throughout the movement "the Eagle," was highly pleased with Raul Jofre's call. The Lieutenant's cautiousness was not lost upon the Vice-Presi- dent of the Revolutionary Council, the right hand man of the President, Irena Varga. Despite the bizarre overtones, Jofre's insistence that Esteban had deceived them completely, only the striking resemblance to Irena finally giving away his true identity, Francisco intrigued Salluca most of all and raised his hopes that the disaster facing himself might yet be averted. had understood immediately the reason for Jofre's call to Irena and not to his superiors in the Interior Ministry. Jofre wouldn't know how Esteban had received approval for his passport and visa. If Jofre had contacted the wrong person in the Min- istry, he might have ended up in San Martino himself. Now, Irena's own special bodyguard, made up of long-committed revolutionaries, were sorting out the mess in Jofre's office, while the survivors of the battle were safely ensconced in the Presidential Palace itself.

Consuela Romo was livid with him when he returned to the dark-panelled study. "Isn't it bad enough as it is?" she raged at him. "It's enough that you have crazy, foolish ideas. But now you've gone and publicly associated yourself with this business." She had been one of Irena'a greatest friends in the movement--her only close friend in the last few years as the female leaders of the Revolution had been whittled down by re- actionary bullets at an extra- ordinary rate.

Consuela was on the wrong side of thirty, but her face hardly showed it. She was a small woman, large breasts and wide hips, who might be a typical, rotund, dark 'senora' later in life, but was now at the peak of

her attractiveness. Her overly large, black eyes were filled with scorn for Francisco and his 'addle-brained' scheme. But she'd gone along with it, Salluca shrugged mentally to himself. She'd had nowhere else to go. Just possibly she'd seen the need to try something Figueroa.

to stop

and

two

"I had to see for myself," he said quietly. Salluca went over to the intercom flicked a switch. “Tell Lieuten- ant Jofre to bring the prisoners into the President's study in the manner which I indicated," he ordered. He sat down behind the great, shiny, mahogany-topped desk and began to drum on the blotter with his long, well-manicured nails.

There was a discreet tap on the door. Rojas, the butler left over from the late Ferdinand Reyes, ushered in an Interior Police officer and two women, one of whom was quite tall, with short, curled black hair and flat features. The other, whose skirt was badly torn, was very thin. She wore a black veil over her head, concealing her features entirely. Consuela raised a thick, dark eyebrow at the ugly red weals down the Lieutenant's formerly handsome features. By the depth of the cuts, he would surely be permanently scarred. Jofre scowled as she looked him over, the stinging strips across his face adding greatly to his discomfiture.

Salluca waited until Rojas had slipped away as quietly as he had entered and then motion- ed for the girl to remove the veil. Her lacquered fingers trembled as she slipped the veil over and down her brown hair. It was quite dishevelled by this time, even a little lopsided. With a start, Consuela realized that the girl was wearing a wig. Her makeup, too, was in need of repair. The lipstock had quite worn off and her thin nose,

slightly upturned like Irena's, was shiny. Traces of liner and mascara still lingered about the eyes, giving a feminine look to the face. There was no doubt, thought Consuela gloomily, that this person could be transformed into a replica of the dead Irena Varga with very little difficulty.

She went over and leaned besides Salluca, her elbows on the desk. she "All right,

whispered. "He looks just like his sister, but we need a woman for your plan to succeed. No man, queen or otherwise," her her large eyes blazoned lower moved lip rapidly, "could keep up the deception we have in mind. We must keep on looking for someone like Irena."

Francisco Salluca shook his head. "No," he said aloud. “We have to act now, with the ma- terial to hand. Beggars can't be choosers." He noted the puzzlement in Esteban's and Raul Jofre's eyes. Esteban sat very still on the wooden chair set out for him by Rojas. His female companion was obviously still concussed and was hardly aware of what was going on. "Thank you, Lieutenant, Salluca smiled, his eyes slitted, giving his face an even more predatory look than his hooked nose normally gave him. “Thank you for returning Esteban to his loving sister." He continued to smile as Jofre frowned Consuela. "I'm sure that when I inform the President of your great feat in preventing Esteban from leaving the country, she will take a personal interest in your from now on."

career

Jofre nodded and glanced at Esteban. A chuckle broke from the Lieutenant's mouth. Shaking his head, he stood up and left the study. Esteban looked decidedly embarrassed and tugged nervously at his tattered skirt as if to hide his nylon- covered legs.

As soon as the Lieutenant