Two Boys of the Battleship: or, For the Honor of Uncle Sam

He opened his coffee warehouse and switched on the lights, inviting the squad of men from the battleship to make the place their headquarters. This the lieutenant who led the force including Frank and Ned was glad to do. The wounded had been sent to the ship. Off in different parts of the city the sound of firing could be heard, the peculiar crack of the rifles carried by the blue-jackets being easily distinguished. It was evident that not all the squads of fighting revolutionists had been as easily dispersed as had the one our friends encountered.

“But what’s it all about – why did they attack the Americans here?” asked Frank of Mr. Kennedy.

“Well, it’s quite a political tangle – the whole business,” he said. “To explain briefly I will say that there are here two parties, each one trying to get the controlling power. We Americans established ourselves under the present ruling party, and they treated us well. In fact we are making lots of money. I guess it’s the money – our money, our factories and warehouses – that the revolutionists are after.

“Of course, we stood up for our rights, naturally, and the citizens’ party, as I call the present ruling one, to distinguish it from the revolutionists, stood by us. We heard talk some time ago that we Americans were to be driven out of this republic, so we appealed to the Washington authorities for help. We are glad to see that it arrived in time.

“There has been fighting before this, but it did not amount to much. This attack planned for to-night, and of which we had word in time to prepare, in some measure, is the beginning of the effort to drive us out.”

“Well, they won’t drive you now,” said the lieutenant. “Arden – Frank,” he said, to distinguish the two brothers, “Arden, find Sergeant Wherry and tell him I want him to take a message for me.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Frank, saluting. Mr. Kennedy looked up suddenly.

“Excuse me,” he said, “but did I hear you call some one Arden?”

“Yes,” the lieutenant replied. “I have two brothers in my squad to-night, Frank and Ned Arden,” and he indicated them. Frank paused a moment.

“Are you, by any chance, related to a Mr. Philip Arden of Ipswhich, Long Island,” went on the coffee man.

“He’s our uncle” exclaimed Ned, impulsively. “Do you know him?”

“Well, I should say I do!” was the unexpected answer. “I have been looking after some of his interests down here – that is, I was until he was cheated out of them. What has become of him? I have been wondering why he didn’t do something to protect his property, and straighten matters out. Where is he?”

“In the federal prison at Atlanta,” replied Frank.

“In prison?”

“Yes. He is charged with inciting some revolution down here, and his property in Ipswhich was confiscated, as well as his fortune and ours down here. Claims for damages were filed against him, and he was unjustly convicted. Friends are now trying to reopen the case.”

“Oh! So that’s how the matter lies!” exclaimed Mr. Kennedy. “Well, I want to tell you boys, right now, that your uncle had no more to do with this revolution down here than I did. But I see the game now. It’s that rascal of a Bernardo and his crowd. Why say, I understand now! Bernardo is one of the revolutionists!” he cried. “And he gave this false information against your uncle to cover his own crimes and those of his helpers. It’s a plot to ruin your uncle! Say, you boys have just come in time!

“If this revolution can be put down, and you can get Bernardo and his rascals into your hands, you may be able to get evidence to clear your uncle and free him. If only you can stop the revolution!”

“Oh, we’ll stop it all right,” said the lieutenant, significantly. “Arden, you needn’t go on that errand. I’ll send some one else. I didn’t know you were so concerned in this matter. You stay and have a talk with Mr. Kennedy for it is possible that he might help you quite a good deal. I’ll relieve you and your brother from further duty to-night, unless there is more fighting.”

“Thank you, sir,” answered both boys, and saluting they departed.

CHAPTER XXII – THE PURSUIT

Frank and Ned were greatly surprised at the unexpected news given them by Mr. Kennedy, the coffee merchant. For a while they did not know what to say, nor what questions to ask first.

“Say, did you ever hear anything like the way this has turned out?” Ned finally demanded. “It’s like a book story.”

“It beats a book story,” Frank observed. “I thought it was a queer coincidence when our battleship was ordered to this republic, where our fortunes and Uncle Phil’s are tied up, but to find here some one who knows him, and the different complications with which he is tied up is certainly wonderful.”

“It certainly is,” agreed Mr. Kennedy. “I never thought you would be among the battleship boys who were coming to our relief. Now I’ll tell you all I know about your uncle’s affairs. I am sorry to hear he is in prison.”

“Well, of course it isn’t as if he were a criminal,” put in Ned.

“No, of course not,” admitted the coffee man.

“And he’s pretty comfortable, or he was the last we heard from him,” went on Frank. “But he does want his liberty so he can prove his innocence and save our money. You know we lost practically everything.”

“Yes, and we were robbed in New York, and if we hadn’t enlisted we might have starved,” added Ned, and he and his brother, in turn, told their story.

Then came Mr. Kennedy’s opportunity. By this time the sailors from the battleship had made themselves comfortable in the warehouse, disposing themselves on piles of empty bags to sleep. Of course, sentries were posted to guard against a surprise in case the revolutionists returned, but this did not seem likely. The sound of firing in other parts of the town grew more distant, and it was evident that the rebels had been driven back to their quarters in the hills.

“And we may have to get you to use your big guns on them again,” said the coffee man.

“Did the shells do much damage – kill many?” asked Frank.

“He fired one gun,” said Ned, proudly.

“Did you, indeed? Well, no, not many were killed; in fact, none, though several were wounded by flying debris. We asked your captain to shell the two hills to blow them apart, and make it less easy for the revolutionists to hide up there. We hope to attack the position soon, and we wanted it made as easy as possible to take.

“But now I’ll tell you something of your uncle’s affairs, and we’ll try and plan a way to help him. It all depends on that rascal Bernardo, one of the rebel leaders. He’s a bad one!”

Then the coffee man went into details with which it is unnecessary to burden the readers, as most of what he told Frank and Ned was of interest only to them and their uncle.

In brief the facts were these. After the death of the boys’ father, as has been related before, Mr. Arden took his money and the boys’ fortunes, of which he had charge, and invested in various industries in the South American republic. Some of the investments were in the natural resources of the country, and others were in stock companies organized to develop different businesses, some of which were owned by American, and some by other foreign residents of Pectelo.

It was through some of these business matters that the boys’ uncle had met Mr. Kennedy. The two had trade interests in common, and often helped each other. Ned and Frank, going to college, and spending their summers on Great South Bay, knew nothing of all this.

Finally the success of Mr. Arden in the South American republic excited the jealousy of some of the native residents there, especially the man Rafello Bernardo, a Portuguese trader. He had had some business dealings with Mr. Arden, but the latter caught him in some underhand transactions and refused to have anything more to do with him. This angered Bernardo, and he sought means of revenging himself.

He found it in the pending revolution. Revolutions often occur in Central and South American republics of the lesser size, and in Uridio they were nothing new. But to have any sort of revolution it is necessary to have arms, and as the revolutionists under Bernardo had none, they had to purchase them.

The government forces, or at least the government then in power, the one under which Mr. Arden, Mr. Kennedy and the others held their concessions and privileges, felt that if they could keep arms away from the revolutionists they could easily subdue them, and to this they bent all their efforts.

But arms were smuggled in, and not until it was too late did Mr. Arden learn that some of his own agents and employees had used his factories, his warehouses and his very transportation facilities to bring in the weapons. And when this was found out Bernardo falsely said that Mr. Arden had helped to finance the revolution, that he had arranged for the shipment of arms, and that Mt. Arden hoped to have a large part in the new government that would be set up.

Mr. Arden had no means of disproving this, and action was taken against him by those who had been injured, complaint being made to the federal authorities, who had no option but to act and cause the arrest of the boys’ uncle. The rest of the story you know.

“And so things have been going on from bad to worse,” said Mr. Kennedy. “I wondered what had become of your uncle. I knew his affairs here were in bad shape, but I kept expecting him to come down and straighten them out. I never dreamed he was arrested. I was in Europe on business for awhile, and when I returned I had so much on my hands, protecting my property from the effects of the revolution, that I had no chance to make the proper inquiries.

“The revolution dragged until recently, when it assumed such an aspect that we Americans determined to ask the protection of Uncle Sam. And I assure you I never saw a prettier sight than when your magnificent battleship dropped anchor in our bay.”

“She is a great ship!” cried Ned, with sparkling eyes.

“But how are we going to get hold of this Bernardo, and prove the innocence of Uncle Phil?” asked Frank.

“I don’t really know,” replied Mr. Kennedy. “We shall have to wait and see what happens. The revolution isn’t over yet, by a long shot. Those rascals have drawn off, but they’ll come back. They really outnumber us – that is we Americans, our employees and the friendly inhabitants,” he went on, “though you blue-jackets will turn the scale in our favor. And once the revolution is broken, and Bernardo and his rascals driven out of the country, I think we’ll have peace. We’ll see what happens when morning comes.”

It may be imagined that Frank and Ned had so much to talk about that they did not sleep well. But finally they dozed off. Morning brought no resumption of the fighting. Orders came that the detachments already on shore, thus including Frank and Ned, were to remain in the city, being stationed in different quarters. More blue-jackets came from the battleship, and more field artillery was landed.

Camp kitchens were set up, and the detachment which included our two heroes remained quartered in the coffee warehouse, which made fine barracks.

That day passed quietly, though spies reported that the revolutionists were gathering in force in the hills and seemed to be getting ready for another attack.