For rogues, for foes, an abundance more
To shield my lady from all harm,
To save her from the world’s alarm;
A caballero calls to you—
Atención!”
The señorita’s eyes closed, her lips parted slightly, her breathing became as the stirring of a leaf in a gentle breeze. The song had lulled her fears.
“Zorro!” she whispered, as the verse was ended. But there came no answer from the other side of the partition.
Up on the deck, however, there was consternation. Barbados, having listened, whirled angrily toward his crew.
“Who dares sing such a song?” he shrieked. “Are there not royally good pirate ditties, that some of you must use the mush-like tunes and words of the high-born?”
“Every man is on deck,” wailed Sanchez, who had been superintending the storing of the loot. “’Tis a ghost song!” he exclaimed.