'Well, I feel like an idler. You, General Moncrieff, have not appointed me any station.'
Moncrieff smiled.
'I am now going to do so,' he said, 'and it is probably the most important position and trust on the estancia.'
They walked up as far as the great canal while they conversed.
Arrived there, Moncrieff pointed to what looked like a bundle of brushwood.
'You see those branches?'
'Yes.'
'And you see that wooden lock or huge doorway?'
'I do.'
'Well, my friend, the brushwood conceals a sentry-box. It overlooks the whole estancia. It conceals something else, a small barrel of gunpowder, which you are to hang to the hook yonder on the wooden lock, and explode the moment you have the signal.'