ure accepted it, and the
excuse he gave of wild-pigeon shooting, as a matter of course.

Without difficulty Roddy found the bridle-path leading down from the
cliff road to the sea, and after riding for a short distance along the
beach came upon Inez, guarded by the faithful Pedro. The cliff,
hollowed at its base by the sea, hung over them, hiding them from any
one on the cliff road, and the waves, breaking into spray on an outer
barrier of rock, shut them from the sight of those at sea.

As Inez rose from the rock on which she had been seated and came
eagerly to meet him, her face was radiant with happiness. Over night
she appeared to have gained in health and strength, to have grown
younger, and, were it possible, more beautiful. The satisfaction in
the eyes of Roddy assured her that he, also, had solved the riddle.

"You have seen the book," she called; "you understand?"

"I think so," replied Roddy. "Anyway, I've got a sort of blueprint
idea of it. Enough," he added, "to work on."

"I didn't tell my mother," Inez announced. "Nor," she continued, as
though defying her own misgivings, "do I mean to tell her. Until you
can get back word to me, until you say that _this_ time you believe we
may hope, it seems to me it would be kinder to keep her in ignorance.
But I told Pedro," she added. She flashed a grateful smile at the old
man, and he bowed and smiled eagerly in return. "And he has been able
to help me greatly. He tells me," she went on, "that his father, who
was in the artillery, was often stationed at Morro before it was
abandoned. That was fifty years ago. The tunnel was then used daily
and every one knew of it. But when the troops were withdrawn from
Morro the passage was walled up and each end blocked with stone. In
San Carlos it opened into the guard-room. El Morro was hardly a
fortress. It was more of a signal-station. Originally, in the days of
the pirates, it was used as a lookout. Only a few men were kept on
guard there, and only by day. They slept and messed at San Carlos.
Each morning they were assembled in the guard-room, and from there
marched through the tunnel to El Morro, returning again at sunset."

"I don't know El Morro," said Roddy.

"You have probably seen it," Inez explained, "without knowing it was a
fort. It's in ruins now. Have you noticed," she asked, "to the right
of the town, a little hill that overlooks the harbor? It is just
above the plain where the cattle are corralled until th