t. All except Yank. He
looked on the proceedings we thought with some scorn; and departed
carrying his long rifle.

"Hey!" shouted Johnny finally, "where's the towels?"

To this inquiry we could find no substantial answer. There were no
towels. The old woman declined to come to our yells. She was on hand,
however, when we were ready to depart, and took one American dime as
payment for the three of us. This was the only cheap thing we found in
Panama. We came every day, after the hour of siesta--with towels. Yank
refused steadfastly to indulge.

"I'm having hard enough dodging to keep clear of fever'n ager now," he
told us. "You don't seem to recollect what neck of the woods I come
from. It's a fever'n ager country out there for keeps. They can't keep
chickens there at all."

"Why not?" asked Johnny innocently.

"The chills they get shakes all the feathers off'n 'em," replied Yank,
"and then they freeze to death."

In the evening the main street was a blaze of light, and the by-ways
were cast in darkness. The crowd was all afoot, and moved restlessly to
and fro from one bar or gambling hell to another. Of the thousand or so
of strangers we came in time to recognize by sight a great many. The
journey home through the dark was perilous. We never attempted it except
in company; and as Johnny seemed fascinated with a certain game called
Mexican _monte_, we often had to endure long waits before all our
party was assembled.

One morning our daily trip to the steamship office bore fruit. We found
the plaza filled with excited men; all talking and gesticulating. The
much tired officials had evolved a scheme, beautiful in its simplicity,
for deciding which fifty-two of the three hundred should go by the first
ship. They announced that at eleven o'clock they would draw lots.

This was all very well, but how did the general public know that the
lots would be drawn fairly?

The officials would permit a committee of citizens to be present.

Not by the eternal! Where would you get any one to serve? No member of
that committee would dare accept his own ticket, provided he drew one.
No one would believe it had been done honestly.

Very well. Then let fifty-two out of three hundred slips of paper be
marked. Each prospective passenger could then draw one slip out of a
box.

"It's all right, boys," the observers yelled back at those clamouring in
the rear.

One of the officials stood on a barrel holding the box, while a cl