Phil thoughtfully sent Lopez to Maria to tell her of Captain Blynn’s news and then gave Captain Blynn the story of the recent tragedy on the floor above.
“Poor Rodriguez,” the captain murmured. “If he had taken the other side he would now be alive. The money,” he added, his face troubled—“I am too late. I promised him I would come, but I was delayed by important matters with the general.”
“A search at once,” Phil exclaimed rising hastily from his chair; “they can’t have gone far with those heavy chests.”
Lopez smiled grimly.
“Señor, it would be impossible to follow them. By now the treasure is either carefully hidden or else in a banka hurrying up the river to Espinosa’s stronghold. We must capture Espinosa; where he is the money will be also.”
“Quite right, Lopez,” Captain Blynn agreed. “It’s not pleasant to hike in this country at night either, young man,” he added to Phil, whose sudden show of excitement in the prospect of another fight had died down; “every trail is trapped, and I don’t relish a green bamboo spear through me even for all old Rodriguez’s money. Espinosa undoubtedly has planned this attack carefully and in the darkness we would simply be wasting our time and be losing sleep.
“Some of our friend Espinosa’s plotting, in the light of this affair, is now quite plain. Rodriguez was in his way, and so is Martinez, but I don’t exactly see why; and this attack was made easy through his winning of Garcia, the trusted friend of Rodriguez. But how did he learn of this money?”
“Why,” Phil exclaimed, a scowl on his face, “Lopez tells me that Garcia alone knew of its existence and coveted it, and readily persuaded Espinosa to help him obtain it and share it. With that amount of money they can make this war very difficult for us or they can escape with their booty to Hongkong.”
“Well,” said the captain yawning outright, “I must get some sleep. The bridge is clear; I’ll wait here until you bring up the gunboat. The general is coming himself to look over the ground. We’ve had reports that the rebel army is massing at Matiginao, where supplies for a year have been collected.
“We’re going to have the biggest fight in the history of the war,” he added in a sleepy voice as he lay full length on the wicker lounge. “By the way, old man Tillotson promises all kinds of rewards to any one who will rescue his son. He’s coming down himself—sailed from Manila the day after he got the news.”