Well, that pretty nearly knocked us all ’flat aback,’ and we realised at once that now Gerald, with the Santa Cruz fleet to help him, would be master at sea and could do anything he liked, join forces with the insurgents in the northern province, and attack Santa Cruz itself whenever he was ready. It was so grand and so jolly unexpected that I hardly know what I felt, only awfully thankful that the revolution would be over soon, and that Gerald wouldn’t be worrying them all at home. The two torpedo-boats slowed down as they came towards us. ’_Viva los Inglesas! Viva la Marina Inglesa!_’ their crews shouted, and then they were past and abreast the poor old _La Buena Presidente_, with the water running through her upper works and the top of her foremost turret just showing above the surface like the back of a whale. They stopped, their crews stood to attention along their rails and saluted the flag that drooped over her, and suddenly burst into cheers, shouting, ’_Viva El Capitaine Pelayo! Viva Pelayo! Viva la Marina Santa Cruz! Viva Presidente de Costa! Viva los Horizontals! Viva Don Geraldio!_’ The last shout made me warm up all over. Good old Gerald! they hadn’t forgotten him, didn’t bear him any ill-will, and were proud of him too. ’I’ll be able to ask him to dinner after all,’ the Skipper said, twinkling and rubbing his hands. ’The Government is almost certain to recognise the Provisional Government now. Don’t expect he’d come, though—wouldn’t care to dine with the poor Skipper of a beaten ship.’ The ships themselves came along now, and this time they _did_ notice us, their crews crowding behind the hammock nettings and in the gun ports to see the awful destruction _La Buena Presidente_ had done to us. The flagship had only ’Presidente’ on her stern—the ’Canilla’ part had been knocked off—and she slowed down and fired seventeen guns to salute the sunken ship. For the first time since that awful morning I felt happy, and rushed down below to tell Navarro what had happened. He did not seem in the least depressed, and shrugged his shoulders. ’I make the guess. When you tell me El Castellar no fire guns when they pass, I had the suspic—ion. De Costa will now be Presidente—Canilla will fly.’ ’What will become of General Zorilla?’ I asked him. I didn’t want to see the old chap go to the wall. He raised his eyebrows. ’He never change. If Canilla tell him "fight," he will fight till he killed; but when de Costa is _Presidente_ and tell him to fight, he also fight till he killed.’ I knew what Navarro meant, and it was just what I thought the grand old chap would do.