“It is a brig, Rockhaven by name. But suppose we go inside’? It is rather warm out here in the sun, and I’m not quite used to this climate yet. Won’t you come in and have some chocolate with me? They have a very nice drink in here, and I—”
“It’s my treat,” interrupted Bob.
“No; if I may be so bold as to insist, you must be my guests this time,” went on Mr. Blowitz. “It is not often that I see lads away off east and meet them a little later, in California, so I must have the pleasure of their company for a little while. The young ladies too—I’m very fond of young ladies,” and Mr. Blowitz smiled in a manner that Rose characterized later as “ugly,” though just why she thought so she couldn’t explain.
There was no way of getting gracefully out of the invitation, and so the crowd of young people and the professor accompanied Mr. Blowitz into the refreshment booth.
They went out into the shaded courtyard, where a fountain of splashing water at least gave the effect of coolness, if it did not really make it so. They sat at small tables, and were served with cold chocolate and sweet cakes, by a pretty Mexican girl. Bob wanted to pay for the treat but Mr. Blowitz would not hear of it. In fact he played the host in such a genial way, and seemed so anxious to make every one have a good time, that the boys were rather ashamed of their first opinion of him.
Even Rose whispered to Bob that “he was not so bad, when you got acquainted with him.”
“Now I suppose you would like to hear the story of the abandoning of the brig Rockhaven,” said Mr. Blowitz, and the boys nodded.
“I hope no one was drowned,” exclaimed Olivia.
“Not as far as we know,” replied Mr. Blowitz. “The whole affair is rather mysterious, and I am seeking information about the fate of the ship as much as anything else.”
“I would like to ask you one question,” said Professor Snodgrass, who had been more interested in the antics of a small bug, walking on the table, than he was in his chocolate.