s heavily armed when in La Gloria, and could
have "dropped" all four of us, but that he had promised Lieutenant
Cienfuente not to make any trouble. He surely did not, as it turned out.
Mr. Drake had the manners of a gentleman, and extended many courtesies
to me during my stay in Puerto Principe. His resentment on account of
the La Gloria episode was mainly directed toward General Van der Voort,
and he emphatically declared that he had already taken steps to summon
the general into court for the insult.

Lieutenant Cienfuente remained in La Gloria as our special guest. He was
entertained at the officers' table, was the guest of honor at the
meeting of the Pioneer Association that evening, and every effort was
made to make him feel at home. On the following Monday he left for his
home in Puerto Principe in high good humor.

CHAPTER XIII.

INDUSTRY OF THE COLONISTS.

The opening of spring did not bring any material change in weather that
the colonists could detect, save that the occasional rainfall had
ceased. The temperature for March was about the same as for January and
February, the lowest recorded by the thermometer being 53 deg., and the
highest 92 deg.. The weather was delightful and comfortable. There was more
blossoming of flowers in the woods and the openings, and many a big tree
became a veritable flower garden, with great clusters of pink orchids
clinging to its huge trunk and massive limbs. There were several trees
thus ornamented in close proximity to my tent.

The colonists were now progressing with their work and displaying the
greatest industry. Considerable clearing had been done, and some
planting. Gardens were growing well, and the colonists were eating
potatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., of their own raising.
Many thousands of pineapple plants had been set out, and banana and
orange trees were being put into the ground as fast as they could be
obtained. Many of the colonists were employed more or less by the
company in one capacity or another. Some worked on the road, some about
the camp, a few in the gardens, and still others in the cook-house. A
number had been employed in the survey corps almost from the time of
their arrival, while others worked "off and on," according to their
convenience and disposition. The work of the surveyors was hard and
exposing, and the fare usually poor and meagre, but for all that the men
generally liked the employment and there was a constant