ot notice him, and there was no sound, except the quick
sputtering of the nicotine in Langham's pipe, at which he pulled
quickly, and which was the only outward sign the boy gave of his
interest. Clay shifted one muddy boot over the other and leaned back
with his hands stuck in his belt.

"Why didn't you speak of this sooner?" he asked.

"Ah, yes, that is fair," said the General, quickly. "I know that it is
late, and I regret it, and I see that we cause you inconvenience; but
how could I speak sooner when I was ignorant of what was going on? I
have been away with my troops. I am a soldier first, a politician
after. During the last year I have been engaged in guarding the
frontier. No news comes to a General in the field moving from camp to
camp and always in the saddle; but I may venture to hope, sir, that
news has come to you of me?"

Clay pressed his lips together and bowed his head.

"We have heard of your victories, General, yes," he said; "and on your
return you say you found things had not been going to your liking?"

"That is it," assented the other, eagerly. "I find that indignation
reigns on every side. I find my friends complaining of the railroad
which you run across their land. I find that fifteen hundred soldiers
are turned into laborers, with picks and spades, working by the side of
negroes and your Irish; they have not been paid their wages, and they
have been fed worse than though they were on the march; sickness and--"

Clay moved impatiently and dropped his boot heavily on the porch.

"That was true at first," he interrupted, "but it is not so now. I
should be glad, General, to take you over the men's quarters at any
time. As for their not having been paid, they were never paid by their
own Government before they came to us and for the same reason, because
the petty officers kept back the money, just as they have always done.
But the men are paid now. However, this is not of the most importance.
Who is it that complains of the terms of our concession?"

"Every one!" exclaimed Mendoza, throwing out his arms, "and they ask,
moreover, this: they ask why, if this mine is so rich, why was not the
stock offered here to us in this country? Why was it not put on the
market, that any one might buy? We have rich men in Olancho, why
should not they benefit first of all others by the wealth of their own
lands? But no! we are not asked to buy. All the stock is taken in New
York, no one benef