"We left Tlatonac at four yesterday. We will reach Acauhtzin at twelve to-day. Three hundred miles in twenty hours. That is not bad for slow steaming. Had I kept her at full speed, she would have done it in fifteen!" Tim, who had his glass up, gave an exclamation of surprise. "What is it, Tim?" "Three war-ships are lying in the harbour." "I thought as much," replied Philip, calmly; "we will have to run the blockade." Tim pointed upward to the Union Jack. "If they fire on that," he said slowly, "Xuarez is not the clever man I take him to be. What do you say, Jack?" "Say!" repeated Jack, who was looking ahead with clenched fists, "that one of those three ships is _The Pizarro_, and that Dolores is on board." CHAPTER II. ACAUHTZIN. Here, where mingle rocks and sands, Phantom-like the city stands, Looming vague and ghostly pale, Through the dawning's misty veil. Day and night, and night and day, At the foot of ramparts grey; Just a stone-throw up the shore Ever-hungry surges roar, As they would rejoice to tear From her heights that city fair, Where, engirt by forests green, Proud she sits, a laurelled queen; Dim the mighty fabric gleams, As thought-built in magic dreams, 'Tis some palace city hoary, Famed in song for golden glory, Which, at dawn, will fade away, In the traitor light of day. The city of Acauhtzin was not unlike the capital in appearance, though it differed from Tlatonac in being built on a projecting point of land, instead of on a hill. On either side were mountains, partially enclosing a deep basin, wherein the war-ships were anchored, and on a tongue of rock jutting into the centre of this pool the city was built. The walls white and glistening, arose sheer from the rocky cliffs and above them only a few steeples and towers could be seen. The walls encompassing the tongue of rock formed a kind of citadel, and then ran along the inshore for some distance on each side, terminating in well-defended forts. At the back of the city arose a high mountain, clothed with green forests, from amidst which a mighty peak of snow shot up grandly into the blue sky. Philip saw all this when the yacht was some distance away, and at once pronounced his opinion of the place. "It is like Valetta," he said, handing the glass to Jack. "The city is built, on a tongue of land, the walls rise in the same precipitous fashion, and there are harbours on either side. Were it not for that mighty peak, and the mountains to right and left, it would be the Valetta of the old world."