somebody
else's washing."

"Who is it from," interrupted Peter irritably, "the Consul?"

Roddy nodded and laughed.

"You may laugh," protested Peter, "but you don't know. You've been in
Venezuela only four months, and Captain Codman's been here eighteen
years. These people don't look at things the way we do. We think it's
all comic opera, but----"

"They're children," declared Roddy tolerantly, "children trying to
frighten you with a mask on. And old man Codman--he's caught it, too.
The fact that he's been down here eighteen years is the only thing
against him. He's lost his sense of humor. The idea," he exclaimed,
"of spying on us and sending us anonymous warnings. Why doesn't he
come to the hotel and say what he has to say? Where does he think he
is--in Siberia?"

Roddy chuckled and clapped his hands loudly for the waiter. He was
pleasantly at ease. The breakfast was to his liking, the orange trees
shielded him from the sun, and the wind from the sea stirred the
flowering shrubs and filled the air with spicy, pungent odors.

"Perhaps the Consul understands them better than you do," persisted
Peter. "These revolutionists----"

"They're a pack of cards," declared Roddy. "As Alice said to the King
and Queen, 'You're only a pack of cards.'"

As he was speaking Mr. Von Amberg, the agent of the steamship line,
with whom that morning he had been in consultation, and one of the
other commission merchants of Willemstad, came up the gravel walk and
halted at their table.

Both Von Amberg and his companion had but lately arrived from Holland.
They were big men, of generous girth, beaming with good health and
good humor. They looked like Kris Kringles in white duck. In
continental fashion they raised their Panama hats and bowed profusely.
They congratulated the young men on so soon having found their way to
the Cafe Ducrot, and that Mr. de Peyster, whose name appealed to them,
had pronounced the cooking excellent, afforded them personal
satisfaction.

Von Amberg told the young men he had just left cards for the club at
their hotel, and hoped they would make use of it. His launch, carriage
and he, himself, were at their disposition.

When Roddy invited the two merchants to join them Von Amberg thanked
him politely and explained that his table was already laid for
breakfast. With another exchange of bows the two gentlemen continued
up the twisting path and disappeared among the bushes.

"_That's_ what I mean!" excl