against the ropes and moving excitedly about in gallery boxes, were cheering or hurling denunciations at the players; betting was furious; the bookmakers jumped from woman to woman and man to man, recording their orders and exchanging their money. Fully 2,000 highly-wrought people were backing their opinions in this way.

"You can see for yourself," said the Governor to the Speaker, "what this game means. The players are from the Basque provinces; they are engaged by the company which conducts this game for salaries ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. The men are finely trained, but the work is so severe that most of the professionals die young."

Scarcely had the words left the Governor's mouth when the whole house, with its nearly 3,000 spectators, was in an uproar. A player had caught the ball, which looked no larger than the ordinary golf ball, and had, entirely within his rights, swung the cestus completely round his head in order to hold the ball and give additional force to the throw. Another player had stepped in the way and received the ball full in the temple. The injured man dropped in a heap, the blood bursting from his head and covering his entire body. Physicians and attendants, led by the player who had driven the ball, rushed to the victim and carried him off, as we were informed, to die.

The effect upon the crowd was surprising. The chatter that followed the first thrill of compassion for the stricken man changed to exciting arguments over the consequences of his mishap in its relation to bets put upon him and his associate in the game. Then, as the physicians were laboring with the unfortunate, came murmurings and mutterings as to the probability of a cessation of the game. The demand was for a continuance of the sport. "On with the game!" was the cry. And presently, when a new player, one of the

group of Basque professionals, appeared, the cheers of the multitude rent the air.

The game was renewed with earnestness and skill, but it was not until the end of the game that the temper of the audience could be fully determined. Then the cheers for the winners told that many had won, and the hoots and curses upon the losers, told that many had lost.

"Brother Mann," said Governor Magoon, as we passed out through the crowd into the night, "I believe you and I have never met before, but before you go I want to thank you for the manner in which, without any suggestion from me, you defended my course as Governor of Panama. I had heard a great deal about your speeches, but I assure you I never read anything that gave me more pleasure than what you so kindly said about me in Congress. My task in Panama was a severe one, and some things were likely to be misunderstood, but you seemed to have an intuition."

It may not have occurred to our Chicago friend that anyone would remember the circumstance, but some of us recalled that our colleague, Floyd, of Virginia, had made an attack upon Governor Magoon, and that Mann had risen, as usual, "to object." He had studied the conditions of Panama and knew what he was talking about, and while he had never met Magoon, he defended his course as a simple matter of justice. So in acknowledging the Governor's sentiment he simply said:

"I think I made no mistake, and I am surprised you have such a memory."

"Guess Mann can have anything he wants in Cuba!" said McKinley, as we started for the ship.

CHAPTER XIII.

NASSAU.

Easter and Farewell-The Colors and Fruits of Nassau-Lo, the First of April-An Interrupted Reception-The Storm Breaks at Sea-Attempt to Reach the Ship-Thrilling Experience in a Tender-"Man Overboard!" the Cry-Returning Over the BarThe Speaker and Party Marooned-Search for Clothes and Accommodations-The Widow Turns Nurse-Killing the Time Ashore-Mann and His "Sweetheart"-Tariff Debate in Parliament-Where is the Bluecher?-Fertility of the Coral SoilCongo Chief and Negro Village-Enterprise of the Local Papers -"The Bowery" Improvised-A Bridal Pair Caught-Sponge Fleet and the Markets-A Safe Harbor at Last-Welcome to the Ship.

Easter Sunday at sea! The air, the sky, the water, all combined to make it a glorious day. Many as had been the changes of costume during the past three weeks, the limitless resources of the women passengers enabled them still to bring forth new and pleasing novelties. The newlyweds, the prospectives, and the Widow vied with each other in a gorgeous show of millinery and lingerie. Fifth Avenue and West Walnut Street may have had theirs, but we, too, had our Easter day parade. And what was more homelike, we had our Easter services, conducted in the afternoon by the Rev. Dr. Tiffany. It was, all in all, a happy, joyous, restful occasion,

The next evening the ship's officers contributed entertainment at dinner by handsomely decorating the dining room and tables and introducing a fatastic parade of the nations. The music was patriotic and the lights were lowered as the

stewards, attired in the costumes of foreign countries, came forward with grotesque lanterns of pumpkins, melons and the like.

"We're soon to part," was the comment of passengers, "and we must show our appreciation of the Captain." In a little while a committee, consisting of Mr. Sweet, of

Attleborough, Massachusetts; Mr. Runkel, of New York; Mr. Kenan, of Cincinnati; Mr. Grant, of Chicago; Mr. Heinl, of Terre Haute, and others, waited on the Speaker and asked him to present to the Captain a chronometer. It was a part of the general cleaning-up process, and the Speaker consented to act, but this, he opined, should be "the last speech!"