CHAPTER XIII.
THE NEW ERA A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs of Maceio.
Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature enabled him to keep pace with the officer.

The pair neither lagged nor hesitated.

The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big gates.

After some delay it was opened.

A sentry challenged.
"Capitao San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to attention.
"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion.