"If it's a surprise," said Frank, "I suppose we must wait and ask no questions."
"There's no occasion for secrecy," responded the Doctor. "The American Minister has arranged for me to have an interview to-morrow with the President of the Republic, and you can accompany me."
"That is a pleasurable surprise, indeed," said Frank, and Fred promptly expressed a similar opinion.
"I am to go to the legation at eleven o'clock," continued Doctor Bronson, "and meet the Minister, who is to present me to the President. The interview is fixed for half-past eleven at the National Palace."
It is unnecessary to add that Frank and Fred were ready at the appointed time, and that a carriage left the door of the hotel early enough to deposit the trio at the door of the legation a few minutes before eleven. The arrival at the palace was duly arranged, and the party was in the anteroom of the President when an official came to call them to an audience with the President.
The time of the chief of a nation is valuable, and the interview was over in about twenty minutes. There was nothing official about it, and the visitors came away much pleased with the way they had been received. The conversation ran upon general topics; it related chiefly to what the strangers had seen during their visit to the country, and some pleasant allusions on the part of the President to the United States and a few of its public men. He did not follow the customary form of politeness by saying that his house and all it contained were theirs, but as they rose to leave he shook hands with them cordially, and said that if he could be of any service during the rest of their stay, he hoped they would not hesitate to apply to him through his and their friend, the American Minister.
PRESIDENT PORFIRIO DIAZ.
"A more courteous gentleman than President Diaz," wrote Frank, "it would be difficult to find, and I believe this is the testimony of his opponents as well as of his friends. Perhaps you would like to know something about his history; well, here it is: