Carlo was able to creep upstairs unheard by any one; and, seeing a light in his sister’s sitting-room, he knocked softly. Catalina opened the door, and the girls, who had fallen asleep on a couch, jumped up eagerly. ’Carlo, there you are! Tell us the news! How glad I am you are safe home!’ ’I dreamt you were drawn and quartered by the pirates. My poor lamb,’ cried Catalina, ’how we prayed for you, till we fell asleep and forgot to finish the Litany of Danger!’ ’Nonsense! there was no danger at all; the pirates are in a bad way, and it is raining hard. But tell me where my father is. We have only to send out men and we are saved. Andreas knows exactly where they are encamped.’ ’The noble Marquis was in the guard-room below when I came up,’ said Catalina. ’No one has gone to bed this night.’ Carlo hastened away cheerfully. He was some time absent; but when he returned his young face was clouded over with deep disappointment. ’It is of no use; my father will not believe me. He refuses to do anything till there can be another council, and then it may be too late. Why am I not a man!’ ’Never mind, dear Carlo,’ whispered Etta softly; ’the council may believe you, and then----’ But Carlo shook his head, and, tired out, he went to his own bed and fell asleep from sheer fatigue. CHAPTER VI. HATCHING A PLOT. The next morning the rain stopped, and the sun shone out brightly and powerfully over the beautiful wood which clothed the steep sides of Santa Teresa. The cocoa-nut trees and the various kinds of palms softly waved their beautiful heads in the morning breeze; the sulphur and black butterflies flew hither and thither about the crimson, yellow, and green pods of the cocoa, and on the orchids that hung from the giant stems. All this and much more beauty was unheeded by the people in Santa Teresa, for before the council of war could meet Andreas came running into the courtyard, where Carlo had just come down to hear what news he could, too angry to seek out his father after his disappointment of the previous night. ’Young master, where is the noble Marquis? Has he sent no one? No? Ah, Señorito, now it is too late, for a canoe is coming up the river, and it is not a mile distant. The pirates have sent a messenger, and the young English boy I told you of is with him. They are flying a white flag; that means, the pirate captain has sent them to parley. They have recovered their courage this morning, or they would not have come to treat. It will be too late to attack them now, and you see the rain has stopped.’ Andreas wrung his hands in a manner peculiar to the gentle Indian race to which he belonged; whilst Carlo, much excited by the news, impatiently drew him forward towards the Marquis’s room. ’Come and tell my father, Andreas. I cannot persuade him you really saw the men. He says that you were mistaken last night, and that the pirates are armed to the teeth.’