O'Reilly was uncomfortably aware of the speaker's determination; protests had no effect upon her; her clear cheeks had flushed, her eyes were dancing. Evidently here was a girl who did very much as she chose. "You don't realize what you are saying," he told her, gravely. "You'd have to go as a filibuster, on some decrepit, unseaworthy freighter loaded to the guards and crowded with men of all sorts. It's dangerous business, running the Spanish blockade. If captured you would be treated just like the rest of us." "Lovely! We'd land in small boats some dark night. Maybe we'd have a fight!" "And if you got through, what then? Life in a bark hut, with nothing to eat. Bugs! Snakes! Hardships!" "That decides me. I eat too much--Doctor Alvarado tells me I do. I adore huts, and I don't seriously object to insects." The physician stirred uneasily. "It's utterly absurd," he expostulated. "Some women might do it, but you're not the sort. You are--pardon me--a most attractive young person. You'd be thrown among rough men." "Mr. O'Reilly will look out for me. But for that matter I can take care of myself. Oh, it's of no use trying to discourage me. I always have my own way; I'm completely spoiled." "Your family will never consent," O'Reilly ventured; whereupon Miss Evans laughed. "I haven't such a thing. I'm alone and unencumbered. No girl was ever so fortunate. But wait--I'll settle this whole thing in a minute." She quitted the table, ran to Alvarado's telephone, and called a number. "She's after Enriquez," groaned the physician. "He's weak; he can't refuse her anything." "I don't want a woman on my hands," O'Reilly whispered, fiercely. "Suppose she got sick? Good Lord! I'd have to NURSE her." He wiped a sudden moisture from his brow. "Oh, she won't get sick. She'll probably nurse you--and--and all the other men. You'll like it, too, and you will all fall in love with her--everybody does--and start fighting among yourselves. There! She has Enriquez. Listen." Johnnie shivered apprehensively at the directness with which Miss Evans put her request. "You understand, I want to go and see for myself," she was saying. "If you need medicines I'll give them--bushels of the nastiest stuff I can buy. I'll organize a field hospital. ... Oh, very well, call it a bribe, if you like. Anyhow, I've fully determined to go, and Mr. O'Reilly has volunteered to take care of me. He's charmed with the idea." Miss Evans giggled. "That means you'll have to take him along, too." There followed a pause during which the two men exchanged dismayed glances. "She doesn't seem to care what she says," O'Reilly murmured. "But--I'll put a flea in Enriquez's ear."