me as to that occasion?"

"No," answered George; "oh! no, it has not. I shall come to that
presently. But, meanwhile, time is passing, and I should like you to
take those steps I spoke of just now to prevent a collision between your
troops, or the citizens, and my people. For I warn your Excellency that
if fighting is once permitted to begin it will be exceedingly difficult
to stop it, and before that happens you may find the greater part of
your city in ruins. Therefore I beg that you will not lose a moment in
adopting the measures which I suggest. When that is done it will be
time enough for us to talk together about the business which has brought
me hither."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

HOW THE GOVERNOR OF PANAMA TREATED DON SEBASTIAN'S REQUEST.

The imminence of the danger indicated by the young Englishman appealed
so powerfully to Don Sebastian that he acted upon the suggestion which
accompanied it without further delay, excusing himself to George for
temporarily withdrawing himself, and assuring the young man that not a
moment should be lost in taking every possible precaution to prevent a
collision between his own countrymen and the English. But he had not
been absent longer than twenty minutes when he re-appeared, in a state
of dismay, to explain that the messengers whom he had dispatched in
various directions were returning, one after another, with the
intimation that they had been turned back by the parties of Englishmen
who were holding the Grand Plaza, who would not permit them to leave the
Square; also they had brought with them the news that from the sounds
which had met their ears, they judged the city to be in a state of
complete turmoil, and fighting imminent.

Now, it happened that the first of these two contingencies had been
entirely overlooked by George, who felt a good deal disturbed also by
the thought that fighting might yet begin despite all his precautions;
he therefore directed Don Sebastian to collect his messengers, and when
this had been done, in the course of a very few minutes, the young
English captain himself went forth with them to the several points in
the Square at which they sought egress, and personally instructed the
various parties of his men to allow the messengers to pass. Then,
having seen them all safely out of the Square, noted for himself the
signs of disturbance and panic which seemed to everywhere prevail
throughout the city, and issued certain additional instruct