"And when my errand at Seville is accomplished," he said in his blandest tones, "I shall make my best speed to Saragossa, where I shall find my pearl, my rose, querida mia, the lovely Juanita. Pity, Jackino, I cannot invite you to my wedding. It would give you so much pleasure to see the two friends of your childhood united in the holy bonds of wedlock; and when—" But Jack had moved away; he walked forward and watched the prow cutting its white furrow, thinking of the old days when Juanita and he had both detested Miguel Priego, and wondering how the girl could have been persuaded to plight her troth to such a man. The skipper told him that he hoped to make the mouth of the Guadalquivir on the evening of the fourth day after leaving Vigo. He proposed to anchor there for the night, and sail up to Seville next day. Jack was so eager to reach his destination and deliver his despatch that he half-resolved to have himself put ashore at San Lucar, and finish the journey overland. With this intention, when one evening the lights of San Lucar were sighted, he went to his cabin for his despatch-bag, telling Pepito to carry his few belongings on deck. Lifting the bag, he was struck by the appearance of fine scratches on the hasp of the lock. He held it close to the flame of his lamp to examine it more thoroughly, and found in a moment that the lock had been forced and the despatch abstracted. "Pepito," he said quickly to the boy, "do you know anything about this?" "Nothing, Señor." "The truth?" "Fear makes lies, Señor; I know no fear." "We shall not go ashore to-night. Have you seen anyone in my cabin?" "No, Señor." "Very well. Say nothing about this." Jack sat down to reflect. Neither captain nor crew could have any interest in stealing a despatch. The bag had contained nothing else. Miguel and his man were the only other passengers beside himself and Pepito. What would it profit either of them to tamper with the bag? The possession of the despatch would be of real advantage to neither of them; its loss would be merely an annoyance to himself. Anyhow, the despatch was gone; it remained to be discovered whether it had been taken by Miguel or Perez. Pepito had been watching Jack’s face. He seemed to divine what his master was thinking, for he came up to him and said quickly: "Señor, I know the Busne. The paper is gone, and I will find out where." Jack looked back at him for a moment without speaking, then he nodded, and Pepito hastened away with the light footstep of a cat. Two hours afterwards he returned, with a grin of glee upon his elfin face, and a paper in his right hand. "Señor’s paper," he said. Then, bringing his left hand from behind his back, he produced a second paper, saying: "The Busno’s paper too. Both were together in the Busno’s bag, beneath the Busno’s pillow."