“That’s the idea—­only we put it ‘conspires’ down here....  It is really a remarkable institution—­this of Senor Rey’s,” Carreras went on.  He forgot himself in a narrative.  “Now, if you were in New York and had a hundred thousand dollars of another man’s money, and wanted to relax—­you would come here to Equatoria, and put up with Celestino Rey.  To all appearances, The Pleiad is a hotel, but in reality it’s just a club for those who have taken the short cut to fortune—­the direct and amiable way of loot.  There’s so much red tape in Equatoria that a New York warrant for arrest would be about as compelling in our city as a comic valentine.

“So you see, Andrew, those who used to fly to Mexico now come here.  This is the most interesting colony of crime-cultured gentlemen in the world—­ex-cashiers, penmen, promoters and gamblers, all move in those great halls and gardens.  There are big games.  Senor Rey is an artist in many ways, not only as a master of gambling chances.  His palace is filled with art treasures from all lands.  He was a pirate in these waters—­yes, within your years.  I heard of him in Asia as the most murderous pirate the Caribbean had ever known—­and this was the Spanish Main.  Of course, stories build about a picturesque figure.  The Senor must be seventy years old now, but a man of mystery, fabulously rich....  Just a little while ago, he brought over a fresh bride from South America.  They say she’s a thriller to look at.  The Spaniard calls her his ’Glow-worm’——­”

“Truly a honeymoon name,” Bedient observed.

“You see,” the Captain concluded, “I can speak of The Pleiad only from the outside.  That’s the Senor’s name for his establishment, possibly because there are seven wings to his castle, but others say it was the name of a gold-ship that he took in the early days.  Anyway, Rey and I don’t neighbor.  He’s becoming formidable, I’m told, in the politics of the Island.  He’s at the head of a very powerful colony nevertheless, and no matter what its inter-relations are, it hangs together against the law and the outside world.  Rey wants more say back yonder at headquarters, and our Dictator, Jaffier, all things considered, is a very good man, but old and stubborn and impolitic.  He won’t be driven even by Celestino Rey, who in turn is not a man to be denied.  He is probably richer than Equatoria, and then Coral City lives off this institution as Monaco lives off Monte Carlo.  He doubtless commands the whole lower element of the town.  The word is, Celestino Rey intends to run the Island first-hand—­if he can’t run it through the powers that are.”

All of which Bedient found of interest, inasmuch as he was passing through the heart of these strange affairs.  Having any part in them seemed unearthly remote.  The carriage was taking the gradual rise behind a pair of fine ponies, and the view behind, over The Pleiad to the sapphire water, was noble.  The horizon, beyond the harbor distances, was a blazing intensity of light that stung the eyes to quick contraction.  The Captain sat back in the cushions, weary from talking, but his face was happy, and he took in the exterior, and something of the inner proportions, of the young man, with a sense of awe.  He did not try to explain yet—­even to himself.