Page:Arthur Stringer - Gun Runner.djvu/111

 'Friend of Foreigners;' he has been good to the Americanos. He is modern and progressive; he is"

"Are you a Locombian?"

"I am not a Locombian," answered the woman, after the slightest pause, "but I have my interests in that country. Oh, believe me, I know this man to be its enemy. He is fighting for the downfall of its government. His plan is made. He is only waiting for the end. Now, to-night, while we sit here, his men—deluded peons and beachcombers and paid mercenaries—are drawing up closer and closer on Guariqui. They are to wait there; they are to be moved, like wooden pawns on a chessboard, when he orders it, and in the manner he orders."

"Can't you tell me how or when? Can't you be more specific?"

"On the thirteenth of the month a revolutionist, wearing the uniform of the government, is to assault an American citizen in the Prado of Puerto Locombia. A Mobile ore-boat is to take the assaulter on board openly. He is to be dragged ashore again by government officers. Roof-tiles are to be flung down on these officers as they pass through the town. Arrests, of course, will follow. That will arouse the people—they are so foolish in their hate for the Americanos! And while this is going on, many