CHAPTER XVII 



Vinales 



Saturday, May 30th. The first peep from our 

 balcony at daybreak discovered awaiting us the 

 ever-ready and dependable Martinez, our cochero, 

 with his little mules and the dilapidated cab. No 

 doubt this unhappy vehicle once did smart service 

 for some opulent private owner in Havana, and 

 made the usual afternoon tour of the Prado and 

 Malecon with as proud bearing as any other aristo- 

 cratic turnout on that aristocratic driveway. 

 Losing the bloom of youth, it descended to the 

 humble cast of a cab for hire, and for many years 

 rendered excellent service. When the infirmities 

 of old age reduced its usefulness below the Havana 

 standards, it was banished to Pinar del Rio, where 

 presumably, with the other outcasts, it drifted 

 into senile decay and was eventually abandoned 

 and left for dead upon some scrap pile. Then it 

 was rescued by our own Martinez, who, with pieces 



of wire and rope, bound up its wounds and with 



224 



