“It was wonderful,” replied the girl, clasping her hands. “I am glad the English won.”
“And so am I,” agreed her father. “How do you think you would like to be a sailor aboard a man-o’-war.”
“I’d love it!” declared Shirley with enthusiasm.
Dick looked at her peculiarly.
“I believe you would,” he said quietly at last, and, turning on his heel, he went below.
CHAPTER XXI.—A WOMAN PLOTTER.
Aboard the Yucatan was a woman passenger, who, on the trip up the Pacific, had made herself very agreeable to the members of the Willing party. She was not an American although she spoke English fluently, with the slightest of accents. Neither Shirley nor Mabel had asked her nationality, but they had agreed that she must be a Spaniard.
The woman had given her name as Mrs. Miguel Sebastian and this strengthened the belief of the members of the Willing party that she was a native of one of the Latin countries. She had come aboard the ship for the first time at Colon, but for several days had kept to her stateroom, so the passengers had not seen much of her.
She was young, hardly more than twenty-five, slender, rather light complexioned for a Spaniard, and extremely pretty. Since leaving Champerico she had been much in the company of Shirley and Mabel, and both girls had taken an instinctive liking to her.
She had travelled much, apparently, and told them tales of many lands. Her husband, she said, was abroad in Europe, but would join her in San Francisco within a month. She was well posted on current events, and seemed to have the history of Mexico at her finger tips.