She was aboard this craft, the girl for whom his soul yearned.
Perhaps he would even see her ere the lapse of many minutes.
What bliss in the very thought—how could he help it if his traitor heart bounded tumultuously within its narrow confines?
Still, he could not count upon it, since "there is many a slip twixt cup and lip."
Perhaps she may have already retired for the night, since the hour was wearing late.
This hardly struck him as possible, for after the storm, and the necessity of being confined to the cabin, doubtless the senorita would be only too glad to pass hours on deck, especially when the night was so warm below.
Other things might also influence her.
The sounds coming over the water, how vividly they must remind her of dear San Juan, and after an enforced exile from her native city it would be a pleasure to once more sit and drink in the music and laughter and song that can always be heard in a Spanish or Portuguese town after the heat of day has given place to the cool of evening.
Captain Beven clambered aboard and as though he had already received his orders to do likewise, Roderic followed suit.
A number of English sailors stood around as if in curiosity.