"My dear man," he said, "I'd advise you--"
"I don't want advice; I want money," snapped the other. "I've
quit, resigned, skipped, fled."
"Indeed? When does your resignation take effect?"
"Immediately, and if you don't move like lightning it will take
effect upon your person."
"Mr. Carter would never--"
"Bother Mr. Carter! Now stiffen your spine long enough to write my
check. If you don't--" O'Reilly compressed his lips and breathed
ominously through his nostrils. He laid a heavy and persuasive
hand upon the secretary's shoulder. "Hump yourself, old
jellyfish!"
There was a queer, wild light in O'Reilly's eye and for once Mr.
Slack took orders from an underling. He humped himself.
Johnnie's other preparations were conducted with equal vigor and
promptitude; within two hours his belongings were packed. But for
all his haste his mind was working clearly. Rosa's warning not to
come to Matanzas was no doubt warranted, and his own unpleasant
experiences with the customs men at Havana were still fresh enough
to be vivid. The Spaniards were intensely suspicious of all
Americans, especially incoming ones, as he had reason to know, and
since he was nearly as well acquainted in the one place as in the
other it seemed to be the part of wisdom to slip into the country
through a side door. The seat of war was in the east.
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