he little defeat they have
just now suffered."

"Are you sure you are right, Captain Reed?"

"Quite, my lad; as sure as I am that it is not all ill that we have done
this morning, for San Cristobal and Velova will both be the better for
the absence of some of those who are lying dead out there."

He stood gazing out between two boards for some few minutes, before
turning back, and glancing round the room he said a few words to the
English defenders.

"Splendid, my lads," he said. "Nothing could have been cooler and
better. We want no hurry at a time like this."

"Think they'll come again, father?" asked Poole.

"Sure to, my lad, and we shall drive them back again. After that, this
Don Villarayo will have his work cut out to get them to come up again,
and I don't believe he will succeed."

"Will they retreat then, sir?" asked Fitz.

The skipper smiled.

"I should like to give you a more encouraging reply," he said, "but--Oh,
here's Don Ramon. Let's hear what he says."

"Ah, my friend," cried the Don, coming up to grasp the speaker's hands
effusively. "And you too, my brave lads, as you English people say. It
has been magnificent," and as he shook the boys' hands in turn, Fitz
flushed vividly, feeling guilty in the extreme. "Oh, it has been
magnificent--grand! Captain Reed, if I can only persuade you to join
hands with me here with your men, and make me succeed, I would make you
Admiral of my Fleet. Ah, yes, you smile. I know that it would only be
a fleet of one, and not that till the gunboat was taken and become my
own, but I would not be long before I made it two, and I would work
until I made our republic one of which you would be proud."

"Don't let's talk about this, sir," said the skipper quietly, "until we
have gained the day. Do you think that the enemy will come on again?"

"The wretches, yes! But Villarayo--the coward!--will keep watching from
the rear. He seems to lead a charmed life."

"There, my lads; you hear. But we shall drive them back again,
President?"

Don Ramon's eyes flashed at the compliment, and then he shrugged his
shoulders and said sadly--

"President! Not yet, my brave captain. There is much yet to do, and
fate has been bearing very hard upon me lately."

"It has, sir. But about the enemy; you think they will come on again?"

"Yes, for certain--and go back again like beaten curs. You and your men
have done wonders here in strengthening this place."

Pool