was closed.

"No, Senor Garlicho has NOT been awarded the
contract. I am here to keep the affair alive. If I
had thought it necessary I would have brought a
certified check with me drawn to your order, which
I would have handed you with my card. The standing
of your firm prevented my doing so. This is
business, and I want to get back home as quick as
possible. Our coast is a dangerous one and the loss
of life increases every year. Do you want this matter
hung up for six weeks until we can communicate with
Mr. Garlicho? Every hour's delay in putting the
light on the Lobo means that many more deaths." As
he spoke a peculiar smile struggled from under his
black dab of a mustache, got as far as the base of his
nose and there collapsed.

My duty was now clear. Senor Garlicho, for some
reason unknown to me, had waited until his option
had expired and had then sent Onativia in his place.
This wiped out the past and made a new deal necessary
--one which included the price of erection on
the reef, a point which had not been raised in the
former negotiation.

"All right," I said, "you shall have the estimate.
What you want is the cost of erecting a structure like
the one here in the plans. Well, if it was to be put
on our Florida coast, where I think the conditions