The man looked at him curiously, surprised that this boy should know so much about his arrangements.
"Yes," he answered, "that is well watched. El Rey, the big Spanish cruiser, patrols that coast day and night."
"I think I could draw her off long enough for you to land your men," Benito whispered.
"You?" the man exclaimed; "why, you are only a boy!" It was just as Benito expected.
He went on to unfold the plan he had made; and it was a plan so full of daring and danger that the man opened his eyes wide.
"Well," said he, "you're full of grit, if you are only a boy. But you are very young, and I don't know anything about you. I don't even know whether you could make your way over to Cuba. You run over there alone and bring me some token to show that you've been there, and then I will talk to you."
"That's easy," Benito answered. "What shall I bring you?"
The man thought a moment. "Bring me a bunch of red bananas," he answered. "They are plenty in Cuba, but you raise only yellow ones on this key. If you bring me a bunch of red bananas, I will know that you have been in Cuba."
Forty-eight hours later Benito laid a bunch of red bananas in the leader's tent, and gave him some valuable information about the movements of the cruiser.