"Quite probably. All lovers are mildly
mad, I believe."
"Ah! Lovers! I begin to see. But--how do you mean to go about
this--this--impossible undertaking?"
"You told me just now that I could pass for a Cuban. Well, I am
going to put it to the test. If I once get into the city I shall
manage somehow to get out again, and bring her with me."
"Um-m!" The general appraised O'Reilly speculatively. "No doubt
you can get in--it is not so difficult to enter, I believe, and
especially to one who speaks the language like a native. But the
return--I fear you will find that another matter. Matanzas is a
place of pestilence, hunger, despair. No one goes there from
choice any more, and no one ever comes out."
"So I should imagine." The speaker's careless tone added to
General Betancourt's astonishment. "Bless me!" he exclaimed. "What
an extraordinary young man! Is it possible that you do not
comprehend the terrible conditions?" A sudden thought struck him
and he inquired, quickly: "Tell me, you are not by any chance that
hero they call El Demonio? I have heard that he is indeed a demon.
No? Very well! You say you wish to visit Matanzas, and I am
instructed to help you. How can I do so?"
O'Reilly hesitated an instant. "For one thing, I need money. I--I
haven't a single peseta."
"You are welcome to the few dollars I possess.
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