the
word of a stranger and a foreigner against that of a Spanish captain in
his service, a man of noble lineage, and with powerful friends at the
Court of Madrid. But the seeds of doubt had been sown nevertheless. The
youth, Paul, and his comrade Henry, also, had spoken with singular
earnestness. Moreover, Francisco Alvarez was an ambitious man, and
Bernardo Galvez also believed him to be unscrupulous. If he aimed at the
place of Governor General and the commitment of Spain to an alliance with
England, it was a daring thing to do.

Bernardo Galvez was sorely troubled and he looked from Alvarez to the five
and then back again. Alvarez sat smiling. His look was that of one who was
right, who knew that he was right, and who knew that others knew it.
Oliver Pollock sitting by the big window, close to the five, was also
watching shrewdly in order that he might draw from all this coil some
capital for the patriot cause.

"In any event," said Bernardo Galvez at last, speaking slowly, as if he
carefully considered each word, "you were wrong, Don Francisco, to expose
this youth to such an encounter. If, as you say, it was merely a little
sport, then the sport was ill-chosen and ill-timed. Whether that or
another was your purpose, it reflects upon your judgment and sense of
humanity."

He paused, and Alvarez flushed darkly, but he was still master of his
supple self.

"Your words are none too severe, Your Excellency," he said. "I did indeed
do a foolish thing. It was a thoughtless impulse."

"But," resumed Galvez, as if Alvarez had not spoken, "you are an officer
high in the service of His Majesty, and these who accuse you are strangers
belonging to another race. They do not bring the proof of their charges,
and the fact that they have violently seized and put to their own use the
property of Spain cannot be denied, as the boat is now anchored at the
levee."

Francisco Alvarez and Braxton Wyatt lifted their chins in triumph and the
five were downcast. But the face of Oliver Pollock, the shrewd merchant
and far-seeing judge of affairs and men, showed nothing.

"Therefore," continued the Governor General, "the boat must be returned at
once to Don Francisco, and for the present those who seized it must be the
prisoners of Spain."

Paul was about to spring up in protest, but Henry's hand on his arm held
him down. Oliver Pollock, too, gave him a warning glance. Yet the
triumphant looks of the Spanish captain and the renegad