A question over a five-dollar expense account item for "glass pants" for Scotty's mother leads to the boys recounting for Miss Clavell the whole story of their assignment to General Ortiz, democratic leader of an island republic ousted in a revolution and now living in exile in Taxco, Mexico. The general is seeking the United States' assistance in waging a counter-revolution, but Ortiz's wife is suspiciously resistant to allowing Kelly and Scott meet the general. Why the cover-up?