“You do not desire the revolutionary cause to triumph, señorita?” he inquired, a strain of irony in his tone.
Virginia shrugged her shoulders. “To be quite frank with you, I don’t care whether they triumph or not. It is all the same to me which side wins,” she replied carelessly.
“Then why are you so glad that the fortress is in no danger of attack?”
“Because,” she answered serenely, “if the insurrectos were to be so inconsiderate as to attack El Torro to-night, I fear it would interfere with our dinner.”
Reyes laughed heartily. “Oh, is that the reason? Well, have no fear, my dear Señorita Throgmorton. I assure you that there is not the slightest danger of our appetites being spoiled by any such interruption.”
A little later they arrived at the seaport, and, alighting from the car, entered one of the battleship’s launches which was waiting at the landing for them. As they stepped to the deck of the Kearsarge, Lieutenant Ridder greeted them. That young officer’s face, which, a minute before, had worn a strained, worried expression, was now illuminated by a broad smile. “I’m glad to see you,” he said to the girl. “I was beginning to be afraid that you weren’t coming.”
She smiled in a manner which showed that she appreciated the fact that, while to others his words might have sounded like a compliment, they were intended to be congratulatory. But a second later the smile disappeared from her lips. She glanced furtively at Reyes, and saw that he was occupied at the moment, chatting with one of the ship’s officers, and she eagerly availed herself of this opportunity for a few confidential words with Ridder.
“There is danger,” she whispered. “I am afraid we must give up the idea. I have just learned that they are very much on their guard at the fortress. They are awaiting a possible attack of the revolutionists, and the whole garrison is unusually wide awake. Under the circumstances it would be madness to go ahead to-night. Tell Mr. Hawley——”
The naval officer interrupted her with a deprecatory gesture. “It is no use,” he whispered. “I have already told him. I knew about the danger. Half our guests have sent their regrets, and some of those who are here have told us the reason. I have been trying my hardest to persuade Hawley that, under the circumstances, he couldn’t possibly get away with his scheme to-night, but the plucky old chap won’t listen. He says that we’ve made our plans, and it’s too late to change them now. He insists upon going through with it.”