The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba - Chanel Cleeton Page 0,71

fills the room, followed by the glow of a little flame.

This is it.

Tears of frustration and anger fill my eyes.

When they take me onto the deck, I’ll look for the first opportunity I can to jump overboard.

“Evangelina,” a man’s voice calls out.

I don’t dare respond.

“Miss Cisneros—I’m Walter B. Barker. Where are you?”

I recognize the name instantly from my conversations with Carlos. If my memory serves, Mr. Barker is an American diplomatic staff member who was posted in Havana and is a confidant of Consul General Lee’s.

He is a friend.

I crawl out from the berth, relief filling me.

Walter smiles at me. “We’ve been at sea for about an hour now. We’re far enough away from Havana that no one can hurt you. Why don’t you come up on deck with me?”

Tears spill down my cheeks.

As much as I want to, the events of the past few days crash into me over and over again, until I can do nothing but cry, unable to believe my good fortune—

I am really and truly free.

Twenty-One

Grace

On October 8, 1897, the Journal reports “the Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba,” Evangelina Cisneros, has escaped from Recogidas. There’s no mention of the paper’s role in the story, only that she never appeared for the prison’s roll call in the morning and they launched a search for her, only to find one of the bars in her room had been filed and bent outward, several prison employees arrested for allegedly aiding in her escape. The article is remarkably succinct for Hearst’s usual style, absent the flourishes and dramatization that has characterized the entire proceeding up until this point.

The next day the newspaper tells a new tale:

General Weyler has resigned from his post.

His legacy has left half a million Cubans in reconcentration camps.

Weyler’s political fortunes have been tenuous for months now. The Conservative Spanish prime minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was assassinated by an anarchist back in August, and the new Liberal leader Práxedes Sagasta is said to be looking for a more conciliatory policy toward Cuba. Recalling Weyler is an excellent first step, but there is still much to be done. Evangelina’s escape must have been the final nail in Weyler’s coffin.

On October 10, Karl Decker’s six-column headline filed under his pen name, Charles Duval, shouts the truth from the rooftops:

The Journal has rescued Evangelina Cisneros.

It’s all anyone can talk about as Hearst crows of his paper’s accomplishment:

While Others Talk, The Journal Acts

Hearst has us interview prominent political figures, private citizens, anyone and everyone who can praise his paper for doing the impossible and rescuing Evangelina from prison. Many of the newspapers who have viewed Hearst’s journalism with scorn in the past are now quick to celebrate the Journal’s success.

The World is doing their own reporting as quickly as they can, attempting to poke holes in Hearst’s story, but the wave of praise for the Journal’s accomplishment is overwhelming.

Hearst calls me into his office one morning, as I’m finishing up yet another article on Evangelina. These days, it seems like the entire newsroom is writing about Evangelina, covering any and all angles about her life.

Arthur Brisbane stands beside Hearst’s desk as they look over copy for the next edition.

“Grace. Just who I wanted to see,” Hearst announces. “Evangelina Cisneros is nearly in New York, and it occurred to me that it would be helpful for the Journal to have a woman as part of the contingent to greet her. She might be more likely to open up to one of our reporters who is a woman, especially after everything she’s been through.”

“Of course.”

I turn to leave, and he says—

“There’s something else. We’re going to publish a book. The story of Evangelina Cisneros, in her own words. We’ll include a section from Decker where he can talk about his role in the escape, and then we’ll have Evangelina discuss her life, the situation in Cuba, her version of events. She’ll need someone to help her write it. I think a feminine touch would be nice. Of course, your name won’t be on the story, and there will be others working on it, but it’ll be good practice for you. It’ll give you the kind of experience that will prove helpful to your journalism career.”

It’s a far cry to go from writing articles to a full book about someone’s life. I’ve never taken on such a project, and for all Hearst isn’t afraid to stretch the bounds of comfort, this feels like too ambitious of a project for me, but if