There was a queer, wild light in O'Reilly's eye and for once Mr.
Slack took orders from an underling. He humped himself.

Johnnie's other preparations were conducted with equal vigor and
promptitude; within two hours his belongings were packed. But for
all his haste his mind was working clearly. Rosa's warning not to
come to Matanzas was no doubt warranted, and his own unpleasant
experiences with the customs men at Havana were still fresh enough
to be vivid. The Spaniards were intensely suspicious of all
Americans, especially incoming ones, as he had reason to know, and
since he was nearly as well acquainted in the one place as in the
other it seemed to be the part of wisdom to slip into the country
through a side door. The seat of war was in the east. The rebels
held that part of the island. Once there and in touch with them it
would surely be no difficult task to evade the local authorities
and join Colonel Lopez.

O'Reilly pondered these thoughts briefly, then seized his hat and
hastened down-town to the office of the Cuban Junta.

At this time the newspapers of the United States were devoting
much space to the insular uprising; the first stories of Spanish
atrocities later, alas! destined to become all too familiar, were
gaining public attention, and there were few readers who did not
know something about the activities of that body of patriots who
made their headquarters at 56 New Street. It was from this place
that the revolution was largely financed, so the papers said. It
was there that the filibustering expeditions supplying arms and
ammunition originated. To 56 New Street O'Reilly went.