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When O'Reilly had finished his second reading of the letter there were fresh blots upon the pitifully untidy pages "I write nicely, only the ink is poor--" "There is little of anything here at Asensio's house--" "It is cold before the dawn--"Poor little Rosa! He had always thought of her as so proud, so high-spirited, so playful, but another Rosa had written this letter Her appeal stirred every chord of tenderness, every impulse of chivalry in his impressionable Irish nature She doubted him; she feared he would not come' to her Well, he would set her doubts at rest "O God! Come quickly, if you love me" He leaped to his feet; he dashed the tears from his eyes

Mr Slack looked up astonished at the apparition which burst in upon hih head of steam and disapproved of it, but he had never seen the fellow so surcharged as now He was positively jumpy; his voice was sharp; his hands were unsteady; his eyes were bright and blue and hard

"I want an

Mr Slack resented emotion, he abominated haste; he had cultivated what he considered to be a thorough commercial deliberation

"My dear man," he said, "I'd advise you--"

"I don't want advice; I want ned, skipped, fled"

"Indeed? When does your resignation take effect?"

"I 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 coh his nostrils He laid a heavy and persuasive hand upon the secretary's shoulder "Huht in O'Reilly's eye and for once Mr Slack took orders fro He humped himself

Johnnie's other preparations were conducted with equal vigor and pros were packed But for all his haste hisnot to come to Matanzas was no doubt warranted, and his own unpleasant experiences with the custoh to be vivid The Spaniards were intensely suspicious of all A ones, as he had reason to know, and since he was nearly as well acquainted in the one place as in the other it seeh a side door The seat of as in the east The rebels held that part of the island Once there and in touch with them it would surely be no difficult task to evade the local authorities and join Colonel Lopez