The carriage of the judge returned, and then he insisted upon taking the commander and Louis to the shore, where they parted with him for the time. All the party were delighted with the old gentleman and his courteous Spanish manners, and Mrs. Belgrave declared that he was a "dear old man." The cutter conveyed the party to the steamer, and in about half an hour they were on board of the ship.
"The judge is a bachelor, Mrs. Belgrave, and he fell in love with you."
"Indeed! But he is old enough to be my grandfather!" exclaimed the lady, laughing heartily.
"In order to give him an opportunity to conduct his suit before your court, I have invited him to dinner to-day, and he has accepted," added the commander.
"I shall be very glad to meet him socially, in spite of all your nonsense, Captain Ringgold," said the lady. "I think he is a fair and just judge; and certainly he is a very agreeable gentleman, though he is not as good-looking as you are."
The lady blushed when she had said this, for she really meant nothing by it; and the commander felt himself lifted up with something like an ecstasy.
"I need not flatter myself till I know the breadth of the comparison," replied he. "But we must do our best to make the judge happy when he comes on board; and I have no doubt he will spend the evening with us. Sparks, call Mr. Sage."
Mr. Melancthon Sage, the chief steward, presented himself very promptly, and the commander directed him to get up the choicest dinner possible for six o'clock, for a very distinguished guest.
When Captain Ringgold went on deck, he found the owner of the Salihé waiting for him there, his engineer having gone on board of her alongside. He had spoken to Louis, who refused to say anything to him except in the presence of the commander.
"Which I am very glad to see you, Captain Ringgold," the owner of the little steamer began.