The Motor Scout: A Story of Adventure in South America

by Herbert Strang

They went down to the stables together, and chose twelve of the best horses. Then they selected eleven of the Cholos, who were quite at home on horseback. Tim explained the nature of the service required of them. They were eager to start. The lamp in the entrance was extinguished. Tim kept watch on the street from the window of the guardroom, with several men armed with rifles. The bars were quickly removed; the gates were thrown open; and the twelve men sallied out, turned to the right, and galloped at full speed down the street. There was instantly a rush from the plaza. But a volley from the windows checked the oncomers, and they fell back. Tim knew that before they could ride through the plaza, and down a side street in pursuit, the fugitives would have a start of at least half a mile. The gates were again closed and barred, and silence fell once more upon the scene.

Tim had little anxiety about Romaña. On reaching the outskirts of the town, he would follow a track parallel with a stream--the same which flowed past Romaña's cave--cross it a few miles to the west, then proceed across open country until he came to a wooden bridge over the river. He would then take to the high road, and in the course of little more than two hours arrive at the defile where Señor Fagasta had been captured. There posting the men, he would return to the river, and ride more rapidly upon the hard sand at the edge of the channel. In five or six hours he should reach the Mollendist camp. With nearly sixty miles to march, Mr. O'Hagan could not reach San Rosario before late on the next afternoon, even if he started with his mounted men only. But if the men posted at the defile were successful in delaying the Prefect's advance, the time gained might be enough to allow the Mollendists to secure the town.

Romaña's forethought in cutting the wire had diminished the most serious of Tim's anxieties. The telegraphist at San Rosario, of course, would soon have discovered the damage by the failure of response from San Juan, and after a certain delay no doubt a mounted courier had been despatched to convey the news--possibly a considerable party, for protection against enemies along the road. In all probability news of the affair at the hacienda had only just reached the Prefect, who might reasonably regard it as a trumpery disturbance that could be left to his subordinates. It would be some hours yet before he learnt of the attack on the barracks, and even if he then started immediately, Romaña would have placed his men on the defile before the force from San Juan could arrive.

When the gates had been secured, Tim had the lamp relit and called a parade of his men in the patio. His losses had been slight. Of the eighty-two left to him, seventy-five were still fit for service. All but eight were now armed with rifles; for the eight there were swords, bayonets, and lances, if they wished for other weapons than their own bill-hooks. A large proportion of the Japanese, having served in their national army, were expert with the rifle; and as there was plenty of ammunition in the armoury, and food in the stores on the ground floor, Tim felt himself very well situated, whether to withstand a siege or to repel an attack.

After parading the men, he told off a number of them to hold the roof of the stables on three sides of the patio. The rest were posted at all the windows overlooking the street. The rooms were left in darkness.

About an hour after Romaña's departure the sounds from the plaza, which had died down into a dull murmur, suddenly revived. Shouts and cheers mingled with the clatter of hoofs and the jingle of accoutrements. The party from the hacienda had returned. Tim sent word to the men on the stables to be on the alert.

Some time passed. The plaza had again relapsed into silence. Tim guessed that the enemy were organising an attack. He wondered whether they would attempt an assault on the gates, or trust to escalading the patio walls. The gates were of hard wood studded with iron; the bars were stout; it would not be easy to break them down. If the enemy once forced their way in and made good their position, they would have command of the stores, for Tim could not risk a hand-to-hand fight in the entrance porch. The party from the hacienda, combined with those who had been patrolling the plaza and probably with a certain number of the Prefect's supporters in the town, would outnumber his own men by at least three to one. Tim thought his best plan in the event of an inroad was to hold the balconies and staircases, and keep the enemy at bay until they were forced to retire by exhaustion of their ammunition.

He soon found that the danger was to be faced both in front and rear. Warning came first from the stables. The silence was broken by a sudden clamour. From the surrounding gardens men were attempting to scale the wall on all sides--an impossible feat in face of the forty men at their posts of vantage on the stable roof. But this attack was only designed as a means of occupying the defenders while the main assault was proceeding in front. Looking up the street, Tim saw a number of dark shapes rushing from the plaza along the opposite side. He had ordered his men to hold their fire until the enemy were well in view. But the attackers did not come far down the street. They suddenly turned to their left, and disappeared within a doorway. Their object was soon evident. In a few minutes there was a burst of flame from the houses exactly opposite the barracks, and bullets flew through the open windows at which Tim and his men had posted themselves. At the same moment a much larger body of men, all on foot, came dashing along from the plaza, keeping on the near side of the street. It was plain that under cover of the rifle fire opposite a determined attempt was to be made to break in the gates.

Tim ordered half his men, taking what cover was possible, to reply to the fire across the street, and the other half to be ready to shoot down upon the enemy below. He saw at once that at the windows his second party would be at a great disadvantage, because they could not fire effectively without exposing themselves. So he sent them up a wooden ladder to the roof, where they would be in less danger themselves, while better placed for dealing with the assailants.

Soon both patio and street were ringing with the noise of battle. At the rear and sides the troopers who tried to mount the walls, some on ladders, some by clambering up the stonework, were hurled down by the men above them. In the front, bullets rang across the street in opposite directions, and poured from the roof upon the dense mass now at the gates. Tim heard a resounding crash below; the enemy had brought with them a heavy beam which they were using as a battering ram. In the almost total darkness it was impossible to discover the effect of the fire from the roof. That it was comparatively ineffectual was soon proved. Three times the thundering blows rang on the gates; at the third one of the wings gave way, and with a yell of triumph men began to pour into the porch.