s in a deep hollow and made sure
his head never rose a half inch above the edge. He did his part too in
bellowing orders, but I don't suppose he commanded any more attention
than Bambos, Captain."

"Both forces fought independently of their leaders."

"You commanded yours, Captain, and did it well."

"Not so well as Captain Ortega, for it was that thundergust flank
movement which drove us headlong out of the mountains, with some of
the men never halting till they reached Zalapata. Captain Ortega and
no one else won that battle."

"General Yozarro knows his worth," said Martella; "he would have made
him a general long ago if it was not that he is jealous of him. He
is the only one I know who doesn't fear General Yozarro. They often
quarrel, for the Captain is plain of speech to every one. Yozarro has
announced that he means to make him admiral of the fleet which he
intends to build up. That I suppose is why he has placed him in charge
of the gunboat, so that he shall have all the training and experience
he can."

"How does he feel toward you, Martella?"

The native gave his usual shrug and grinned.

"I know enough to keep away from him. He will never forgive me for
deserting. He knows my grievance and may pity me, but he would be glad
to shoot me, if he had a fair excuse for doing so. I don't mean to
tempt him, even if he has given you his pledge of neutrality and is
the most honorable of men. If General Yozarro finds fault with him, it
will be just like Captain Ortega to say right before all the other
officers 'I gave you a chance, but you had not the courage to use it
and I would not waste any more effort on you.'"

None of the three could make a satisfactory forecast of the policy of
General Yozarro. It seemed to the American that he might be able to
secure two or three pieces of cannon and open a bombardment of the
boat from the shore, but this presupposed an unreasonable delay.
Captain Guzman said:

"He has no way of getting cannon this side of Atlamalco, and that
would take a day or two; he has no wish to destroy his own property,
and, if he had such a wish, he couldn't do it, for only by accident
would he hit the boat."

"That squelches my theory, which I didn't believe in myself. I'll have
another talk with the Captain, though his sense of honor isn't likely
to allow him to say much."

It was beyond midnight and the two were conversing in a friendly way,
but without anything important being said, w