Late the night before, they said, Andrew had wandered into the alcalde's office in a little pueblo a few miles this side of Guatavita. His appearance, manner and mental condition--they hinted broadly enough that the luckless Andrew, when first found was in a very irresponsible condition indeed--called for the protection of the law. But as the poor gentleman, they said, was apparently suffering from nothing more than the effects of a too convivial outing in the country, he had been put in jail, not as a punishment, but rather as an act of humanity. Unable to express himself in Spanish, Andrew had evidently been something of a puzzle to the simple-minded officials of the pueblo. Out of his incoherent jumble of words, however, the name of a hotel in Bogota had been seized upon. A telephone message was sent to the municipal police, and the two officers who now had him in charge were detailed to conduct him in safety to his friends. Beyond this, the clearing up of the mystery of his temporary disappearance--if mystery it was--rested with Andrew himself. But he, for a time, was unable to satisfy the curiosity of his questioners. "I don't understand it myself," he said hopelessly, addressing himself, in the main, to Leighton, whose calm demeanor was less confusing than the badgering of the excitable Doctor. "All I know is, that when Doctor Miranda went off to make some explorations on his own account, I felt a little nervous at finding myself alone in such a dismal place. Not frightened, you know, but just nervous." "Why you not call to me?" demanded Miranda. "There was really no reason to call for help, you see, as nothing had happened. So, just to pass the time until Doctor Miranda came back, I walked along the edge of the lake, feeling very miserable, I confess, wondering what had become of Mr. Meudon, and wishing that we were all out of this terrible country and back in Rysdale. At first, there was nothing to alarm me particularly; but the more I thought about the disappearance of Mr. Meudon the more nervous I became. And then, just as I was wondering if we would ever find him, and feeling more uneasy at the strange silence of that melancholy lake----" "Caramba! You would have the lake to talk?" "I--I heard footsteps among the rocks behind me." "A sightseer from Bogota, I suppose," suggested Leighton. "No, it was not exactly that--at least, I don't think so. But at first I really didn't turn around to see. I just kept on looking at the lake and going over some of the terrible stories I had heard about it." "You see, this leetle fellow was quite mad with the fright," interjected Miranda. "He dream. He hear, he see nothing. Nobody was there. I know." "I think, Sir, you are mistaken," protested the schoolmaster. "I admit I was nervous. But I was perfectly sane--and I was not asleep." "Of course you were not asleep, Mr. Parmelee," said Una soothingly. "As for being nervous--any one would have been nervous."