The Kidnapped President

n he heard my reply. "I felt certain you would accept, and I assure you I shall valu

I answered. "From what you said to me last ni

wn private property to use as you will. You will find her captain a most reliable man, and he will receive orders to do his utmost to assist you. He will discharge all expenses, and will be held responsible for the working of the vessel and the crew. You will, of course, be known on board by another name, which we must arrange, and you will be suppo

me the name of that i

. Then placing his finger on a small dot in the Caribbean Se

s. If we can once get Fernandez there, all will be well. No vessels call at the island, and, unless he likes to attempt

ht flashed th

ess, I must have your positive assurance that no violence will be used towards the man you are so anxious to secure. I could

n replied without hesitation. "I merely desire to keep Fernandez out of Equin

us other details connected with the scheme, and the pa

be married. As President of the Republic, I could make your fortune for you in a very short time. You wouldn't care to bring

replied. "I fear, however, South American pol

were considering the matter; "but you must at least admit that,

f the stories I had been told of the thousands who had perished during the last Revoluti

" he remarked, "I had

on banking firm, which he handed to me. It was for no less a sum than six thousand pounds. This

erefore, better book your passage yourself. You will also have to get the outfit of which I spoke just now. That will cost a good deal.

s treatment, and

ood fortune. Well, now that I have arranged matters with you, I shall return to London and set the ball rolling in the various directions. If you could make

t-book with the cheque. After that, having promised to call upon him

again so soon. She had counted, she declared, upon having me for another month

chance for me. If I am successful, we shall be able to be married when I return, and

ngaged upon if you will be able to do that," she answ

e ever had to do with. Some day, perhaps, I may be able to l

," she answered, like the good little wo

a person of importance in their eyes. They would have been more surprised, I fancy, had they known the reason of my wanting it all! The next thing to be done was to telegraph for a passage to Barbadoes. This I did in my own name, and, as the transaction was with my old firm, I could well imagine th

y to the fashionable hotel at which Guzman de Silvestre was staying. He was in the act of going o

lacing a chair for me as he spoke. "I trust yo

the vessel on Wednesday morning in the docks. The

e. I have received a cable from the folk in Florida to the effect that the yacht will reach Barbadoes on the tw

h," I answered. "I only wish I had a little

as certain that I shall one day see Fernandez coming as

ed to remark, "that there is st

hesitate to ask any questions you may thin

ou have met, you should have selected me for this business. Surely you

een able to carry it through successfully had it come to a pinch, but the chances are that they might have failed in some little thing, and that would have given rise to suspicion. I wa

d, "but I don't quite see what the appearanc

son, would be quick to detect a brother hawk. One suspicion would give rise to another, and then, you may rest assured, the attem

-and yet be a traitor in reality. I don't know that I con

swered, with one of his peculiar smiles. "Call it an a

r in the event of the President obtaining an inkling of what was toward. When all this was arran

lborn. He was not in at the moment, but when I returned,

ad greeted each other, "and what can I do for

. "In the first place I want to know what you

he cannot retract what he has said, or withdraw what was entered in the ship's log. The charge of untruthfulness, he admits, might be reconsidered, and he is also willing to suppose that your neglect of the ship might be due to a certain slackness which was engendered by the easy-goin

Not content with injuring me, he must endeavour to reflect on Captain

rmitted a dry smile

d, "that you have abandoned your notion

is, I am leaving England for South America on Wednesday next, and don't quite know when I shall be

ther situation?" he inquired. "And, pray, what

ake charge of a certain letter I have written, and which I desire shall be opened by the person to whom it is addressed, in the event o

ening, and which was addressed to my mother and Molly jointly. Th

ief," he said. "I mistrust that part of the wor

rty that I should like to leave to Molly and my mother. It is not very

aid the lawyer. "At the same time I will draw up

en left anything by my father, I could see that he was anxious to question me concerning the manner in which I had

ow that I myself started with my articles and not a penny more than a hundred guineas to my name. To-day, however, I fancy-but there, I understand that

hole amount must pa

as possible. I grudged every hour I spent away from it. Perhaps it was the dangerous nature of my enterprise that was accountable for it; at any rate, I know that I was dreading the leave-taking that was ahead of me mor

hut it with a snap and nodded to me. I was about to throw down the handkerchief I held in my hand, when there was a cry and Molly appeared before me. Running towards me, she threw her arms about my neck. Knowing that at any moment the men might fire, I tried to put her aside. But she only clung the tighter. Every moment I expected to hear the rattle of rifles, but it seemed an a

elling her the truth. "Is it likely that I could be anything b

before very long, will you not?" she said, looking at me ser

ent ways-only to return to England to be knocked down in the Strand by a runaway cab. I might go to the North Pole and come back safely, to fall through the ice and be drowned in the Vicarag

come soon. I shall pray for you always, Dick, and as

little party that sat down to dinner that evening. My mother could scarcely restrain her tears-Molly tried to be cheerful and failed in the attempt; as for myself-though I joked on every conceivable subject, save that of foreign travel-my h

dear old mother one last kiss, and left the house with a lump in my throat that came near to choking me. I can see my mother's tear-stained face at the window even now, as I

n you have left the cross roads and the gipsy's grave behind you, warns you that you are half-way into town. As everybody who knows the neighbourhood is aware, there is at the foot a picturesque cottage, once the residence of the turnpike keeper, and, a hundred yards or so on the other side again, a stile, which commences the footpath across the fields to M

her, "do not be angry with me. I could not sta

ame home again, and then we set off together. How short the remainder of that walk seemed, I must leave you to imagine. It appeared scarcely to have commenced before we had left the country and were in the quaint old streets of Salisbury, m

ith him. Then I bade him good-bye, for it was part of our arrangement that he should not accompany me to the ship, and, having done so, returned to my cab and bade the man drive me to the railway station, where I was to take the train to the docks. By t

to end? was the ques