Tales of Mysteries & Espionage - John Buchan Edition. Buchan John

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      “I guess we’ll keep to that pet name,” Blenkiron said. “It sounds good, and kind of solemn. We haven’t any use for effete territorial titles in this democratic army, and ‘Sandy’ is too familiar.”

      Then he made the men repeat their instructions till each was clear not only about his own task but about the tasks of the others—a vital thing in a far-flung force. After that he lectured them… So far luck had been on their side. Their losses had been small; under estimate in the railway sector, and not thirty per cent. beyond it even after Peters’s rash counter-attack. No officer had fallen, and only six had been wounded. One aeroplane, unfortunately, had been brought down, and the pilot and observer, both young Mines engineers, killed. That was their most serious casualty. “A very nice little exhibition of the new bloodless conduct of war,” said Blenkiron. But this was only the overture; the serious business was now about to begin, when they had to make the country fight Lossberg, as Washington made the geography of America fight Burgoyne and Cornwallis. “It’s going to be a mighty tough proposition, but I reckon if we pay strict attention to business we’ll put it through.”

      “Say, though,” said Escrick, “what is going to be the upshot?”

      “Peace, sonny. We’ve got to make the Excelentisimo at Olifa so dead-sick of the business that he’ll want to deal. Same game as Robert E. Lee played before Gettysburg. We can’t beat them, but we may make them want to deal. And in that deal Mr Castor is going to state the terms. And those terms are going to fix things more comfortably in this province, but principally they are going to fix Mr Castor. You’ve got the schedule for to-night clear? Then we’d better dissolve this conference. I join you, General Escrick, at twenty minutes after midnight.”

      The men entered their dusty cars and departed, while Blenkiron went into his house, accompanied by Luis de Marzaniga, who seemed to be acting as his chief staff-officer.

      As they lunched frugally off sardines and biscuits, Blenkiron was in a cheerful mood, but a shadow seemed to hover about the face of the younger man.

      “What’s worrying you, Luis?” Blenkiron asked. “Things have panned out pretty well according to plan. There’s snags good and plenty to come, but we needn’t think about them just yet.”

      “I think, Senor, that there is one snag which we have forgotten.”

      “Meaning?”

      “The bouches inutiles whom we are leaving to the care of General Lossberg.”

      “Why, man, we can’t do anything else. The civilians in a captured city are not our concern. They’re his funeral, He’s bound to treat them well for… “

      “It is scarcely a question of humanity. But some of these bouches may be mischievous.”

      “The Bodyguard?”

      The young man took a paper from his pocket.

      “Here,” he said, “I have a list of the more dangerous of the Bodyguard and of those gentry whom we call the conquistadors. I have made notes on each… Kubek—he was happily killed in this very house. We found his body over there by the window… Ramiro and Molson, they were shot by Peters at the round-up… Sechstein—dead of spotted fever… Snell—died of wounds two hours after Kubek… But Radin and Molinoff are at large—you remember that they broke away in the confusion, when the house in the Calle of the Virgin fell as Peters was taking them to the lock-up… There are others, too. We know nothing of what became of Martel and Carvilho and Magee and Trompetter… and Laschallas, whom we used to think as dangerous as Kubek. Do you know that he, or somebody very like him, was seen last night in a drinking-den near St Martin’s Port?”

      “That only means that there are a handful of bad men loose. You can’t corral all the scamps. Besides, a gunman’s not too dangerous in a war where everybody has a gun.”

      “I wonder. Remember that these are a very special type of gunman. The Gobernador chose them for their brains out of the rascality of the globe… Then there are the three ruffians you sent with him to Olifa. What were their names?”

      “Carreras, Judson, and Biretti.”

      “Yes. Well, you may be sure they will come back, if indeed they are not back already… I do not like it, Senor. They are dangerous grit to get into our wheels. I should be happier if I knew that they were in their graves.”

      “So should I. But I don’t let that outfit worry me. I reckon they’re part of the legitimate risk of war. Anything more?”

      “The Conquistadors.”

      Blenkiron laughed aloud. “That pie-faced bunch! Say, Luis, you’re getting fanciful. What harm can those doped owls do us? They’ll be waiting for Lossberg and making a fuss about their comforts. It’s him they’ll bite, not us.”

      “I wonder again. Lariarty was in the round-up which Lord Clanroyden organised. He was consorting with the Bodyguard. Is there not something there to make us think?”

      “Why, Luis, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Except for Castor, I reckon I know the Conquistadors better than any other man, and I’ve sized them up long-ago. They’re the most dangerous stuff on earth, so long as Castor has the handling of them, but without him they’re no more good than dud shells. They’ve powder enough, but, lacking Castor, they haven’t the current to fire the charge. Let ‘em alone, and they’ll just moon about and rot.”

      “And yet Lariarty was at the meeting which was nearly the end of Lord Clanroyden. He sat in the judge’s chair. It is right to assume that he had some part in the plot… I think you are wrong, Senor. I think the Conquistadors are like sick wolves—dying, if you like, but with enough strength to turn and bite. And, remember, their bite will be deadly, because it is poisoned.”

      Blenkiron looked perturbed. “I can’t bring myself to think that. What could they do? They won’t fit in with Lossberg.”

      “No, indeed. General Lossberg, if I understand him, will make nothing of them. He is a conventional soldier, and will fight his battles in the old professional way… But what if the Conquistadors keep the same company that we found Lariarty keeping? They have no scruples. What if a dull anger and a craving for their drug—for presently they will get no more of it—what if that kindles their wits and screws up their nerves sufficiently for one desperate throw? The remnants of the Bodyguard, if they can find them, will be their executants. They will think chiefly of getting to Castor, and, failing that, of revenge.”

      “It will be hard to reach the Courts of the Morning.”

      “Maybe. But it may be less hard to reach you—or Lord Clanroyden. Our army is not a machine, but a personal following. A well-aimed bullet might make it a rabble.”

      Blenkiron sat brooding for a moment. “I think you put the risk too high,” he said at last, “but we can’t neglect any risk. Have you put Intelligence on to the job?”

      “Senor Musgrave and his young men have been too busy fighting battles. I have done a little myself.”

      “You have told me what gunmen survive, but you haven’t located them. How about the Conquistadors?”

      Luis took up another paper. “Lariarty, whom Peters wanted to lock up, was set free by Lord Clanroyden. He has been living quietly in his rooms, playing much music on his piano. There are five others in the Gran Seco, and СКАЧАТЬ