"Does Don Rafael command The Iturbide?"
"I, mi amigo!" cried Rafael, overhearing this question. "Not I. Yonder torpedo-boat is under my charge, and in that, Don Juan, you must come with me."
"When do you go south?"
"The day after to-morrow. At the same time regiments march by land to Gigedo, at Janjalla. Oh, the game has begun, Juan, and the opal burns red!"
"It will now burn whatever colour we like," retorted Jack, shrugging his shoulders. "I saw the way those priests managed the trick. It was——"
"Tim can tell us all that in the patio of Casa Maraquando," interrupted Philip, hastily. "See, the anchor is down, so we had better go ashore at once, and relieve the minds of Don Miguel and the ladies."
"Cocom is already over the side," said Peter, pointing to a small canoe skimming the waves. "You will receive an ovation on your way through the city."
"Greatness is thrust upon me," laughed Jack, who was wonderfully lighthearted now that they were safe, "Where is Doña Dolores?"
"Just coming on deck."
The girl still wore her Indian dress, as Philip, being a bachelor, had no feminine gear on board. She had, however, washed the paint from her face, and looked wonderfully bright and charming in her savage toilette.