Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-09
CHAPTER XxxIu.
Forbidden Fruit.

Not only could the captain or the
Rio Grande be bought. He could lie,
and on a pinch could steal. He could
do other things. On this particular
occasion he tampered with machinery
his own. The long arm of coinci-
dence is a wonderful thing. The cap
tain of the Rio Grande found-1ust at
the time when he was OF the coast
of Dolores--that his engine had un-
compromlsingly broken down, ana
that he must nut into the nearest port
for repairs
"whiIe I'm about it, he said to
Hernandez, his secret passenger, you
can land your oil stoves for the IN
"How they love of stoves-those In
surrectos." returned Hernandez, his
eyes cleaning. -. y,
Everybody likes forbidden 1rui1
said the captain. -,
iIernandez nodded. Your legiti-
mate passengers-some OF your
crew" he said, you'd best get tneil
out of the way first-we don't wan
too many witnesses--the rifle cases
might break open.
"It's all right" said the cap'a,,,
..simn1e enough. Til land 'em in the
daytime. Wen lano your N''
the night. .sa,,,,
He glanced toward shore. Suddenly
he causbt Hernandez by the arm.
wonder. senor," he exclaineu'
"look-the flag of the insurrectos-it
Is their camp"
Hernandez looked. Far down the
coast and far back upon WOODED
e,,,,nanoe he saw the thing--a bright
red flax floating DER the tree tops
For an instant, propelled or impelleo
nv some unseen force, 1t swept to ana
fro--then 1t disappeared. -
Annette Ilington, startled py ene
cessation of the engines, glanced oue
of the window of her stateroo,li. -
woke her foster mother, MIS- aaroiii IA
rhars .uas not only land, there was
,,,,Iare. there was a big house, ana
there were people. Dolores, aiready
awaLe and active in the cool or tne
| n,ornine. had clustered about neat
nia ntation wharf upon the shore. ex-
cited curious as to the advent OF the
Rio Grande. Annette sought the cap
tain and found him and made IN
| o,,iries There was a breakdown, y
| two-day affair. SO said the captain
| That at least. Yes. this war--Whal
| waa it-oh, yes, Dolores. He'd Jnsl
| looked It up upon the chart. A re
| public, miss. Yes, a very respectapl'
| republic. Yes. and that there was 9
| lantation-coffee, mebbe. Looked Ilke
| a fine. large, rich plantation. NO
there wasn't no use stayin' aboard
| tho Rio Grande. Be sport, miss,
Won and your party, and go ashore
and brace these here Central Amerl-
cans an size 'em up. They won
| bite. look 'em over. An then come
| hack when you're ready an tell me
ali about 'em. That's the ticket, miss.
| Thus. and much more, the captain
/ of the Rio Grande.
| Annette and her party took his ad-
vice. It was easy enough. Already a
| launch had put off from the neat
| plantation dock and inside of twenty
| minutes had drawn UP alongside the
| Rio Grande.
In the launch seated comfortably
In an easy wicker chair smoking q
long pantella sat a prosperous looking
| Central American gentleman, i'm
maculately clad in linen clothes. with
| a superb Panama hat upon his head
Except for the color of his skin he
was white from head to foot.
At the captains Invitation h'
boarded the Rio Grande and looked
about him. His glance was keen, ht
seemed to see everything at once.
"'You have had trouble, then, Senol
Captain" he queried.
He eyed the captain suspiciously
Follow me, Senior" returned the cap
tain. you shall see"
In the engine room he pointed ou
the trouble There was no doub
about 1.-THE engine had gone all t.
pieces for the time being. The Cen
tral American seemed satisfied.
"You will pardon, senior captain,
he explained, "but--these are suspic
ious times We look for trouble
everywhere. You see yonder hill
Somewhere in that forest turks
revolution. All that they need is guns