“You do well to avoid the cities where you are known,” he agreed.  “It would be madness, under the circumstances, even to be seen in Matanzas:  those enemies of—­your friends—­would have you deported.  But just how to reach the Insurrectos—­”

“If you’d merely give me a letter saying I’m a friend—­”

The doctor promptly negatived this suggestion.  “Surely you don’t think it can be done as easily as that?” he inquired.  “In the first place, wherever you land, you will be watched and probably searched.  Such a letter, if discovered, would not only end your chances, but it would bring certain disaster upon those to whom it was written.  I have no right to jeopardize the lives of those I hold dear.  These are perilous times for all good Cubans, Mr. O’Reilly.  Enriquez told me about that poor girl.  She bears a famous name and—­I want to help her.”  He removed his glasses and wiped them, absent-mindedly.  “There are three Alvarados living,” he resumed.  “My two brothers, Tomas and Ignacio, reside in Cuba, and we all work for the cause of independence in our own ways.  I am fortunately situated, but they are surrounded by dangers, and I must ask you to be extremely careful in communicating with them, for I am placing their lives in your hands and—­I love them dearly.”

“I shall do exactly as you say.”

“Very well, then!  Go to Neuvitas, where Tomas lives—­there is a steamer leaving in three of four days, and you can arrange passage on her.  He is a dentist.  Meet him, somehow, and make yourself known by repeating this sentence:  ’I come from Felipe.  He told me how you whipped him to keep him from going to the Ten Years’ War!’ That will be enough; he will ask you who you are and what you want.”

“I see.  It’s a sort of password.”

“No.  I’ve never had reason to communicate with him in this way.”  Noting the bewilderment in O’Reilly’s face, Alvarado smiled.  “You won’t need to say anything more.  No living soul, except Tomas and I, knows that he thrashed me, but it is true.  I was young, I wanted to go to the war, but he took it out of me with a bamboo.  Later we bound ourselves never to mention it.  He will understand from the message that I trust you, and he will help you to reach the rebels, if such a thing is possible.  But tell me, when you have found Miss Varona, what then?”

“Why, I’ll bring her out.”

“How?  Do you think you can walk into any seaport and take ship?  You will be tagged and numbered by the authorities.  Once you disappear into the manigua, you will be a marked man.”

“Well, then, I’ll marry her right there.  I’m an American citizen—­ "

“Don’t build too much on that fact, either,” the doctor warned.  “Spanish jails are strong, and your country has never compelled that respect for its nationals which other countries insist upon.”

“Perhaps!  But the first thing is to find Miss Varona and learn that she’s safe.  I don’t much care what happens after that.”