m Millot the morning of the day before. The food was
good and plentiful, and when Stuart had stowed away all he could hold,
drowsiness came over him, and his head began to nod.

"When do we go to bed?" he asked with a yawn.

The fisherman motioned to a string-bed in the corner.

"Whenever the young Senor wishes," was the reply.

"And you?"

"Did you not hear Senor Cecil say that I was to be sure you did not get
lost?" He smiled. "You might have dreams, Senor, and walk in your sleep.
When Senor Cecil says 'Watch!' one stays awake."

At the same time, with a deft movement, he pinioned Stuart's arms, and
searched him thoroughly, taking away his revolver and pocket knife. No
roughness was shown, but the searching was done in a businesslike
manner, and Stuart offered no resistance. As a matter of fact, he was
too sleepy, and even the bravest hero might be cowed if he were fairly
dropping for weariness. Stuart obediently sought the string-bed, and, a
few seconds later, was fast asleep.

It was daylight when he awoke. Breakfast was on the table and the boy
did as much justice to the breakfast as he had to the supper. With rest,
his spirits and energy had returned, but he was practically helpless
without his revolver. Besides, on this desolate bit of beach on the
eastern end of Cuba, even if he could escape from his captor, he would
be marooned. Such money as the boy possessed was secreted in Cap
Haitien, most of his friends lived in Western Cuba. If this fisherman
were indeed to aid him to get to Havana, nothing would suit him better.
All through the meal he puzzled over the fisherman's rough mode of life,
and yet his perfect Spanish and courtly manners.

"If the young Senor will accompany me to the stable?" suggested his
host, when the meal was over, the mild words being backed by an
undertone of considerable authority. Stuart would have liked to protest,
for he was feeling chipper and lively, but, just as he was about to
speak, he remembered Andy's remark, on board the motor boat, about "food
for fishes." Probably Cecil's allies were ready for any kind of
bloodshed, and the boy judged that he would be wise to avoid trouble. He
followed without a word.

The stables were of good size and well kept, out of all proportion to
the hut, confirming Stuart's suspicion that a house of some pretensions
was hidden in the forest nearby. A fairly good horse was hitched to a
stoutly-built light cart and the journey began. The dri