They were standing in the grand plaza, not many paces from the front of the cathedral, and Ned had come there for another look at the building which had taken the place of the old-time temple of the murderous Mexican god of war. He was wildly excited for a moment, and he began to ask questions, rather than to tell anything about himself. "Keep cool, now, my boy," said the captain. "We don't know who's watching us. I didn't have much trouble in running the Yankee blockade at Vera Cruz. I brought a cargo from New York, just as if it had been sent from Liverpool, but I've had to prove that I'm not an American ever since I came ashore. Spin us your yarn as we walk along." Ned was now ready to do so, and the captain listened to him with the most intense interest, putting in remarks every now and then. "All this," he said, "is precisely what your father wishes you to do, if you can do it. The way of it is this. He knows, and we all know, that this war can't be a long one. As soon as it's over, his concern means to go into the Mexican trade heavier than they ever did before. They think it will be worth more, and I mean to be in it myself. So it just suits him to have you here, making friends and learning all about the country you are to deal with. He says you are in the best kind of business school. There will be a fortune in it for you some day." "I don't exactly see how," remarked Ned, doubtfully. "Well," replied the captain, "not many young American business men know ten cents' worth about Mexico. You'd better go right on and learn all there is to know. Keep shy of all politics, though. This war is going to break Paredes and a lot of others. After they are out of power, your own friends, like Tassara, Zuroaga, and the rest of them, may be in office, and you will be in clover. It's a wonderfully rich country, if it were only in the right hands and had a good government. I'll give you the letters when we get to my lodgings. Then I must make my way back to Vera Cruz, but I had to come all this distance to get my pay from the authorities. I obtained it, even now, only by promising to bring over another cargo of British gunpowder, to fight the Yankees with."