who read
more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching
the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many
men. Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or
Philip's white anger.

"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my
flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on. "I answer at once--by
taking them with me. The Senhora Pondillo and her family will
accompany her husband to my _quinta_ at Las Flores. A special train
will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon.
Thence my estate is but a day's march. You and my other friends from
both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored.
You must come. The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an
hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel
certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night. For
you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can
absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at
the very first opportunity."

Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence. She
looked at Philip, and their eyes met. They both remembered the glance
they had exchanged at the post-office. Preoccupied by their own
thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged
in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was
smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo.
But San Benavides was sharp-witted. He needed no interpreter to make
clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of
the table.

"He has told them," he thought, perhaps. And, if further surmise were
hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with
the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten
days--especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events
just then in Brazil.

Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the
role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate
of all false prophets.

CHAPTER XIV

CARMELA

Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their
Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most
popular. The Spaniard's _Manana_ is so elastic that it covers any
period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite
future. When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of