Are
you ready?"
"I think you are going about this in the wrong way," he said,
coldly. "When will you learn--?" She checked her crisp words at
the flush that leaped to his cheeks. "I beg your pardon, Stephen.
Please do as Colonel Jolson has done and trust me to manage this
affair."
He bowed and left her, saying, "I will have a coach waiting at the
door."
Fifteen minutes later a gasoline railroad motor-car with two
passengers in addition to its driver and flagman rolled out of the
yards at Panama City and took the main line, running under orders
like a special train. As it clanked over the switches with ever-
increasing speed, Mrs. Cortlandt leaned forward and spoke to the
driver.
"We will have a clear track, and you may go as fast as you like."
The next moment the machine was reeling drunkenly around curves
and a fifty-mile gale was roaring past.
Senor Ramen Alfarez was considerably nonplussed when his two
distinguished visitors made known the nature of their errand.
Cortlandt did most of the talking, his cold hauteur serving a good
purpose and contrasting strongly with the suppressed excitement of
his wife.
"Pardon me, there is no necessity for delay," he said, as the
commandant endeavored to formulate an excuse.
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