The Mena star., 1899-04-06


 before he ventured below for break fast.
 Sailing over smooth water between the different islands, there had been no suggestion of sea-sickness among our passengers, and the ladies had been on deck since sunrise, watching the magnificent scenery; so when we put in an appearance the captain was piled with all sorts of inquiries con corning the different headlands, when we would be finally clear of the shore, whether it would be very rough out side, etc., etc.
 At noon we were in the outer pas sage, between Calantas Rock and Capul, and by dinner-time were stand ing due east in the open sea north of Espiritu Santo. As on the previous evening, we stopped to chat with the passengers, the two padres and the Palacios especially, for an hour or so after the meal, then went on deck to size up the situation.
 ITO begin with" said I, when we were finally secure from interruption in our quarters, where am I least likely to attract attention when 1 go ashort at Agana? Will it be advisable to take lodgings in private house, or had better go to the best hotel?"
 Halstead's eyes opened in amaze ment, then a broad grin appeared through his beard:
 "Oh, should stop at the best hotel, by all means, if there were such a thing within a thousand miles. You would be far more likely to attract at which are made of bamboo matched with cocoa leaves and have pounded mud floor; there's usually but one room, you know, and the whole fam fly live in that quite socially. Say, old man, what kind of metropolis did you think you were going to? Why, besides the forts, the church, and gov ernment quarters, there aren't dozen stone buildings in the town. No; being white and presumably wealthy stranger, you will find yourself big gun ill Agana. And ordnance of your caliber are usually quartered upon the governor himself--free of charge, mind you. Fortunately. happen to know Col. De Garma; Ferdinand Jose Felipe Jesus de Garma y de Lopez is his everyday name. You want to commit it to memory, too; because if you hap pen to get it De Something g-or-other wrong. 1t might make considerable hard feeling. I've been thinking over the matter little, and have concluded that your staying in the government house as his guest will be rather favor able to our plan than otherwise. He's one of the most hospitable men I ever met-give you anything he's got, ex- cept his daughter, and she's pretty enough to eat. Here's a picture of them, with the officers of the colonel's staff, taken with the patio. It's pret- ty fair likeness of the crowd, consider ing the size. What do you think of them?"
 I examined the photograph care fully
 "Why, they're fnll-blooded Span iards, aren't they? They look like educated people,"
 "Hmpf! If it comes to blood, De Garma can trace his family back to a branch of the Braganzas on the distaff side; the family are Portuguese, not Spanish, though they've lived in Gra- nada for generations. But what do you think of the girl-Senorita Doro- tea? Isn't she peach?'
 '"She is beauty, isn't she? What an internal pity to hide away a girl like that in a forgotten hole where all the advantages she should have are de- nfed her!"
 ''I think, myself, that Agana is no place for her; yet she won't stay there always, and she isn't by any means the untntored barbarian you imagine her to be. They lived in Granada and Mad rid until she was IT,"
 "Then what the devil did they ever---'s
 Come to the Ladrones for? Busi- ness; ali in the line of business. As lieutenant colonel, the old mans or. dinary salary of 2,7o0 year didn't cut much ice in Madrid. Out here, as gobernador of the Ladrones, he gets about 400 more, besides the pickings."
 "Pickings?"
 -Yes. What he can squeeze out Of the barrangays. or tax districts. Gobernadors don't work for their health, any more than United States senators. Then Guajan is one of the most delightful islands in the Pacific, and 1t costs them little or nothing to live there. At the end of his six years