"Who are you?" demanded Jack, who was the first to speak. He remembered having seen this youth among the men on board, but had not given him any particular notice, although he noticed that he presented an appearance that showed he did not belong to the class of common sailors, while dressed no better than the poorest. There was an air of superiority about him which they did not possess.
"It is not always well for one to be too outspoken to strangers," he answered, glancing cautiously about as he said the words. "Even coils of rope have ears," he added, significantly.
"You overheard what we said?" queried Jack, who continued to act as spokesman for the party.
"Si, señor. I could not help hearing some of it, though you did speak in a low tone. My ears are very keen, and not every one would have heard the little I did."
"It is not well for one to repeat what one hears, sometimes," said Jack, by way of reply.
"I have a mind as well as ears, señors," replied the youth. "While I can see as well as I can hear, I can think for both eyes and ears. You are not satisfied with the appearance of the Libertador?"
"I judge you are pretty well informed as to our opinion," replied Jack, more vexed than he was willing to show that they should have been caught off their guard. "Listeners are not apt to hear any good of themselves, we are told."
"Had I been a spy," retorted the youth, with some animation, "I should have remained quietly in my concealment, and not shown my head at all, and most assuredly not when I was likely to hear that which was to prove the most important."
"Please explain, then, your motive in addressing us at all."
"Not here—not now," he answered. "When the Southern Cross appears in the sky, and the sharp-eyed, doubting Englishman at the head sleeps, I will meet one of you here, and make plain many things you do not understand."