"I suppose you hardly expect me to answer offhand so momentous a question as that, do you? It is all very well, of course, for you, who have given the matter much careful thought, to feel so confident as you do that your plans are capable of realisation, but with me it is very different; the entire idea is absolutely new to me, and--if I may be permitted to say so--looks little short of chimerical." "But it is _not_ chimerical," Fernandez impatiently insisted; "on the contrary, it is perfectly feasible and, as we have planned it, absolutely certain of realisation." There is no need for me to repeat at length all the arguments that this man adduced in support of his contention; let it suffice me to say that I listened to him with deep attention--for I wanted to learn as many particulars as I possibly could concerning the plans of this extraordinary band, with a view to future contingencies--and when at length I left his presence I believe I also left him under the impression that he had more than half convinced me of the advisability of acceding to his proposal. Meanwhile the man Pacheco, in obedience to the command conveyed through Carlos, had been patiently waiting in the antechamber for the summons to appear and receive the commands of Fernandez concerning me; and now, the interview being at an end, the former was called into the room. "Pacheco," said Fernandez, "this young gentleman is Senor Delamere, the officer who commanded the small British man-o'-war schooner that lately attacked the _Tiburon_. His vessel foundered in the gale that sprang up immediately after the action, and he contrived somehow to make his way to the shore, where he was nursed back to health and strength in the hacienda of Bella Vista, belonging to Senor Don Luis Calderon y Albuquerque. That hacienda was attacked by Petion and his band in the early hours of this morning, and--as Carlos has doubtless already told you--Petion was killed during the attack, while Senor Delamere subsequently fell into the hands of Mateo, Petion's second-in-command, who very thoughtfully sent him on to us. "Now, Senor Delamere, being, although still very young, a naval officer of considerable experience and undoubted courage, will be an acquisition of the utmost value to us if we can but succeed in inducing him to join us--and I have hopes, very great hopes of doing so. I, therefore, want you to take him in charge for the present, showing him the utmost consideration, and allowing him free range of the settlement,--since it will be impossible for him to escape,--because I desire him to become thoroughly acquainted with all our resources, and to see for himself the perfection of all our arrangements for securing the success of our great enterprise."