The record-union., 1897-04-23

any i'll effects. Whereas, if we were to
declare war on little Power, they'd
take it to heart perhaps, and we'd have
| their WaSpy little cruisers here under
a week It's different with England.
They'll bring the matter before Parlia-
ment, and talk about it, and perhaps
send a commission to investigate and
report Meantime we can retire COM
fortably, and put leagues of sea between
us and our country.
Every one present felt the soundness
of these arguments, so the question was
decided, and they passed on to arrange
some excuse for picking the quarrel. AS
luck would have it. they found it very
hard to fix on anything to complain Of
The English in this district are an or
derby lot, mostly engaged in expanding
the welfare of the country. But the
President again came to the rescue.
| There's a man from Europe boring
holes and blasting rocks on the edge of
the quagnires under the mountains. He
IS safe to be EngliSh-nO other land
rears that energetic type of lunatic. |
don't know what he is after, but what
ever ii is he is contravening the treaty.
I'll have him fetched to begin with. We
might also publish a manifesto against
the entertainments of the English, and
chuck their Consul into Jail
This decided it, and the council broke
up, leaving the President to sign the
warrant for my arrest, and distributed
themselves among the various saloons
in the town for the purpose OF raising
Cain.
THE President proved to be right in
his calculations, for when the news got
abroad that the republic intended to
cling to their rights and their bounda-
ries, and to stand out with all their
forces against the greed of England a
big demonstration was held in his hon
or in the Plaza Mayor, and there was
some natural anxiety aroused in the
minds of the leaders of the opposing
party.
AS soon as / became aware of all
that had passed at the meeting of the
council. I knew the affair promised to
be distinctly awkward. That business
in Guatemala required to my mind
when they all but fogged the Consul
to death, you remember. l set about
considering what l had better do. L
gave the popular excitement a couple
of weeks to subside but meantime al
most anything might happen. A shoot
ing party for my benefit by way of
throwing down the gauntlet to Eng
land was quite on the cards, and would
have suited the taste of the populace
to a hair Supposing they took milder
measure, the Jail was in any case high
ly unsanitary. 1 knew they had had
yellow jack there among a batch of
Cubans from Panama not a week be-
fore. Besides, a declaration of war,
from however rotten and paltry a
State, might have turned out a ticklish
point for England to arrange at a mo-
ment when the world was suffering
from a severe go of Anglophobia. All
things considered, I determined to keep
the peace at any price, and not to go
to Jail if 1 could help it.
knowing that my time was short,
I sent a message down to the only
man I knew who could be of any use
at such a pinch-Scanderson in fact
asking him to be with me as soon as
possible Scanderson lived in the mar
rowest street in this dirty little town
knew he understood the idiosyn-
crasies of South American republics
which was most impOrtant-and had
had considerable experience in revolu-
tons He had resided in the republic
off and on for some years, and gen
orally had some job or other on hand,
and mostly pulled them off, too, though
some of them were queer enough,
can tell you. His morals We're not over
high. and his talk wasn't exactly clean,
but I knew he had a head on him, and
would do most things for a considera-
ton. And that was about as much
as l knew of him at that time.
Il was sitting in this piazza where
we are now when he turned up. He
was a cross-eyed, clean-shaven man,
with a leather colored skin. I judged
it best to give him a clear hint of
our predicament, and intimated that
efficient advice or help would be looked
upon as a valuable contribution, and
paid for on liberal scale.
g 1t all depends on what you want
to do, he said. If you want my help
in this affair, just say what's to be
done. Then I'll name my price, and
when details are settled start gettin'
through with it
g ] don't want the British ompire to
have row with this microbe of a
State I explained and l don't want
to go to jail
"Scanderson considered a moment.
" You're not for bolting?' he asked
with his head on one side like a vult-
ure.
How can I bolt?' 1 answered an
grily. I've got my work to attend to-.
Just So he agreed.
And they're coming to arrest me
in an hour
"'Or less added Scanderson, with
conviction. After that they'll raid the
houses of the English residents, and
then there'll be the deuce to pay
u know that, mani I said, exas-
perated That's just the difficulty
"Scanderson surveyed me disposition
ately.
1T will be an ugly business, take
| my word for it., he remarked unless
we stop it.
Can't you tackle the problem
asked: you know this precious Pacific
seaboard better than any man living.
He smoked an inch of green cheroot
before he answered me.
~ believe l do, but
q Name your price l said testify.
| "Tain't altogether a question of dol
lars he answered slowly. If you
| knew as much of international politics
as | do. and had the same sources OF
information. which you have not-be-
ing II. B. MS Consul-you'd know that
we-taking us as a nation-are in about
: the highest place on record
I'VE sat smoking in dreary silence fol-