The Kidnapped President

half-a-mile. It boasts a population numbering upwards of thirty thousand, of which only some ten or twelve thousand are white, the remainder being half-castes, quadroons, mulattoes, an

ay be in store for him. There is also the President's palace, and, of course, an opera house, and equally of course a long stret

a much-uniformed official, who sat beside the coxswain. He proved to be the health officer-a voluble little Spaniard, with a magnificent idea of his own importance. As soon as his boat was alongside he ran up the ladder to the gangway with the agility of a monkey, and made his way to the place where Captain Ferguson was waiting to receive him. During the years I had been in the South American trade, I had managed to pick

," he said, bowing before me as if he would

city," I replied, resolved not to be

your first visit to Equinata, se?o

velyan manner. "I can assure you, however

and the President's palace. Ah!" Here he paused and gave an airy wave of his hand as if to signify that, when I should come to view thes

ned, "and also to pay my respects to your most illustrio

e?orita Dolores. I raise my glass to the most beautiful woman in Equinata." Thereupon, with his eyes turned to

urning to the shore once more. Having fired another salvo of compliments at me, he carried this plan into effect, and we saw no more of him. Half-an-hour later the Harbour Master and the Chief Customs official arrived, drank more champagne, with which you may be sure I liberally plied them, smoked a number of cigars, praise

had never been completed. Possibly a Revolution may have been accountable for the stoppage of the work, or the President, or Minister of Public Works, may have decamped with the funds. At any rate all there was to s

rthy though the crew might be, I had no desire that they should hang about the sea fr

lf-a-mile or so further on the street in question enters the Great Square, in which stand the Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, the Law Courts, and, more important than all, so far as I was concerned, the President's palace. The centre is laid out as a public garden, and possesses a band-stand and many fine statues of the heroes of Equinata in impossible garbs and m

n. Before leaving the yacht I had taken the precaution to make myself familiar with the quarter in which the street was situated, and had ascertained that it commenced at the Houses of Parliament and ran straight through the western portion of the city, towards the foot of the mountains. I accordingly made my way thither, and having discovered it, proceeded in search of the house in which the mysterious Don José resided, or had his place of business. Greatly to my surprise it proved to be a wine merchant's

hat the latter was not at home. I endeavoured to question him concerning him, but the old fellow was either naturally dense, or, for some reason best known to himself, pretended not to understand. In another moment I should have left the place in despair, but, just as I was making up my mind to do so, the sound of a footstep in the patio outside

o see Don Her

as brought me h

ss the frontier, perhaps?" he cont

"I am an Englishman, as you have doubtless already

but without any great show of enthusiasm. "Perhaps you will accompany me to my p

side. This he opened, and when I had passed into the room

he had offered me a cigar. "As wine of that particular vintage is very difficult to obtain, you must see yourself t

ich Silvestre had also given me at our last meeting-from it. This I handed to the man before

st likely to accomplish it. Nevertheless, I feel sure that you can have but a very small notion how dangerous it is likely to prove. The man in question mistrusts everybody, and should but a breath of suspicion attach itself to you, you would be in the cart

portion of his speech was spo

that I should convince myself that you are Don Herma?os

urning to a certain page, he showed me a series of portraits of the prominent politicians of Equinata. One was a likeness of himsel

ose to introduce me to the Pres--"-here he held up his hand as if in exp

pon me with a favourable eye. I have a friend, however, with whom he is on terms of the greatest friendship. Through this friend I will have you presented. It would be better in the meantime if you will call at the palace and inscri

g the responsibility of my e

aid of being shot. I have seen the gentleman we are discussing deal with his enemies on various

to your friend?" I went on. "Is it quite wise, do yo

for your yacht, and as the leading wine merchant of the city, and having the reputation of our country at stake, I am anxious to do my best for you. I also desire, for the same reason, that you should enjoy your sta

tre's supporters were of the same calibre, it struck me that he would experience some little difficulty

ce now, and write my name in the visitors' bo

ard, which I hope you will accept, and I will word the note that accompanies them, so that you will

get rid of me as he was to preserve his incognito. I accord

y object in life was to see how near sleep they could go without actually dozing off. Then I entered the palace grounds, and walked up the drive to the marble portico, where I entered my name in the book placed there for that purpose. I had already practised the new Trevelyan signature, an

account of all that had transpired, furnishing him at

use a popular saying, has taken the length of the President's foot, and as a natural consequence he is most anxious to keep out of its way, lest he should be crushed by it. I don'

ble interest to many of the inhabitants of La Gloria that afternoon. It is do

ty of admiring her even more than they do now, and for other reasons," I said. "

returning to the smoking-room with the smaller parcel in my hand, I opened it to discover what I had expected I should find there, a box of cigars and a note carefully placed inside. It was not a very long epistle, and informed me that it gave the wine merchant the greatest pleasure to comp

nt," I said to myself. "Well, let him come as soon as

side the coxswain, was one of the most curious little specimens of a soldier one would be likely to find in a day's march. His height could not have exceeded five feet, but what he lacked in stature he made up in self-importance. He was attired in full uniform, even to the extent of spurs and a sword. A helmet with plumes was perched upon his

swering in the affirmative, he made me a sweeping bow that was so irresistibly comic that I had some difficulty in restraining a smile. Then he continued-"Se?or, I have the hono

if his name would rank in history w

," I replied. "Allow me to conduct

selfsame afternoon I should pay a visit of respect to Madame Sagana and her daughters, who, as I gathe

he best part of two bottles of Perrier-Jouet. "Ah! believe me, we shall not let you go so eas

at, seated himself in the stern, and bade his men row him asho

d. Had this been the case, I should most probably have furnished the fashionable world of Equinata with a poor idea of the behaviour of an Englishman of wealth and position. At the moment of my entrance, the little General was paying considerable attention to a matronly lady who was so tightly squeezed into her chair that it seemed she would never be able to move from it again. Observing me, however, he left her, and hastened forward to greet me, after which he led me across the room to present me to his wife and daughters. The former was a small, though more wizened, edition of her husband; the latter, however, were handsome girls of the true Spanish type. Half-a-dozen other presentations followed, after which I was at liberty to make myself as agreeable as circumstances permitted and my knowledge of the Spanish language would allow. Had only the General's daughters been p

of presenting to you Se?or Travillion from England, who, like so many others, has heard of the

n standing before me was none other than the famous President Fernan