CHAPTER XV.THE PLEA.
Although only a few days had elapsed since the Camera Chap had last seen Señora Felix, he was shocked at the change which had come over her in that time. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her face was drawn and haggard. She seemed to be on the verge of a nervous collapse.
“I suppose it is a surprise to you to find me here, Mr. Hawley?” she began, with a pathetic smile.
“Somewhat, I must confess, señora, in view of the warning you sent me not to attempt to communicate with you,” he replied.
“I felt that I must see you, in spite of the great risk,” she said. “I feared that there was slight chance of persuading you to grant the great favor I am compelled to ask of you, unless I made the appeal in person. I am confident that no matter what it will mean to you, you will not refuse to be moved by the pleadings of a most unhappy woman. So I induced our good friend, Doctor Bonsal, to arrange this meeting.”
The venerable physician acknowledged this reference to himself by a bow. “It was the only safe way, sir,” he explained simply to Hawley. “The señora’s home is watched so closely that it would have been out of the question for her to receive you there. As I am in attendance, professionally, upon her father, andit is known that she calls here frequently to consult me about his condition, it looked to me like a feasible plan to have you meet here.”
“An excellent idea,” the Camera Chap returned. “You spoke of a favor you wished to ask of me, señora. Without waiting to hear what it is, I assure you that if it lies within my power to grant it——”
“It does,” she interrupted eagerly. Then, with startling abruptness: “I want you to leave Baracoa immediately, Mr. Hawley. I want you to give up this mad attempt to help my unfortunate husband. No good can come of it—nothing but a great deal of harm. The steamshipPanama, bound for New York, is due to arrive at Puerto Cabero to-morrow. If you are sincere in your desire to be of service to us, you will prove it by engaging passage on her.”
The Camera Chap smiled regretfully. “I am afraid I cannot promise to do that, señora—not unless there is a very good reason. May I inquire why you have so suddenly lost faith in me? The other day, on theColombia, you sent me a message that your only hope was in my ability to carry out the mission intrusted to me; and later you sent me another message that you had the greatest confidence in me. What can have happened to cause you to change your mind?”
The señora sighed. “I have not lost confidence in you,” she said. “From what I have heard of your great skill and courage, I think it quite likely that you would succeed in doing what you have been sent to do.”
The Camera Chap stared at her in astonishment. “Then why——” he began.
“Because whether you succeed or fail,” she broke in passionately, “the result must be the same. When I urged you, the other day, to persevere in your desperate undertaking, I had not stopped to consider that. I believed, then, that your success would bring about my poor husband’s freedom. But now”—she paused, and a look of great fear came into her dark eyes—“now I know that inevitably it would mean his death. Whatever the outcome of your adventure, its price would be my husband’s life—and that is too great a price to pay, even for his vindication.”
“But it won’t be that way if I get the snapshot,” Hawley protested confidently. “I can understand your fears, señora; but, believe me, they are groundless. If we can get photographic evidence that President Felix is locked up in El Torro they won’t dare touch him. Portiforo is too smart a man to try anything of that sort. Once he knows that we’ve got the evidence, he’ll realize that the game is up, and that he’d only be making matters worse for himself if he were to attempt to assassinate your husband. So you see,” he concluded cheerfully, “if I can get the picture everything will be all right.”
The señora shook her head. “You don’t know Portiforo,” she said bitterly. “He’d assassinate my husband first, and argue about the genuineness of the photograph afterward. If for no other reason, he’d do it out of revenge. No, Mr. Hawley, you cannot save my husband that way. The only way you can help us is by doing nothing.”
“But maybe your fears are exaggerated,” theCamera Chap suggested, as a new argument presented itself to his mind. “If Portiforo is capable of committing such a cold-blooded murder, why hasn’t he done it before now? Surely it would have been much safer for him to have put President Felix to death in the first place, instead of throwing him into prison. Doesn’t the fact that he didn’t take that course indicate that he draws the line at assassination?”
“It wasn’t mercy, sir, which made Portiforo spare his victim’s life,” said Doctor Bonsal quietly. “It was necessity. At least, so we have cause to believe.”
“Necessity?” Hawley repeated curiously.
“Yes; our theory is that he was compelled to do so. General Replife, although one of Portiforo’s intimates and fellow conspirators, was under great obligations to President Felix,” the physician explained. “It is our belief that it was he who saved him from assassination. Replife had a little more conscience than the others, and although he was willing to take part in the dastardly plot, his past friendship for Felix caused him to insist that the victim’s life be spared. He persuaded Portiforo that their ends could be served just as well by locking up the president in El Torro as by murdering him. And Portiforo, afraid to antagonize Replife, was forced to consent to this plan. That is our theory, and we feel sure that it is the correct one.”
“Well, if it is,” argued Hawley, “isn’t that good reason to assume that President Felix’s life isn’t in danger? If Replife wouldn’t stand for assassination before, the chances are that he won’t stand for it now. So you see, señora, there is nothing to fear.”
Señora Felix looked at him in astonishment. “Can it be possible that you have not heard the news?” she exclaimed. “General Replife was shot down by an assassin as he was leaving the war office this afternoon. There is now nobody to prevent Portiforo from doing as he pleases with my unfortunate husband.”