"Creep up and look along the line," said Will to Azito. "You can see better in the dark than I."
The man returned after a few minutes and said that he saw the lights of the new camp twinkling among the trees, but nothing else was in sight in either direction. The rim of the moon which was just showing above the horizon would assist their march, but at the same time reveal their moving forms to any one who might be in the neighbourhood.
"Where are all the peons from the old camp?" asked Will.
"All run away, señor," replied Azito.
"We ran away too, señor," added José, "but came back to find our master."
"Have you had anything to eat lately, either of you?" asked Will, a thought striking him.
José had eaten nothing all the previous day; Azito nothing but some fruit he had picked in the garden of the house after nightfall.
"We must get some food to-morrow, or we shall be fit for nothing," said Will, "though I don't know where it is to come from."
They were now walking along the railway track, stepping from sleeper to sleeper. Every now and then they stopped to look behind, but though they could see farther as the moon rose, nothing was visible along the line. As they marched along in silence, Will thought over the conversation he had heard in the house. An attack was to be made on Bolivar at noon next day, from two quarters simultaneously. Machado's confederate in the telegraph office had invented a telegram from Caracas demanding the instant dispatch of reinforcements, so that the garrison at Bolivar would be much reduced, and the Jefe would be at a disadvantage. If Will could only get the hydroplane and bring it safely past the enemy, he would have time at least to warn the Jefe. The distance by water was about a hundred and sixty miles, thirty miles more than by rail; but General Carabaño did not intend to start before eight o'clock, by which time, all being well, the hydroplane would be a considerable distance on the way to Bolivar. As soon as he got to Santa Marta, a little station twenty miles beyond the junction, he could telegraph a warning to the Jefe, the signalman being loyal. Everything depended on his reaching Santa Marta undetected.
They came at length to the site of the old camp. It was a picture of desolation. The tents had been removed to the new camp near the hacienda. A great quantity of débris was littered all over the enclosure. Tools, barrows, fragments of boxes that had been broken open; the Chief's safe, which, having been rifled, had been left standing as too cumbersome for removal: these relics of the raid filled Will with indignation. He had returned the knife to Azito, and being unarmed, he picked up a crowbar to serve as a weapon in case of emergency, and told José to do the same. Then, descending the embankment, all three hurried towards the river.