st, you just wait and see what
becomes of the _Goshhawk_. She will never sail out of the Gulf of Mexico
again. The captain and crew will get away as best they can, and I can't
tell how long it will be before they can do it. Meantime, you would be
around on shore, and you would be known for a Yankee, a gringo. That
might mean danger for you from any evil-minded Mexican. Some of this
coast population are worse than savages, and they all carry knives.
You'd never know who hurt you."

"That's awful!" exclaimed Ned. "I never thought of that."

"There is another reason," calmly continued the senor, "for your not
lingering down here in the _tierra caliente_--the hot country--any later
in the season. It is the yellow fever, and that is pretty sure to show
itself before long. It takes people from the north quicker, a good deal,
than it does those who were born here. I have even heard that there is
a rumor of some cases occurring already. Your father is an old friend of
mine, and he would never forgive me if I were to permit you to be
exposed to it, when you can so easily get away into the uplands, where
it is never heard of. Be a good clerk now, and attend to your cargo, and
be glad that it hasn't been sent to the bottom of the gulf."

Ned had been thinking of that pretty seriously, and he sat down to write
his home letter, well pleased that he had nothing to do with the
unloading of the contraband of war part of the cargo. With reference to
that, moreover, he had learned from Zuroaga that a Mexican
post-commander of the rank of Colonel Guerra was a kind of local
military dictator. Only so much of the ammunition as he might see fit to
send would ever find its way into any other hands than his own. The
senor had added that it was almost the same with whatever customs duties
were collected by the civil officers of the port, with the one drawback
that a dishonest army collector, if discovered, might possibly get
himself shot as a kind of supposable revolutionist, stealing the profits
of the others.

The lighter barges were now swarming around the bark, and a hundred busy
workmen were doing their best, quite patriotically, for the guns and
gunners of the castle. It was easy to see that the American sailors did
not fancy that job, and were willing to keep out of it. So they
sauntered around, attending to a few ship's duties here and there, while
now and then one or another of them might have been heard to grumble his
unwillingnes