Walter was for taking no chances with his prize. Perching himself upon the barricade, he waited for the boarding-party from the tug to find him. The ship became silent except for the shriek of the steam from the safety-valves. Walter was left in sole command to enjoy the situation. Presently General Quesada showed symptoms of reviving. He lifted his voice in a quavering appeal to his comrades in arms, but they had disappeared beyond the green curtain of the jungle. Walter listened to the plaintive wail and gloated. He was not vindictive by nature, but there was such a thing as righteous retribution. When General Quesada became more vigorous and began to kick the door, Walter addressed him soothingly and advised him to be calm. When the party of marines reached the steamer, Jack Devlin was one of the first to scramble on deck. The voice of this faithful friend came down the companion-way to Walter. "He is not in the ship, you can take my word for it. He would have surely shown himself by now." "Oh, don't look so sad-eyed and hopeless until we make a search," replied the captain of marines. "I can't believe that he was put out of the way during the voyage. And we didn't see him taken ashore." Walter kept silent. This was the most delightful moment of his life. Presently Devlin came downstairs into the cabin. The place was gloomy after the dazzling sunshine above, and he halted to get his bearings. Then moving forward, he almost stumbled into the barricade of furniture. Walter leaned over, grasped him by the shoulder, and exclaimed: "I'm glad to see you aboard. Did you have a pleasant trip?" The steam-shovel man jumped back, and emitted a yell which could have been no louder if he had been clutched by a ghost. "Are you honestly alive?" he gasped. "You blessed young rascal, you! You scared me out of a year's growth." "Of course I am alive, and doing very nicely, thank you. How in the world did you happen to get on my trail? And what about the tug and the rest of the outfit?" Walter tried to make his voice sound as if this were a commonplace meeting, but his eyes twinkled with mischief as he thought of the second surprise in store for the steam-shovel man. "I'll tell you all about it when you are safe aboard the _Dauntless_ yonder," said Devlin. "And what are you doing roosting on that heap of furniture like a crazy hen? Oh my, but I'm sorry General Quesada got away from you. We surely did pine to lug him back to Panama with us." The hapless general in the state-room had become silent, for he was reluctant to draw the attention of the American party. Walter chuckled as he replied: "I have a present for you. It is a big one. If you really want General Quesada, you can have him with my compliments." "You're joking, boy. He is boring a large hole in the jungle by this time." "He wishes he was. Open this door behind me and see what you find."