d States? How on earth did they come through the
blockade, and how did they know where you are?"

"I guess they didn't," said Ned. "The English captain that used to
command the _Goshhawk_ brought them. I met him at the plaza, hunting for
me. He was a friend of General Zuroaga, and besides, the British consul
at Vera Cruz knew I was with Colonel Tassara's family. So, if I hadn't
met him, he would have tried to find you. My father writes that I am to
stay in Mexico, and learn all about it."

"I am glad of that," she said. "Why, you could not get out at all just
now without danger to yourself and getting all of us into trouble."

"I wouldn't do that for anything!" exclaimed Ned, and then he went on
with his tremendous budget of miscellaneous news.

It was an exceedingly interesting heap of information, for the captain
had given him both English and American journals, which were a rare
treat at that time in the interior of the beleaguered Mexican republic.
Senora Tassara was busy with these, when Ned and all the other
news-bringers were pounced upon by a yet more eager inquirer.

"Senor Carfora!" exclaimed Felicia, her black eyes flashing curiously at
him. "Where did you get them? I never before saw such big newspapers.
They won't tell us about our army, though."

"Yes, they will," he said, and, while she was searching the broad-faced
prints for army information, he repeated for her benefit all that he had
previously told her mother. Poor Senorita Felicia! She did not obtain at
all what she wanted, for there were no accounts of brilliant Mexican
victories. All of these must have been meanly omitted by the editors,
and at last she angrily threw down a newspaper to say to him:

"Senor Carfora, I am glad you are to stay here, but you will never be
anything better than a gringo, no matter how much you learn. I was up in
the library this morning, and I pulled out six more books for you. You
may read them all, if they will do you any good. One of them is about
Spain, too. What I want to do is to travel all over Spain. It must be
the most beautiful country in the world."

Ned had noticed long ago that her eyes always grew dreamy whenever her
thoughts were turned toward the peninsula which has had so wonderful a
history, but he did not know that his own longings for foreign travel
were very like her own in their origin when he replied:

"Well, I'd like to see Spain. I mean to some day, but I want to see
England first, and