“When the leaves are full grown the plant is cut down and the leaves are hung up, ends down, to dry. From this drying process they are taken to the curing shed where they are thoroughly cured, after which they are ready for packing, in hogsheads or large cases. How they make cigars you saw down in Venezuela.” “My father frequently has cigars that are all spotted,” said Mark. “What do the spots come from?” “If they are genuine they come from a gum in the leaf, which appears on the surface when the leaf is fully ripe. But many of the spots--which some smokers look for--are put on artificially.” “What about smoking tobacco and snuff?” asked Darry. “And cigarettes?” put in Hockley. “Smoking tobaccoes are nothing more than tobacco leaves cut up in various ways and snuff is tobacco ground up. The smoking tobaccoes are flavored with a hundred and one different things and chemicals are often used to keep them moist, and this treatment is also true of chewing tobacco. Some snuffs are allowed to rot before being used and others are baked, and many of them are perfumed. As to cigarettes, the best of them are made of carefully selected tobacco leaves, cut fine, and rolled up in a high grade of specially prepared rice paper. But the ordinary cigarette, of which millions are sold, is made of the very commonest of tobacco, adulterated in many ways, and is utterly unfit for smoking. These cigarettes, often used by boys and young men, are so utterly bad that even old tobacco-saturated Cubans--like these working around this warehouse--cannot use them without feeling sick.” The last words were uttered for Hockley’s benefit. The eyes of the tall youth sought the ground and a moment later he turned away. But it was evident that he was doing some deep thinking. A little later, when he felt he was unobserved, he dropped a half package of cigarettes in an out-of-the-way corner. The ride back to Havana in the cool of the evening was delightful and the boys enjoyed it thoroughly, that is, all but Hockley, who soon went to sleep. “I really can’t see why he came with us,” observed Sam to the others, in a low tone. “He doesn’t seem to enjoy the sight-seeing a bit.” “He wants something more startling,” answered Frank. “He told me this morning that everything was dead slow. He wants more sport. If he had his way I really believe he’d turn in to paint the town red, as they call it.” “I don’t believe he told us the whole truth about his meeting with Captain Sudlip, do you?” “No, I don’t. I think he went out for a good time and perhaps he had some liquor.” “That’s what I was thinking,” came from Mark. “But as we don’t know we shouldn’t misjudge him. If he’s got this wildness in his constitution it may be awfully hard for him to keep even as straight as he does.” CHAPTER XIII A CUBAN BASEBALL GAME