embarrassment he turned to the men.

"I regret there is no ice," he said, "but you know the rule of the
tropics; as soon as a ship enters port, the ice-machine bursts."

"I'll tell the steward to send you some, sir," said Livingstone, "and as
long as we're here."

The senator showed his concern.

"As long as we're here?" he gasped.

"Not over two days," answered the owner nervously. "The chief says
it will take all of that to get her in shape. As you ought to know,
Senator, she was pretty badly mauled."

The senator gazed blankly out of the window. Beyond it lay the naked
coral reefs, the empty sky, and the ragged palms of Porto Banos.

Livingstone felt that his legation was slipping from him.

"That wireless operator," he continued hastily, "tells me there is a
most amusing place a few miles down the coast, Las Bocas, a sort of
Coney Island, where the government people go for the summer. There's
surf bathing and roulette and cafes chantants. He says there's some
Spanish dancers----"

The guests of the SERAPIS exclaimed with interest; the senator smiled.
To Marshall the general enthusiasm over the thought of a ride on a
merry-go-round suggested that the friends of Mr. Livingstone had found
their own society far from satisfying.

Greatly encouraged, Livingstone continued, with enthusiasm:

"And that wireless man said," he added, "that with the launch we can
get there in half an hour. We might run down after dinner." He turned to
Marshall.

"Will you join us, Mr. Consul?" he asked, "and dine with us, first?"

Marshall accepted with genuine pleasure. It had been many months
since he had sat at table with his own people. But he shook his head
doubtfully.

"I was wondering about Las Bocas," he explained, "if your going there
might not get you in trouble at the next port. With a yacht, I think it
is different, but Las Bocas is under quarantine."

There was a chorus of exclamations.

"It's not serious," Marshall explained. "There was bubonic plague there,
or something like it. You would be in no danger from that. It is only
that you might be held up by the regulations. Passenger steamers can't
land any one who has been there at any other port of the West Indies.
The English are especially strict. The Royal Mail won't even receive any
one on board here without a certificate from the English consul saying
he has not visited Las Bocas. For an American they would require the
same guarantee from me. But I don't