Young Ole Devil (23 page)

Commanding the girl to come
with him
—and
there was no other description for the way in which he addressed
her—the
gringo
strolled nonchalantly to where Grivaljo was standing. As he
approached, his eyes were darting around. Watching him, the
lieutenant felt it was merely an interest in his surroundings that
made him do so. There was nothing in his attitude to suggest he had
any fear of coming to harm.

However, the girl did not
appear to be quite so much at ease. That, Grivaljo told himself,
could be caused because she was aboard a ship. Unless the
lieutenant was mistaken, she was of a lower social standing than
her escort. Her travel-stained riding habit was expensive, but it
had been tailored to fit a woman with a somewhat more ample figure.
What was more, if her tanned face and work-roughened hands were
anything to go by, she had not always worn such expensive garments.
Being a wellborn Spanish-Creole, which accounted for his low rank
and humble command, Grivaljo could guess at her relationship with
the
gringo
and he dismissed her from his considerations.

Conscious of the
lieutenant
’s
scrutiny, Ole Devil Hardin forced himself to retain an outward calm
and swaggering confidence. From the look of her when he told her to
follow him, Diamond-Hitch Brindley was feeling the strain. Yet she
had remembered to kick the sides of the ship while being lifted
aboard, ensuring that if certain other sounds had been made, they
would pass unnoticed. He felt sure that he could count on her to
continue playing her part. If he had not been sure, he would never
have allowed her to accompany him in the first place.

On hearing Tommy
Okasi
’s
news, Ole Devil had called a halt at the deserted cabin. Then he
had discussed the matter with Di and the small Oriental. They had
not attempted to exclude Madeline de Moreau from their council of
war. While she had not been told the exact purpose of their
assignment, she was aware that it was of considerable importance to
the Republic of Texas. So she had taken a lively interest in what
was being said.

While it had seemed likely that
the brig was awaiting the arrival of the ship carrying the rifles,
Ole Devil had pointed out that
—as the crew were engaged in taking on water—it
was
possible
the visit had only been made for such a purpose. One thing was
obvious to them all. No matter what had brought the Mexican warship
to Santa Cristobal Bay, its presence called for some kind of action
on their part.

From all appearances, the owners of the
cabin had left hurriedly. Certainly they had not waited to pack and
carry off all of their property. Noticing one of the items that
remained, Ole Devil had started to concoct an audacious scheme.

Telling Tommy to unpack his war
bag, Old Devil had explained what he intended to do. Making use of
the document which he had taken from Halford
’s body, he would visit the
brig and try to find out why it was there. Should it be waiting in
ambush, he would find some way of warning the arms ship of its
presence. On the other hand, if the reason was merely to replenish
the water supply, he had something else in mind. He would attempt
to persuade the Mexican captain to sail south and, if successful,
hoped to make sure that the brig would not be able to interfere
with the landing of the arms.

On learning of how Ole Devil
hoped to achieve his intention, Di had suggested that she should
accompany him and Tommy. At first he had refused to consider the
idea. However, as on the issue of riding with him to the Bay, she
had had her way. Her argument had been that her presence might tend
to lessen the Mexican
’s suspicions. Also, she had claimed, if Madeline
would co-operate, she could carry the means to put Ole Devil’s
scheme into operation. Neither of the men would be able to do so,
certainly not by concealing the object, and for it to be in plain
sight was sure to arouse comments and questions.

On Ole Devil yielding to
Di
’s
demands, Madeline had suggested that she too should accompany the
party. The girl had replied that she did not think it would be a
good idea, as there would be considerable danger involved and the
need for fighting or fast movement. Di had not considered the woman
capable of either, but thought she could help in another way.
Madeline had accepted the girl’s decision with apparent good grace.
At any rate she had not hesitated to agree when the girl asked to
change clothes with her. Nor had the woman shown any alarm over
being left alone at the cabin. She had stated that she was a pretty
good shot and would have a selection of firearms at her disposal
should the need to prove it arise.

With the various points
settled, the party had made their preparations. In addition to
having changed his riding breeches
for less military-looking trousers from
his war bag, Ole Devil had left his second pistol and saber—which
had his name inscribed on the blade—at the cabin.

For the part which she would be
playing, Di could not carry her rifle. Taking advantage of the
riding habit
’s slightly loose fit, she had buckled her belt around her
underwear and had concealed the secret object beneath the outer
garment. She had, however, insisted upon riding astride as she had
never used a sidesaddle.

Wanting to appear innocuous and
to be more convincing in his pose of a harmless
‘Chinese’ servant, Tommy had
left his bow, arrows and swords behind, as well as changing his
boots for a pair of sandals. He had, however, retained one weapon;
but few people outside his native land would have identified it as
such. Certainly Madeline, who had seen him replacing it in his
trousers’ pocket after having shown it to a clearly puzzled Di, had
not. Nor had she heard the explanation of its purpose as that had
been made while the trio were riding towards the
rendezvous.

Before allowing themselves to
be seen, Di, Ole Devil and Tommy had studied the brig as it lay at
anchor. It was, the Texian had told the girl,
well situated for ambushing any
vessel that entered. Due to the way in which the land rose on three
sides, it could only be seen from the sea when the mouth of the bay
was being approached. At night, provided that the brig was properly
darkened, it would be practically invisible against such a
background. However, the precautions which Hardin expected had not
been taken. There was no lookout on either of the mastheads. The
breechings and side-tackles had not been cast off, nor the guns run
out. Neither was there a spring attached to the anchor’s cable to
facilitate turning the brig and bringing one of its broadsides to
bear.

Ole Devil had regarded the lack
of preparations as a good sign. Unless he was mistaken, the
omissions were not the result of incompetence. To his eyes, the
brig showed no signs of being poorly commanded. In fact he had
concluded it was just the opposite.
Although the party on shore had been
working in a somewhat dilatory fashion, he believed that could be
the fault of the master’s mate
who
was in charge rather than the captain.

The lieutenant, whom Ole Devil
was approaching, seemed old for such a low rank, particularly as he
had the appearance of
being a capable seaman. There was a bitter
expression on his lean, aquiline face that the Texian recognized as
common to officers in other navies who had, for some reason, been
passed over for promotion.

‘
Saludos, senor,’
Ole Devil greeted, taking out the ‘proof of his
identity. His bearing suggested that he was merely going through an
unnecessary formality. ‘This will tell you who I am.’

‘
Well,
Senor
Halford,’ Grivaljo said, after reading the document and
introducing himself. ‘What brings you to my ship?’

The voice suggested to Ole
Devil why Grivaljo was still only a lieutenant. Some of the Spanish
warships and their crews had gone over to the Mexicans during the
struggle for independence, as had military units. According
to
rumors,
officers of Spanish-Creole birth were discriminated against by
their Mexican superiors. If that was so in Grivaljo’s case, dealing
with him could be easier.

‘
Information, lieutenant,’ Ole Devil replied, accepting and
refolding the document. ‘Something you’ll be pleased to hear
about.’

‘
Willi?’Grivaljo asked.

‘
If
you’ve a mind to make some prize money, you will,’ Ole Devil
answered in a louder voice than was necessary.

‘
Prize
money?’ Grivaljo repeated. Then, hearing his words echoed in a
number of voices, he realized that the conversation was being
listened to by almost every man on deck. Angrily, he raised his
voice in a bellow. ‘Bosun! Put the hands to work, damn
you!’

‘
Like
I said, if you’ve a mind for prize money, you’ll be pleased to hear
what we’ve found out,’ Ole Devil stated, as the cursing bosun
chased the sailors away.

We>
senor?
’
Grivaljo said quietly, keeping his eyes on the Texian’s
face. ‘And who might ‘ W be?’

‘
The
people I work with.’

‘
Who
are they?’

‘
Friends of Mexico,’ Ole Devil countered. ‘I don’t give
names. Right now, I’m taking a pretty important message to General
Rovira. But my boss told me to keep close to the coast and get word
to any Mexican warship I saw going by that there’s a ship expected
during the next three days at Port Lavaca.’ He paused dramatically,
then continued, ‘It’s carrying supplies for Houston—including ten
thousand Yankee dollars.’

‘
How
do you know of this?’ Grivaljo demanded, trying, and not entirely
succeeding, to sound disinterested.

‘
Come
on now! A man of your intelligence doesn’t really expect me to give
the answer to
that,’
Ole Devil scoffed, with the air of one who had done his
duty. ‘Well, I’ve told you. The news I’ve got for General Rovira’s
important, so I’ll be on my way and let him have it.’

‘
Just
a moment,
senor,’
Grivaljo barked as his visitor went to turn away. ‘It’s not
as easy as all that. You could be trying to trick me.’

‘
Even
if
I’d
come out here instead of just sending a message with one of
your men,’ Ole Devil countered calmly. ‘Would I have brought my
girl along if that’s what I had in mind?’

‘
Perhaps not,’ Grivaljo answered, although a similar thought
had occurred to him. ‘But—’

‘
There
are no “buts” about it where I’m concerned!’ Ole Devil interrupted,
bridling with well-simulated indignation. ‘Damn it all, I’ve told
you something that any naval officer ought to be pleased to know.
If you don’t want to believe me and act on it, that’s up to you.
I’ll be going—
’

‘
Not
so fast!’ Grivaljo snapped. Although he was not armed, he felt sure
that the
gringo
would have more sense than to attempt resistance. ‘Being,
as you said, a man of intelligence, I think it would be better if
you stayed on board until after I’ve seen this ship which
you
say
is bound for Port Lavaca.’

‘
As
I’m here, and seeing that the boat which brought me’s gone back,
I’d be a fool to try and stop you,’ Ole Devil declared, giving a
resigned shrug. He showed nothing of the elation that he was
feeling. From the way he had spoken, the lieutenant was
contemplating acting upon Hardin’s information, which suggested
that he was not awaiting the arrival of the consignment of rifles.
Looking Grivaljo straight in the eye, he went on, ‘But I want what
you’re doing put in writing, so that I can show General Rovira
what’s made me late getting to him.’

‘
What
do you mean?’ the lieutenant asked uneasily, showing that he had a
pretty fair idea of the answer.

‘
Like
I told you,’ Ole Devil drawled. ‘I’ve some
very
important news for die General. Getting it
to him, even with her—’ He indicated the girl with a disparaging
jerk of his left thumb, ‘and my “Chink” servant along to make folks
less suspicious—don’t worry, she’s so stupid she barely speaks
English
and
doesn’t know a word of Spanish—it’s going to be dangerous to
deliver. So, if I’m going to be delayed maybe two or three
days—there’s no way of knowing just when that ship will arrive—I
want to be able to prove
I
wasn’t responsible.’

Listening to the conversation,
Di
—who spoke
sufficient Spanish to follow it—silently swore that she would raise
lumps on a certain Texian’s head for his comment about her.
However, impressed as she was by the way Ole Devil was manipulating
the officer, she did not forget her part. Standing with a partially
open mouth and an expression that suggested a complete lack of
comprehension, she showed none of her admiration for Ole Devil’s
acting. Everything about him implied that he was completely content
to be delayed—as long as he could lay the blame on somebody
else.