presence and compel him to undo what he has done and
to beg my pardon on his knees."

The Captain indulged in his expressive shrug and smoked in silence. He
was giving the American a few minutes in which to regain his poise.
The American did so.

"Why did Martella leave his service?" he abruptly asked.

"General Yozarro caused his brother to be shot, because he ran the
gunboat aground the other day. It was upon a mound formed under water
one night by the forked river, which no one could see. The boat was
not injured, but he shot Martella's brother, who was the pilot.
Martella, therefore, hates him."

"No more than I do. Had I known what you have told me when talking
with him this forenoon, I should have put a bullet through his
carcass."

"There are better ways than that; let us go to the home of General
Yozarro in the mountains and bring away the Senorita; Martella will go
with us."

"He will be shot as a deserter if taken prisoner."

"He won't be taken prisoner; perhaps, too, he may gain the chance to
slay General Yozarro; it will delight his heart if he can do so."

"No more than it will delight mine; talk with him, Captain; if he will
help me through with this business, he will never regret it."

Captain Guzman made his way past the sail to the bow where the native
was sitting, gazing thoughtfully back over the stream they were
leaving behind them. He turned his head as his friend approached, and
the two talked in low tones, both seemingly calm, though each was
stirred by strong emotion. Then the Captain came back to the American,
who, with his hand on the tiller, was holding the boat to her course.
He ran in quite close to the southern shore and was studying the Rubio
Mountains, whose craggy crests were visible in the sky throughout the
whole voyage between the capitals of the republics. He was consumed
with resentment that anyone had dared to hold the daughter of an
American citizen a guest without her consent,--in other words a
prisoner, as if she were a criminal. Manifestly there was a
"sovereign remedy" for all this. The great United States Government
would not permit the outrage, and any wrong done to one of its people
would cost the miserable offender dear.

But the leading Republic of the world lay many leagues to the
northward. It would take weeks to bring a naval vessel thence, and
certainly a number of days before one could come from the nearest
port. Meanwhile, the hours were of measureless