hair, tied in a powdered queue,
stood on the veranda. He had a frank, open face, and the rive knew at once
that he was an American. Had not his appearance proclaimed his
nationality, his speech would have done it for him.

"Good morning," he exclaimed, cheerily, "you are the gentlemen from
Kentucky who arrived yesterday? Yes, you must be! All New Orleans has
heard of the feat of strength and dexterity, performed by one of you last
night in Monsieur Gilibert's Inn of Henri Quatre! And he who did it could
be none other than you, my friend!"

He looked fixedly and admiringly at Henry, and the youth blushed under his
tan.

"It was merely done to stop an annoyance," he said. "I did not mean to
make any display."

The prepossessing stranger laughed.

"Doubtless," he said, "but you have received a great advertisement,
nevertheless. Some rumor concerning the cause of your visit has also
spread in New Orleans, and for this reason I am here to meet you at the
door of the Governor General."

The five looked at him inquiringly. He smiled, and they liked him better
than ever.

"I don't mean to make a mystery of anything," he said. "My name is
Pollock, Oliver Pollock."

"Ah," exclaimed Paul, his face alight, "you are the head of the company of
Philadelphia, New York and Boston merchants that is sending arms from New
Orleans up the Mississippi and Ohio to Pittsburg, where they are landed
and taken across the country for the use of our hard-pressed brethren in
the east!"

The shrewd merchant's eyes twinkled.

"I see, my young friend," he said to Paul, "that you are alert, even if
you have just come out of the wilderness. Yes, I am that man, and I am
proud to be the head of such a company. I tell you, too, that you have
come at the right time. The English, as you know, are forbidden for the
present to trade at New Orleans, while we are unrestricted. But England
is powerful, far more powerful than Spain, and she is pushing hard for
the privilege. If she gets it we shall he hit in a vital spot. Moreover,
an exceedingly strong faction here, one with great influence, is striving
continually to help England and to crush us."

"Alvarez!" exclaimed Henry and Paul together.

"Yes, Alvarez! We must not underrate his strength and cunning, but if he
is engaged in plotting, in actual treason, or what is very near it, your
coming may help us to prove it and thus strengthen the hand of Bernardo
Galvez, who is our friend."

"There is