“‘The rule incommunicado,’ said the General, ’is a military law.  Prisoners are allowed to see their relatives as a favor, but we exercise discretion in these cases.’

“’There are stories that prisoners are shot in Castle Morro at daybreak each morning, and that the shots can be plainly heard across the bay.  Is this true?’

“The General’s eyes looked unpleasant again.  ‘It is false!’ he said shortly.  ’The prisoners go through a regular court-martial, and no one could be shot at Morro without my orders, and I have not given orders to shoot anyone since I have been here.’

“’Do you not think it very cruel that innocent women and children should be made to suffer in time of war?’

“’No innocent women and children do suffer.  It is only those who leave their homes and take part in battle who are injured.  It is only the rebels who destroy peaceful homes.’

“‘It is reported,’ I said, ’that thirty women are fighting under Maceo.  Is this true?’

“‘Yes,’ replied the General.  ’We took one woman yesterday.  She was dressed in man’s clothes and was wielding a machete.  She is now in Morro Castle.  These women are fiercer than men.  Many of them are mulattoes.  This particular woman was white.’

“‘What will be her fate?’

“‘She will go through the regular form of trial.’

“‘Will no mercy be shown her?’

“’Mercy is always shown to a woman.  While the law is the same for both sexes, there is a clause which admits of mercy to a woman.’

“’There are several Cuban women insurgents in Morro and the Cabanas.  Would your Excellency,’ I asked, ’allow me to visit them?’

“‘No,’ he said.  ’There is a law that no foreigner shall enter our fortresses.  It is a military law.  We can make no exceptions.  You understand that I do not wish to be discourteous, senorita.’

“‘Some of these women,’ I continued, ’are said to be imprisoned for merely having Cuban flags in their homes.  Is this possible?’

“‘Treason,’ exclaimed the General, ’is always a crime, punishable by imprisonment.’

“’There is a newspaper correspondent at present in Morro.  What was his crime?’

“The General shrugged his shoulders again.  ’I know nothing about him,’ he said.  ‘I think he has been freed.’

“’Do you not think the life of a newspaper correspondent in Havana is at present a most unhappy one?’

“’I think it must be, for they make me unhappy.  If they were all like you it would be a pleasure.’

“’Is it true that thumbscrews are used to extort confessions from prisoners?’

“’Not by the Spaniards.  Rebels use all these things, similar to those that were used in the Inquisition tortures.’

“’What does your Excellency think of the Cubans as a race?  Do you not think them progressive and brave?’

“‘With the progress of all nations the Cubans have progressed,’ he replied.  ’There are many Cubans in sympathy with Spain, but this insurrection is a blot upon the Cuban race which nothing can ever erase.  It is a stain made with the blood of the slain and the tears of the women.  It injures the Cubans themselves more than any other.’”