"But I don't want a goat," Norine complained. "I want—well, pickles, and jam, and sardines, and—candy, and—tooth-powder! Real boarding-school luxuries. I'd just like to rob a general store."
Lopez furrowed his brows and lost himself in thought. Later, while the others were talking, he drew Ramos aside and for a while they kept their heads together; then they invited Judson to join their council.
It was not until perhaps an hour later that O'Reilly had a chance for a confidential talk with Norine, for in the mean time other officers came to pay their respects. But when the last one had reluctantly departed he said:
"I've been talking to Joe about you, and I don't think it's right for you to be running around alone this way."
"You know how mad that sort of talk makes me," she warned him.
"Yes. Just the same, I'll never feel easy until you're safe home again.
And I'll never stop bothering you until—"
"In the first place, I'm not alone. I take a woman with me everywhere, a Mrs. Ruiz."
"Bah! She's no more of a chaperon than I am."
Norine uttered an impatient exclamation. "Is this a time to consider such things?"
"Oh, I dare say the nature of your work is unconventional and excuses a good deal, but you don't understand the Latin mind as I do. These Cubans have different standards than ours. They're very apt to think—"