“How many men do you command, Señor Captain?” asked the girl, with ill-concealed eagerness.
“Oh, sometimes twenty-five, sometimes fifty, or a hundred or two hundred, or more, as the case may be,” answered the young man, carelessly.
“But how many are there in your expedition now?”
“Didn’t you count them, Donna? To answer truly, I must not, to answer falsely, I will not, Donna.”
“Why?” asked the girl, impetuously. “There is no such secrecy about our forces; we do not care who knows the number in our garrison.”
“No? Then how many are there, Donna?”
“Three hundred and forty,” answered the girl.
“Men, or young ladies like yourself, Donna? Be careful how you answer, for if the latter, I warn you that nothing will keep the British out of Fort San Carlos. We shall be with you, even if we have to go as prisoners. In saying this, I feel that I am speaking for our entire company.”
The girl tossed her head scornfully.
“There are three hundred and forty men,” she said, “as you shall find to your cost, if you dare attack the fort.”