"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently,
you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said. "I
assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio
even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future.
She will be well cared for. I promise to make that my first
consideration. The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's
regiment is stationed at Maceio. The navy, on the other hand, supports
Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a
cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco. You see, therefore, that common
prudence----"
"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of
your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly. "It is also fairly evident
that I am the only man of the _Andromeda's_ company whom you have not
bribed to obey you. Well, be warned now by me. If circumstances fail
to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle
at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull."
San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly
why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest. He moved
nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked
everlastingly at his heels.
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