We of the Cientificos
have set ourselves to stop her wounds and to nourish her to life
again. We shall drive all traitors into the sea and feed them to
the sharks. We shall destroy them all, and Mexico shall have
peace. But I am not a bloodthirsty man. No, I am a poet and a
lover at heart. As great a patriot as I am, I could be faithless
to my country for one smile from the woman I adore."
Alaire did not color under the ardent glance that went with this
declaration. She deliberately changed the subject.
"This morning while we were in the office of the jeje de armas,"
she said, "I saw a poor woman with a baby--she was scarcely more
than a child herself--whose husband is in prison. She told me how
she had come all the way from the country and is living with
friends, just to be near him. Every day she goes to the carcel,
but is denied admission, and every day she comes to plead with the
jefe de armas for her husband's life. But he will not see her, and
the soldiers only laugh at her tears."
"A common story! These women and their babies are very annoying,"
observed the general.
"She says that her husband is to be shot."
"Very likely! Our prisons are full.
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