aze upon the little vessel,
whose curving to the right might change at any moment; but it kept
straight on under the propulsion of the breeze until hidden from sight
by the tops of the trees. The three men had certainly approached land,
though it could not be said they had left the boat.

"What do you make of it?" asked Miss Starland.

"Probably three natives have run to shore for a little while and will
soon pass out again and continue on their way."

"Let us keep watch."

They did so, and when an hour had passed and the sun was low in the
sky, the craft had failed to appear. Far to the westward, a thin,
dark, shadowy line lay motionless against the horizon, too far off to
be identified.

"I think it is the smoke of the gunboat," said the Senorita; "General
Yozarro means to come to the Castle over the same course we followed."

They looked long and anxiously, but the horizontal streak of vapor
gradually faded without bringing the craft into view. The tug had
steamed in the opposite direction, or there had been a change of mind
and the fires were banked or allowed to go out.

Miss Starland was still gazing, hoping and dreading the appearance of
the craft, when her friend pressed her arm and asked in a hurried
undertone:

"Do you see him?"

She indicated a point in the trail no more than a furlong distant,
where it emerged around a mass of rocks, between the Castle and the
waterfall. The path just there was so narrow as to permit the passage
of only a single person or animal. Withdrawing her gaze from the
distance, she made out the form of a man, standing at the curve. He
was motionless, and evidently studying the Castle.

His dress and swarthy countenance, plainly visible in the sunlight,
showed that he was a native, who, for some reason, felt a peculiar
interest in the grim structure. He may have stood thus for some
minutes before the Senorita observed him, but he remained for a brief
while longer, so stationary that he might well have been taken for a
figure of stone.

"Do you know him?" asked the American.

"Only that he is an Atlamalcan; he wears the blue jacket; that of the
Zalapatans is red,--the two tints being the distinguishing features of
their uniforms; you observe he is dressed the same as our guards."

"Have you ever seen him before?"

"He is too far off for me to observe his countenance clearly, but, so
far as I can say, he is a stranger. I think he is a member of our
guard."

"Why the