“You seem to take my agreement for granted,” he remarked.  “You must see that I could embarrass you by telling Alvarez.”

Olsen laughed.  “You could put him wise; but you couldn’t embarrass us.  The president knows whom he’s up against.  The trouble is he isn’t strong enough to get after us.”

“Well, suppose I refuse?”

“You’ll be a blame fool.  That’s all there is to it.”

Kit doubted.  He knew what had happened to Adam, and, in spite of Olsen’s statement, imagined Galdar’s friends would not let him warn the president.

“Anyhow, you must give me until the morning.  I want to think about it,” he said, in order to test his suspicions.

“We can’t wait; the thing must be put over now.  There’s no use in trying to raise my offer.  You know our limit.”

“Oh, well!” said Kit, “I’m afraid I’ll have to let it go.  There are difficulties, and if you can’t wait—­”

Olsen looked at him with surprise, and Kit saw he had not expected his offer to be refused.  The fellow had a cynical distrust of human nature that had persuaded him Kit could not resist the temptation; his shallow cleverness sometimes misled him and had done so when he took it for granted that Kit was Adam’s clerk.

“You don’t mean you’re going to turn my offer down?” Olsen said sharply.

“You force me.  I can’t decide just yet.”

Olsen hesitated, knitting his brows.  “Oh!” he exclaimed, “that’s ridiculous!  The thing will cost you nothing, and I’ll come up a thousand dollars.  You ought to see you must accept.”

“I don’t see,” Kit replied as carelessly as he could, and got up.  “Since you can’t wait, I understand the matter’s off.”

He went away, and glancing back as he crossed the street, saw that Olsen’s pose was curiously fixed and he seemed to be gazing straight in front.  Some of the customers now left the cafe and Kit lost sight of him.  The moon was high and clear, but the black shadows of the trees fell upon the walk through the alameda and there were not many people about.  Kit would sooner not have crossed the alameda, although this was his nearest way, but thought he had better do so.  Olsen might be watching, and Kit did not want the fellow to imagine he was afraid, since it would indicate that he knew the importance of his refusal.  Yet he was afraid, and it cost him something of an effort to plunge into the gloom.

CHAPTER VI

THE PRESIDENT’S WATCHERS

When Kit was half way across the alameda he stopped and looked about.  Dark trees rose against the sky; he could smell the eucalyptus and their thin shadows covered the ground with a quivering, open pattern.  There was a pool of moonlight, and farther on the solid, fan-shaped reflections of palms.  Nobody was near him, although he heard voices across the alameda, and he stood for a few moments, thinking, while his heart beat.