“Three thousand men is quite an army for Central America,” he went on, “and Crespes knew how to handle them. He kept them well fed and paid them promptly. We never knew where the money came from but we had a hunch Russia was supplying him with funds.
“The revolt started at Martee, the main seaport, and the rebels swept everything before them and started inland for the capital, Blanco. They looted every village they went through and it looked like they were going to win in a walkaway. But Crespes didn’t know that the foxy old president of Guato had purchased a fleet of American bombing planes and had secured a bunch of former war pilots to fly them. When the rebels got up in the narrow passes of the mountains just east of the capital the bombers dropped down out of the sky.
“I was there that day. Those big eagles just came out of the blue, unloaded their ‘eggs’ and then soared away for another load. The rebels were trapped. In ten minutes the backbone of the revolt was broken and they were fleeing for the seaport and safety at Martee. I had a hard time keeping up with them.
“On the way to Martee, Crespes and the other ringleaders cleaned out the gold mines in the foothills. I don’t know exactly how much, but it was at least a million. They managed to get the bullion to Martee and load it on the only ship in the harbor, the old Southern Queen.
“They got away just before sunset and were well out to sea when the bombing planes swept down in search of them. The Southern Queen was never reported in any port and no member of its crew was ever heard from. There were all kinds of stories. Some said the old steamer had been caught in a tropical gale and gone down with all hands, others said that Crespes had managed to blow it up after getting away with a large share of the gold while some stories said the Southern Queen was beached on the coast of Yucatan, the crew fleeing after dividing the gold.
“It was a mystery that intrigued me. I wanted to know what had happened to the ship and its crew and I wanted the gold it held. For years I ran down one rumor after another. That story last year sent out from New York was written around one of the rumors, but my trip to see Crazy John was based on something more than rumor.”
Ford paused while Tim threw fresh fuel on the flames.
“A month ago an old sailorman in New York told me he’d met a fellow years ago who said he knew what had happened to the Southern Queen. I got to checking up and the man he was talking about was John Boggs, the ship’s carpenter, the man we know as Crazy John. Again, through sheer coincidence, I learned from a pearl dealer in New York that he occasionally bought fresh water pearls from a man named John Boggs out here in the Cedar river valley. It didn’t take me long to get on the job.”
“Could Crazy John tell you about the Southern Queen?”
The globe trotter smiled. “Crazy John told me the whole story and I’m so sure he’s told the truth that I’m going into the Caribbean at once.”