Among the throngs on the plaza Roderic sauntered, looking eagerly for the face his heart yearned to see. Some few discreet people had left the capital and gone away, pending the anticipated bombardment; but the grand rush of panic stricken fugitives would not begin until the first shell from the Yankee fleet came screaming into town. It had been so on the previous occasion, and those who for five hours that morning saw the steady, jostling, excited, almost demoralized stream of humanity that poured along the one road leading out of San Juan, many carrying their most cherished household possessions upon their backs, would never forget the remarkable spectacle. Roderic's search was however, not without some result, for he had several glimpses of his cousin Cleo in the crowd. She hung upon the arm of Captain Beven, and Miss Becky was of course along. Having heard so much of the gaiety to be found in Porto Rico's capital the ladies had had curiosity enough to come ashore. Who could blame them, when listening to the delightful strains of melody, and amid such enchanting and romantic surroundings as the many tinted houses fronting the grand plaza afforded! Not Roderic, surely. He thought it wise not to make his presence known, as it might seriously compromise his safety in this hostile city. Nevertheless his eyes were frequently drawn toward the trio, and somehow rested upon the face of his Virginia cousin with a peculiar satisfaction. If Cleo was not divinely handsome like Georgia she had a fine figure and carried her head like an American queen, so that any man might feel proud to claim kinship with her. Roderic noticed how eagerly she looked around. At first he had the assurance to wonder whether she could be seeking him in the crowd, and man-like was beginning to even feel flattered at the idea when he noticed that those whom she scrutinized so eagerly were of the gentler sex, wives and daughters of San Juan's better class of citizens. Then it flashed upon him that she hoped to discover Georgia in the midst of the throng. He dared not follow out this thought to its legitimate conclusion, lest it make him appear egotistical even in his own eyes. That Georgia must have reached the city he knew full well, for with his own eyes he had seen the Sterling Castle in the harbor. If that were not evidence quite sufficient here was Jerome as big as life, sauntering about the plaza, the object of adoration on the part of the whole female population, and of malice, envy and black hatred on the part of the military beaux who saw in this Adonis a rival to be feared. Roderic mentally pictured the inevitable outcome and in anticipation enjoyed Jerome's downfall. "He will discover it a different matter flirting with the daughters of Porto Rico. I am ready to swear my dandy Lord High Admiral will ere long find himself ducked in some fragrant frog pond, if no greater evil befalls him," was what Owen concluded.