“I worked steadily for six hours, and all the time the generals were snickering and comparing notes behind my back. However, I tried to keep thinking of what I would say to the consul when I got out. I didn’t even stop to drink. My right arm got so devilishly stiff that it almost killed me to move it. But I wasn’t going to weaken before those generals.
“At the end of nine hours I got dizzy and weak. I had a small pocket mirror, and when I looked at myself I found I was yellow under the gills. The water was running in streams down my face and I had sense enough left to quit, after smearing the bars with the sooty bread to conceal what I had done. I had filed completely through one of the bars! But before I’d had time to congratulate myself I found myself on the floor in a heap, and my brain getting cloudy.
“Twelve hours later one of the generals kicked me awake and told me that I’d nearly spoiled my chances.
“The jailer hadn’t been able to discover anything, but my exhaustion had puzzled him. He had poked into corners and questioned the generals, and he had come near to trying the bars. I had a queer, dizzy feeling in my head, but I had no intention of taking a day off.
“I set to work on the bars again, and by the end of the day I had sawed through the second one. My fingers were bleeding and my brain reeled, and the generals didn’t say anything to encourage me. But I felt that my luck wasn’t bad under the circumstances, and maybe I wasn’t happy when I thought of how I would fool the jailer!
“By sundown the next day I had completed the job. The generals stared and shrugged their shoulders and urged me to escape immediately. I rolled a cigarette and puffed it until I had made a halo of blue-gray smoke about my head. I felt like a hero, standing there before those indifferent fools. ‘I’ll get out when it’s dark,’ I said, ‘and not before. I’m not taking unnecessary chances.’
“A couple of hours later I crawled to the bars and waited for the moon to get behind a cloud. The generals started laughing and I thought sure they’d give the game away. I was hopelessly upset, but it was no good being angry with them.
The bars came out easier than children’s first teeth. I simply stood up and pulled and there was an opening large enough to admit two men. In a moment I was halfway through the opening and wishing that I’d been more civil to the generals.
“But I might have known there would be a hitch somewhere. My coat got caught on a nail and I stuck. I wriggled and wriggled, but I couldn’t get my legs over.
“I lay wedged between the bars, and things began to look pretty black. At any moment I might be discovered by the jailer, and the generals wouldn’t be any help to me. And then I did a foolish thing. I struggled until something snapped and a sudden pain gripped my right leg. I groaned aloud, and to make matters worse the moon came out and flooded the clearing with light.
“And then I saw him. He was standing against the wall, swaying absurdly back and forth and drinking out of a neckless bottle. At first he did not notice me, but when his eyes finally rested on my agonized face he removed his great hat and bowed.
“‘Another newspaper man, I presume,’ he said. ‘Our little revolution certainly makes copy. But personally, I don’t think we’re worth it. This is strictly between you and me, you understand.’
“‘Do I look like a newspaper man?’ I snapped. I was in no humor to discuss trivialities with him. I could see that he was absurdly drunk, but it did not occur to me that I might find him useful.
“‘Permit me to introduce myself,’ he continued. ‘I am the president’s right-hand man—some call me his shadow. He couldn’t get along without me. We have too much in common. And yet I am but a pale reflection of his greatness. I am called Henriquez, but to you, who are an American, it shall be Henry. I should not even object to Harry. It seems that we are endeavoring to escape from prison. I can sympathize with the gesture. All human beings desire liberty. I myself have longed for liberty. They would not even permit me to drink the rich, red wine; it was necessary that I set the army a good example. But I fooled them. Today I am as free as the air and I have no responsibilities. I have escaped from my prison. Shall I help you to escape from yours?’
“‘Why should you?’ I roared. ‘Why don’t you call the guards and have them put me back again?’
“He smiled good-humoredly. ‘That would be such a waste of time!’ he said. ‘And besides, the guard might shoot you. I shouldn’t care to see you shot. Is it not strange how I differ from the president? The president hates rebels—and yet I am his shadow. Bui you seem to be having some trouble with those bars.’
“He suddenly became serious, and stepping quickly forward he looked me straight in the eyes. ‘Do you really wish to escape?’ he said.
“I nodded and groaned. ‘With every drop of blood in my body,’ I said, ‘I wish to escape. They have promised to shoot me. I am only twenty-two, and at my age it is not pleasant to be shot.’
“He nodded sympathetically. ‘I think I can help you,’ he said. ‘I do not wish to make any promises, but I think I can help.’
“He stepped forward and seized one of the remaining bars in his hairy hand. I saw the muscles of his enormous arms contract, and a hard, set expression come into his face. Merely to loosen the bar took a tremendous effort, and for a moment I did not think that he could possibly succeed. But slowly the bar gave way and then he literally tore it from its fastenings.
“A sudden sense of unspeakable joy possessed me. I hurled myself forward and nearly succeeded in wriggling free; but I could not quite pass my hips through. Henriquez was not discouraged. He beamed encouragement, and set himself the task of loosening the last bar. He succeeded in tearing the coat from my back, but the bar stuck.
“He backed away, still smiling. He seemed bracing himself for a titanic effort. He advanced again and took the last bar firmly between his two hands. He pulled and pulled. The bar gave way and bent outward; then it came away with a loud retching sound that I feared would bring the jailer on a run. I struggled through the window and collapsed in Henriquez’s arms. I could not stand. I was bleeding from a dozen wounds, and I had evidently sprained my hips, for when I moved it gave me exquisite pain.
“‘I can’t walk, Henry,” I said. ‘What shall I do?’
“‘Have no fear, my lad,” responded Henriquez. ‘I have carried heavier than you. There is an American ship in the bay and if we hurry I can put you on board before dawn. What do you say?’
“I nodded a silent approval. Henriquez laughed and lifted me on his huge shoulders. He made as if he would pick up the discarded bottle, but then he wavered and kicked it aside with the toe of his boot. ‘The president would have been very angry,’ he chuckled.
“With rapid steps he left the courtyard and proceeded cautiously along a white road. No doubt he found me heavy, for he stopped from time to time to mop his brow with his coat-sleeve. ‘The president,’ he kept muttering, ‘would never have understood.’
“‘Stop there!’ A blue-coated sentry stood on a muddy embankment and challenged Henriquez with leveled gun. Henriquez stood very still in the center of the road and whistled. ‘Don’t you know me?’ he vociferated. ‘I’m on official business. Let me pass.’
“The sentry scowled. ‘What have you got on your back?’ he asked.
“I heard Henriquez curse under his breath. ‘Mind your own business, my friend,’ he said, ‘and let me pass. It is evident that you do not who I am!’
“‘You are a traitor to the president,’ said the sentry. ‘You carry upon your back the rebel traitor who calls himself an American.’