Motor Matt in Brazil; or, Under The Amazon Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  JOHN HENRY GLENNIE, U. S. N.

  The anchor of the steamship _Borneo_ splashed into the yellow watersof the Gulf of Paria, the boat continuing onward until the anchor hadtaken a grip on the muddy bottom. The _Borneo_ was from Venezuelanports, and at La Guayra had picked up no less a personage than JohnHenry Glennie, Ensign, U. S. N.

  The steamer carried a queer assortment of passengers, and they wereall around Ensign Glennie as he sat well aft on the grating beside thehand-steering gear.

  Venezuelans were chattering like magpies; little brown youngsterswere rolling over and over around Glennie's feet; a British engineerwas talking with a Jew pearl buyer from Margarita Island--the Spanishcoming queerly from their alien lips; a German coffee-planter wasexchanging small talk with the wife of a Dutch officer who lived inCura?oa; and there was the usual ragtag and bobtail of English andBrazilians, all of whom gave the youth in the naval uniform more orless curious notice.

  But the youth, his suit case on a table at his elbow, seemed absorbedin his own thoughts. Judging merely by appearance, Ensign Glennie'sthoughts were far from pleasant. His fingers drummed sharply on thetable top, and there was a frown of discontent on his face as his eyesfixed themselves gloomily on the Trinidad hills that lay back of thetown of Port-of-Spain. In all conscience, the ensign had enough totrouble him.

  Several days previous, he had been detached from the United Statescruiser _Seminole_ at La Guayra on special duty. Incidentally, thecommander of the _Seminole_ had entrusted him with a packet ofimportant papers to be delivered to Mr. Brigham, the United Statesconsular representative at Para, in the mouth of the Amazon River. Inthe course of his duty, Ensign Glennie was to call at Para; also thecourse of his duty demanded that he proceed to Georgetown, BritishGuiana, and there await the arrival of a certain boat in which he wasto take passage around "the Horn."

  Ensign Glennie, let it be known, was descended from a line ofMassachusetts notables who first came over in the _Mayflower_. Hisfather was a Boston nabob, and there was a good deal more pride andhaughtiness about Glennie than was good for him. No sooner had he beencut loose from the _Seminole_ on detached duty, than he proceeded tohire the services of a body servant--a sphinx-like little Jap by thename of Tolo.

  How Tolo came to be in La Guayra at the very time the ensign landedthere, and why he should insinuate himself into the particular noticeof Glennie and ask for a job, were mysteries not destined to be solvedfor some time. The prime thing to be taken account of here is that Tolodid present himself, and was hired.

  For two days he brushed the ensign's clothes, polished his boots,and performed other services such as fall to the lot of a valet whoknows his business. Then, after two days of faithful service, Tolodisappeared; and, about the same time, the packet of important paperslikewise vanished.

  Glennie led the authorities in a wild hunt through La Guayra, and afterthat through Caracas, but Tolo was not to be found. What on earth thelittle Jap wanted with the papers, Glennie could not even guess, butthat he had them seemed a certainty.

  Returning to La Guayra, Glennie found that the authorities therehad discovered that Tolo had taken passage, on the very morning hehad turned up missing, on a tramp steamer bound for Trinidad andPort-of-Spain; and the authorities further stated that Tolo hadformerly been employed as a waiter in the _fonda_ Ciudad Bolivar, whichfronted the esplanade of the capital city of the island.

  Ensign Glennie changed his plans forthwith. Instead of proceedingdirect to Georgetown he would gain that port by way of Trinidad,stopping long enough in Port-of-Spain to hunt up the enterprising Toloand secure the papers.

  So this was why Glennie happened to be on the _Borneo_; and it was alsothe reason he was not so comfortable in his mind as he might otherwisehave been.

  As a commissioned officer in the United States Navy he had beenentrusted with important dispatches. If he did not recover thedispatches, and then proceed with the rest of the duty marked out forhim, a black mark would be set against his name that would interferewith his promotion.

  Glennie was worried as he had never been before in his life. His onedesire was to serve Uncle Sam with a clean and gallant record. Hisfather, the Boston nabob, expected great things of him, and Glennie,being puffed up--as already stated--with rather high ideas regardinghis family, expected them of himself. Therefore the loss of that packetof official papers caught him like a slap in the face. It made himsquirm, and he was squirming as he sat by that table on the grating,felt the _Borneo_ reach the end of her scope of cable and come to astop with her mud-hook hard and fast.

  The water was too shoal for a large boat to get very far inshore, andGlennie was among the first to tumble into the launch that soon hovealongside. When he had scrambled off the launch at the landing, hehailed a queer-looking cab and ordered the dusky driver to carry him,as rapidly as possible, to the _fonda_ Ciudad Bolivar.

  The ensign did not pay much attention to the scenery as he was jostledalong--his mind was too full of other things for that--and presentlyhe went into the wood and stone building that faced the _plaza_ andproceeded to make frantic inquiries regarding a waiter by the name ofTolo.

  To all of these eager questions the Venezuelan proprietor of the hotelgave a negative shake of the head.

  "There must be some mistake--the Se?or Americano has surely beenwrongly informed. There has never been such a person as the Japaneseemployed in the _fonda_. The waiters were all Venezuelans, and no Japswere ever employed. Perhaps this Tolo had worked in the old hotel thathad been burned during the great fire?"

  Glennie's trail, faint enough at best, had run into thin air. He was atthe end of it, and it had led him nowhere. Going off into one corner ofthe wineroom, the ensign dropped down at a table in an obscure corner,rested his chin in his hands, and wondered dejectedly what he should donext.

  He was not very well acquainted with Orientals, or the brand ofguile they used. He had heard of Japs insinuating themselves intofortifications flying the United States flag and making drawings andjotting down memoranda of the guns, stores, and number of men. He hadlaughed contemptuously at such yarns, although heartily agreeing withthe expediency that had suggested such a move on the part of the menfrom Nippon. Like all others in the sea and land service of the GreatRepublic, Ensign Glennie knew that it wasn't so much the forts, or theguns, or the ammunition, as it is the unconquerable spirit of the menbehind the guns that count.

  But where was the tactical advantage to be gained by a Jap in stealingan envelope addressed to a consular agent tucked away in a Braziliantown at the mouth of the Amazon? The only advantage which Glennie couldthink of was that of _pecuniary gain_. Tolo had stolen the packet inorder to demand money for its return. Glennie had plenty of money, andhe began to think he had fallen into a grievous error by running awayfrom La Guayra without giving Tolo a chance to communicate with him.

  And yet there was the information developed by the La Guayra police, tothe effect that Tolo had sailed for Port-of-Spain. However, this mightbe as unreliable, as that other supposed discovery, namely, that Tolowas working at the _fonda_ Ciudad Bolivar.

  Nevertheless, no matter what theories Glennie might have, now that hewas in Port-of-Spain, and could not get out of the town again until thenext steamer sailed, it would be well to look around and thus makeassurance doubly sure that Tolo was not on the island.

  Although Ensign Glennie was not at all sanguine, he immediately leftthe _fonda_ and conferred with the city officials. A description ofTolo was given, handbills offering a reward for his apprehension werestruck off and posted in conspicuous places, and the island telegraphlines and the cables to the mainland were brought into requisition.

  Glennie had to work fast and thoroughly. Before many days he must be inGeorgetown, ready to go aboard the ship that was to carry him south,and if he did not recover the important packet before he was picked up,then there would be a reprimand, and perhaps a trial for dereliction ofduty. He winced at the thought and redoubled his efforts. />
  But he was "going it blind." The wily Tolo might be a thousand milesaway and rapidly increasing the distance between him and his erstwhileemployer. Yet, be that as it might, Ensign Glennie could not give overhis hopeless labors.

  He fought against fate with all the Glennie firmness and resolution.Fate had no business trying to backcap one of the Glennies, anyhow.Family pride swelled up in him as the skies of hope continued todarken. All he did was to cable his governor for a few thousand dollarsand then begin scattering it wherever he thought it might do some good.

  Three days Ensign Glennie was in Port-of-Spain, then one morning ashe came down into the office of the _fonda_ he heard an excited grouptalking about a mysterious under-water boat that had just bobbed up inthe harbor.

  Glennie pricked up his ears. "What's the name of the boat?" he asked.

  "The _Grampus_," was the answer.

  That was enough for the ensign. He settled his bill, grabbed up hissuit case, and rushed for the landing.

  He had hardly got clear of the hotel before a Chinaman, with a copyof one of the handbills, presented himself and asked for John HenryGlennie. The Chinaman was told where the ensign had gone, and helikewise made a bee-line for the waterfront.

  Here, at last, was a possible clue--and it was sailing after Glenniewith kimono fluttering and pigtail flying.