men of your own, why
import ours? We don't seek the individual. We want to punish him only
as a warning to others. And we want the money he takes with him.
Often it is the savings of the very poor."

The President frowned. It was apparent that both the subject and
Everett bored him.

"I name no names," exclaimed Mendoza, "but to those who come here we
owe the little railroads we possess. They develop our mines and our
coffee plantations. In time they will make this country very modern,
very rich. And some you call criminals we have learned to love. Their
past does not concern us. We shut our ears. We do not spy. They have
come to us as to a sanctuary, and so long as they claim the right of
sanctuary, I will not violate it."

As Everett emerged from the cool, dark halls of the palace into the
glare of the plaza he was scowling; and he acknowledged the salute of
the palace guard as though those gentlemen had offered him an insult.

Garland was waiting in front of a cafe and greeted him with a mocking
grin.

"Congratulations," he shouted.

"I have still twenty-two days," said Everett.

The aristocracy of Camaguay invited the new minister to formal dinners
of eighteen courses, and to picnics less formal. These latter Everett
greatly enjoyed, because while Monica Ward was too young to attend the
state dinners, she was exactly the proper age for the all-day
excursions to the waterfalls, the coffee plantations, and the asphalt
lakes. The native belles of Camaguay took no pleasure in riding
farther afield than the military parade-ground. Climbing a trail so
steep that you viewed the sky between the ears of your pony, or where
with both hands you forced a way through hanging vines and creepers,
did not appeal. But to Monica, with the seat and balance of a cowboy,
riding astride, with her leg straight and the ball of her foot just
feeling the stirrup, these expeditions were the happiest moments in her
exile. So were they to Everett; and that on the trail one could ride
only in single file was a most poignant regret. In the column the
place of honor was next to whoever rode at the head, but Everett
relinquished this position in favor of Monica. By this manoeuvre she
always was in his sight, and he could call upon her to act as his guide
and to explain what lay on either hand. His delight and wonder in her
grew daily. He found that her mind leaped instantly and with gratitude
to whatever was most fair. Jus