“Don Anibal Alfarez can never be President of Panama!”

The banker made no visible movement, yet the effect of this positive declaration was almost like that of a blow.  After a pause he said: 

“May I tell him you said so?”

“If you wish, but I do not think you will.”

The hearer let his eyes flit questioningly to Mrs. Cortlandt’s face to find her smiling at him.

“Believe me, dear lady,” he said, “I suspected that there were grave reasons for this interview, but as yet I am at sea.  I am not a politician, you know.  I shall have no voice in our political affairs.”

“Of course we know that, Senor Garavel, and of course there are grave reasons why we wished to talk with you.  As Stephen has said, General Alfarez cannot be President—­”

“Madame,” he said, coldly, “Panama is a republic.  The voice of the people is supreme.”

“Down in your heart do you really think so?” She was still smiling at him.  “No!  The United States is supreme.”

“Ah!  That day will come, perhaps—­I have said so; I look forward to it as the best solution, but—­”

“The day has come.”

“Even so, Alfarez is an honorable man, a strong man, and the wealthiest man in our country.  He is a politician—­”

“But he is not a friend of our country.”

“I am not so sure.”  Garavel frowned at his cigar for a moment, while the room became silent.  “What has this to do with me, madame?” he asked, at last.

“Can’t you guess?” The intensity of her look caused him to rise hurriedly and cast a quick glance from one to the other.

“You are also a rich man, a man of ability,” said Cortlandt, quick to seize the momentary advantage.  “Your name is second to none in all Central America.  The next President must possess intelligence, honor, ability; he must be a friend of our people.  There is no one better—­”

“Impossible!” exclaimed the banker, in a strange voice. “I?  No, no!”

“And why not?  Have you never had political aspirations?”

“Of course.  All men have dreams.  I was Secretary of Finance under Amador, but the Garavels have never really been public men.  Politics have been a curse to our house.  My grandfather—­”

“I know,” broke in Mrs. Cortlandt.  “But times have changed.  Panama has seen her last revolution, and she needs a business man at her head.  Presidents are not made now by rifle and sword, and the man with the machete must give way to the man with a capacity for handling big affairs.  There will be no more swineherd Presidents like your Guatemalan countryman Corera, nor tyrants like Zelaya.  Panama is a healthy country, with no national debt; she is growing, developing.  She holds the gateway to the Western World, and her finances must be administered wisely.  You, Mr. Garavel, are one of the few who are clear-headed enough to see that her destiny is linked with ours, and there is no one who can direct her so well as you.”