revolutionary leader whom he had caused to be shot, years
ago, without the formality of a court-martial. Ned saw her eyes flash
and her bosom heave when she spoke of him, and after that he somehow
felt safer than ever under her roof. He also saw that she and General
Zuroaga were the best of friends, and that they had a long private
conference of their own.

"I guess he feels at home here," thought Ned, as he went down-stairs
with Felicia and Senora Tassara, and his confidence in that state of
affairs grew stronger as he walked along the central hall of the house.

"Pablo!" he exclaimed, to a man who lay sprawled out upon the floor, but
the general's Oaxaca follower made him no reply. He and three more like
him, who lay near him, were sound asleep, and there was no good cause
for stirring them up just then.

"They are all well armed," said Ned to himself. "The general will be
protected when he rides away in the morning. But this is the biggest
kind of thing to come to me. The best _I_ can do will be to take to my
books till he gets back. Oh, but won't it be grand fun to make a
complete tour of the mountains and of all the Pacific coast of Mexico?
He says I shall see the tallest peaks of the Cordilleras and that I may
visit some of the great silver mines."

With all that exciting expectation running through his head, it was not
easy for him to get to sleep that night. When he arose in the morning,
his friend, the mysterious general, had already departed.

CHAPTER XII.

A STORM COMING

"A monarchy! a monarchy! nothing but the one-man power will ever do
anything for this miserable multitude of Indians, negroes, and
rebellion-making Spanish aristocrats. Royalty is our only resource, and
I am nearly ready to strike the required blow. I think that Don Maria
Paredes would make as good an emperor as Augustin de Yturbide, and he
will wear the crown of Mexico somewhat longer. But I must look out for
Santa Anna. If he were to return from Cuba too soon, there would be
nothing left for me but to have him shot as soon as he came ashore. Or
else he might have me shot not many days afterward. His emissaries and
spies are all the while working against me, but I shall catch some of
them. Oh, how I would like to get hold of that venomous conspirator,
Zuroaga!"

The President and practically the dictator of the nominal republic of
Mexico was standing in his own luxurious chamber of the government
palace in the city of Mex