"Ha! And pray explain its use."
Johnnie undertook to do so, but it was plain that his words
carried no conviction, for his mocking inquisitor gave a loud
snort and gestured eloquently to his commander. "There you have
it!" he declared, proudly. "This impostor betrays himself."
The other officers were eying the unfamiliar article curiously;
one of them ventured gingerly to handle it; they exchanged
whispers.
"What do you call it?" the general inquired, leaning forward.
This was the colonel's moment. "I will tell you!" he said, with a
sneer at O'Reilly. "I am something of a genius at mechanical
inventions, and therefore I am not for a moment deceived by this
fellow's common lies. This"--he paused dramatically and held his
brother officers with a burning glance--"this instrument, in my
opinion, was devised for the purpose of injecting fulminate of
mercury into dynamite."
There was a breathless hush. The Spaniards stared at the little
syringe with amazement.
"And how does it operate?" queried one.
"It is one of those ingenious Yankee contrivances. I have never
seen one quite like it, but my intelligence makes its principle
plain. Evidently one inserts the tube into the dynamite, so, and
presses the bulb---"
There came a loud cry from General Antuna, who had bent closer; he
clapped his hands to his face and staggered from his chair, for in
suiting his action to his words the colonel had squeezed the bulb,
with the result that a spray of salt water had squirted fairly
into his superior officer's interested and attentive countenance.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173