground tunnel, extending from Namoto"s mansion to within a short distance of the locks. The mention of the divers" helmets gave him a clue to the way in which the holes had been made and the dynamite inserted. No doubt they had taken advantage of stormy nights, lowering themselves into the water at a distance from the locks and then slowly groping their way toward them. The wires had found a conduit in the tunnel, and ran directly to the library of Namoto. His index finger was indeed the finger of Fate, that expected to write a record of disaster to the United States. One pressure on a b.u.t.ton would send the electric current surging through the wires, and the great Ca.n.a.l would, for a time at least, be put completely out of commission.
But, after all, this was not an end in itself. It was only the means to an end. It would be mere vandalism to cripple the Ca.n.a.l, simply for the sake of inflicting damage. Besides, the injury could be repaired, and, in a short time, all traces of it would have vanished. There must be an object for all this enormous toil and risk. What was it?
Namoto had spoken of the Atlantic fleet not being able to get through to the Pacific. "Ten days of panic and confusion." Why was it so imperative to prevent the warships on this side from joining their comrades on the other? Naturally, to keep the Pacific squadron weak and less able to resist attack. Then, an attack was planned. By whom? Who could attack us from the Pacific side but j.a.pan? And when? Within ten days. And again Allison"s words sounded in Bert"s ears like the knell of doom: "Perhaps at this very moment a j.a.panese fleet is on its way to the Pacific slope."
With a sinking of the heart, Bert reflected on the vast number of American warships now at Colon or hastening there. The government had planned to make a great demonstration of naval strength, in order to impress the nations of the world. For this purpose, many had been called home from European stations. Some of the most formidable dreadnoughts building at the navy yards had been rushed along in construction, so as to be manned and launched for the great review. Others, which naturally belonged to the Pacific squadron, but had been in the drydocks for repairs, would in the ordinary course of things, have been despatched before this around the Horn, to join their brethren in the Pacific. But since the opening of the Ca.n.a.l was so near at hand, it seemed unwise to steam ten thousand miles, when, in a little while, the same result could be attained by traveling fifty. Thus, from various causes, at least three-fourths of the American navy was on the Atlantic side. If it could be kept there, the j.a.panese could attack the remnant in the Pacific in overwhelming force. Then, with these captured or destroyed, the j.a.panese vessels could bombard San Francisco and Seattle, land their troops from the crowded transports, and gain control of the whole western coast of the United States. It was an imperial idea--boldly conceived, broadly planned, patiently developed, but--and Bert thanked G.o.d--not yet executed.
These thoughts had pa.s.sed through his mind with lightning rapidity. But now, the plotters had resumed their talk. This time, it was Togi who spoke.
"I would that the time were set for to-night," he said. "The present is in our hands. The future is uncertain. Fortune is fickle. Fate has its whims, its bitter jests. All is ready. One pressure on that b.u.t.ton, and before ten seconds have pa.s.sed, the work is done. Is it wise to wait, Namoto?"
Bert scarcely dared to breathe, while he waited for the answer. It was long in coming. Namoto seemed wavering. Togi had spoken truly. The present moment was his. The future was on the "lap of the G.o.ds."
Perhaps, in obedience to the mysterious laws of mind, the very presence, though unknown, of Bert, just outside the window, made him sense dimly some crouching danger. But the moment of indecision pa.s.sed, and he answered, slowly:
"It cannot be, Togi. We must wait. We have waited nearly three years.
Surely the G.o.ds of j.a.pan will not desert us in the next two days. There are many reasons for waiting, but here are two:
"The shock must come at just the right moment. It will be tenfold more paralyzing, more panic-breeding. When bells are ringing, when crowds are cheering, when America is exulting, when the world is watching--at just that instant the blow must fall. The power of the unexpected is irresistible. The enemy"s fall will be more crushing, and j.a.pan will loom up, a sinister image of dread, that will fill the whole horizon.
"Then, too, with every hour that pa.s.ses, our fleet is drawing nearer.
From all quarters of the compa.s.s they are converging. Of course, they will not form a compact squadron, until the news is flashed to them that the Gate has been destroyed. Then they will unite for the last great rush upon the Coast."
"I should think," ventured Ofirio, "that so many j.a.panese warships in one part of the Pacific would be noted by merchant ships and reported to their governments. Do you not fear that suspicion may be aroused before you are ready?"
"Not so," answered Namoto. "Our Naval Department has shown the utmost care and caution. For a year past the vessels have been sent to various ports along the coast of j.a.pan. In every harbor they have lurked, one here, another there, at Nakodate, Miyako, Nagasaki, Noshiro, Ohama, and others. Some have been reported in the naval bulletins as drydocked.
Others have been sent, in ones and twos, on missions of courtesy or diplomacy to China, Australia, and other countries bordering on the Pacific. So adroitly and innocently has this been done, that not even a rumor is current in any foreign cabinet that anything is afoot, and even the ma.s.ses of the j.a.panese themselves do not know what their government is doing. But all the commanders have had definite orders so to time their departure from the various ports as to meet at a given parallel within a day or two of the time set for the opening of the Ca.n.a.l. That parallel is between Hawaii and San Francisco, barely two days distant from the latter. Steam is up, the magazines filled, the guns shotted, the plan of campaign worked out to the last detail. Like hawks, they are hovering within easy reach of each other, ready for the signal. The moment I press this b.u.t.ton, the wireless will flash the news across all the continents and all the seas. Then the captains who smashed the Russians at Port Arthur and in the Sea of j.a.pan will turn their vessels"
prows toward arrogant America, and within forty-eight hours our guns will be thundering at her western doors."
A dull glow crept into his sallow cheeks and his eyes blazed, as he saw in vision the victory of his beloved Nippon.
"But there," he said, as though repenting his outburst of enthusiasm, so foreign to his habitual reticence and self-control, "they will do their part. It only remains for us to do ours. I will not keep you longer to-night, Ofirio," he went on, by way of dismissal. "Report to me to-morrow at the same hour for final instructions."
He pressed a bell, and a servant, bending low, ushered the Cuban out into the night.
But Togi still lingered. The lines in his face had deepened. His long experience had taught him how often the cup is dashed from the lips as one makes ready to drink. The reaction and depression that come to one when, after tremendous toil and strain, his plans await fruition, held him in their grip. It is true, those plans seemed faultless. Nothing had failed in their calculations. The mechanism was working without a jar. But this very perfection was in itself ominous. Perhaps, even then, fate was preparing to spring upon them and lay their hopes in ruins. And again his eyes turned longingly toward the b.u.t.ton, the lightest touch on which would shock the world to its center.
Namoto noticed the direction of his glance and smiled.
"Be not impatient, Togi," he said. "Soon now the hour will strike that marks the beginning of a glorious era for our loved Nippon."
"Glorious, yes," answered Togi. "Whether we win or lose, it will be glorious. Our soldiers will know how to fight and die for their country, as they have always done, and even if defeated they will not be dishonored."
"Dream not of defeat," protested Namoto. "Let not that word of evil omen pa.s.s your lips. To doubt may draw down on us the frown of the G.o.ds."
"But America is a great country, and her people, too, are brave.
Besides, they are as the sands of the seash.o.r.e for number."
"So was Russia great, and yet we beat her to her knees. We hurled back her armies and we crushed her fleets. So will we do to this haughty country, that sneers at us as an inferior race. America has had no real war for fifty years. She has no veterans left. We have hundreds of thousands who have had their baptism of fire on the field of battle. Can their raw volunteers face the seasoned warriors of j.a.pan? Their regular troops are but a handful and are scattered all over the country. Before any real force can be brought against us, we will have subdued all the country west of the Rocky Mountains. Then will come negotiations. As the price of peace, we will wrest from her Hawaii and the Philippines, and j.a.pan will be the unquestioned mistress of the Pacific."
"But before this can be done," objected Togi, "will not the Ca.n.a.l be repaired, so that the rest of the American fleet can pa.s.s through and attack us?"
"No," replied Namoto. "Our first care will be to seize the Ca.n.a.l at the Pacific end and blockade it. The ships can only come out one by one, and they would be an easy prey to our vessels awaiting them in overwhelming force. We would be like cats waiting at the door of a mouse trap. If, on the other hand, they abandoned this and sailed around the Horn, it would be a matter of many weeks before they would reach us, and then they would be strained and weather tossed and uncoaled. Then, too, the Pacific squadron will have been destroyed, and we will have the advantage in ships and guns. If, on the way, they attacked j.a.pan in retaliation, our fortifications, backed by our land forces, would hold them off."
"They could land no troops and would have to content themselves with a harrying of the coast that would amount to nothing."
"Our plan is perfect," he went on; "everything has been provided for.
But all depends on the blocking of the Ca.n.a.l. If, by any chance, it should fail, the campaign would be abandoned. Our navy is not yet large enough to match itself against the combined naval strength of America.
We can only win by dividing the enemy, and beating his squadrons, one at a time. If the Atlantic fleet gets through to the Pacific, at the opening of the Ca.n.a.l, our labor of years will vanish into nothingness.
The ships will return quietly to j.a.pan by various, routes, and the government will be ready to deny that any such plot ever existed. If you and I are charged with the plot, our country will calmly disown us and leave us to our fate.
"And we would gladly meet that fate for Nippon"s sake, would we not, Togi? We would go to our death with banzais on our lips. It is sweet and glorious to die for one"s country."
"We are prepared in any event," said Togi. "If we succeed, your yacht is waiting in the harbor ready to carry us home more swiftly than any can hope to follow. If we fail--" He made across his breast the sign of hari-kari--the j.a.panese form of suicide.