"Fine," was the reply. "Where can we go to get a good view?"
"That's what I'd like to know. I don't want to stand in the crowd on the street, for I could never see anything that way."
"Let's see what my father can do to help us," said Harlan.
Mr. Webster, who was in an adjoining room, greeted his son's friend with a pleasant "Good morning" when the boys appeared before him. Seeing the eager, inquiring look on their faces, he asked what he could do for them.
"The Panama soldiers are going to parade to-day," said Harlan, "and Vasco is anxious to find a place where he can see them."
Mr. Webster smiled. He had an idea that Harlan was as anxious to get a view of the parade as was Vasco.
"Why don't you go into the cathedral and watch from the tower or from one of the upper windows?" asked Mr. Webster.
"None but officials and their families or others holding tickets can enter the cathedral till after the parade," replied Vasco, "and all entrances are guarded."
"If I tell you of a way to get into the cathedral, do you think you can remain within till the soldiers go by?" asked Mr. Webster.
Mr. Webster, during his stay in Panama, had been able to pick up information about the place that even Vasco did not know, and he said to the boys, "You know where the old sea-battery is, on the other side of the plaza from the cathedral?"
"Well, from that battery to the cathedral is an underground passage, built centuries ago to afford escape from the building. In times of revolution there was often danger even within its sacred walls."
Mr. Webster told the boys how they might find the entrance to the tunnel, and at once they were off to see for themselves. It took only a few moments to make their way from the hotel, down the street, across the plaza, and through a narrow alley to the old battery. Quickly they passed inside. Here Vasco was entirely at home, for many times he had wandered about the place, and with his friends had played hide-and-seek and other boyish games.
Notwithstanding this, it was hard for Vasco and Harlan to find the entrance to the underground passage. They opened many doors and wandered into several blind corridors. Vasco was almost ready to give up the search, but his American friend insisted on continuing. At last, behind a heap of old rubbish, they found the entrance they had so eagerly sought.