you should open the
window. It's shining in our faces now but what about tomorrow? You
should always look ahead. A bullet, a bolting horse, even a wretched
cold in the head, and then there are a widow and orphans left in
absolute want! ... The Government? Ha! Ha! ... Just go see Carranza or
Villa or any of the big chiefs and try and tell them about your
family.... If they answer with a kick you know where, they'll say
they're giving you a handful of jewels. And they're right; we did not
rise up in arms to make some Carranza or Villa President of our
Republic. No--we fought to defend the sacred rights of the people
against the tyranny of some vile cacique. And so, just as Villa or
Carranza aren't going to ask our consent to the payment they're getting
for the services they're rendering the country, we for our part don't
have to ask anybody's permission about anything either."

Demetrio half stood up, grasped a bottle that stood nearby, drained it,
then spat out the liquor, swelling out his cheeks.

"By God, my boy, you've certainly got the gift of gab!"

Luis felt dizzy, faint. The spattered beer seemed to intensify the
stench of the refuse on which they sat; a carpet of orange and banana
peels, fleshlike slices of watermelon, moldy masses of mangoes and
sugarcane, all mixed up with cornhusks from tamales and human offal.

Demetrio's calloused hands shuffled through the brilliant coins,
counting and counting. Recovering from his nausea, Luis Cervantes
pulled out a small box of Fallieres phosphate and poured forth rings,
brooches, pendants, and countless valuable jewels.

"Look here, General, if this mess doesn't blow over (and it doesn't
look as though it would), if the revolution keeps on, there's enough
here already for us to live on abroad quite comfortably."

Demetrio shook his bead.

"You wouldn't do that!"

"Why not? What are we staying on for? ... What cause are we defending
now?"

"That's something I can't explain, Tenderfoot. But I'm thinking it
wouldn't show much guts."

"Take your choice, General," said Luis Cervantes, pointing to the
jewels which he had set in a row.

"Oh, you keep it all.... Certainly! ... You know, I don't really care
for money at all. I'll tell you the truth! I'm the happiest man in the
world, so long as there's always something to drink and a nice little
wench that catches my eye...."

"Ha! Ha! You make the funniest jokes, General. Why do you stand for
that snake of a War