Swift and Sure Part 23

When De Mello heard all that had happened he was inclined to be envious of Will. It occurred to him apparently for the first time that he had played a rather sorry part in deserting his hacienda, and leaving to strangers the task of making head against the rebels. In course of time, perhaps, men of his cla.s.s, who at present look on matters of State with indifference, will learn to take an interest in them, and develop a patriotism which will raise their country to its fitting rank among the nations of the world.

A fortnight after his return to the camp, Mr. Jackson was informed by his new telegraphist, an Englishman, that General Carabano had not been shot, the President having commuted his sentence to permanent exile.

Will received an autograph letter from the President thanking him for the great services he had rendered to the Republic, and some weeks later the secretary of the Company in London cabled to the effect that the Board of Directors had unanimously resolved to grant him an honorarium of a hundred pounds in consideration of his zeal for their interests.

His hydroplane became the talk of the country, and an enterprising Yankee in Bolivar organized weekly trips by steamer to the scene of his adventures for the benefit of curious sightseers, and incidentally for his own.

Of all the actors in this little drama, Azito was perhaps the best satisfied at its conclusion. In De Mello's yacht, purchased for him by Mr. Jackson, he often sailed on the creeks and streams in the neighbourhood. His wants were simple and few, and he earned the little that sufficed to supply them by occasional attendance upon the senor who had saved him from the jaws of a jaguar, and whose hydroplane was only second in his estimation to his own yacht.

THE END