oo. When the
natives once begin to earn money, they'll soon want more and then
they'll spend it on us."

"But the Government there will be too poor to take up great public
expenditures for a long time yet," said Cleary.

"Don't be too sure of that. They haven't even got a national debt.
That's one of the first things we'll provide for. They're a most
primitive people. Just think of their existing up to the present time
without a national debt! They're mere savages."

"Well," said Cleary, rising, "I think we've taken enough of your
valuable time and we must be off."

"Wait a moment," said the editor. "Have you explained all that I told
you to the captain?"

"Not yet," answered Cleary, "but I'll do it now on the way to his
hotel. He is going to leave town to-day, and he may be ordered to sail
any day now. I will try to go on the same ship with him."

"Perhaps I can manage it, too," said Jonas, as he shook hands with the
two friends, "if I can finish up all these arrangements. I must be on
the ground there as soon as I can."

As Sam and Cleary left the room the editor and Jonas settled down to a
confidential conversation, and there were smiles upon their lips as
they began talking.

CHAPTER V

Slowburgh

[Illustration]

While Sam accepted the explanations of the editor and Jonas as
expressions of wisdom from men who had had a far wider experience than
his, he had some faint misgivings as to some of the business
enterprises in which his new friends were embarked, and he hinted as
much to Cleary.

"Some of those things do sound rather strange," answered Cleary, as
they walked away, "but you must look at the world in a broad way. Is
our civilization better than that of the Cubapinos?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Well, then, we must be conferring a favor upon them by giving it to
them. We can't slice it up and give them only the plums. That would be
ridiculous. They must take us for better and worse. In fact, I think we
should be guilty of hypocrisy if we pretended to be better than we are.
Suppose we gave them a better civilization than we've got, shouldn't we
be open to the charge of misrepresentation?"

"That's true," said Sam. "I didn't think of that.

"Yes," Cleary went on; "at first I had some doubts about that saloon
business particularly, but the more you think of it, the more you see
that it's our duty to introduce them there. It's all a part of our
civi