its surface. "I am the admiral," he said to the collector's
lady. Being on land he could bring himself to no more exuberant
expression of sentiment. At sea with the flag at the masthead of his
navy, some more eloquent exposition of feelings might be forthcoming.

Abruptly the admiral departed with his crew. For the next three days
they were busy giving the _Estrella del Noche_ a new coat of white
paint trimmed with blue. And then Felipe further adorned himself by
fastening a handful of brilliant parrot's plumes in his cap. Again he
tramped with his faithful crew to the collector's office and formally
notified him that the sloop's name had been changed to _El Nacional_.

During the next few months the navy had its troubles. Even an admiral
is perplexed to know what to do without any orders. But none came.
Neither did any salaries. _El Nacional_ swung idly at anchor.

When Felipe's little store of money was exhausted he went to the
collector and raised the question of finances.

"Salaries!" exclaimed the collector, with hands raised; "_Valgame
Dios!_ not one _centavo_ of my own pay have I received for the last
seven months. The pay of an admiral, do you ask? _Quien sabe?_ Should
it be less than three thousand _pesos_? _Mira!_ you will see a
revolution in this country very soon. A good sign of it is when the
government calls all the time for _pesos_, _pesos_, _pesos_, and pays
none out."

Felipe left the collector's office with a look almost of content
on his sombre face. A revolution would mean fighting, and then the
government would need his services. It was rather humiliating to be
an admiral without anything to do, and have a hungry crew at your
heels begging for _reales_ to buy plantains and tobacco with.

When he returned to where his happy-go-lucky Caribs were waiting they
sprang up and saluted, as he had drilled them to do.

"Come, _muchachos_," said the admiral; "it seems that the government
is poor. It has no money to give us. We will earn what we need to
live upon. Thus will we serve our country. Soon"--his heavy eyes
almost lighted up--"it may gladly call upon us for help."

Thereafter _El Nacional_ turned out with the other coast craft and
became a wage-earner. She worked with the lighters freighting bananas
and oranges out to the fruit steamers that could not approach nearer
than a mile from the shore. Surely a self-supporting navy deserves
red letters in the budget of any nation.

After earning en