inconsistent with our gathering here. Let me briefly conclude by saying
that the occasion is a happy and memorable one; I think I echo the
sentiment of all present when I add that it is one which will not be
easily forgotten by either the grateful guests, whose feelings I have
tried to express, or the chivalrous hosts, whose kindness I have already
so feebly translated."
In the applause that followed, and the clicking of glasses, Senor
Perkins slipped away. He mingled a moment with some of the other guests
who had already withdrawn to the corridor, lit a cigar, and then passed
through a narrow doorway on to the ramparts. Here he strolled to some
distance, as if in deep thought, until he reached a spot where the
crumbling wall and its fallen debris afforded an easy descent into the
ditch. Following the ditch, he turned an angle, and came upon the beach,
and the low sound of oars in the invisible offing. A whistle brought the
boat to his feet, and without a word he stepped into the stern sheets. A
few strokes of the oars showed him that the fog had lifted slightly
from the water, and a green light hanging from the side of the Excelsior
could be plainly seen. Ten minutes' more steady pulling placed him on
her deck, where the second officer stood with a number of the sailors
listlessly grouped around him.
"The landing has been completed?" said Senor Perkins interrogatively.
"All except one boat-load more, which waits to take your final
instructions," said the mate. "The men have growled a little about it,"
he added, in a lower tone. "They don't want to lose anything, it seems,"
he continued, with a half sarcastic laugh.
Senor Perkins smiled peculiarly.
"I am sorry to disappoint them. Who's that in the boat?" he asked
suddenly.
The mate followed the Senor's glance.
"It is Yoto. He says he is going ashore, and you will not forbid him."
Senor Perkins approached the ship's side.
"Come here," he said to the man.
The Peruvian sailor rose, but did not make the slightest movement to
obey the command.
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