cil and a pad--BUT--the only way I could permit myself to
rob him of his just desserts would be--here I traced a few lines on the
pad--would be--my voice now became impressive--to receive one-third
when it was erected in the yard in Brooklyn, and the balance on
delivery of the bills of lading to his agent; payments to be made by
his distinguished Excellency's bankers in New York.

If the modification of terms in any way disappointed the gentleman from
San Juan, my closest observation of his smile and glance failed to
detect it. He merely quivered his shoulders--a sort of plural
shrug--rolled his cigarette tighter between his thumb and forefinger,
remarked that the memoranda were entirely satisfactory, and folding the
paper slid it carefully into his pocket; then with a series of salaams
that reminded me of a Mohammedan spreading a prayer rug, and an "A
Dios, Senor," the ivory-tinted individual withdrew.

A week later Mawkum, carrying a tin case addressed to his sun-dried
Excellency, passed up the gangplank of the Tampico; this he placed in
that gentleman's hands. Inside its soldered top were the plans and
specifications of a First Order Light, to be made of iron, to be
properly packed, and to have three coats of red lead before
shipment--together with a cross-section of foundation to be placed on
the reef known as "La Garra de Lobo"--The Claw of the Wolf--outside the
harbor of San Juan--all at the risk of his Supreme Excellency, Senor
Tomas Correntes Garlicho, of the Republic of Moccador, South
America--the price of the ironwork to hold good for three months.

On his return to the office Mawkum took up his position once more at my
window, waited until the Tampico, the case and his Excellency were well
on their way to Sandy Hook and started in on other work. The next day
the incident, like so many similar ventures--his racks were full of
just such estimates--was forgotten. If any of the bread thus cast upon
the waters came back, the chief would be glad, and so would the
Grandioso; if not, we were both willing to cut a fresh slice to keep it
company.

II

Four months passed. The ice was out of the river; the steam heat had
been turned off in the high building and the two time-worn awnings had
been fixed to my windows by the obliging janitor. The Tampico had come
and gone, and had come again. Its arrivals, and departures were, as
usual, always commented upon by Mawkum, generally in connection with
"That Bunch of