thing," sternly, "don't let me catch you listening outside
the door; if I do God have mercy on you."

"Si, Senor."

I stepped inside, doubtful enough of what all this might mean, yet
quite prepared to accept of any chance it might offer. Gunsaules
closed the door softly, but I had already visioned the apartment in
all its details. It was small, and nearly square, a swinging lantern
in the center, a single bunk on one side, and a small table on the
other, screwed to the wall, and covered with charts and various
papers. A few books were upon a shelf above this, and a sea chest was
shoved under the bunk. Some oilskins, together with a suit of clothes
dangled from wooden pins, while the only other furniture consisted of
a straight-backed chair, and a four-legged stool. The round port stood
partly open, and through it I could see the gray expanse of water.

All these I perceived at a glance, but the instant the door closed
behind me my entire attention concentrated on Estada. He sat upright
in the chair gazing straight at me, his own face clearly revealed in
the light from the open port. It seemed to me I was looking at the man
for the first time, and it was not a pleasant picture. His face was
swarthy, long and thin, with hard, set lips under a long, intensely
black moustache, his cheeks strangely crisscrossed by lines. The nose
was large, distinctively Roman, yielding him a hawklike appearance,
but it was his eyes which fascinated me. They were dark, and deeply
set, absolute wells of cruelty. I had never before seen such eyes in
the face of a human being; they were beastly, devilish; I could feel
my blood chill as I looked into their depths, yet I held myself erect,
and waited for the man to speak. It seemed a long delay, yet doubtless
was scarcely more than a moment. Then his lips curled in what was
meant to be a smile, and he waved his hand.

"Sit down on the stool, Gates. Have you any knowledge of Portuguese?"

"None whatever, sir."

"Nor do I English; so we shall have to rely on the language of Spain."

"I am hardly expert in that" I explained. "But if you do not talk too
fast, I can manage fairly well."

"I shall speak simply. Wait a moment."

He arose, stepped quietly to the door, and glanced out, returning
apparently satisfied.

"I don't trust that damned steward," he said, "nor, as a matter of
fact, anyone else wholly." He paused, and stared at me; then added:
"I've never had any faith in your race, Ga