r," she told him. "But old
Margarita, the Tlascalan, says that they come at night and sit here and
tell stories of all the Mexican idol gods. All of them hate us, too,
because we turned them out of their temples, and I hate them."

"I'm glad they are gone, anyhow," said Ned, but it was really time to
go, and he carried some of the most brilliant of those illustrations
into some of his dreams that night.

CHAPTER XI.

NED'S NEWS

"Hullo, young man! I've been looking for you. How are you?"

"Captain Kemp!" shouted Ned, in astonishment. "Where did you come from?
Who dreamed of seeing you here?"

"Nobody, I hope," said the captain; "but here I am, and I've brought you
half a dozen letters. They are among my baggage. First thing, though,
tell me all about yourself. Where have you been?"

They were standing in the grand plaza, not many paces from the front of
the cathedral, and Ned had come there for another look at the building
which had taken the place of the old-time temple of the murderous
Mexican god of war. He was wildly excited for a moment, and he began to
ask questions, rather than to tell anything about himself.

"Keep cool, now, my boy," said the captain. "We don't know who's
watching us. I didn't have much trouble in running the Yankee blockade
at Vera Cruz. I brought a cargo from New York, just as if it had been
sent from Liverpool, but I've had to prove that I'm not an American ever
since I came ashore. Spin us your yarn as we walk along."

Ned was now ready to do so, and the captain listened to him with the
most intense interest, putting in remarks every now and then.

"All this," he said, "is precisely what your father wishes you to do, if
you can do it. The way of it is this. He knows, and we all know, that
this war can't be a long one. As soon as it's over, his concern means to
go into the Mexican trade heavier than they ever did before. They think
it will be worth more, and I mean to be in it myself. So it just suits
him to have you here, making friends and learning all about the country
you are to deal with. He says you are in the best kind of business
school. There will be a fortune in it for you some day."

"I don't exactly see how," remarked Ned, doubtfully.

"Well," replied the captain, "not many young American business men know
ten cents' worth about Mexico. You'd better go right on and learn all
there is to know. Keep shy of all politics, though. This war is going to
break Pared