Part 22 (2/2)

”Well, not much more of a hand than you had, Ned. We all had a finger in the pie, even if I actually did fire the big gun. I couldn't have done that unless you fellows had helped. But I guess there's no danger of 'em knowing what I did. Not that I care. Though they don't seem much concerned at what we did.”

”No, and that's the odd part of it. You'd think they'd be angry at us.”

”Unless these people in the city belong to the party we've come here to protect,” Frank suggested. ”It may be that, you know. The revolutionists may have jumped out for the time being.”

”Yes, that's so. Well, it's a queer go however it is. Say, I wonder if we couldn't go out and take a look at those holes the projectiles made?”

”I guess so. We'd better find out how far it is, though, and if we'll have time to go and get back.”

But when Frank spoke to the commanding officer the latter shook his head.

”It's too far out there to begin with,” he said, ”and for another thing-” he paused and looked around as though to make sure no one else was listening. ”For another thing,” he added, ”we'd rather none of our men went out there-just now.”

”Why?” impulsively asked Ned.

Again the officer looked around.

”Well,” he said, ”I don't mind telling you, because I can see that you are a little different from the general run of our recruits. Not that they're not fine fellows, and all that,” he hastened to say, ”but some of them have been handicapped in life, and they haven't as much natural intelligence as they might have. But I don't in the least hold that against them. They may be all the better fighters when it comes to a brush.”

”Do you think we'll have a fight?” asked Ned, and his voice was eager.

”Well, it's hard to say,” replied the officer. He and the two boys of the battles.h.i.+p were off by themselves, on a quiet street leading up from the water front. For the time being none of the other men who had sh.o.r.e leave were around. ”There is a peculiar situation here,” he said to Frank and Ned. ”The captain has given orders that we must be very careful, and not go out to the place where we blew the tops off the hills, or, rather, where you did,” and he nodded at Frank.

”Why is that?” asked Ned, again displaying his impulsiveness.

”I can't tell you,” was the smiling answer. ”But you may learn in a few days.”

Frank and Ned knew better than to argue the point. They had a feeling that something momentous might occur at any time, and they wanted to be ready for it.

Deprived thus of permission to go out to the hills where the big guns had wrought the damage, they strolled about the town, looking with interest on the sights they saw.

They stopped for chocolate in a quaint little place, and bought some souvenirs to send to their uncle, thinking thus to cheer him in his loneliness.

But with all their looking about they saw nothing of any of the business enterprises in which Mr. Arden had told them their money, as well as his own, was invested. Later they learned that the mines, and the places where the natural products of the country came from, were some distance out in the little republic.

”What strikes me as queer,” said Ned, as they walked back toward the boat landing, for their time was nearly up, ”what strikes me as queer is that every one we've seen-that is, the natives, if you can call them such-seem to be expecting something.”

”You mean something to happen?” asked Frank.

”Yes. They keep looking off there to the hills where you blew the top off, and talking to themselves in their queer lingo.”

”It isn't such a queer lingo,” said Frank. ”It's Portuguese, and that language is very like Spanish.”

”Well, I never did like Spanish. But what do you guess is going on?”

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