"His words only confirm what we had concluded, and for that I am inclined to believe the young man in part, at least. I was in Venezuela at the time of the downfall of that pompous patriot Guzman Blanco, and I knew something of the De Caprians. Possibly it was this fellow's father who was mixed up in the muddle, and who was killed, according to report, soon after I got away. Mind you, I say this, but it will be well for us if we are careful whom we trust. In Venezuela every man is a revolutionist, and where revolutions reign the sacredness of human faith is lost. As we seem to be in for our share of lively times, it may be well for us to look at the situation intelligently."
"I am surprised at the small amount I know of these South American republics," declared Harrie. "Though they are much nearer to us, I really know far less of them than I do of European nations of to-day, or the ancient empires that crumbled away long years ago."
"It is usually so," replied Jack. "It is a trait of human nature to be reaching after the things beyond our reach, while we push right over those near us. The history of South America is a most interesting one, but the most interesting chapter is close at hand, when out of the crude material shall crystallize a government and a people that shall place themselves among the powers of the world. I should not know as much as I do of Venezuela if it had not been for the two years I spent there quite recently--years I am not likely to forget."
"Ojeda, the Spanish adventurer who followed Columbus, named the country Venezuela, which means "Little Venice," from the fact that he found people living in houses built on piles, which suggested to him the 'Queen of the Adriatic,'" said Ronie.
"Very true," argued [Transcriber's note: agreed?} Jack. "These were natives living about Lake Maracaibo, but the name was extended to cover the whole country, though its original inhabitants did not, as a whole, live in dwellings on poles, and move about in canoes. This Alonso de Ojeda carried back to his patrons much gold and many pearls that he stole from the simple but honest natives."
"If I am not mistaken, Vespucci, who had so much to do with naming the new continent,[1] accompanied Ojeda's expedition," said Harrie.