nd he did not share his military
aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel.

"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced
after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in
thoughtful scrutiny. "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot
both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are
not framed for would-be Presidents. I fear we must fall in with our
allies' views, _faute de mieux_. You and I have to lead a headstrong
army. That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule--a
mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar. The younger man
thinks only of the girl's safety. He, at least, will not consent to
leave her. Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice
us if their interests point that way. Trust me to twist them into the
course that shall best serve our own needs. I am now going to tell
them that you approve of their plan."

Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent
captain's comments. His precise, well-turned periods were admirable.
Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San
Benavides.

Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German
with some proficiency. She had also devoted many hours to the study of
Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of
Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon. In
Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences
between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard
feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have
standardized many words. Hence, the Spanish language will serve all
ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the
vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego.

So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of
his military friend's remarks. With the vaguest knowledge of what was
actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very
project which, according to the President, he favored. She had caught
the name of the relief vessel, the words _bote_, "boat," _las doce_,
"twelve o'clock," _a bordo de buque_, "on board the ship," and others
which did not figure in the translation. She wondered why.

The long day wore slowly. The heat was intense. Even the hardened
sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the c