"Stuff to strengthen the battery," replied Machado. "I'm going to put a wire on each side of him, and add cells--there are plenty of them--until he owns up."
"Will it kill him?"
"I shouldn't wonder."
He laughed as he poured acid into the cell. Meanwhile Will had been worked up to a white heat of indignation. Without stopping to measure the risk, he slipped the knife into his pocket, sprang noiselessly to the door, threw it open, and in two strides came within arm's length of Machado just as he was replacing the bottle. A blow with the right, and one with the left almost at the same instant, hurled the telegraphist to the ground. The man holding José was for the moment paralyzed with astonishment. Before he could recover himself, a heavy blow somewhere about his middle sent him to join Machado. Then Will, catching José by the arm, dragged him through the door and to the rear of the cabin, where with one stroke of Azito's knife he severed the cords binding the boy's wrists.
He had scarcely done so when he heard one of the men run shouting from the cabin. But, as Will had expected, the man made straight towards the house. Hurrying along the foot of the embankment for a few yards, Will struck to the right towards the plantation where he had left Azito, both he and José bending low to get what cover was possible from the long grass and occasional bushes. Before they reached the plantation they heard shouts from the house, which were soon answered from the camp some distance to their left. They ran as swiftly as possible, and Will gave a low whistle as he approached the trees. It was answered by Azito. They waited but a few moments, to see whether any of the figures which could be descried moving near the house were coming in their direction. Then all three plunged into the depths of the plantation, José leading in as straight a course as he could towards the recess where the hydroplane was hidden.
[CHAPTER VIII--A RACE AGAINST TIME]
Dark though it was, José led the way with complete confidence. But Will noticed that in a few minutes he left the heart of the wood and returned to the edge, where it bordered the plain. General Carabaño's camp was now behind them.
"We might tread on a snake or stumble on a tiger, señor," said the boy. "It is not safe to go through the wood at night."
These were perils which had scarcely occurred to Will, but he recognized that the negro was right. Progress along the edge of the wood, however, was hardly easier than it had been in the wood itself, for long grass, bushes, and briars obstructed them at every few steps. After covering rather more than a mile, as Will guessed, it struck him that they would get along faster if they mounted the railway embankment and walked along the straight track. It was unlikely that pursuit would be carried far that night, since the direction of their flight could not be traced in the darkness. But there would be danger if the old camp was still occupied, or if any guards had been posted along the railway. He asked his companions whether they had any information on these points. Both assured him that the camp was deserted, and that no sentinels were posted on the railway, at any rate between their present position and the junction. Will remembered that the signalman at the junction was in the pay of General Carabaño, so that the omission of what would otherwise have been an essential precaution was explicable.
The coast being clear, the travellers struck to the left, and came in ten minutes to the embankment.