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The last tiny scrap dropped on the floor, burned out, and he crushed the ashes under his heel. Then he began to write: "My Dear Miss Thorne: "Many thanks for your courteous little note. I am delighted to know of the improvement in Señor Alvarez's condition. I had hoped that my impulsive act in shooting him would not end in a tragedy. Please keep me informed of any further change in his condition.
Then, still standing at the door, the prisoner read the note again: "MY DEAR FRIEND: "I understand, from an indirect source, that there has been a marked improvement in Señor Alvarez's condition, and I am hastening to send you the good news. There is every hope that within a short while, if he continues to improve, we can arrange a bail bond, and you will be free until the time of trial anyway.
The prisoner read it greedily: "Am privately informed there is little chance of Alvarez's recovery. Shall I arrange escape for you, or have ambassador intercede? Would advise former, as the other might take months, and meeting to sign treaty alliance would be dangerously delayed." Signor Petrozinni permitted the sputtering flame to ignite the paper, and thoughtfully watched the blaze destroy it.
Throughout the night they watched the illumination of the city and of the boats in the harbor below them; they saw the flames bursting from the homes of the members of Alvarez's Cabinet, and when the morning broke they beheld the grounds of the Palace swarming with Mendoza's troops, and the red and white barred flag of the revolution floating over it.
"Ay," answered Roger, who went on to tell of Alvarez's little soliloquy relative to de Soto while searching for the papers in the cabin of the sinking Gloria del Mundo. "He will do de Soto a bad turn, of that I am sure, if he ever gets the opportunity," remarked Roger in conclusion. All was now ready for their departure.
Now for some time Roger had been vaguely conscious of a peculiar sluggish movement of the ship as she heaved on the swell, and the sight of Alvarez's haste suddenly brought the ghastly truth home to him. The ship was sinking! "I must wait no longer," muttered Alvarez to himself, "or I shall be drowned like a rat in a trap, in company with that young heretic there in the bunk.
They went back to the data again, going through it step by step. This was Jack Alvarez's specialty the technique of diagnosis, the ability to take all the available information about a race and about its illness and piece it together into a pattern that made sense.
Ten minutes later the phone buzzed again, this time with a request that the ship be moved a little east and that Manuel, Alvarez's mate, be sent down to help. This was done, and another telephone instrument was plugged in. Tom, who understood a little Spanish, stood by to hear the report of the second diver. Both lines were now kept open continuously.
Because this time there shouldn't be any argument from either of you as to just where the responsibility lies, and I'm relieved to know that I can completely exonerate you two, at any rate." Jack Alvarez's jaw went slack and he stared at the Black Doctor as though he hadn't heard him properly. "Exonerate us?" he said. "Exonerate us from what?"
The consequences come afterwards." Alvarez's face cleared. "You were always a gambler, but you run some risk if you bet on me." He was silent for a moment and then resumed: "In a sense, I envy you; you have a partner you can trust, but I stand alone. My son was found in the plaza with a knife in his back, and the man who killed him goes unpunished."
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