he inquired, "how old do you think the daughters are?"

II

The next day Roddy and Peter sailed for Willemstad, the chief port and
the capital of the tiny island colony of Holland. In twelve hours they
had made their land-fall and were entering the harbor mouth. The sun
was just rising, and as its rays touched the cliff from which, twelve
hours later, Senora Rojas and her daughters would look toward Porto
Cabello, they felt a thrill of possible adventure.

Roddy knew that, as a refuge for revolutionists exiled from Venezuela,
Willemstad was policed with secret agents of Alvarez, and he knew that
were these spies to learn that during his visit either he or Peter had
called upon the family of Rojas they would be reported to Caracas as
"suspect," and the chance of their saving the Lion of Valencia would
be at an end. So it became them to be careful.

Before leaving Porto Cabello Roddy had told McKildrick, the foreman of
the Construction Company's work there, that some boxes of new
machinery and supplies for his launch had gone astray and that he
wished permission to cross to Curacao to look them up. McKildrick
believed the missing boxes were only an excuse for a holiday, but he
was not anxious to assert his authority over the son and heir of the
F. C. C., and so gave Roddy his leave of absence. And at the wharf at
Porto Cabello, while waiting for the ship to weigh anchor, Roddy had
complained to the custom-house officials at having to cross to
Curacao. He gave them the same reason for the trip, and said it was
most annoying.

In order to be consistent, when, on landing at Willemstad, three
soiled individuals approached Roddy and introduced themselves as
guides, he told them the same story. He was looking for boxes of
machinery invoiced for Porto Cabello; he feared they had been carried
on to La Guayra or dropped at Willemstad. Could they direct him to the
office of the steamship line and to the American Consul? One of the
soiled persons led him across the quay to the office of the agent, and
while Roddy repeated his complaint, listened so eagerly that to both
Peter and Roddy it was quite evident the business of the guide was not
to disclose Curacao to strangers, but to learn what brought strangers
to Curacao. The agent was only too delighted to serve the son of one
who in money meant so much to the line. For an hour he searched his
books, his warehouse and the quays. But, naturally, the search was
unsuccessf