"For the cause of Cuba libre! Joe is very patriotic. All the boys came up handsomely."
"Are they good cigars?" said Dink who, since his purchases of the day, was not exactly moved to tears by the financial needs of an alien though struggling nation.
"My boy, immense! Wait till you smoke one!"
At this moment there came a gentle scratching at the door, and a chocolate pair appeared, with Buck Waters in the background.
"Emanuel Garcia and Henry Clay!" said McNab irreverently.
"They smuggled the cigars right through the Spanish lines," said Waters who, from constant recital, had caught the spirit of unconquerable revolution.
"How do you know?" said McCarthy suspiciously, watching the unstrapping of the cigar boxes.
"I speak French," said Waters with pride, and turning to his protégés he continued fluently, "Vous êtes patriots, vous avez battlez, soldats n'est-ce-pas? You see, they have had a whole family chopped up for the cause. The Cuban Junta has sent them over to raise money—very good family."
"Let's see the cigars," said Stover. "How much a box?"
Curiously enough this seemed to be a phrase of English which could be understood without difficulty.