"I vote we go at once, Harry, and see if he is here."

"I don't think we shall find him here; for Barnett said that he lived in
the village of Miraflores, five miles away on the north, and that if he is
not there, Senor Pasquez, to whom I have a letter, will be likely to tell
me where he is to be found, for he is often employed by him. However, I am
as anxious as you to see him. As it is only eleven o'clock yet, there is
no reason why we should not go to Miraflores. They will get mules for us
at the hotel, and tell us which road to take."

It was not necessary, however, to go into the hotel, for when they
returned, two or three men with mules were waiting to be hired. They
engaged two animals, and as the man of whom they hired them had a third,
and he was ready to accompany them for a small fee, they agreed to take
him with them.

Before they were a mile out of the town the mist cleared off and the sun
shone brightly. The heat, however, was by no means too great to be
pleasant. Miraflores was a charming village, or rather small town,
nestling among gardens and orchards.

"I want to find a muleteer named Dias Otero," Harry said to their guide as
they rode into the place.

"I know him well," he said. "Everyone about here knows Dias. His wife was
a cousin of my mother's."

"Do you know whether he is at home now?"

"Yes, senor; I saw him in Lima three days ago. He had just come down from