The news was staggering! Mr. Ryder stood blinking at the man for fully a minute before he could comprehend the situation. Then as he realized that his one desire, to keep the current flowing uninterruptedly into Mexico City, had been thwarted, his face grew very white and tense, but instantly this expression changed to one of determination. “We’ll put these lines back again in the face of every obstacle,” he thundered. Then, turning, he addressed the men in the room.
“Boys, the lines are down! For the first time since I’ve been in charge of Necaxa, Mexico City is without juice! I’m going to open the service again! Who is going to help me!”
“I am!” came the chorus and every man who could stand crowded about the engineer and[185] pleaded to be taken along. Even some of the wounded men raised themselves on their elbows and begged to be permitted to help in the crisis.
Quietly and methodically Mr. Ryder went about picking out his assistants. Two burly Mexican linemen were the first selected, then Harvey Carroll of the maintenance department under whose jurisdiction came all the repair work along the transmission line, and last of all a swarthy rurale, known among the men as the best rider and best marksman of all the Necaxa troop.
“You five will be enough. Carroll, you and the linemen get your repair kits and have the mozos saddle five horses. We’re to start immediately.” Then as the men were turning to go, the engineer called them together again.
“Perhaps I should warn you boys of the dangers that face us. I have an idea that this breaking down of the transmission lines is nothing more or less than a trap. Where we find the trouble we will also find a swarm of rebels ambushed. They may shoot us from the poles just as they would shoot so many[186] pheasants. In fact, the more I think of it the more confident I am that they have pulled the wires down for the very purpose of luring some of us out into the mountains so that they can square accounts. Considering the situation in that light, do you all feel just as enthusiastic about going?”
“You bet we do,” came the hearty response and the five men hurried out to get their equipment together.
“Fine,” said Mr. Ryder, then turning and addressing the rest of the men in the toolhouse he said:
“It will be up to you fellows to guard the place from an attack until we return. I know your number is small now and some of our best fighters are out of commission, but just the same you must hold the place against any further assault. I don’t expect you’ll have much trouble after the way we treated José Cerro and his rebels this morning, but nevertheless you can’t afford to have your eyes closed. Clear up the place and get everything shipshape and ready for instant action.
“And as for you,” he continued, turning to[187] Jack Straw, “you’ve acquitted yourself well to-day and I must compliment you. Now, to top off all this, I want you to keep your eyes on the clock. It is exactly eleven o’clock. If we are not back or you do not get word from us by three this afternoon, arrange with Captain Alvarez, of the rurales, to have the whole squad ride the transmission line in search of us. They may get there in time to find our dead bodies, but anyway we can feel certain of a decent burial, can’t we, my boy?”
“You’re right you can, but I certainly hope that we’ll be able to locate you before burial is necessary, if we have to look for you at all,” replied Jack.
A few moments later the four other members of the repair squad rode up to the door of the improvised hospital, leading Mr. Ryder’s mount. The engineer shook hands with all his friends and bade them good-by while his assistants did likewise. Then when all were mounted and ready, word was given and the five horses went racing across the enclosure, through the gate and on to the trail that followed the line of transmission cables.[188] For half an hour they pushed ahead at a steady canter, keeping a careful watch on the shrubbery and underbrush for signs of the enemy. They saw any number of dead rebels. All along the trail were bodies of men who had been wounded in the recent battle and who had followed their companions until they dropped from sheer exhaustion.
About four miles from Necaxa they located the break. The four large cables were completely down, but fortunately the parallel telephone wire was still in service. At first Mr. Ryder ............