In a louder tone he demanded who was there, and there was a whispered consultation outside before anybody replied. “It is a friend. Open the door, Señor Hawley. I must see you immediately,” somebody answered. The Camera Chap laughed. “Wait a minute, friend,” he called, dragging the furniture from the door. As he turned the key in the lock, the door flew open, and Señor Lopez stepped into the room. He was by no means alone. Behind him flocked a dozen men, who wore the uniform of the army of Baracoa. Each of them held a revolver in his right hand. “There is your man,” Lopez cried dramatically pointing to Hawley. Whereupon one of the soldiers, whose epaulets proclaimed him to be of higher rank than the others, stepped up to the Camera Chap and pressed the barrel of his weapon against his breast. “I regret to have to inform you, señor, that you must accompany us at once,” he said politely. “You are under arrest.” Hawley laughed lightly. “This is so sudden,” he said. “Might I inquire, gentlemen, the nature of the charge against me?” “I think that Señor Hawley can guess the nature of the charge against him,” Lopez sneered. “If not, however, he will be fully informed later. Come, captain, hadn’t you better search the prisoner?” Up to this point Lieutenant Ridder had stood as though spellbound. Now, gun in hand, he stepped forward, contemptuously careless of the fact that eleven revolvers were pointed his way. “This man is an American citizen,” he exclaimed, ranging himself alongside the Camera Chap. “You’re not going to take him away, and you’re not going to search him, either. If you fellows are looking for trouble----” With a laugh the Camera Chap cut him short. “It’s no use, Ridder, old man,” he said. “I guess you’ve got to let them take me. Put up that gun. As an officer of the United States navy you can’t afford to mix up with this little unpleasantness.” CHAPTER XXVII. A SERIOUS SITUATION. Virginia Throgmorton’s return from the fortress to the United States legation was almost as comfortable a proceeding as if she had been coming home from a social function. Captain Ernesto Reyes himself escorted her in the launch to Puerto Cabero. The last train to the capital had gone when they reached the station, but the gallant captain knew where a fast automobile could be obtained, and, pressing it into service, rode with her to the door of her home. Captain Reyes’ manner toward her was very sympathetic. If he had any suspicions of the part she had played in the Camera Chap’s adventure, he did not betray them. Apparently he was completely deceived by the ingenuous story which she had narrated in order to account for her startling visit to the fortress.