The day begins as just another day for the barber in the Hernando Tellez short story, "Just Lather, That's All," but things change dramatically, forcing him to make a life-altering decision. When Captain Torres enters his shop and asks for a shave, the barber has a choice to make: shave the man as requested, or cut his throat. For the barber is secretly a rebel sympathizer, and Torres is the man in charge of hunting down the revolutionaries. The barber's nerves are exposed: he "started to tremble;" he is "horrified;" he speaks "timidly;" he is "sweating;" he has "to hurry."
    In the end, the barber decides to give the man a smooth shave and maintain his anonymity. But he is in for one more shock when Torres informs him that

    "They told me that you'd kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn't easy. You can take my word for it."

Both men still live, but the barber must wonder just how much longer his masquerade can go on.