d there, as if playing the
part of sentinels, though there was no earthly call for any service of
that nature.

So distinct was everything, that Major Starland saw the Captain reach
upward, grasp a cord and pull down. The hoarse throb of the steam
whistle awoke the echoes along shore and as it rolled through the
forests and jungles caused hundreds of denizens of the solitude to
wonder what sort of new beast was coming among them.

Gradually the boat grew hazy and indistinct, but the throbbing of the
engine and the soft wash of the current lingered long after the craft
itself had faded from view.

"It may be that President Yozarro is afraid President Bambos will
forget he has a navy," suggested the American.

"He does not mean to attack him, I am sure."

"He has no cause for doing so, which is generally the reason why these
wasps sting their neighbors. If they waited for a just cause there
would be eternal peace. Ah, my yacht is not due for several days! I
would it were here."

"What would you do, Major?"

"Declare on the side of General Bambos; I shouldn't ask better sport
than to blow that crab out of the water."

"Is General Bambos a better friend of yours, Major, than General
Yozarro?"

"I count neither as a friend, but Yozarro has my sister as his guest,
though she has overstayed her time. I may be wrong, but I am not
convinced that she is a willing visitor."

"He holds also the gunboat that we saw pass but a short time ago."

"And I have a yacht with a single gun; with that my crew would make as
short work of the _General Yozarro_ as we did with the Spanish fleets
at Manila and Santiago."

Captain Guzman shrugged his shoulders and smoked in silence.

"My boat will be here in two or three days. Then I shall ask no help
from Bambos or any one else in this part of the world."

"Why not wait, Major? Who knows that if your sister is restored to you
through the help of General Bambos, you may not have to ask General
Yozarro to help you make _him_ give her up?"

It was a contingency of which Major Starland had not thought. Prudence
told him to be patient till the coming of the _Warrenia_, with her
crew of a dozen men, beside the captain. Three of the crew had fought
against Spain and would welcome a scrap with the Atlamalcan navy.

But the American was restless. He carried a pretext for calling upon
General Yozarro, and his anxiety would not allow him to remain
quiescent. That night as he slept in the