She instantly obeyed and he leaned forward himself, so as to offer as small a target as possible. Captain Guzman and Martella sat motionless, watching the tug rushing down upon them and ready to leap ashore the instant they came within reach.
All a-tremble with the intensity of his rage, General Yozarro stood to the rear and beside the six-pounder whose muzzle was pointed toward the little boat. He measured with his eye when the right instant came, and snapped the lanyard. A spout of smoke and flame shot from the muzzle and the boom rolled across the river and was echoed from the further shore, as the solid missile sped on its errand.
Barely more than a hundred yards separated the two craft, when the explosion came. General Yozarro had aimed to sink the other boat, reckless of the lives he sacrificed. It may have been and it probably was because he took the best aim he could, that the ball missed the catboat by twenty feet and crashed harmlessly into the jungle beyond.
The delay caused by the slackening speed of the tug gave our friends the chance they were prompt to use. Not the slightest change had been made in the course of the craft, whose prow the next moment impinged sharply against the shore, and Captain Guzman and Martella sprang out. Instead of running away, however, they seized the gunwale and tugged to draw the bow up the bank.
Grasping the hand of his sister, Major Starland dashed after them. They had the length of the boat to travel, but quickly did it and joined their friends on land.
“Why do you dally?” he called angrily; “if you wait another minute, you will be taken! Off with you!”
“Fret not about us,” was the gruff response of Martella; “attend to the Señorita, and we’ll look after ourselves.”
The great fear in the minds of all was that General Yozarro would fire the rear gun. It would take a few minutes to bring it to bear, and, although neither he nor his men knew how to aim to hit, an accident might result in harm. The passing seconds were of measureless value.
But, before the tug could veer, a gleam of returning reason came to the ruffian. He had done an outrageous thing, but providentially without evil consequences. It would not do for him to repeat the crime. He might claim, as doubtless he meant to claim, that the first shot was fired as a warning to bring the smaller craft to, though in all his life he never tried harder to destroy and kill.
He shouted to the Captain to head for land, and the officer did so with a skill born of experience. In rounding to, he narrowly missed smashing the smaller boat.