The danger of being sent to St. Thomas was over. The board had officially declared the ship seaworthy, and nothing would prevent her now from going on to her other ports. “You did that famously, Sumner!” Captain Godfree exclaimed, giving Dick a stunning slap on the back after the board had gone. “I should have been in a tight fix without your help. I wish I could always have a newspaper man on board.” That same night the ship steamed back to Arecibo, having a quantity of cargo for that port, but this time she was careful to avoid the reef. Then she proceeded to Mayaguez, a port on the west coast, to deliver more cargo. In Mayaguez harbor she was soon surrounded by a little fleet of bum-boats, every boat loaded with something to sell--parrots, cigars, cigarettes, fruits, shell-work, sugarcane, bay rum, walking sticks, and a dozen other things. “Hold on there!” the captain exclaimed to the first boatman who came up the ladder. “What have you got in those bottles? I’m not going to have any rum brought aboard to the crew.” “Him only bay rum, señor,” the man replied. “Not drinkee; only rub on face after shavee. Very nice bay rum, señor.” “We’ll see about that,” the captain replied; and he sent for a corkscrew and opened several of the bottles. He and Dick both smelled them and were convinced that they contained nothing but bay rum. “All right,” said the captain. “You can sell all the bay rum you like, but no other kind. Put the quartermaster at the head of the gangway, Mr. Gran, and let him open every bottle that’s brought aboard. They may sell bay rum, but nothing to drink.” Either to let the crew go ashore or to allow any liquor on board meant a repetition of the scene of the first day, and strict orders were given that no one should land. Shoal water compelled the ship to anchor nearly a mile from the wharf, and the cargo was taken in lighters. But the order of course did not prevent Dick and the captain from landing, and they learned in the afternoon that a ball was to be given in the “Gran Hotel Marina” that night. “I want you to see that,” the captain said to Dick. “A ball in one of these old towns will give you something to write about. Our agents here will get invitations for us.” They returned to the ship for supper, and about nine o’clock in the evening, dressed in their thinnest clothes (for the night was intensely hot), they set out for shore and the ball, leaving Mr. Gran in charge of the deck. The open space in front of the hotel was full of carriages, and the ball was in full progress when they arrived. The dancers were in the dining-room, clad in the gayest of clothes. Music was playing, gay señors and señoritas were whirling. On the broad portico that extended across the whole front of the building most of the spectators were gathered, for the air was cooler there.