ve. I want you to come to
Boston at your first opportunity. I know I can give you good advice,
and it may be I can prove of material assistance to you."

When he first read the letter, Dan smiled to himself, not failing to
note the interest taken in him by relatives, now he seemed to be
proving his ability, who, heretofore, had known little about him and
cared less. But that is life, and he had a great deal rather be
accepted for what he had done than because of mere ties of blood. Thus
thinking, he came to attach greater significance to the letter. He
would go on to Boston when the _Tampico_ returned to the United States.
In the meantime he was Captain of a Howland boat, and he would obey
orders, he smiled grimly, and go to the dinner.

The dinner was a memorable one in San Blanco City. The revolution had
been shattered. The Rodriguez Government was supreme. The
_Presidente's_ palace was a blaze of lights. Conspirators were being
arrested and cast into prison. Vehicles of all sorts were bearing
dinner guests to the Hotel Garcia and dashing away. There were foreign
consuls in uniforms, and their wives; there was Rodriguez and his
cabinet, and officers of the army in resplendent garb, and women who,
when they threw their mantillas aside, revealed tawny necks and
shoulders.

The _Presidente_, Mr. Howland, and high officers of the Government sat
on a long dais at the head of the room; the other guests, including the
_Tampico's_ party, were at round tables with red-shaded lamps. It was
a pleasing picture, and Dan, for the first few courses, was glad he had
come. However, when he found that those with whom he was seated could
not speak English, while he could understand little of Spanish, the
evening began to wear. At length, with the long post-prandials at
hand, he arose.

Flanking one side of the room, which was large, were windows reaching
from the floor almost to the ceiling, which, when the weather was fair,
were opened, giving access to a garden of small, twisted trees and
tropical plants with small tables beneath, to which the pleasure-loving
population came at night, to sip iced drinks and listen to the music of
the orchestra as it flowed out of the dining-room.

Here Dan made his way and, stepping out of one of the windows, paused
on the garden's edge. The cool air was grateful, and with a sigh of
relief he drew a cigar from his pocket and lighted it slowly, From
beneath the trees came little pa