“A dinner?”
“A banquet to be given by the officers of the visiting battleship to the officers of the fortress,” the snapshot adventurer explained. “I believe such affairs are not unusual?”
“Generally it is the other way around—the other fellows wine and dine us first, and then we return the compliment,” the navy man said. “However, I guess I won’t have any difficulty in persuading the captain to reverse the usual order of things in this case. But what’s the idea? Is this dinner part of your scheme for rescuing Felix?”
“A very important part of it,” the Camera Chap informed him. “If you can bring it about and manage to have our friend of the blue glasses among those present, I have every hope of success. I’ll outline the idea to you. I am confident that you’ll both be as enthusiastic over it as I am.”
But, greatly to his surprise, when he told them what he had in mind, they failed to display the amount of enthusiasm which he had expected.
“It would be sheer madness for you to attempt such a desperate thing,” was Virginia’s verdict. “You would surely be caught. Anxious as I am to see President Felix set free, I must beg you to give up all thought of carrying out this plan, Mr. Hawley.”
“It’s a clever scheme,” declared Ridder. “I take off my hat to you, old man, for your ingenuity in having thought of it, and your grit in being willing to put it through; but I agree with Miss Throgmorton that it is much too risky a proposition. You might stand a slim chance of getting the picture, but you’d stand a much greater chance of being backed up against an adobe wall with a firing squad using you for target practice. Besides, it isn’t fair that you should do the whole thing all by yourself. Now that you’ve taken me into the secret, we ought to divide up the work and the danger.”
The Camera Chap smiled. “There’ll be work and danger enough for you, too,” he promised. “If I’m caught and it comes out that you were mixed up in the plot—and I’m afraid that’s bound to come out—I can see a peck of trouble coming your way. Portiforo will probably demand your surrender as accessory, and even if your skipper refuses to give you up, there’ll probably be a court-martial in Washington in store for you, and possibly dismissal from the service. All this, of course, is to be dreaded only in the event of failure. But I’m not going to fail. I disagree with you both about my scheme not being practical. Of course, if we had to go up against a well-organized, highly disciplined garrison, I’d have to admit that our chances of success were scant. But Portiforo’s army is a joke. Those soldiers at the fortress remind me of a lot of supes in a comic-opera chorus. With a crowd like that to deal with, it would be possible to get away with almost anything. If Felix is still in the same cell—if they haven’t moved him—it’s going to be mere child’s play to get the snapshot and make my escape—much easier than our other attempt, Miss Throgmorton.”
“But if they have moved him?” Virginia suggested fearfully. “And it is very likely that they have. It is only reasonable to suppose that after our last attempt, those scoundrels would have taken that precaution. If they have him locked up in another dungeon—one that cannot be reached from the outside—what are you going to do then?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “In that event,” he replied carelessly, “my job is going to be a little more difficult, of course. I shall have to go inside the fortress and hunt around until I find him. But let’s be optimistic.”