O'Reilly had taken his bitter medicine as becomes a man--he had maintained a calm, if not a cheerful, front; but now that every throb of the propeller bore him closer to his heart's desire he felt a growing jubilation, a mounting restlessness that was hard to master. His pulse was pounding; his breath swelled in his lungs. Sleep? That was for those who merely risked their lives for Cuba. Hunger? No food could satisfy a starving soul. Rest? He would never rest until he held Rosa Varona in his arms. This rusty, sluggish tub was standing still!
Into the midst of his preoccupation Norine Evans forced herself, announcing, breathlessly: "Oh, but I'm excited! They're hoisting a cannon out of the hold and putting it together, so that we can fight if we have to."
"Now don't you wish you'd stayed at home?" O'Reilly smiled at her.
"Good heavens, no! I'm having the time of my life. I nearly died of curiosity at first--until I found Major Ramos's tongue."
"Hm-m! You found it, all right. He appears to be completely conquered."
"I-I'm afraid so," the girl acknowledged, with a little grimace. "You'd think he'd never seen a woman before. He's very--intense. Very!"
"You don't expect me, as your chaperon, to approve of your behavior? Why, you've been flirting outrageously."
"I had to flirt a little: I simply had to know what was going on. But--I fixed him."
"Indeed?"
"I couldn't let him spoil my fun, could I? Of course not. Well, I put a damper on him. I told him about you--about us."
O'Reilly was puzzled. "What do you mean?" he inquired.
"You won't be angry, will you? When he waxed romantic I told him he had come into my life too late. I confessed that I was in love with another man--with you." As her hearer drew back in dismay Miss Evans added, quickly, "Oh, don't be frightened; that isn't half--"
"Of course you're joking," Johnnie stammered.
"Indeed I'm not. I thought it would discourage him, but--it didn't. So I told him a whopper. I said we were engaged." The speaker tittered. She was delighted with herself.
"Engaged? To be MARRIED?"
"Certainly! People aren't engaged to--to go fishing, are they? I had to tell him something; he was getting positively feverish. If he'd kept it up I'd have told him we were secretly married."
"This may be funny," the young man said, stiffly, "but I don't see it."
"Oh, don't look so glum! I'm not going to hold you to it, you know. Why"--Miss Evans's bantering manner ceased, and she said, earnestly: "Doctor Alvarado told me your story, and I think it is splendid. I'm going to help you find that little Rosa, if you'll let me. You were thinking about her when I came up, weren't you?"