zens
drank, but he tasted it carefully and gave himself up to anxious thought
without draining his glass. The insurance on the _Rio Negro_ did not
cover all the risks Mayne would run if he left port with disabled
engines, and the coast was dangerous. The loss of the ship would be a
blow, but if Mayne did not leave Havana soon the freight might arrive
after the president's fall. Kit, feeling his responsibility, shrank from
the momentous choice, and while he pondered Olsen came up and occupied a
chair opposite.

"Drinking _tinto_!" he remarked. "Well, I guess that's prudent. But how's
the Buccaneer? He's been looking shaky and I heard he was ill."

Kit wondered how much Olsen knew. He said Adam's fever came and went and
he would, no doubt, be better soon. Olsen smiled and shook his head.

"There's no use in giving me that stuff; I know the climate! Askew's
going under fast and will never be fit again. I reckon the old man
knows he's got to let up, if you don't. What are you going to do when
he pulls out?"

"It will need some thought," Kit answered cautiously, since he had
grounds for believing the other imagined he was Adam's clerk.

Olsen ordered some vermouth, and then remarked in a meaning tone: "I
don't have to be careful about my drinks. There's an advantage in taking
the popular side."

"Are you sure yours is the popular side?"

"Wait and see," Olsen rejoined, "though that plan's expensive, because
it may be too late when you find out. My employers don't often back
the wrong man and I trust their judgment now. If you'll listen, I'll
show you."

Kit signed him to go on and Olsen resumed: "The Buccaneer will drop out
soon and you'll be left to do the best you can for yourself. Well, I
don't suppose you'll get another chance like this; we'll pay you ten
thousand dollars if you can keep the _Rio Negro_ back for a week."

"That doesn't indicate that you're sure of winning," Kit remarked dryly.
"Besides, I wouldn't trust Galdar to put up the money."

"I don't ask you to trust Galdar; my people will find the money. In a
sense, it doesn't matter to us who is president, except that we want the
concessions Galdar promised, and they're worth an extra two thousand
pounds. We'll give you American bills for the sum if your steamer lands
her cargo too late to be of use."

Kit thought hard. It looked as if Olsen knew the _Rio Negro_ had broken
down. If so, he was obviously well informed and his employers were
persuade