rd gone?
Dear, dear! Not a better fellow in South America! I'd shoot 'em all
or string 'em up! The country's going to the dogs, and a man isn't
safe in his own house! Eh? What? Hurt the boy? What's the boy to do
with it? They can't punish him if his father had been fifty times a
rebel!"

"That is so, sir," remarked Jose; "but he might meet with an
unfortunate accident, or vanish mysteriously, or something of that
kind. What's the use of making believe? Those who have got rid of the
father won't spare the son, should he happen to stand in their way."

"Which he will," interrupted Mr. Warren. "My poor friend was hand in
glove with the Indians, and they'll rally round the boy."

"There are other things, too, which need not be gone into now,
however," said Jose; "but the long and the short of it is that Jack
must be got out of the way at present."

"And his mother?"

"She has sent him to you."

"But he can't be hidden here. The rascally Dons will have him in the
casemates before one can say 'Jack Robinson!'"

"We don't mean to stay here, sir," replied Jose. "Our idea is to go to
Valparaiso, and we thought if you had a ship--"

"The very thing, Joseph," and the thumbs went backward and forward
taster than ever. "Maxwell has a schooner leaving in the morning. You
can go on board to-night if you choose, but you had better have some
supper first."

As it happened, both Jose and I had been some time without food, so we
were glad to have something to eat; after which Mr. Warren took us to
the quay, where the schooner _Aguila_ lay moored.

"There she is," he remarked; "let us go aboard. Most likely we shall
find Maxwell there.--Hi, you fellows, show a light!--Lazy dogs, aren't
they? Mind your foot there, and don't tumble into the harbour; you
won't get to Valparaiso that way.--That you, Maxwell? I have brought a
couple of friends who are so charmed with your boat that they want to
make a trip in her. Where do you keep your cabin? Let's go down
there; we can't talk on deck."

Mr. Maxwell was another English merchant at Callao, and as soon as he
heard what had happened, he readily agreed to give us a passage in the
_Aguila_. We must be prepared to rough it, he said. The schooner had
no accommodation for passengers, but she was a sound boat, and the
Chilian skipper was a trustworthy sailor. Then he sent to his
warehouse for some extra provisions, and afterwards introduced us to
the captain, whose