ew acquaintance. Ned looked
up at him almost nervously, for he did not at all like the aspect of
affairs in that street. He was thinking:

"I guess they were right about the excitement of the people. This isn't
any place for fellows like me. I must get out of Vera Cruz as soon as I
can. It's a good thing that I'm disguised. I must play Mexican."

At that moment a good-natured smile spread across the gloomy face of his
unexpected companion, and he said, in a low tone of voice:

"Say nothing, Senor Carfora. Walk on into the consulate. I belong to
General Zuroaga. There are four more of his men here. We have orders to
take care of you. You are the young Englishman that brought us the
powder. There was not a pound to be bought in Vera Cruz, but some of
those fellows would knife you for a gringo."

[Illustration: "WE HAVE ORDERS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU"]

Quite a useless number of queer Spanish oaths were sprinkled in among
his remarks, but Ned did not mind them. He only nodded and strictly
obeyed the injunction against talking, even while he was asking himself
how on earth his friend, the senor, ever became a general. He concluded,
for the moment, that it might be a kind of militia title, such as he had
heard of in the United States. However that might be, he and his
guide soon reached the door of the consulate, and he himself was
promptly admitted, as if the keeper of the door had been expecting to
see him. There were guards inside the house as well as in the street,
and they motioned Ned on through a narrow entry-way, at the end of which
was an open room. He passed on into this, and the next moment he was
exclaiming:

"Hullo, Captain Kemp! I'm so glad you are here! What am I to do next?"

"Almost nothing at all," said the captain, quietly. "Just sign your
papers and get away. The consul himself has gone to the city of Mexico,
with United States government despatches for President Paredes, and we
shall finish our business as easy as rolling off a log. You have nothing
to do with the wrecking of the _Goshhawk_, for you weren't on board when
she parted her cable. But just look at those people!"

Ned did so, for the room, a large and well-furnished office, was almost
crowded with Americans of all sorts, mostly men, whose faces wore varied
expressions of deep anxiety.

"What are they all here for?" asked Ned.

"Safety!" growled the captain. "And to inquire how and when they can
find their way out of this city of robbers