ded sort of cutlas, which he called a machete.

"That is to be yours," he said. "You need not carry it in town, but you
will as soon as we get away. You will have pistols, too, and a gun. It
won't do to go up the road to Oaxaca unarmed. Now you may make the best
of your way to the consul's, and I'll stay here to finish getting
ready."

He appeared to be laboring under a good deal of excitement, and so, to
tell the truth, was the disguised young American. Out he went into the
hall, trying hard to be entirely collected and self-possessed, but it
was only to be suddenly halted. Before him stood the stately Senora
Tassara, and clinging to her was the very pretty Senorita Felicia, both
of them staring, open-eyed, at the change in his uniform. The senorita
was of about fourteen, somewhat pale, with large, brilliant black eyes,
and she was a very frank, truthful girl, for she exclaimed:

"Oh, mother, do look at him! But it does not make a Mexican of him. He's
a gringo, and he would fight us if he had a chance. I want them all to
be killed!"

"No, my dear," said the senora, with a pleasant laugh. "Senor Carfora
will not fight us. He and his ship brought powder for Colonel Guerra and
the army. I am sorry he must leave us. You must shake hands with him."

"Oh, no!" said the wilful Felicia, spitefully. "I don't want to shake
hands with him. He is one of our enemies."

"No, I'm not!" stammered Ned. "But did you know that our ship was
wrecked in the norther? If you had been on board of her when she went
ashore, you would have been drowned. The men in the life-boat had a hard
time in getting ashore. I'm glad you were at home."

"There, dear," said her mother. "That is polite. You heard what Senor
Zuroaga said about the wrecks. They were terrible! Can you not say that
you are glad Senor Carfora was not drowned?"

"No, mother," persisted Felicia. "I'll say I wish he had been drowned,
if--if he could have swum ashore afterward. Good enough for him."

Senora Tassara laughed merrily, as she responded:

"You are a dreadfully obstinate young patriot, my darling. But you must
be a little more gracious. The gringo armies will never come to Vera
Cruz. They are away up north on the Rio Grande."

"Well, mother, I will a little," said the senorita, proudly. "Senor
Carfora, your generals will be beaten all to pieces. You wait till you
see our soldiers. You haven't anything like them. They are as brave as
lions. My father is a soldier,