"Under the conditions if you came here at all it would have to be under false colors." "The case was desperate--it admitted of no false modesty. Leon was to be shot in the morning. I laid my plans and sought help of the only one I believed I could trust in all San Juan. Heaven bless her kind spirit, and forgive me for ever having believed she could have stooped so low as to take the heart that belonged to me." "What! you went to Cleo?" he exclaimed. "Nothing more nor less, since I dared not ask the active assistance of my guardian Don Porfidio, who endeavored in vain to have Leon's sentence dismissed or changed. Yes, the Senorita Cleo not only received me warmly but gave me aid and promised that if we succeeded Leon should sail away on her yacht to safety." "God bless her!" muttered Roderic. "And he will, beloved, depend on it. But time will not permit me to tell all. Her Captain Beven came ashore with me, and waits near by for us to join him. Unfortunately we met Jerome on the street, showing Captain Shackelford the sights of San Juan. I know he recognized me in spite of my disguise for they hung upon our track until we drew near the fortress. I fear he may discover the truth and in some way overwhelm us with trouble. He is my evil genius--something within tells me that through Senor Wellington the most bitter trial of my life must come. But at last we seemed to shake them off, and I found an opportunity to enter this awful place." Roderic shuddered to think of this valiant girl undertaking such a gigantic task alone--it seemed almost incredible, and he would not have believed it had not the fact come under his own observation. "But--how did you gain entrance to this cell, and--where has Leon gone?" "Yes, tell us of him, I implore," echoed Inez, who had hung upon every word. "You shall hear. I already knew where my poor brother was confined,--how I learned the facts I shall not say just now; and after infinite trouble I came to where a guard walked up and down before a barred door behind which I was positive Leon might be found. "All had been prepared, Captain Beven having so doctored a flask of liquor that the wretch drinking half of it would be overwhelmed by sleep. "While the guard walked away from me I placed this bait where he would be apt to kick it with his foot on his return. "Everything worked smoothly, Senor Owen--the fellow gulped down some of the stuff and presently slept as sweetly as a cherub." "Is sleeping still, and good for ten hours," declared Roderic, and then resumed his attitude of listener, believing that something of deep importance was coming next. "When this result had been secured I opened the door and found Leon alive and well." Inez uttered a fervent prayer of thanks.