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"Four of your predecessors," remarked the Secretary, "made exactly the same promise, but none of them got us the treaty." "Probably none of them remained in Amapala, either," retorted Everett. "Two did," corrected the Secretary; "as you ride into Camaguay you see their tombstones." Everett found the nine-day mule-ride from the coast to the capital arduous, but full of interest.
Outside, as the washerwomen beat their linen clubs upon the flat rocks of the river, the hot, stale air was spanked with sharp reports. In Camaguay theirs was the only industry, the only sign of cleanliness; and recognizing that another shirt had been thrashed into subjection and rags, Everett winced. No less visibly did his own thoughts cause him to wince.
"Congratulations," he shouted. "I have still twenty-two days," said Everett. The aristocracy of Camaguay invited the new minister to formal dinners of eighteen courses, and to picnics less formal.
Every one lifted his hat to Monica; the beggars, the cab-drivers, the barefooted policemen, and the social lights of Camaguay on the sidewalks in front of the cafes rose and bowed. "It is like walking with royalty!" exclaimed Everett. While at the hospital he talked to the Mother Superior his eyes followed Monica.
They finally made their escape to Bayamo, the rear guard covering their retreat with great difficulty. Flor Crombet had fallen in battle several weeks before this fight and Marti had been killed in an insignificant fight at Dos Rios. Gomez had passed into Camaguay to add fire to the insurrection and Maceo had been left in command in the province of Santiago.
Their business with the President was most urgent. Whether from Washington their agents had warned them, whether in Camaguay they had deciphered the cablegram from the State Department, Everett could only guess, but he was certain the cause of their visit was the treaty. That Mendoza also believed this was most evident.
Of the foreign colony in Camaguay some fifty were Americans, and from the rest of the world they were as hopelessly separated as the crew of a light-ship. From the Pacific they were cut off by the Cordilleras, from the Caribbean by a nine-day mule-ride. To the north and south, jungle, forests, swamp-lands, and mountains hemmed them in.
He tried to persuade himself that Monica so entirely filled his thoughts because in Camaguay there was no one else; it was a case of propinquity; her loneliness and the fact that she lay under a shadow for which she was not to blame appealed to his chivalry. So, he told himself, in thinking of Monica except as a charming companion, he was an ass.
The other ministers plenipotentiary she had seen at Camaguay had been old, with beards like mountain-goats, and had worn linen dusters. They always were very red in the face and very damp. Monica decided Mr. Everett also was old; she was sure he must be at least thirty-five; but in his silk pongee and pipe-clayed tennis-shoes he was a refreshing spectacle.
Even though as a man they might like him, they could not forget that his presence threatened their peace and safety. Chester Ward treated him with impeccable politeness; but, although his house was the show-place of Camaguay, he never invited the American minister to cross the threshold.
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