The recess into which it had now been hauled was discovered a few days before. It struck Will as a very suitable place for mooring the vessel, though it cost him and the negro boy some hours of hard work to clear it of frogs and other old inhabitants. The water was only about two feet deep, so that there was little fear of encountering alligators; but it was swarming with electric eels, one of which gave Will a severe shock as he waded in with his vessel. He was very careful not to give the creatures another chance.
"Why weren't you here when I started this morning?" said Will as he made the hydroplane fast.
"Very sorry, señor," replied the boy, "but señor did not wish the place to be known. I was coming, as señor ordered, but I met Señor Machado, who walked by my side. What could I do? I walked round about, but Señor Machado kept with me a long time, and when he left me alone, and I came here, your excellency was gone."
"You did very well, José. Señor Machado is a friend of yours, eh?"
"Ah! a distinction and a difference. He asked you questions, no doubt?"
"No, señor, no questions, but he would have liked me to give answers."
"And got none. Very well, José; always keep your mouth shut. I don't want Señor Machado or any one else to meddle with my boat."
He unscrewed the throttle and put it into his pocket. Then, having seen that the painter was securely wound about an iron stake driven into the ground, he scrambled up the bank, walked along for a few yards, shoving aside the entangling undergrowth with his arms, and came to a spot whence he could overlook the scene from which the sounds proceeded. Several hundreds of dusky labourers were engaged in constructing an embankment along the edge of a wood nearly a quarter of a mile away. To the left, the railway line disappeared among the trees. A small engine was drawing a train of trucks filled with earth towards the partly built embankment. Below this, on a stretch of sward, were the tents of the engineering staff; at a considerable distance to the left were those of the coolies. Will forced his way through the trees, remaining out of sight from the encampment, and approached the tents by a circuitous route. The sudden friendliness of Señor Machado for his boy José confirmed him in his determination to keep the whereabouts of the hydroplane a profound secret. True, Señor Machado had hitherto seemed a quiet inoffensive fellow, attentive to his duty as telegraphist; but the telegraph was not constantly in use, and Will thought it just as well to keep temptation out of Señor Machado's way.