“‘No,’ he answered. ‘It must be done to-night, because Trocas knows with whom he has to deal, and unless I am mistaken there will come an order to-morrow to remove little Jacob, probably to Caracas, and you know he does very badly in the cold, damp air of the mountains; also, the change of altitude is apt to bring out another attack of the fever.’
“‘Have you thought of any definite plan?’ I asked, irritably. He grinned at me like a baboon.
“‘That is for you, my dear Doctor,’ said he. ‘You have had more experience in such matters.’
“‘That is all very well,’ said I, ‘but you seem to forget that I am engaged by you to carry out your orders. Now, go ahead and issue them.’
“His grin left him at this and he began to scowl and reach for the overhang of his mustache with his big yellow teeth. Finally he said: ‘I engaged you, as you say, Doctor, to carry out my orders, but I will do better. One cannot be avaricious when the life of one’s brother is concerned. If you will get the little Jacob out of that hole I will pay you three times what you have received.’
“‘How about the others?’ I asked.
“‘Oh, the devil take the others! If their friends want them let them come after them. I will refund their money.’
“‘Very well,’ said I. ‘And now I will go ashore, as I want to think this thing out alone.’
“Rosenthal grinned his sardonic grin, and I left him and, passing through the custom house, strolled on across the square, past the monument to the American soldiers and over into the park opposite the baths, where I sat on a bench and tried to think against the infernal clatter of the ‘Q’est ce qu’il dit?’ birds.
“For about an hour I sat there, and I can assure you, Doctor, that my brain was not idle. There were several very potent reasons for my wishing to carry through the task which I had undertaken. In the first place I needed the money very much. Again, there was an old score to settle with Trocas, but I think that more than all it was a matter of professional pride. It was easy to see that Rosenthal was confident that I could carry the thing through, yet try as I did I was obliged to dismiss each plan as impracticable. If word could be got to the prisoners of our co-operation it would have been so much easier, but I was afraid to bribe any of the guards, as there was danger that he would pocket the money and then betray us.