ated
himself on the steps of the pedestal, and lighting a cigar, remained
smoking and peering into the shadows about him, until a shadow blacker
than the darkness rose at his feet, and a voice said, sternly, "Put out
that light. I saw it half a mile away."

Clay rose and crushed his cigar under his foot. "Now then, old man,"
he demanded briskly, "what's up? It's nearly daylight and we must
hurry."

Stuart seated himself heavily on the stone steps, like a man tired in
mind and body, and unfolded a printed piece of paper. Its blank side
was damp and sticky with paste.

"It is too dark for you to see this," he began, in a strained voice,
"so I will translate it to you. It is an attack on Madame Alvarez and
myself. They put them up during the ball, when they knew my men would
be at the Palace. I have had them scouring the streets for the last
two hours tearing them down, but they are all over the place, in the
cafes and clubs. They have done what they were meant to do."

Clay took another cigar from his pocket and rolled it between his lips.
"What does it say?" he asked.

"It goes over the old ground first. It says Alvarez has given the
richest birthright of his country to aliens--that means the mines and
Langham--and has put an alien in command of the army--that is meant for
me. I've no more to do with the army than you have--I only wish I had!
And then it says that the boundary aggressions of Ecuador and Venezuela
have not been resented in consequence. It asks what can be expected of
a President who is as blind to the dishonor of his country as he is to
the dishonor of his own home?"

Clay muttered under his breath, "Well, go on. Is it explicit? More
explicit than that?"

"Yes," said Stuart, grimly. "I can't repeat it. It is quite clear
what they mean."

"Have you got any of them?" Clay asked. "Can you fix it on some one
that you can fight?"

"Mendoza did it, of course," Stuart answered, "but we cannot prove it.
And if we could, we are not strong enough to take him. He has the city
full of his men now, and the troops are pouring in every hour."

"Well, Alvarez can stop that, can't he?"

"They are coming in for the annual review. He can't show the people
that he is afraid of his own army."

"What are you going to do?"

"What am I going to do?" Stuart repeated, dully. "That is what I want
you to tell me. There is nothing I can do now. I've brought trouble
and insult on people who have bee