Just before they reached it, Will suddenly remembered that the supply of petrol on board was running short when he made his last trip. This was a very serious matter. There was no chance of his carrying out his plan without an adequate quantity of petrol. There had been plenty in a godown in the camp, it having been used for driving a small electric engine as well as the hydroplane. Had the cans been carried off with the other stores to the new camp? If so, the game was up. But Will hoped that the rebels had not thought them worth removing. The petrol would be of no use to an army in the field; they were not near a town where it might be turned into money: the chief danger was that Machado, who had clearly thought of making use of the hydroplane, would not have neglected to furnish himself with the necessary fuel. Will wished that he had thought of reassuring himself on this all-important point before leaving the camp; but being now so near the recess in which the hydroplane was laid up, he decided to make sure first that the vessel was still where he had left it.
Having come now into the wood, the natives were again afraid of encountering danger in the shape of reptiles or wild beasts. Fortunately Will had some matches in his pocket. He got Azito and José to collect some dry grass and twist it up into a couple of rough torches, and setting light to one of these they hurried to the bank above the recess. The wood was so thick and the enemy's camp so far away that there was no danger of the light being seen. Kindling the second torch, Will dropped the first into the water. The glare caused a great commotion among the inhabitants; he saw frogs hopping about in all directions, and eels darting away towards the river. At the further end of the recess, just beyond the stern of the hydroplane, a cayman slipped off the bank into the water and swam away. A cursory inspection of the vessel assured Will that it had not been tampered with. Relieved on this score, he determined to return at once to the old camp and make a search for the petrol.
They lighted their way back through the wood, but extinguished the torch before emerging into the open. Then, aided by the rays of the rising moon, they groped towards the godown, a temporary wooden hut, in which the petrol with other stores had been kept. Just in front of the door was a petrol can, which Will proved by shaking it to be half empty. Apparently the rebels had been examining the contents and left it as worthless to them. Within the hut stood two cans which had not been touched. All cause for anxiety was removed.
Will ordered the two men to carry the cans down to the hydroplane. On the Orinoco petrol was a commodity hard to come by, and though he would rather not have loaded his light craft with more than was immediately needed, he thought it advisable to take all that he had while there was opportunity. The cans were so heavy that only one could be carried at a time. When they came to the wood Will preceded the two men with a torch, at a safe distance. On his second return to the camp he sought everywhere in the hope of finding food; but all the useful stores had been removed, and he had to resign himself to the prospect of fasting until he reached Santa Marta.
It was three o'clock in the morning before Will had overhauled and oiled the machinery and got the hydroplane ready for starting. He had five hours before the train conveying General Carabaño and his troops would leave, and since the hydroplane at full speed would travel faster than the train, he would have had no anxiety about reaching Santa Marta first if he could have gone at full speed all the way. But the distance to the junction was not only twenty miles farther by water than by rail: for the first seven or eight miles he would have to go very slowly, because it would be impossible to make pace in the darkness on the narrow, shallow stream that ran past the hacienda. There would be the danger of striking snags, and the further danger of the throbbing of the engine being heard in the camp. The second danger was so serious that Will decided to trust to the current alone until he was safely past the rebel army. As soon as he should come into the broader stream, which ran into the Orinoco near the railway junction, he might make full use of his motor; but the rate of the current was probably not more than three miles an hour, so that it might be full daylight before he emerged into the tributary. He would then be only about an hour and a half in advance of the train, a rather narrow margin when the windings of the stream were considered.
At last all was ready. Will had given careful instructions to his companions as to what they were to do. José would remain with him in the stern of the vessel; Azito was to stand as far forward as possible, holding a pole in readiness to fend off obstructions. While they were going slowly he could take up his position at the extreme forepart of the screen, but when it was necessary to make the vessel "plane"--that is, rise out of the water and skim along the surface, which was its special function--he would have to draw back, so that his weight should not interfere with the planing. José was to be ready to oil the engine whenever his master gave the word.
They went on board. Will poled the vessel out of the recess into the little stream, turned her head towards the hacienda, and let her float on the current. For hundreds of yards at a time she moved in inky darkness. The trees on both banks, growing far over the narrow channel, sometimes indeed meeting and forming a tunnel so low that Azito had to stoop, shut out all light of moon and stars. Now and then they came into a bright patch where a gap in the foliage let the moonlight through. At such points Will more than once saw the snout of a cayman; but there was no fear of molestation from any of the wild denizens of the stream: the passage of so strange a monster would imbue them with a wholesome terror.
As they floated slowly down, Will became possessed with a new anxiety. Would Machado suspect that he had got out the hydroplane and be on the watch for him where the canal entered the stream? If that should prove to be the case he might have to run the gauntlet of hundreds of rifles, with the smallest chance of getting through alive. Two considerations gave him hope that he might be spared this ordeal. In the first place, Machado could not know that he had overheard the conversation with General Carabaño, and might suppose that his first move would be an attempt to release his friends. In the second place the Venezuelans are not early risers, and Machado would hardly expect to see the hydroplane before daylight. Of course, with a momentous expedition afoot, the Spanish sluggishness might be temporarily overcome: Will could only hope for the best. If he should be discovered, he determined to set the vessel going at full speed and take his chance.
There were already signs of dawn when the hydroplane came silently to the opening of the canal. The frogs had ceased to croak; but birds were piping in the trees. From the house, too, and the adjacent camp, came sounds of bustle. Preparations were evidently being made for the raid on Bolivar. Will looked round anxiously, half expecting to see, through the haze, hundreds of rifles pointed at him from the bank. But he passed the canal in safety; no one challenged him; and he felt a wonderful relief and hopefulness in the knowledge that the first of the expected dangers had turned out to be a chimera.
Day broke when the vessel had reached a spot about a mile below the hacienda. It was possible now to increase the speed by punting, and Will ordered Azito to employ his pole in this way. After another mile he ventured to set the motor going, at first at low speed, since he was still anxious that the sound of the engine should not be carried to the camp. If the train had started now, it would have reached a point where fifty men with rifles, posted on the bank of the stream, could have made the passage impossible. Will looked at his watch; he had still nearly an hour to spare, unless General Carabaño had altered his plans.