“Bully for you, Colonel. Give me sixty days in which to operate, and I'll have finished my job in Sobrante and gotten out of it before that gang of cutthroats wakes up to the fact that I'm gone. I thank you, sir.”
“The least we can do, since you have saved Ricardo's life and rendered our cause a great service, is to save your life,” Colonel Caraveo replied.
“This is more comfort than I had hoped for when I came here, gentlemen. I am very grateful, I assure you. Of course this little revolution you're cooking up is no affair of mine, and I trust I need not assure you that your confidence is quite safe with me.”
The Doctor and the Colonel immediately rose and bowed like a pair of marionettes. Webster turned to Ricardo.
“Have you had any experience in revolutions, my son?” he asked.
Ricardo nodded. “I realized I had to have experience, and so I went to Mexico. I was with Madero through the first revolution.”
“How are you arming your men?”
“Mannlichers. I've got five thousand of them. Cost me twelve dollars each. I've got twenty million rounds of cartridges, twenty-five machine-guns, and a dozen three-inch field-guns. I have also engaged two hundred American ex-soldiers to handle the machine-guns and the battery. These rascals cost me five dollars a day gold, but they're worth it; they like fighting and will go anywhere to get it—and are faithful.”
“You are secretly mobilizing in the mountains, eh?” Webster rubbed his chin ruminatively. “Then I take it you'll attack Buenaventura when you strike the first blow?”
“Quite right. We must capture a seaport if we are to revolute successfully.”