"'Try to realise it,' I replied, 'and avail yourself of the advantage which it offers you.'
"'I am not quite sure,' he objected, 'that I grasp your Excellency's meaning.'
"I explained myself in greater detail, and had the satisfaction of seeing gleams of intelligence flash in rapid succession across his features. It was my desire, I pointed out, to become President of the Nicaraguan Republic instead of him; and I was willing to pay him (in hard cash) not only reasonable, but even generous, compensation for disturbance. And I concluded, laying my hand in a friendly, and almost fatherly, fashion on his shoulder—
"'Come, now, speak to me, as between man and man. Tell me how much you are expecting to make out of it?'
"At last I had coaxed him into giving me his confidence.
"'It isn't the salary that's of importance,' he said, 'but there are certain perquisites.'
"'So I had imagined,' I interposed encouragingly.
"'I get a commission of ten per cent. on the salaries of the Cabinet Ministers; and there are other commissions—tax-collectors have to pay me for their appointments, and there's always a little something to be made by pardoning political offenders. As fast as the money comes in, I send it to London to lie as deposit in the Bank of England. On the whole, I'm doing pretty nicely, but I haven't saved enough yet. Still, it's a wearing life. There's a certain amount of discontent about; and though our social reformers aren't very good marksmen as a rule——'
"'How much?' I interrupted, for his elaborate explanations were beginning to pall upon me.
"'I think I might say 50,000 dollars,' replied the President of Nicaragua.