bove the post-house.

"My sister tells me you shall be given this tomorrow morning," Hope
said, "if we are not followed."

The man's eyes laughed with pleasure. He swept his sombrero to the
ground.

"I am your servant, Senorita," he said. "Gentlemen," he cried, gayly,
turning to Clay, "if you wish it, I will accompany you with my men.
Yes, I will leave word that I have gone in the sudden pursuit of
smugglers; or I will remain here as you wish, and send those who may
follow back again."

"You are most gracious, sir," said Clay. "It is always a pleasure to
meet with a gentleman and a philosopher. We prefer to travel without
an escort, and remember, you have seen nothing and heard nothing." He
leaned from the saddle, and touched the officer on the breast. "That
ring is worth a king's ransom."

"Or a president's," muttered the man, smiling. "Let the American
ladies pass," he commanded.

The soldiers scattered as the whip fell, and the horses once more
leaped forward, and as the carriage entered the forest, Clay looked
back and saw the officer exhaling the smoke of a fresh cigarette, with
the satisfaction of one who enjoys a clean conscience and a sense of
duty well performed.

The road through the forest was narrow and uneven, and as the horses
fell into a trot the men on horseback closed up together behind the
carriage.

"Do you think that road-agent will keep his word?" Langham asked.

"Yes; he has nothing to win by telling the truth," Clay answered. "He
can say he saw a party of foreigners, Americans, driving in the
direction of Palacio's coffee plantation. That lets him out, and in
the morning he knows he can levy on us for the gate money. I am not so
much afraid of being overtaken as I am that King may make a mistake and
not get to Bocos on time. We ought to reach there, if the carriage
holds together, by eleven. King should be there by eight o'clock, and
the yacht ought to make the run to Truxillo in three hours. But we
shall not be able to get back to the city before five to-morrow
morning. I suppose your family will be wild about Hope. We didn't
know where she was when we sent the groom back to King."

"Do you think that driver is taking us the right way?" Langham asked,
after a pause.

"He'd better. He knows it well enough. He was through the last
revolution, and carried messages from Los Bocos to the city on foot for
two months. He has covered every trail on the way, and if he goes