Page:Ralph Paine--The Steam-Shovel Man.djvu/128

 water that the flooding tide could be heard lapping against the foundation walls.

"You just wait until my government hears of this performance," cried Walter. "General Quesada will be chucked in jail, where he belongs."

Captain Brincker replied in kindly tones:

"Take my advice and do what you are told. It is the best policy."

Left alone, Walter tried to persuade himself that no serious danger could menace him. The Isthmus was almost a part of the United States, and he was no more than a few minutes' drive from the Canal Zone, and the protection of his own people. General Quesada wished to frighten him into silence.

Walter went to one of the long windows, which was barred against harbor thieves by ornamental iron grillwork. Misty and golden in the effulgence of sunset lay the fishing-boats, the wide bay, the scattered islands, and the steamers anchored off the quarantine station. The brief tropical twilight fled, and the night came down.

After a long while a boat scraped against the