“So you have come back!” said Virginia, her face radiant, a thrill of admiration in her voice. “Of course,” the Camera Chap said simply. “Did you think that I wouldn’t? Surely you didn’t think me capable of being such a wretched quitter?” The girl’s face showed her remorse. “Forgive me,” she said. “Of course, I ought to have known that even so great a risk couldn’t keep you away. But you really should not have done it,” she protested, with a contrariness which amused Ridder. “You are taking your life in your hands. If any of Portiforo’s spies should recognize you----” “I am in hopes that the eyes of Portiforo’s spies won’t be as sharp as yours,” said the president’s photographic envoy, shrugging his shoulders. “It seems to me that this disguise is pretty good.” “It is splendid!” Virginia declared. “And your mannerisms, too. I had no idea that you were such an accomplished actor. I can’t explain how I knew it was you--certainly there was nothing about you to give you away. I guess it must have been my instinct which told me,” she added, with a blush. “I must admit you had me completely fooled, old man,” declared Ridder, with a grin. “It’s a wonderful make-up.” He looked his friend over from head to foot and laughed. “Ye gods, you certainly are some spectacle!” Hawley’s face reflected his grin. “Talking about spectacles,” he said, “how’s our friend, Captain Reyes? Can either of you tell me whether he’s still wearing those blue goggles?” “He was wearing them as late as this morning,” Virginia informed him, with a gleam of comprehension of the Camera Chap’s apparently irrelevant interest in the eyesight of the custodian of President Felix. “I met him to-day on the Avenida Juarez, and he told me that his eyes were giving him a lot of trouble, but are greatly improved since he has worn the glasses. The specialist has ordered him to wear them both night and day.” “Night and day!” the snapshot adventurer echoed joyously. “That’s better than I dared hope for. Of course, I ought to be ashamed of myself for gloating over another man’s misfortune, but I can’t help regarding this as a gift from the gods. But tell me,” he added, a shade of anxiety flitting across his face, “is Reyes still at the fortress, or have they put him on the sick list?” “He is still on duty,” Virginia announced. “I asked him, this morning, why he didn’t lay off until his eyes were better, and he told me that his superiors had urged him to do so, but that he had insisted that he was capable of attending to his duties, and that they had let him have his way in the matter.” Hawley exhaled a deep breath of relief. “Now I know that we’re going to win out,” he chuckled. “Fortune wouldn’t have put so many things our way if she weren’t on our side.” “But what do you expect to gain by those blue spectacles?” Lieutenant Ridder demanded. “I can’t see how they’re going to help us free Felix.”