They arrive at the camp, which is in a cave and cannot be spotted from the air. A gypsy, Rafael, is whittling a trap. Anselmo jokes that if he caught a fox he would say it was an elephant, and if he caught an elephant, he would claim a tank. He asks the gypsy what he does in the war, and he says he keeps being a gypsy. They tell him that the last bomb expert Kashkin was captured, and killed himself. They considered him crazy, yet brave. Robert Jordan bristles when they ask him if he would be willing to be left behind, saying that if he needs a favor he will ask for it.
A girl, Maria, brings them rabbit stew. She is beautiful and Robert Jordan stares. Her head was shaved in prison in Valladolid. She was on the train that Pablo blew up, and they carried her on their backs. He asks her if she is Pablo's or the gypsy's woman, and she laughs. The gypsy says, in a manner that is neither serious nor joking, that she is no one's woman, and not his (Robert Jordan's). Anselmo tells him that there are seven men and two women, including Pablo's brave and ugly woman, Pilar. He says that Pablo has killed but now is afraid to die and wants to retire as a bullfighter. He says that they have a máquina (machine gun), and much ammunition.
They go to the woman to have their palms read. She takes care of Maria, who could not talk when they found her. Anselmo describes the explosion at the train. The woman enters with obscenities. She is a large and heavy peasant with nice hands and a big smile, and she knows that she and Robert Jordan will understand each other. She warns him to be careful with Maria. She will not tell him what she sees in his palm, saying that she sees nothing. She tells him she does not trust Pablo. She tells him that El Sordo is coming with his band. She gives him a carbine, which he says he will not use. She will guard his equipment.
