The Crusade of the Excelsior | Page 5

deprecatingly.
"Really, my dear boy, I suppose the captain cannot be omnipresent.
Some discretion must be left to the other officers. They probably know
his ideas and what is to be done better than we do. You business men
trouble yourselves too much about these things. You should take them
more philosophically. For my part I always confide myself trustingly to
these people. I enter a ship or railroad car with perfect faith. I say to
myself, 'This captain, or this conductor, is a responsible man, selected
with a view to my safety and comfort; he understands how to procure
that safety and that comfort better than I do. He worries himself; he
spends hours and nights of vigil to look after me and carry me to my
destination. Why should I worry myself, who can only assist him by
passive obedience? Why'--" But here he was interrupted by a headlong
plunge of the Excelsior, a feminine shriek that was half a laugh, the
rapid patter of small feet and sweep of flying skirts down the slanting
deck, and the sudden and violent contact of a pretty figure.
The next moment he had forgotten his philosophy, and his companion
his business. Both flew to the assistance of the fair intruder, who, albeit
the least injured of the trio, clung breathlessly to the bulwarks.
"Miss Keene!" ejaculated both gentlemen.
"Oh dear! I beg your pardon," said the young lady, reddening, with a
naive mingling of hilarity and embarrassment. "But it seemed so stuffy

in the cabin, and it seemed so easy to get out on deck and pull myself
up by the railings; and just as I got up here, I suddenly seemed to be
sliding down the roof of a house."
"And now that you're here, your courage should be rewarded," said the
Senor, gallantly assisting her to a settee, which he lashed securely.
"You are perfectly safe now," he added, holding the end of the rope in
his hand to allow a slight sliding movement of the seat as the vessel
rolled. "And here is a glorious spectacle for you. Look! the sun is just
rising."
The young girl glanced over the vast expanse before her with sparkling
eyes and a suddenly awakened fancy that checked her embarrassed
smile, and fixed her pretty, parted lips with wonder. The level rays of
the rising sun striking the white crests of the lifted waves had suffused
the whole ocean with a pinkish opal color: the darker parts of each
wave seemed broken into facets instead of curves, and glittered sharply.
The sea seemed to have lost its fluidity, and become vitreous; so much
so, that it was difficult to believe that the waves which splintered across
the Excelsior's bow did not fall upon her deck with the ring of shattered
glass.
"Sindbad's Valley of Diamonds!" said the young girl, in an awed
whisper.
"It's a cross sea in the Gulf of California, so the mate says," said Banks
practically; "but I don't see why we" . . .
"The Gulf of California?" repeated the young girl, while a slight shade
of disappointment passed over her bright face; "are we then so near"--
"Not the California you mean, my dear young lady," broke in Senor
Perkins, "but the old peninsula of California, which is still a part of
Mexico. It terminates in Cape St. Lucas, a hundred miles from here, but
it's still a far cry to San Francisco, which is in Upper California. But I
fancy you don't seem as anxious as our friend Mr. Banks to get to your
journey's end," he added, with paternal blandness.

The look of relief which had passed over Miss Keene's truthful face
gave way to one of slight embarrassment.
"It hasn't seemed long," she said hastily; and then added, as if to turn
the conversation, "What is this peninsula? I remember it on our map at
school."
"It's not of much account," interrupted Banks positively. "There ain't a
place on it you ever heard of. It's a kind of wilderness."
"I differ from you," said Senor Perkins gravely. "There are, I have been
told, some old Mexican settlements along the coast, and there is no
reason why the country shouldn't be fruitful. But you may have a
chance to judge for yourself," he continued beamingly. Since we are
not going into Mazatlan, we may drop in at some of those places for
water. It's all on our way, and we shall save the three days we would
have lost had we touched Mazatlan. That," he added, answering an
impatient interrogation in Banks' eye, "at least, is the captain's idea, I
reckon." He laughed, and went on still gayly,--"But what's the use of
anticipating? Why should we spoil any little surprise that our gallant
captain may have