"you have exposed the situation to me and you come to ask for advice. I answer: Let me think it over. At first glance I see no way out of the labyrinth which imprisons you. Tomorrow perhaps I shall find one. At any rate you ask for advice. I give it to you; remain here, and wait patiently until I see how the land lies. * * * I have not only to think myself, but to find out as well what others think in order to get you out of the difficulty. * * * In the meanwhile, remain, and see nobody. If you want to speak to me over the 'phone take the name of Smith. I shall take that of Jones."
And with these words, Bunau-Varilla departed. He went to solve a problem perplexing others greater than Amador. The fate of the great ship canal, and the future perhaps of more than one country, hung upon the solution of this problem. It was at that moment the subject of grave concern to Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, to the
