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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, "Forward, March", by Kirk Munroe
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: "Forward, March"
+       A Tale of the Spanish-American War
+
+
+Author: Kirk Munroe
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 7, 2005  [eBook #16231]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "FORWARD, MARCH"***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 16231-h.htm or 16231-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/2/3/16231/16231-h/16231-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/2/3/16231/16231-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+"FORWARD, MARCH"
+
+A Tale of the Spanish-American War
+
+by
+
+KIRK MUNROE
+
+Author of "The Painted Desert," "Rick Dale," The "Mate Series," etc.
+
+Illustrated
+
+New York and London
+Harper & Brothers Publishers
+
+1899
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: The Rough Riders fought without seeing
+the enemy.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I.  A BOWL OF ROSES
+     II.  WAR IS DECLARED
+    III.  ROLLO THE TERROR
+     IV.  THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO
+      V.  RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER
+     VI.  OFF FOR THE WAR
+    VII.  THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE _MERRIMAC_
+   VIII.  CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
+     IX.  HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES
+      X.  ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE
+     XI.  A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY
+    XII.  DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND
+   XIII.  TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE
+    XIV.  REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS
+     XV.  DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD
+    XVI.  ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD
+   XVII.  IN THE HANDS OF SPANISH GUERILLAS
+  XVIII.  DEATH OF SEŅORITA
+    XIX.  CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN
+     XX.  THE TWO ADMIRALS
+    XXI.  A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY
+   XXII.  ROLLO IN CUBA
+  XXIII.  THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE
+   XXIV.  FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS
+    XXV.  RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD
+   XXVI.  MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT
+  XXVII.  DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS
+ XXVIII.  LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN
+   XXIX.  TWO INVALID HEROES
+    XXX.  ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   THE ROUGH RIDERS FOUGHT WITHOUT SEEING THE ENEMY . . . (Frontispiece)
+
+   "SILAS PINE GAZED ABOUT HIM WITH THE AIR OF ONE WHO IS DAZED"
+
+   "'HIM HOLGUIN SPANIARD.  NOW YOU SHOOT HIM,' SAID THE CUBAN"
+
+   RIDGE ESCORTS A CUBAN FAMILY INTO SANTIAGO
+
+
+
+
+"FORWARD, MARCH!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BOWL OF ROSES
+
+In the morning-room of a large, old-fashioned country-house, situated a
+few miles outside the city of New Orleans, sat a young man arranging a
+bowl of roses.  Beside him stood a pretty girl, in riding costume, whose
+face bore a trace of petulance.
+
+"Do make haste, Cousin Ridge, and finish with those stupid flowers.  You
+have wasted half an hour of this glorious morning over them already!" she
+exclaimed.
+
+"Wasted?" rejoined Ridge Norris, inquiringly, and looking up with a
+smile.  "I thought you were too fond of flowers to speak of time spent in
+showing them off to best advantage as 'wasted.'"
+
+"Yes, of course I'm fond of them," answered Spence Cuthbert, who was from
+Kentucky on a Mardi Gras visit to Dulce Norris, her school-chum and
+cousin by several removes, "but not fond enough to break an engagement on
+account of them."
+
+"An engagement?"
+
+"Certainly.  You promised to go riding with me this morning."
+
+"And so I will in a minute, when I have finished with these roses."
+
+"But I want you to come this instant."
+
+"And leave a duty unperformed?" inquired Ridge, teasingly.
+
+"Yes; now."
+
+"In a minute."
+
+"No.  I won't wait another second."
+
+With this the girl flung herself from the room, wearing a very determined
+expression on her flushed face.
+
+Ridge rose to follow her, and then resumed his occupation as a clatter of
+hoofs on the magnolia-bordered driveway announced the arrival of a
+horseman.
+
+"She won't go now that she has a caller to entertain," he said to himself.
+
+But in this he was mistaken; for within a minute another clatter of
+hoofs, mingled with the sound of laughing voices, gave notice of a
+departure, and, glancing from an open window, Ridge saw Spence Cuthbert
+ride gayly past in company with a young man whose face seemed familiar,
+but whose name he could not recall.
+
+As they swept by both looked up laughing, while the horseman lifted his
+hat in a bow that was almost too sweeping to be polite.
+
+"What did you say Ridge was doing?" he asked, as they passed beyond
+earshot.
+
+"Arranging a bowl of roses," answered Spence.
+
+"Nice occupation for a man," sneered the other.  "And he preferred doing
+that to riding with you?"
+
+"So it seems."
+
+"Well, I am not wholly surprised, for, as I remember him, he was a
+soft-hearted, Miss Nancy sort of a boy, who was always coddling sick
+kittens, or something of the kind, and never would go hunting because he
+couldn't bear to kill things.  He apparently hadn't a drop of sporting
+blood in him, and I recall having to thrash him on one occasion because
+he objected to my shooting a bird.  I thought of course, though, that he
+had outgrown all such nonsense by this time."
+
+"There is no nonsense about him!" flashed out Spence, warmly; and then,
+to her companion's amazement, the girl began a most spirited defence of
+her absent cousin, during which she denounced in such bitter terms the
+taking of innocent lives under the name of "sport" that the other was
+finally thankful to change the conversation to a more congenial topic.
+
+In the mean time Dulce Norris had entered the morning-room to find out
+why Spence had gone to ride with Herman Dodley instead of with Ridge, as
+had been arranged.
+
+"Was that Herman Dodley?" asked the latter, without answering his
+sister's question.
+
+"Yes, of course, but why do you ask with such a tragic air?"
+
+"Because," replied Ridge, "I have heard reports concerning him which, if
+confirmed, should bar the doors of this house against him forever."
+
+"What do you mean, Ridge Norris?  I'm sure Mr. Dodley bears as good a
+reputation as the majority of young men one meets in society.  Of course
+since he has got into politics his character has been assailed by the
+other party; but then no one ever believes what politicians say of one
+another."
+
+"No matter now what I mean," rejoined the young man.  "Perhaps I will
+tell you after I have spoken to father on the subject, which I mean to do
+at once."
+
+Ridge Norris, on his way to the library, where he hoped to find his
+father, was somewhat of a disappointment to his family.  Born of a mother
+in whose veins flowed French and Spanish blood, and who had taught him to
+speak both languages, and of a New England father, who had spent his
+entire business life in the far South, Ridge had been reared in an
+atmosphere of luxury.  He had been educated in the North, sent on a grand
+tour around the world, and had finally been given a position, secured
+through his father's influence, in a Japanese-American banking house.
+From Yokohama he had been transferred to the New York office, where, on
+account of a slight misunderstanding with one of his superiors, he had
+thrown up his position to return to his home only a few days before this
+story opens.
+
+Now his family did not know what to do with him.  He disliked business,
+and would not study for a profession.  He was a dear, lovable fellow,
+honest and manly in all his instincts; but indolent, fastidious in his
+tastes, and apparently without ambition.  He was devoted to music and
+flowers, extremely fond of horses, which he rode more than ordinarily
+well, and had a liking for good books.  He had, furthermore, returned
+from his travels filled with pride for his native land, and declaring
+that the United States was the only country in the world worth fighting
+and dying for.
+
+Taking the morning's mail from the hand of a servant who had just brought
+it, Ridge entered his father's presence.
+
+"Here are your letters, sir," he said, "but before you read them I should
+like a few moments' conversation with you."
+
+"Certainly, son.  What is it?"
+
+As Ridge told what he had heard concerning Herman Dodley, the elder man's
+brows darkened; and, when the recital was finished, he said:
+
+"I fear all this is true, and have little doubt that Dodley is no better
+than he should be; but, unfortunately, I am so situated at present that I
+cannot forbid him the house.  I will warn Dulce and her friend against
+him; but just now I am not in a position to offend him."
+
+"Why, father!" cried Ridge, amazed to hear his usually fearless and
+self-assertive parent adopt this tone.  "I thought that you were--"
+
+"Independent of all men," interrupted the other, finishing the sentence.
+"So I believed myself to be.  But I am suddenly confronted by business
+embarrassments that force me temporarily to adopt a different policy.
+Truly, Ridge, we are threatened with such serious losses that I am making
+every possible sacrifice to try and stem the tide.  I have even placed
+our summer home on the Long Island coast in an agent's hands, and am
+deeply grieved that you should have thrown up a position, promising at
+least self-support, upon such slight provocation."
+
+"But he ordered me about as though I were a servant, instead of
+requesting me to do things in a gentlemanly way."
+
+"And were you not a servant?"
+
+"No, sir, I was not--at least, not in the sense of being amenable to
+brutal commands.  I was not, nor will I ever be, anybody's slave."
+
+"Oh well, my boy!" replied the elder, with a deep sigh, "I fear you will
+live to discover by sad experience that pride is the most expensive of
+earthly luxuries, and that one must consent to obey orders long before he
+can hope to issue commands.  But we will discuss your affairs later, for
+now I must look over my letters."
+
+While Mr. Norris was thus engaged, Ridge opened the morning paper, and
+glanced carelessly at its headlines.  Suddenly he sprang to his feet with
+a shout, his dark face glowing and his eyes blazing with excitement.
+
+"By heavens, father!" he cried, "the United States battle-ship _Maine_
+has been blown up in Havana Harbor with a loss of two hundred and sixty
+of her crew.  If that doesn't mean war, then nothing in the world's
+history ever did.  You needn't worry about me any more, sir, for my duty
+is clearly outlined."
+
+"What do you propose to do?" asked the elder man, curiously.  "Will you
+try to blow up a Spanish battle-ship in revenge?"
+
+"No, sir.  But I shall enlist at the very first call to arms, and offer
+my life towards the thrashing of the cowards who have perpetrated this
+incredible crime."
+
+Thrilled to the core by the momentous news he had just read, Ridge
+hastened to impart it to his mother and sister.  At the same time he
+ordered a horse on which he might ride to the city for further details of
+the stupendous event.  As he was about to depart, Spence Cuthbert and her
+escort, returning from their ride, dashed up to the doorway.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" cried Ridge, barely nodding to Dodley.
+
+"Yes," replied Spence.  "Isn't it dreadful?  Mr. Dodley told me all about
+it, and after hearing it I couldn't bear to ride any farther, so we came
+back."
+
+"I wish he had told me before you started," said Ridge, "so that I might
+have been in the city long ago."
+
+"You were so busily and pleasantly engaged with your roses that I
+hesitated to interrupt you," murmured Herman Dodley.  "Now, however, if I
+can be of any assistance to you in the city, pray consider me at your
+service."
+
+"Can you assist me, sir, to obtain a commission in the army that will be
+summoned to visit a terrible punishment upon Spain for her black
+treachery?"
+
+"Undoubtedly I could, and of course I would do so with pleasure if the
+occasion should arise.  But there won't be any war.  The great Yankee
+nation is too busy accumulating dollars to fight over a thing of this
+kind.  We will demand a money indemnity, it will be promptly paid, and
+the whole affair will quickly be forgotten."
+
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, his face pale with passion.  "The man who utters such
+words is at heart a traitor to his country."
+
+"If it were not for the presence of ladies, I would call you to account
+for that remark," muttered Dodley.  "As it is, I shall not forget it.
+Ladies, I have the honor to wish you a very good-morning."
+
+With this the speaker, who had not dismounted, turned his horse's head
+and rode away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WAR IS DECLARED
+
+Never was the temper and patience of the American people more sorely
+tried than by the two months of waiting and suspense that followed the
+destruction of their splendid battle-ship.  The _Maine_ had entered
+Havana Harbor on a friendly visit, been assigned to a mooring, which
+was afterwards changed by the Spanish authorities, and three weeks
+later, without a suspicion of danger having been aroused or a note of
+warning sounded, she was destroyed as though by a thunder-bolt.  It was
+nearly ten o'clock on the night of Tuesday, February 15th.  Taps had
+sounded and the crew were asleep in their hammocks, when, by a terrific
+explosion, two hundred and fifty-eight men and two officers were hurled
+into eternity, sixty more were wounded, and the superb battle-ship was
+reduced to a mass of shapeless wreckage.
+
+It was firmly believed throughout the United States that this appalling
+disaster was caused by a submarine mine, deliberately placed near the
+mooring buoy to which the _Maine_ had been moved, to be exploded at a
+favorable opportunity by Spanish hands.
+
+The Spaniards, on the other side, claimed and strenuously maintained
+that the only explosion was that of the ship's own magazines, declaring
+in support of this theory that discipline on all American men-of-war
+was so lax as to invite such a catastrophe at any moment.
+
+To investigate, and settle if possible, this vital question, a Court of
+Inquiry, composed of four prominent naval officers, was appointed.
+They proceeded to Havana, took volumes of testimony, and, after six
+weeks of most searching investigation, made a report to the effect that
+the _Maine_ was destroyed by two distinct explosions, the first of
+which was that of a mine located beneath her, and causing a second
+explosion--of her own magazines--by concussion.
+
+During these six weeks the country was in a ferment.  For three years
+war had raged in Cuba, where the natives were striving to throw off the
+intolerable burden of Spanish oppression and cruelty.  In all that time
+the sympathies of America were with the struggling Cubans; and from
+every State of the Union demands for intervention in their behalf, even
+to the extent of going to war with Spain, had grown louder and more
+insistent, until it was evident that they must be heeded.  With the
+destruction of the _Maine_ affairs reached such a crisis that the
+people, through their representatives in Congress, demanded to have the
+Spanish flag swept forever from the Western hemisphere.
+
+In vain did President McKinley strive for a peaceful solution of the
+problem; but with both nations bent on war, he could not stem the tide
+of popular feeling.  So, on the 20th of April he was obliged to demand
+from Spain that she should, before noon of the 23d, relinquish forever
+her authority over Cuba, at the same time withdrawing her land and
+naval forces from that island.  The Spanish Cortes treated this
+proposition with contempt, and answered it by handing his passports to
+the American Minister at Madrid, thereby declaring war against the
+great American republic.
+
+At this time Spain believed her navy to be more than a match for that
+of the United States, and that, with nearly two hundred thousand
+veteran, acclimated troops on the island of Cuba, she was in a position
+to resist successfully what she termed the "insolent demands of the
+Yankee pigs."
+
+On this side of the Atlantic, Congress had appropriated fifty millions
+of dollars for national defence, the navy was being strengthened by the
+purchase of additional ships at home and abroad, fortifications were
+being erected along the entire coast, harbors were mined, and a
+powerful fleet of warships was gathered at Key West, the point of
+American territory lying nearest the island of Cuba.
+
+Then came the President's call for 125,000 volunteers, followed a few
+weeks later by a second call for 75,000 more.  This was the summons for
+which our young friend, Ridge Norris, had waited so impatiently ever
+since that February morning when he had arranged a bowl of roses and
+read the startling news of the _Maine's_ destruction.
+
+No one in all the country had been more impatient of the long delay
+than he; for it had seemed to him perfectly evident from the very first
+that war must be declared, and he was determined to take an active part
+in it at the earliest opportunity.  His father was willing that he
+should go, his mother was bitterly opposed; Dulce begged him to give up
+his design, and even Spence Cuthbert's laughing face became grave
+whenever the subject was mentioned, but the young man was not to be
+moved from his resolve.
+
+Mardi Gras came and passed, but Ridge, though escorting his sister and
+cousin to all the festivities, took only a slight interest in them.  He
+was always slipping away to buy the latest papers or to read the
+bulletins from Washington.
+
+"Would you go as a private, son?" asked his father one evening when the
+situation was being discussed in the family circle.
+
+"No, no!  If he goes at all--which Heaven forbid--it must be as an
+officer," interposed Mrs. Norris, who had overheard the question.
+
+"Of course a gentleman would not think of going as anything else,"
+remarked Dulce, conclusively.
+
+"I believe there were gentlemen privates on both sides during the Civil
+War," said Spence Cuthbert, quietly.
+
+"Of course," admitted Dulce, "but that was different.  Then men fought
+for principles, but now they are going to fight for--for--"
+
+"The love of it, perhaps," suggested the girl from Kentucky.
+
+"You know I don't mean that," cried Dulce.  "They are going to fight
+because--"
+
+"Because their country calls them," interrupted Ridge, with energy,
+"and because every true American endorses Decatur's immortal toast of
+'Our Country.  May she always be in the right; but, right or wrong, our
+country.'  Also because in the present instance we believe it is as
+much our right to save Cuba from further oppression at the hands of
+Spain as it always is for the strong to interpose in behalf of the weak
+and helpless.  For these reasons, and because I do not seem fit for
+anything else, I am going into the city to-morrow to enlist in whatever
+regiment I find forming."
+
+"Oh, my boy! my boy!" cried Mrs. Norris, flinging her arms around her
+son's neck, "do not go tomorrow.  Wait a little longer, but one week,
+until we can see what will happen.  After that I will not seek further
+to restrain you.  It is your mother who prays."
+
+"All right, mother dear, I will wait a few days to please you, though I
+cannot see what difference it will make."
+
+So the young man waited as patiently as might be a week longer, and
+before it was ended the whole country was ringing with the wonderful
+news of Admiral George Dewey's swift descent upon the Philippine
+Islands with the American Asiatic squadron.  With exulting heart every
+American listened to the thrilling story of how this modern Farragut
+stood on the bridge of the Olympia, and, with a fine contempt for the
+Spanish mines known to be thickly planted in the channel, led his ships
+into Manila Bay.  Almost before the startled Spaniards knew of his
+coming he had safely passed their outer line of defences, and was
+advancing upon their anchored fleet of iron-clad cruisers.  An hour
+later he had completely destroyed it, silenced the shore batteries, and
+held the proud city of Manila at his mercy.  All this he had done
+without the loss of a man or material damage to his ships, an exploit
+so incredible that at first the world refused to believe it.
+
+To Ridge Norris, who had spent a week in the Philippines less than a
+year before, the whole affair was of intense interest, and he bitterly
+regretted not having remained in the Far East that he might have
+participated in that glorious fight.
+
+"I would gladly have shipped as a sailor on the _Olympia_ if I had only
+known what was in store for her!" he exclaimed; "but a chance like
+that, once thrown away, never seems to be offered again."
+
+"But, my boy, it is better now," said Mrs. Norris, with a triumphant
+smile.  "Then you would have been only a common seaman; one week ago
+you would have enlisted as a common soldier.  Now you may go as an
+officer--what you will call a lieutenant--with the chance soon to
+become a captain, and perhaps a general.  Who can tell?"
+
+"Whatever do you mean, mother?"
+
+"What I say, and it is even so; for have I not the promise of the
+Governor himself?  But your father will tell you better, for he knows
+what has been done."
+
+So Ridge went to his father, who confirmed what he had just heard,
+saying:
+
+"Yes, son; your mother has exerted her influence in your behalf, and
+procured for you the promise of a second-lieutenant's commission,
+provided I am willing to pay for the honor."
+
+"How, father?"
+
+"By using my influence to send Herman Dodley to the Legislature as soon
+as he comes back from the war."
+
+"Is Dodley going into the army?"
+
+"Yes.  He is to be a major."
+
+"And would you help to send such a man to the Legislature?"
+
+"If you wanted to be a lieutenant badly enough to have me do so, I
+would."
+
+"Father, you know I wouldn't have you do such a thing even to make me
+President of the United States!"
+
+"Yes, son, I know it."
+
+And the two, gazing into each other's eyes, understood each other
+perfectly.
+
+"I would rather go as a private, father."
+
+"I would rather have you, son; though it would be a great
+disappointment to your mother."
+
+"She need not know, for I will go to some distant camp before
+enlisting.  I wouldn't serve in the same regiment with Herman Dodley,
+anyhow."
+
+"Of course not, son."
+
+"I suppose his appointment is political--as well as the one intended
+for me?"
+
+"Yes; and so it is with every other officer in the regiment."
+
+"That settles it.  I would sooner join the Cubans than fight under the
+leadership of mere politicians.  So, when I do enlist, it will be in
+some regiment where the word politics is unknown, even if I have to go
+into the regular army."
+
+"Son, I am prouder of you than I ever was before.  What will you want
+in the way of an outfit?"
+
+"One hundred dollars, if you can spare so much."
+
+"You shall have it, with my blessing."
+
+So it happened that, a few days later, Ridge Norris started for the
+war, though without an idea of where he should find it or in what
+capacity he should serve his country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ROLLO THE TERROR
+
+On the evening when Ridge decided to take his departure for the seat of
+war he was driven into the city by his father, who set him down near the
+armory of the regiment in which he had been offered a lieutenant's
+commission--for a consideration.
+
+"I don't want you to tell me where you are going, son," said Mr. Norris,
+"for I would rather be able to say, with a clear conscience, that I left
+you at headquarters, and beyond that know nothing of your movements."
+
+"All right, father," replied the young fellow.  "I won't tell you a thing
+about it, for I don't know where I am going any more than you do."
+
+"Then good-bye, my boy, and may Almighty God restore you to us safe and
+well when the war is over.  Here is the money you asked for, and I only
+wish I were able to give you ten times the sum.  Be careful of it, and
+don't spend it recklessly, for you must remember that we are poor folk
+now."
+
+Thus saying, the elder man slipped a roll of crisp bills into his son's
+hand, kissed him on the cheek, a thing he had not done before in a dozen
+years, and, without trusting his voice for another word, drove rapidly
+away.
+
+For a minute Ridge stood in the shadow of the massive building, listening
+with a full heart to the rattle of departing wheels.  Then he stooped to
+pick up the hand-bag, which was all the luggage he proposed to take with
+him.  As he did so, two men brushed past him, and he overheard one of
+them say:
+
+"Yes, old Norris was bought cheap.  A second-lieutenancy for his cub
+fixed him.  The berth'll soon be vacant again though, for the boy hasn't
+sand enough to--"
+
+Here the voice of the speaker was lost as the two turned into the armory.
+
+"Thanks for your opinion, Major Dodley," murmured Ridge; "that cheap
+berth will be vacant sooner than you think."
+
+Then, picking up his "grip," the young fellow walked rapidly away towards
+the railway station.  He was clad in a blue flannel shirt, brown canvas
+coat, trousers, and leggings, and wore a brown felt hat, the combination
+making up a costume almost identical with that decided upon as a Cuban
+campaign uniform for the United States army.  Ridge had provided himself
+with it in order to save the carrying of useless luggage.  In his "grip"
+he had an extra shirt, two changes of under-flannels, several pairs of
+socks, a pair of stout walking-shoes, and a few toilet articles, all of
+which could easily be stowed in an army haversack.
+
+Our hero's vaguely formed plan, as he neared the station, was to take the
+first east-bound train and make his way to one of the great camps of
+mobilization, either at Chickamauga, Georgia, or Tampa, Florida, where he
+hoped to find some regiment in which he could conscientiously enlist.  A
+train from the North had just reached the station as he entered it; but,
+to his disgust, he found that several hours must elapse before one would
+be ready to bear him eastward.
+
+He was too excited to wait patiently, but wandered restlessly up and down
+the long platform.  All at once there came to his ears the sound of a
+familiar voice, and, turning, he saw, advancing towards him, in the full
+glare of an electric light, three men, all young and evidently in high
+spirits.  One, thin, brown, and wiry, was dressed as a cowboy of the
+Western plains.  Another, who was a giant in stature, wore a golf suit of
+gray tweed; while the third, of boyish aspect, whom Ridge recognized as
+the son of a well-known New York millionaire, was clad in brown canvas
+much after his own style, though he also wore a prodigious revolver and a
+belt full of cartridges.
+
+He was Roland Van Kyp, called "Rollo" for short, one of the most
+persistent and luxurious of globe-trotters, who generally travelled in
+his own magnificent steam-yacht _Royal Flush_, on board of which he had
+entertained princes and the cream of foreign nobility without number.
+Everybody knew Van Kyp, and everybody liked him; he was such a genial
+soul, ever ready to bother himself over some other fellow's trouble, but
+never intimating that he had any of his own; reckless, generous,
+happy-go-lucky, always getting into scrapes and out of them with equal
+facility.  To his more intimate friends he had been variously known as
+"Rollo Abroad," "Rollo in Love," "Rollo in Search of a Wife," or "Rollo
+at Play," and when Ridge became acquainted with him in Yokohama he was
+"Rollo in Japan."
+
+He now recognized our hero at a glance, and sprang forward with
+outstretched hand.
+
+"Hello, Norris, my dear boy!" he cried.  "Whatever brings you here?
+Thought you were still far away in the misty Orient, doing the grand
+among the little brown Japs, while here you are in flannel and canvas as
+though you were a major-general in the regular army.  What does it mean?
+Are you one of us?  Have you too become a man of war, a fire-eater, a
+target for Mausers?  Have you enlisted under the banner of the screaming
+eagle?"
+
+"Not yet," laughed Ridge, "but I am on my way East to do so in the first
+regiment uncontaminated by politics that I can find."
+
+"Then, old man, you don't want to go East.  You want to come West with
+us.  There is but one regiment such as you have named, and it is mine;
+for, behold!  I am now Rollo in the Army, Rollo the Rough Rider, Rollo
+the Terror.  Perhaps it would be more becoming, though, to say 'Ours,'
+for we are all in it."
+
+"I should rather imagine that it would," growled he of the golf
+stockings, now joining in the conversation.  "And, 'Rollo in Disguise,'
+suppose you present us to your friend; for, if I am not mistaken, he is a
+gentleman of whom I have heard and would like much to meet."
+
+"Of course you would," responded Rollo, "and I beg your pardon for not
+having introduced you at once; but in times of war, you know, one is apt
+to neglect the amenities of a more peaceful existence.  Mr. Norris, allow
+me to present my friend and pupil in the art of football-playing--"
+
+"Oh, come off," laughed the big man.
+
+"Pupil, as I was saying when rudely interrupted," continued Rollo, "Mr.
+Mark Gridley."
+
+"Not Gridley, the famous quarter-back!" exclaimed Ridge, holding out his
+hand.
+
+"That's him," replied Van Kyp.
+
+"And aren't you Norris, the gentleman rider?" asked Gridley.
+
+"I have ridden," acknowledged Ridge.
+
+"So has this my other friend and fellow-soldier," cried Van Kyp.
+"Norris, I want you to know Mr. Silas Pine, of Medora, North Dakota, a
+bad man from the Bad Lands, a bronco-buster by profession, who has also
+consented to become a terror to Spaniards in my company."
+
+"Have you a company, then?" asked Ridge, after he had acknowledged this
+introduction.
+
+"I have--that is, I belong to one; but, in the sense you mean, you must
+not use the word company.  That is a term common to 'doughboys,' who, as
+you doubtless know, are merely uniformed pedestrians; but we of the
+cavalry always speak of our immediate fighting coterie as a 'troop.'
+Likewise the 'battalion' of the inconsequent doughboy has for our behoof
+been supplanted by the more formidable word 'squadron,' to show that we
+are _de jure_ as well as _de facto_ men of war.  Sabe?"
+
+"Then you are really in the cavalry?" asked Ridge, while laughing at this
+nonsense.
+
+"Yes, I really am, or rather I really shall be when I get there; for
+though enlisted and sworn in, we haven't yet joined or been sworn at."
+
+"What is your regiment?"
+
+"You mean our 'command.'  Why, didn't I tell you?  'Teddy's Terrors,'
+Roosevelt's Rough Riders.  First Volunteer Cavalry, U.S.A., Colonel
+Leonard Wood commanding."
+
+"The very one!" cried Ridge.  "Why didn't I think of it before?  How I
+wish I could join it."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"I thought there were so many applications that the ranks were more than
+full."
+
+"So there may be, but, like lots of other full things, there's always
+room for one more, if he's of the right sort."
+
+"Do you imagine I would stand the slightest chance of getting in?"
+
+"I should say you would.  With me ready to use my influence in your
+behalf, and me and Teddy the chums we are, besides you being the rider
+you are.  Why the first question Teddy asks of an applicant is 'Can you
+ride a horse?'  And when you answer, 'Sir, I am the man who wrote--I mean
+who won the silver hurdles at the last Yokohama gym.', he'll be so
+anxious to have you in the regiment that he'd resign in your favor rather
+than lose you.  Oh, if I only had your backing do you suppose I'd be a
+mere private Terror?  No, siree, I'd be corporal or colonel or something
+of that kind, sure as you're born.  But come on, let's get aboard, for
+there's the tinkle-bell a-tinkling."
+
+"I haven't bought my ticket yet," remonstrated Ridge.
+
+"You won't need one, son.  We're travelling in my private car
+'Terror'--used to be named 'Buster,' you know--and the lay-out is free to
+all my friends."
+
+Thus it happened that kindly Fate had interposed to guide our hero's
+footsteps, but it was not until he found himself seated in the luxurious
+smoking-room of Rollo Van Kyp's private railway carriage that it occurred
+to him to inquire whither they were bound.
+
+"To the plains of Texas, my boy, and the city of San Antonio de Bexar,
+where Teddy and his Terrors are impatiently awaiting our advent," replied
+Rollo.  At the same time he touched an electric bell and ordered a
+supper, which, when it appeared, proved to be one of the daintiest meals
+that Ridge Norris had ever eaten.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO
+
+During the remainder of that night and all the following day the train
+to which the "Terror" was attached sped westward through the rich
+lowlands of southern Louisiana and across the prairies of Texas.  It
+crossed the tawny flood of the Mississippi on a huge railway ferry to
+Algiers, and at New Iberia it passed a side-tracked train filled with
+State troops bound for Baton Rouge.  Early the next morning at Houston,
+Texas, it drew up beside another train-load of soldiers on their way to
+Austin.  To the excited mind of our young would-be cavalryman it seemed
+as though the whole country was under arms and hurrying towards the
+scene of conflict.  Was he not going in the wrong direction, after all?
+And would not those other fellows get to Cuba ahead of him in such
+force that there would be no Spaniards left for the Riders to fight?
+This feeling was so increased upon reaching the end of the journey,
+where he saw two San Antonio companies starting for the East, that he
+gave expression to his fears, whereupon Van Kip responded, promptly:
+
+"Don't you fret, old man.  We'll get there in plenty of time.  Teddy's
+gone into this thing for blood, and he's got the inside track on
+information, too.  Fixed up a private ticker all of his own before he
+left Washington, and when he gets ready to start he'll go straight to
+the front without a side-track.  Oh, I know him and his ways! for, as
+I've said before, we're great chums, me and Teddy.  I shouldn't wonder
+if he'd be at the station to meet us."
+
+To Rollo's disappointment, neither Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt nor any
+one else was on hand to welcome the Riders' new recruits, but this was
+philosophically explained by the young New-Yorker on the ground that he
+had thoughtlessly neglected to telegraph their coming.  Being thus left
+to their own devices, and anxious to join their regiment as quickly as
+possible, the three who were already enlisted engaged a carriage to
+convey them to the fair-grounds, just beyond the city limits, where the
+Riders were encamped, leaving Ridge to occupy the car in solitary state
+until morning.
+
+"You just stay here and make yourself cozy," said Rollo, "while we go
+and get our bearings.  I'll see Teddy and fix things all right for you,
+so that you can come out and join us bright and early tomorrow.  So
+long.  Robert, take good care of Mr. Norris, and see that he has
+everything to make him comfortable."
+
+This order was delivered to the colored steward of the car, and in
+another minute the excited trio had rattled away, leaving Ridge to a
+night of luxurious loneliness.
+
+To occupy his time he took a brisk walk into the city, and reached the
+Alamo Plaza before he knew where he was.  Then, suddenly, he realized;
+for, half-hidden by a great ugly wooden building, used as a
+grocery-store, he discovered an antiquated, half-ruinous little
+structure of stone and stucco that he instantly recognized, from having
+seen it pictured over and over again.  It was the world-renowned Alamo,
+one of the most famous monuments to liberty in America; and, hastening
+across the plaza, Ridge stood reverently before it, thrilled with the
+memory of Crockett and Bowie, Travis and Bonham, who, more than half a
+century before, together with their immediate band of heroes, here
+yielded up their lives that Texas might be free.
+
+Ridge was well read in the history of the Lone Star State, and now he
+strove to picture to himself the glorious tragedy upon which those grim
+walls had looked.  As he thus stood, oblivious to his surroundings, he
+was recalled to them by a voice close at hand, saying, as though in
+soliloquy:
+
+"What a shame that so sacred a monument should be degraded by the
+vulgarity of its environment!"
+
+"Is it not?" replied Ridge, turning towards the speaker.  The latter
+was a squarely built man, about forty years of age, with a face
+expressive of intense determination, which at the moment was partially
+hidden by a slouch hat pulled down over the forehead, and a pair of
+spectacles.  He was clad in brown canvas, very much as was Ridge
+himself; but except for facings of blue on collar and sleeve be wore no
+distinctive mark of rank.  For a few minutes the two talked of the
+Alamo and all that it represented.  Then the stranger asked, abruptly,
+
+"Do you belong to the Rough Riders?"
+
+"No," replied Ridge, "but I hope to.  I am going to make application to
+join them to-morrow, or rather I believe a friend is making it for me
+this evening.  Are you one of them, sir?"
+
+"Yes, though I have not yet joined.  In fact, I have only just reached
+San Antonio."
+
+"So have I," said Ridge.  "I came in on the Eastern train less than an
+hour ago."
+
+"Strange that I did not see you," remarked the other.  "Were you in the
+Pullman?"
+
+"No, I was in a private car."
+
+"I noticed that there was one, though I did not know to whom it
+belonged.  Is it yours?"
+
+"Oh no!" laughed Ridge.  "I am far too poor to own anything so
+luxurious.  It belongs to my friend, Mr. Roland Van Kyp, of New York."
+
+"Sometimes called Rollo?"
+
+"Yes; do you know him?"
+
+"I have met him.  Is he the one who is to use his influence in your
+behalf?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Can you ride a horse?"
+
+"I have ridden," rejoined Ridge, modestly.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In many places.  The last was Japan, where I won the silver hurdles of
+the Yokohama gymkana."
+
+"Indeed!  And your name is--"
+
+"Ridge Norris," replied the young man.
+
+"I have heard the name, and am glad to know you, Mr. Norris.  Now I
+must bid you good-evening.  Hope we shall meet again, and trust you may
+be successful in joining our regiment."
+
+With this the stranger walked rapidly away, leaving Ridge somewhat
+puzzled by his manner, and wishing he had asked his name.
+
+About eight o'clock the next morning, as Ridge, waited on by the
+attentive Robert, was sitting down to the daintily appointed
+breakfast-table of Rollo Van Kyp's car, the young owner himself burst
+into the room.
+
+"Hello, Norris!" he cried.  "Just going to have lunch?  Don't care if I
+join you.  Had breakfast hours ago, you know, and a prime one it was.
+Scouse, slumgullion, hushpuppy, dope without milk, and all sorts of
+things.  I tell you life in camp is fine, and no mistake.  Slept in a
+dog-tent last night with a full-blooded Indian--Choctaw or something of
+that kind, one of the best fellows I ever met.  Couldn't catch on to
+his name, but it doesn't make any difference, for all the boys call him
+'Hully Gee'--'Hully' for short, you know.
+
+"But such fun and such a rum crowd you never saw!  Why, there are
+cowboys, ranchers, prospectors, coppers, ex-sheriffs, sailors,
+mine-owners, men from every college in the country, tennis champions,
+football-players, rowing-men, polo-players, planters, African
+explorers, big-game hunters, ex-revenue-officers, and Indian-fighters,
+besides any number of others who have led the wildest kinds of life,
+all chock-full of stories, and ready to fire 'em off at a touch of the
+trigger.  Teddy hasn't come yet, and so I haven't been able to do
+anything for you; but you must trot right out, all the same, and join
+our mess.  Besides, I want you to pick out a horse for me, something
+nice and quiet, 'cause I'm not a dead game rider, you know.  Same time
+he must be good to look at, sound, and fit in every respect.  I've
+already bought one this morning, a devilish pretty little mare, on Sile
+Pine's say-so that she was gentle, but after a slight though very
+trying experience, I'm afraid a bronco-buster's ideas of gentleness and
+mine don't exactly agree."
+
+"Why?  Did she throw you?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Well, she didn't exactly throw me.  I was merely projected about a
+thousand yards as though from a dynamite-gun, and then the brute tried
+to chew me up.  You see she's a Mexican--what Mark Twain would call a
+'genuine Mexican plug'--and doesn't seem to sabe United States; for
+when I began to reason with her she simply went wild.  I left her
+tearing through the camp like a steam-cyclone, and if we find anything
+at all to show where it was located, it is more than I hope for.  But
+there's a new lot of prime-looking cattle just arrived, and they are
+going like hot cakes; so come along quick and help me get something
+rideable."
+
+Half an hour later Ridge found himself in the first army camp he had
+ever visited, amid a body of men the most heterogeneous but typically
+American ever gathered together.  Millionaire dudes and clubmen from
+the great Eastern cities fraternized with the wildest representatives
+of far Western life.  Men of every calling and social position, all
+wearing blue flannel shirts and slouch hats, were here mingled on terms
+of perfect equality.  They were drilling, shooting, skylarking, playing
+cards, performing incredible feats on horseback, cooking, eating,
+singing, yelling, and behaving in every respect like a lot of
+irrepressible schoolboys out for a holiday.  Here a red-headed Irish
+corporal damned the awkwardness of a young Boston swell, fresh from
+Harvard, who had been detailed as cook in a company kitchen; while,
+close at hand, a New-Yorker of the bluest blood was washing dishes with
+the deftness gained from long experience on a New Mexican sheep-ranch.
+
+As Ridge and Rollo passed through one of the canvas-bordered streets of
+this unique camp, the former suddenly leaped aside with an exclamation
+of alarm.  An unknown beast, fortunately chained, had made a spring at
+him, with sharp claws barely missing his leg.
+
+"You mustn't mind a little thing like that," laughed Rollo, with the
+air of one to whom such incidents were of every-day occurrence.  "It's
+only 'Josephine,' a young mountain lion from Arizona, and our
+regimental mascot.  She's very playful."
+
+"So it seems," replied Ridge, "and I suppose I shall learn to like her
+if I join the regiment; but the introduction was a little startling."
+
+A short distance beyond the camp was gathered a confused group of
+officers, troopers, men in citizen's dress, some of whom were
+swart-faced Mexicans, and horses.  To this Rollo led the way; and, as
+the new-comers drew near they saw that for a moment all eyes were
+directed towards a man engaged in a fierce struggle with a horse.  The
+animal was a beautiful chestnut mare with slender limbs, glossy coat,
+and superb form.  Good as she was to look upon, she was just then
+exhibiting the spirit of a wild-cat or anything else that is most
+savage and untamable, and was attempting, with desperate struggles, to
+throw and kill the man who rode her.  He was our recent acquaintance,
+Silas Pine, bronco-buster from the Bad Lands, who, with clinched teeth
+and rigid features, was in full practice of his chosen profession.
+
+All at once, no one could tell how, but with a furious effort the mare
+shook off her hated burden, and, with a snort of triumph, dashed madly
+away.  The man was flung heavily to the ground, where he lay motionless.
+
+"That's my horse," remarked Rollo, quietly, "and Sile undertook to
+either break or kill her.  Nice, gentle beast, isn't she?  Hello,
+you're in luck, for there's Roosevelt now.  Oh, Teddy!  I say, Teddy!"
+
+Two officers on horseback were approaching the scene, and in one of
+them Ridge recognized his chance acquaintance of the evening before.
+Towards this individual Van Kyp was running.
+
+All at once the second officer, who proved to be Colonel Leonard Wood
+of the regular army, now commanding the Riders, turned to a sergeant
+who stood near by, and said, sharply:
+
+"Arrest that man and take him to the guard-house.  We have had enough
+of this 'Teddy' business, and I want it distinctly understood that
+hereafter Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt is to receive the title of his
+rank from every man in this command."
+
+In another moment Rollo Van Kyp had been seized by the brawny sergeant,
+lately a mounted policeman of New York city, and was being marched
+protestingly away, leaving Ridge bewildered, friendless, and uncertain
+what to do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER
+
+While our hero stood irresolute, he saw Silas Pine gain a sitting
+posture, and gaze about him with the air of one who is dazed.
+
+[Illustration: "Silas Pine gazed about him with the air of one who is
+dazed."]
+
+"Are you badly hurt?" inquired Ridge, as he reached the man's side.
+
+"I don't know," replied Silas, moving his limbs cautiously, and feeling
+of various portions of his body to ascertain if any bones were broken.
+"Reckon not.  But will you kindly tell me what happened?"
+
+"You were breaking in Mr. Van Kyp's horse, and got thrown," replied
+Ridge, as gravely as possible, but with an irrepressible smile lurking
+in the corners of his mouth.
+
+The bronco-buster, noting this, became instantly filled with wrath.
+
+"Got thrown, did I?  And you think it a thing to laugh at, do you?
+Well, you wouldn't if you'd been in my place.  I claim to know
+something about hosses, and I tell you that's not one at all.  She's a
+'hoss devil,' that's what she is, for all she looks quiet as a sheep.
+But I'll kill her yet or die trying to tame her; for such a brute's not
+fit to live."
+
+"Won't you let me try my hand at it first?" asked Ridge.
+
+"You? you?" exclaimed the man in contemptuous amazement.  "Yes, I will,
+for if you are fool enough to tackle her, you are only fit to be
+killed, and might as well die now as later.  Oh yes, young feller, you
+can try it; only leave us a lock of your hair to remember you by, and
+we'll give you a first-class funeral."
+
+By this time two Mexican riders, who had started in pursuit of the
+runaway animal, had cornered it in an angle of the high fence
+surrounding the camp-grounds, flung their ropes over its head, and were
+dragging it back, choking and gasping for breath, to the scene of its
+recent triumph.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge in Spanish, running towards them as he spoke,
+and shouting commands in their own language.
+
+Slipping the cruel ropes from the neck of the quivering mare, that
+stared at him with wild eyes, Ridge petted and soothed her, at the same
+time talking gently in Spanish, a tongue that she showed signs of
+understanding by pricking forward her shapely ears.  After a little
+Ridge led the animal to a watering-trough, where she drank greedily,
+and then into camp, where he begged a handful of sugar from one of the
+cooks.
+
+Some ten minutes later, without having yet attempted to gain the
+saddle, he led the mare back to the place from which they had started,
+all the while talking to her and stroking her glossy neck.
+
+"Why don't you ride?" growled Silas Pine, who still remained on the
+scene of his recent discomfiture, and had watched Ridge's movements
+curiously.  "Any fool can lead a hoss to water and back again."
+
+For answer Ridge gathered up the bridle reins, and placing his hands on
+pommel and cantle, sprang lightly into the saddle.
+
+The mare laid her ears flat back and began to tremble with rage, but
+her rider, bending low over the proud neck, talked to her as though she
+were a human being, and in another moment they were off like the wind.
+Twice they circled the entire grounds at a speed as yet unequalled in
+the camp, and then drew up sharply where Silas Pine still stood
+awaiting them.
+
+"Mr. Norris," said that individual, stepping forward, "I owe you an
+apology, and must say I never saw a finer--"
+
+Just here the mare snapped viciously at the bronco-buster, from whose
+spurs her flanks were still bleeding, and leaped sideways with so
+sudden a movement that any but a most practiced rider would have been
+flung to the ground.  Without appearing in the least disconcerted by
+this performance, Ridge began to reply to Silas Pine, but was
+interrupted by the approach of the two mounted officers, who had
+watched the recent lesson in bronco-breaking with deep interest.
+
+"Can you do that with any horse?" inquired Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, abruptly.
+
+"I believe I can, sir," replied Ridge, lifting his hand in salute.
+
+"I heard you talking in Spanish.  Do you speak it fluently?"
+
+"As well as I do English, sir."
+
+"I believe you wish to enlist in this regiment?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"You are a friend of Private Van Kyp?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"The one in whose behalf he was about to make application."
+
+Ridge again answered in the affirmative.
+
+"Colonel, I believe we want this young man."
+
+"I believe we do," replied Colonel Wood.  Then, to Ridge, he added: "If
+you can pass a satisfactory physical examination, I know of no reason
+why you should not be permitted to join this command.  I want you to
+understand, though, that every man admitted to it is chosen solely for
+personal merit, and not through friendship or any influence, political
+or otherwise, that he may possess.  Now you may take that horse to the
+picket-line, see that it is properly cared for, and report at my
+quarters in half an hour."
+
+Without uttering a word in reply, but again saluting, Ridge rode away
+happier than he had ever been in his life, and prouder even than when
+he had won the silver hurdles at Yokohama.
+
+An hour later he had successfully passed his physical examination, and
+was waiting, with a dozen other recruits, to be sworn into the military
+service of the United States.  To these men came Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, who had just resigned the Assistant-Secretaryship of the
+Navy in order to join the front rank of those who were to fight his
+country's battles.  To them he said: "Gentlemen, you have reached the
+last point.  If any one of you does not mean business, let him say so
+now.  In a few minutes more it will be too late to back out.  Once in,
+you must see the thing through, performing without flinching whatever
+duty is assigned to you, regardless of its difficulty or danger.  If it
+be garrison duty, you must attend to it; if meeting the fever, you must
+be willing; if it is the hardest kind of fighting, you must be anxious
+for it.  You must know how to ride, how to shoot, and how to live in
+the open, lacking all the luxuries and often the necessities of life.
+No matter what comes, you must not squeal.  Remember, above everything,
+that absolute obedience to every command is your first lesson.  Now
+think it over, and if any man wishes to withdraw, he will be gladly
+excused, for hundreds stand ready to take his place."
+
+Did any of those young men accept this chance to escape the dangers and
+privations, the hardships and sufferings, awaiting them?  Not one, but
+all joined in an eager rivalry to first take the oath of allegiance and
+obedience, and sign the regimental roll.
+
+As it happened, this honor fell to Ridge Norris, and a few minutes
+later he passed out of the building an enlisted soldier of the United
+States, a private in its first regiment of volunteer cavalry, and
+ordered to report to the first sergeant of Troop "K"--Rollo Van Kyp's
+troop, he remembered with pleasure.  "Poor old boy! how I wish I could
+see him and tell him of my good luck!" he reflected.  "Wonder how long
+he will be kept in that beastly guard-house?"
+
+At the moment our young trooper was passing headquarters, and even as
+this thought came into his mind, he was bidden by Colonel Wood to
+deliver a written order to the corporal of the guard.  "It is for the
+release from arrest of your friend Van Kyp," explained the colonel,
+kindly, "and you may tell him that it was obtained through the
+intercession of Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt."
+
+With a light heart Ridge hastened to perform this first act of his
+military service; and not long afterwards he and Rollo were happily
+engaged, under the supervision of Sergeant Higgins, in erecting the
+little dog-tent that they were to occupy in company, and settling their
+scanty belongings within its narrow limits.  When this was finally
+accomplished to their satisfaction, they went to the picket-line to
+visit the pretty and high-spirited mare that had been the immediate
+cause of Ridge's good fortune.
+
+"Isn't she a beauty?" he exclaimed, walking directly up to the mare,
+and throwing an arm about her neck, a caress to which the animal
+submitted with evident pleasure.
+
+"Yes," admitted Rollo, hesitatingly, as he stepped nimbly aside to
+avoid a snap of white teeth.  "I suppose she is, but she seems awfully
+vicious, and I can't say that she is exactly the style of horse that I
+most admire.  Tell you what I'll do, Norris.  I'll give her to you,
+seeing that you and she seem to hit it off so well.  You've won her by
+rights, anyhow."
+
+Ridge's face flushed.  He already loved the mare, and longed to own
+her, but his pride forbade him to accept so valuable a gift from one
+who was but little more than a stranger.  So he said;
+
+"Oh no!  Thanks, awfully, old man, but I couldn't think of taking her
+in that way.  If you don't mind, though, I'll buy the mare of you,
+gladly paying whatever you gave for her."
+
+"Very good," replied Rollo, who imagined Ridge to be quite well off,
+and to whom any question of money was of slight consequence.  "I paid
+an even hundred dollars for her with saddle and bridle thrown in, and
+if you won't accept her as a gift, you may have her for that sum."
+
+"Done," said Ridge, "and here's your money."  With this he pulled from
+his pocket the roll of bills that his father, bidding him not to spend
+them recklessly, had thrust into his hand on parting, and which until
+now he had not found occasion to touch.
+
+Although this left our young soldier penniless, he did not for a moment
+regret the transaction by which he had gained possession of what he
+considered the very best mount in the whole regiment.  He at once named
+the beautiful mare "Seņorita," and upon her he lavished a wealth of
+affection that seemed to be fully reciprocated.  While no one else
+could do anything with her, in Ridge's hands she gained a knowledge of
+cavalry tactics as readily as did her young master, and by her quick
+precision of movement when on drill or parade she was instrumental in
+raising him first to the grade of corporal, and then to that of
+sergeant, which was the rank he held three weeks later, on the eve of
+the Rough Riders' departure for Tampa.
+
+In the mean time the days spent at San Antonio were full of active
+interest and hard work from morning reveille until the mellow
+trumpet-notes of taps.  At the same time it was work mixed with a vast
+amount of harmless skylarking, in which both Ridge and Rollo took such
+active part as to win the liking of every member of their troop.
+
+Each day heard the same anxious inquiry from a thousand tongues: "When
+shall we go to the front?  Is the navy going to fight out this war
+without the army getting a show?"
+
+"Be patient," counselled the wiser men, "and our chance will come.  The
+powerful Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera must first be located and
+rendered harmless, while the army must be licked into effective shape
+before it is allowed to fight."
+
+They heard of the blockade by the navy of Havana and other Cuban ports,
+of the apparently fruitless bombardment of San Juan in Porto Rico, and
+of the great gathering of troops and transports at Tampa.  Finally came
+the welcome news that the dreaded Spanish fleet was safely bottled by
+Admiral Sampson in the narrow harbor of Santiago.
+
+Then on the 29th of May, only a little more than one month after the
+declaration of war, came the welcome order to move to Tampa and the
+front.  Instantly the camp presented a scene of wildest bustle and
+excitement.  One hundred railway cars, in six long trains, awaited the
+Riders.  The regiment was drawn up as if for parade.
+
+"Forward, march!" ordered Colonel Wood.
+
+"On to Cuba!" sang the trumpets.
+
+And the "Terrors" yelled themselves hoarse at the prospect of being let
+loose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OFF FOR THE WAR
+
+Of course Ridge had written home and informed his family of his
+whereabouts as soon as he found himself regularly enlisted with the
+Rough Riders.  The news afforded Mr. Norris immense satisfaction, while
+Spence Cuthbert declared that if Ridge were her brother she should be
+proud of him.
+
+"If that is said for my benefit," remarked Dulce, "you may rest assured
+that I am always proud of my brother.  I must confess, though, that I
+should like it better if he were an officer; for, as I have never known
+any private soldiers, I can't imagine what they are like.  It must be
+very unpleasant, though, to have to associate with them all the time.
+I wish Ridge had told us more about that Mr. Van Kyp who owns the car.
+Of course, though, one of his wealth and position must be an officer, a
+captain at the very least, and perhaps Ridge doesn't see much of him
+now."
+
+Mrs. Norris was greatly disappointed to find that all her efforts in
+her son's behalf had been wasted That he should have deliberately
+chosen to becoming a "common soldier," as she expressed it, instead of
+accepting the commission offered him, was beyond her comprehension.
+She mourned and puzzled over this until the arrival of Ridge's next
+letter, which conveyed the gratifying intelligence that, having been
+made a corporal, he was now an officer.  She did not know what a
+corporal was, but that Ridge had risen above the ranks of "common
+soldiers" was sufficient, and from that moment the fond mother began to
+speak with pride of her son, who was an officer in the cavalry.
+
+At length the quiet household was thrown into a flutter of excitement
+by the receipt of a telegram, which read:
+
+"Have again been promoted.  Regiment ordered to Tampa.  Leave to-day.
+Meet us at Algiers, if possible."
+
+Mr. Norris hurried into the city to consult railway officials
+concerning the movements of the regiment, and found that the train
+bearing his son's troop would pass through the city on the morrow.
+
+Early the next morning, therefore, he escorted his wife and the girls
+across the Mississippi, where, in the forlorn little town of Algiers,
+they awaited as patiently as might be the coming of their soldier boy.
+The mother's anxiety to meet her son was almost equalled by her desire
+to see how handsome he would look in an officer's uniform.  Concerning
+this she had formed a mental picture of epaulettes, gold lace, brass
+buttons, plumes, and a sword; for had she not seen army officers in
+Paris?
+
+The two girls discussed as to whether or not Ridge was now travelling
+in the same luxurious private car that had borne him to San Antonio.
+Spence thought not, but Dulce believed he would be.  "Of course if
+Ridge was still a private I don't suppose it would be good form for
+_Captain_ Van Kyp to invite him," she said; "but now that he is an
+officer, and perhaps even of equal rank, I can't imagine any reason why
+they should not travel together as they did before."
+
+There was no reason, and the joint proprietors of the little dog-tent,
+of which, when in marching order, each carried one-half, were
+travelling together on terms of perfect equality, as was discovered a
+little later, when the long train, thickly coated with dust and
+cinders, rumbled heavily into the station.  Heads protruded from every
+window of the crowded coaches, and hundreds of eyes gazed approvingly
+at the pretty girls who were anxiously looking for a private car, while
+trying not to blush at the very audible compliments by which they were
+greeted.
+
+Suddenly they heard the familiar voice.  "Mother!  Father!  Girls!" it
+called, and turning quickly in that direction, they discovered the
+object of their search.  Sun-browned and dust-begrimed, his face
+streaked by rivulets of perspiration, wearing a disreputable-looking
+felt hat and a coarse blue flannel shirt, open at the throat, their
+boy, beaming with delight, was eagerly beckoning to them.  Two other
+cinder-hued faces were attempting to share the window with him, but
+with only partial success.
+
+The car doors were guarded, and no one was allowed to pass either in or
+out until the train was safely on the great boat that was to transfer
+it across the river.  There the turbulent stream of humanity was
+permitted to burst forth, and in another moment a stalwart young
+soldier, who seemed to have broadened by inches since she last saw him,
+had flung his arms about Mrs. Norris's neck.  Then he shook hands with
+his father and kissed both the girls, at which Spence Cuthbert blushed
+more furiously than ever.
+
+A score of young fellows, all as grimy as Ridge, and all wearing the
+same uniform, watched this performance curiously, and now the latter
+began to present them.
+
+"This is First Sergeant Higgins, mother, of our troop, and Mr. Gridley,
+and Mr. Pine of North Dakota.  Dulce, allow me to introduce my
+tentmate, Mr. Van Kyp."
+
+So he rattled off name after name, until the poor girls were thoroughly
+bewildered, and could not tell which belonged to whom, especially, as
+Dulce said, when they all looked exactly alike in those absurd hats,
+horrid flannel shirts, and ridiculous leggings.
+
+Rollo Van Kyp was the only one of whose name and personality she felt
+certain, which is probably the reason she allowed that persuasive young
+trooper to escort her to the forward deck of the boat, where they
+remained until the river was almost crossed.  After a while Ridge and
+Spence also strolled off together, ostensibly to find Dulce and Rollo,
+though they did not succeed until the farther shore was nearly reached,
+when all four came back together.
+
+Rollo Van Kip had lost his hat, while Dulce held tightly in one
+daintily gloved hand a curious-looking package done up in newspaper.
+At the same time Spence Cuthbert blushed whenever something in the
+pocket of her gown gave forth a metallic jingle, and glanced furtively
+about to see if any one else had heard it.
+
+A few days later Dulce appeared in a new riding-hat, which at once
+attracted the admiration and envy of all her girl friends.  At the same
+time it was a very common affair, exactly like those worn by Uncle
+Sam's soldier boys, and on its front was rudely traced in lead pencil
+the words, "Troop K, Roosevelt's Rough Riders."  In fact, it was one of
+the very hats that Dulce herself had recently designated as "absurd."
+
+About the same time that Miss Norris appeared wearing a trooper's hat
+her friend Miss Cuthbert decorated the front of her riding-jacket with
+brass buttons.  When Sergeant Norris sharply reprimanded Private Van
+Kyp for losing his hat, Rollo answered that he considered himself
+perfectly excusable for so doing, since in a breeze strong enough to
+blow the buttons off a sergeant's blouse a hat stood no show to remain
+on its owner's head, whereupon the other abruptly changed the subject.
+
+In the mean time Mrs. Norris, who had recognized among the names of the
+young men presented to her those of some of the best-known families of
+the country, was surrounded by a group of Ridge's friends, who, as they
+all wore the same uniform that he did, she imagined must also be
+officers.  So she delighted their hearts and rose high in their
+estimation by treating them with great cordiality, and calling them
+indiscriminately major, captain, or whatever military title happened on
+the end of her tongue.  This she did until her husband appeared on the
+scene with Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, whom he had known in
+Washington.  The moment the fond mother discovered this gentleman to be
+her son's superior officer, she neglected every one else to ply him
+with questions.
+
+"Did he think her boy would make a fine soldier?  Was Ridge really an
+officer?  If so, what was his rank, and why did he not wear a more
+distinctive uniform?  Did _General_ Roosevelt believe there would be
+any fighting, and if there was, would he not order Ridge to remain in
+the safest places?"
+
+To all of these questions the Lieutenant-Colonel managed to return most
+satisfactory answers.  He thought Ridge was in a fair way to make a
+most excellent soldier, seeing that he had already gained the rank of
+sergeant, which was very rapid promotion, considering the short time
+the young man had been in the service.  As to his uniform, he now wore
+that especially designed for active campaigning, which Mrs. Norris must
+know was much less showy than one that would be donned for dress
+parades in time of peace.  Yes, he fancied there might be a little
+fighting, in which case he meditated giving Ridge a place behind
+Sergeant Borrowe's dynamite gun, where he would be as safe as in any
+other position on the whole firing line.
+
+Not only was Mrs. Norris greatly comforted by these kindly assurances,
+but she received further evidence that her boy was indeed an officer
+entitled to command and be obeyed when the troopers were ordered to
+re-enter the cars, for she heard him say:
+
+"Come, boys, tumble in lively!  Now, Rollo, get a move on."
+
+Certainly an officer to whom even _Captain_ Van Kyp yielded obedience
+must be of exalted rank.
+
+There was some delay in starting the train, which was taken advantage
+of by Mr. Norris to disappear, only to return a few minutes later,
+followed by a porter bearing a great basket of fruit.  This was given
+to Ridge for distribution among his friends.  Spence Cuthbert also
+shyly handed him a box of choice candies, which she had carried all
+this time; but Dulce, seeing her brother thus well provided, gave her
+box to Rollo Van Kyp--a proceeding that filled the young millionaire
+with delight, and caused him to be furiously envied by every other man
+in the car.
+
+Finally the heavy train began slowly to pull out, its occupants raised
+a mighty cheer, the trumpeters sounded their liveliest quickstep, and
+those left behind, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting words of
+farewell, felt their eyes fill with sudden tears.  Until this moment
+the war had been merely a subject for careless discussion, a thing
+remote from them and only affecting far-away people.  Now it was real
+and terrible.  Their nearest and dearest was concerned in it.  They had
+witnessed the going of those who might never return.  From that moment
+it was their war.
+
+On Thursday, June 2d, with their long, dusty journey ended, the last of
+the Rough Riders reached Tampa, hot and weary, but in good spirits, and
+eager to be sent at once to the front.  They found 25,000 troops,
+cavalry, infantry, and artillery, most of them regulars, already
+encamped in the sandy pine barrens surrounding the little city, and
+took their place among them.
+
+At Port Tampa, nine miles away, lay the fleet of transports provided to
+carry them to Cuba.  Here they had lain for many days.  Here the army
+had waited for weeks, sweltering in the pitiless heat, suffering the
+discomforts of a campaign without its stimulant of excitement,
+impatient of delay, and sick with repeated disappointments.  The
+regulars were ready for service; the volunteers thought they were, but
+knew better a few weeks later.  Time and again orders for embarkation
+were received, only to be revoked upon rumors of ghostly warships
+reported off some distant portion of the coast.  Spain was playing her
+old game of _maņana_ at the expense of the Americans, and inducing her
+powerful enemy to refrain from striking a blow by means of terrifying
+rumors skilfully circulated through the so-called "yellow journals" of
+the great American cities, which readily published any falsehood that
+provided a sensation.  At length, however, the last bogie appeared to
+be laid, and one week after the Riders reached Tampa a rumor of an
+immediate departure, more definite than any that had preceded it,
+flashed through the great camp: "Everything is ready, and to-morrow we
+shall surely embark for Santiago."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE _MERRIMAC_
+
+Only half the regiment was to go, and no horses could be taken, except
+a few belonging to officers.  The capacity of the transports was
+limited, and though troops were packed into them like sardines into a
+can, there was only room for 15,000 men, together with a few horses, a
+pack-train of mules, four light batteries, and two of siege-guns.  So,
+thousands of soldiers, heartbroken by disappointment, and very many
+things important to the success of a campaign, were to be left behind.
+
+Two dismounted squadrons of the Rough Riders were chosen to accompany
+the expedition, which, with the exception of themselves and two
+regiments of volunteer infantry, was composed of regulars; and, to the
+great joy of Ridge and his immediate friends, their troop was among
+those thus selected.  But their joy was dimmed by being dismounted, and
+Ridge almost wept when obliged to part with his beloved mare.
+
+However, as Rollo philosophically remarked, "Everything goes in time of
+war, or rather most everything does, and what can't go must be left
+behind."
+
+So five hundred of the horseless riders were piled into a train of
+empty coal-cars, each man carrying on his person in blanket roll and
+haversack whatever baggage he was allowed to take, and they were
+rattled noisily away to Port Tampa, where, after much vexatious delay,
+they finally boarded the transport _Yucatan_, and felt that they were
+fairly off for Cuba.
+
+But not yet.  Again came a rumor of strange war-ships hovering off the
+coast, and with it a frightened but imperative order from Washington to
+wait.  So they waited in the broiling heat, crowded almost to
+suffocation in narrow spaces--men delicately reared and used to every
+luxury, men who had never before breathed any but the pure air of
+mountain or boundless plain--and their only growl was at the delay that
+kept them from going to where conditions would be even worse.  They ate
+their coarse food whenever and wherever they could get it, drank tepid
+water from tin cups that were equally available for soup or coffee, and
+laughed at their discomforts.  "But why don't they let us go?" was the
+constant cry heard on all sides at all hours.
+
+During this most tedious of all their waitings, only one thing of real
+interest happened.  They had heard of the daring exploit of Naval
+Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, who, on the night of June 3d, had
+sunk the big coal-steamer _Merrimac_ in the narrowest part of Santiago
+Harbor, in the hope of thus preventing the escape of Admiral Cervera's
+bottled fleet, and they had exulted over this latest example of
+dauntless American heroism, but none of the details had yet reached
+them.
+
+On one of their waiting days a swift steam-yacht, now an armed
+government despatch-boat, dashed into Tampa Bay, and dropped anchor
+near the _Yucatan_.  Rumor immediately had it that she was from the
+blockading fleet of Santiago, and every eye was turned upon her with
+interest.  A small boat carried her commanding officer ashore, and
+while he was gone another brought one of her juniors, Ensign Dick
+Comly, to visit his only brother, who was a Rough Rider.  The _Speedy_
+had just come from Santiago, and of course Ensign Comly knew all about
+Hobson.  Would he tell the story of the _Merrimac_?  Certainly he
+would, and so a few minutes after his arrival the naval man was
+relating the thrilling tale as follows:
+
+"I don't suppose many of you fellows ever heard of Hobson before this,
+but every one in the navy knew of him long ago.  He is from Alabama,
+was the youngest man in the Naval Academy class of '89, graduated
+number 2, was sent abroad to study naval architecture, and, upon
+returning to this country, was given the rank of Assistant Naval
+Constructor.  At the beginning of this war he was one of the
+instructors at Annapolis, but immediately applied for active duty, and
+was assigned to the _New York_.
+
+"When Victor Blue, of the _Suwanee_, had proved beyond a doubt by going
+ashore and counting them that all of Cervera's ships were in Santiago
+Harbor, Hobson conceived the plan of keeping them there by taking in a
+ship and sinking it across the channel.  Of course it was a perfectly
+useless thing to do, for Sampson's fleet is powerful enough to lick the
+stuffing out of the whole Spanish navy, if only it could get the
+chance.  However, the notion took with the Admiral, and Hobson was told
+to go ahead.
+
+"He selected the collier _Merrimac_, a big iron steamer 300 feet long,
+stripped her of all valuable movables, and fastened a lot of torpedoes
+to her bottom.  Each one of these was sufficiently powerful to sink the
+ship, and all were connected by wires with a button on the bridge.
+Hobson's plan was to steam into the channel at full speed, regardless
+of mines or batteries, and anchor his ship across the narrowest part of
+the channel.  There he proposed to blow her up and sink her.  What was
+to become of himself and the half dozen men who were to go with him I
+don't know, and don't suppose he cared.
+
+"At the same time there was some provision made for escape in case any
+of them survived the blowing up of their ship.  They carried one small
+dingy along, and an old life-raft was left on board.  A steam-launch
+from the _New York_ was to follow them close in under the batteries,
+and lie there so long as there was a chance of picking any of them up,
+or until driven off.  Cadets Palmer and Powell, each eager to go on
+this service, drew lots to see which should command the launch, and
+luck favored the latter.
+
+"When it was known that six men were wanted to accompany Hobson to
+almost certain death, four thousand volunteered, and three thousand
+nine hundred and ninety-four were mightily disappointed when the other
+six were chosen."
+
+"I should have felt just as they did if I had been left in camp," said
+Ridge, who was following this story with eager interest.
+
+"Me too," replied Rollo Van Kyp, to whom the remark was addressed.
+
+"The worst of it was," continued the Ensign, "that those fellows didn't
+get to go, after all, for when they had put in twenty-four hours of
+hard work on the _Merrimac_, with no sleep and but little to eat, only
+kept up by the keenest kind of excitement, it was decided to postpone
+the attempt until the following night.  At the same time the Admiral,
+fearing the nerve of the men would be shaken by so long a strain,
+ordered them back to their ships, with thanks for their devotion to the
+service, and selected six others to take their places.  The poor
+fellows were so broken up by this that some of them cried like babies."
+
+"It was as bad as though we should be ordered to remain behind now,"
+said Ridge.
+
+"Yes," answered Rollo.  "But that would be more than I could bear.  I'd
+mutiny and refuse to go ashore.  Wouldn't you?"
+
+"I should certainly feel like it," laughed the former.  "But orders are
+orders, and we have sworn to obey them, you know.  At the same time
+there's no cause for worry.  We are certain to go if any one does."
+
+"Yes, me and Teddy--" began Rollo, but Ridge silenced him that they
+might hear the continuation of the Ensign's story.
+
+"At three o'clock on Friday morning, the 3d," resumed Comly, "the
+_Merrimac_ left the fleet and steamed in towards Santiago entrance.  On
+board, besides Hobson and his six chosen men, was one other, a coxswain
+of the _New York_, who had helped prepare the collier for her fate, and
+at the last moment stowed himself away in her hold for the sake of
+sharing it.
+
+"With Hobson on the bridge, two men at the wheel, two in the
+engine-room, two stoking, and one forward ready to cut away the anchor,
+the doomed ship entered the narrow water-way and passed the outer line
+of mines in safety.  Then the Spaniards discovered her, and from the
+way they let loose they must have thought the whole American fleet was
+trying to force the passage.  In an instant she was the focus for a
+perfect cyclone of shot and shell from every gun that could be brought
+to bear, on both sides of the channel.
+
+"It was like rushing into the very jaws of hell, with mines exploding
+all about her, solid shot and bursting shells tearing at her vitals,
+and a cloud of Mauser bullets buzzing like hornets across her deck.
+How she lived to get where she was wanted is a mystery; but she did,
+and they sunk her just inside the Estrella battery.  At the last they
+could not steer her, because her rudder was knocked away.  So they
+anchored, waited as cool as cucumbers for the tide to swing her into
+position, opened all their sea-valves, touched off their torpedoes, and
+blew her up.
+
+"So far everything had worked to perfection.  The seven men, still
+unhurt, were well aft, where Hobson joined them the moment he had
+pressed the button; but now their troubles began.  The dingy in which
+they had hoped to escape had been shot to pieces, and they dared not
+try to get their raft overboard, for the growing light would have
+revealed their movements, and they would have been a target for every
+gunner and rifleman within range.  So they could only lie flat on deck
+and wait for something to happen.  A little after daybreak the ship
+sank so low and with such a list that the raft slipped into the water
+and floated of its own accord.  On this all of them, including two had
+been wounded by flying splinters, rolled overboard after it, caught
+hold of the clumsy old float, and tried to swim it out to where Powell
+could pick them up.  They had only gained a few yards when a
+steam-launch coming from the harbor bore down on them.  Some marines in
+the bow were about to open fire, when Hobson sang out, 'Is there any
+officer on board that launch entitled to receive the surrender of
+prisoners of war?'
+
+"'Yes, seņor, there is,' answered a voice, which also ordered the
+marines not to fire, and I'll be blowed if Admiral Cervera himself
+didn't stick his head out from under the awning.  The old fellow was as
+nice as pie to Hobson and his men, told them they had done a fine
+thing, took them back to his ship, fed them, fitted them out with dry
+clothing, and then sent Captain Oviedo, his chief of staff, out to the
+_New York_, under a flag of truce, to report that the _Merrimac's_
+crew, though prisoners, were alive and well.  He also offered to carry
+back any message or supplies the American Admiral might choose to send
+them.  Didn't every soul in that fleet yell when the signal of Hobson's
+safety was made?  Well, I should rather say we did.  I only hope old
+Cervera will fall into our hands some day, so that we can show him how
+we appreciate his decency."
+
+"Three cheers for the Spanish Admiral right now!" shouted Ridge, and
+the yell that instantly rose from the deck of the _Yucatan_ in reply
+was heard on shore for a mile inland.
+
+The noise had barely subsided when a voice called for Sergeant Norris.
+
+"Here I am.  Who wants me?" replied Ridge, inquiringly.
+
+"Take your belongings ashore, sir, and report back at camp
+immediately," was the startling response, delivered in the form of an
+order by Major Herman Dodley, who was now on the staff of the
+commanding general.  "I have a boat in waiting.  If you are ready
+within two minutes I will set you ashore.  Otherwise you will suffer
+the consequences of your own delay," added the Major, who, while on
+duty at Port Tampa, had received by telegraph the orders he was now
+carrying out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
+
+Having ascertained from the captain of his troop that the order brought
+by Major Dodley was one that must be obeyed, Ridge went below with a
+very heavy heart to collect his scanty possessions.  As he did so his
+thoughts were full of bitterness.  Why should any one be sent back to
+that hateful camp, and for what reason had he been singled out from all
+his fellows?  It looked as though he were being disgraced, or at least
+chosen for some duty that would keep him from going to Cuba, which
+would be almost as bad.  At the same time he could not imagine what he
+had done to incur the displeasure of his superiors.  It was all a
+mystery, and a decidedly unpleasant one.  That the order should come
+through Dodley, too, whom he particularly disliked, was adding insult
+to injury.
+
+"I'd rather swim ashore than go with that man!" he exclaimed to Rollo
+Van Kyp, who, full of sympathy, and genuinely distressed at the
+prospect of their separation, had gone below with him.  Ridge had told
+his chum all about Dodley, whom they had discovered lounging on a
+breezy veranda of the great Tampa Bay hotel a few days before, so that
+now the latter fully comprehended his feelings.
+
+"It's a beastly shame!" cried Rollo; "or rather it's two beastly
+shames, and if you say so, old man, we'll just quietly chuck that Major
+fellow overboard, so that you can have his boat all to yourself.  Then,
+instead of going ashore, you head down the bay for some place where you
+can hide until we come along and pick you up."
+
+"That's a great scheme," replied Ridge, with a sorrowful little smile,
+"but I am afraid it wouldn't work, and so there is nothing left for me
+but submission to the inevitable.  I do hate to go with Dodley, though."
+
+Just here Ensign Comly appeared on the scene with his brother, whom he
+was bidding farewell.
+
+"I say, Comly!" cried Rollo, who knew him, "why can't you set my friend
+Norris here ashore?  It wouldn't be much out of your way, would it?"
+
+"Not at all," answered the ensign, courteously.  "And I should be
+pleased to accommodate any friend of yours.  I must go at once, though;
+so, if Mr. Norris will come on deck--"
+
+"Oh, but that won't do," interrupted Van Kyp.  "He must get off the
+ship without any one on deck seeing him."  With this he explained the
+situation to the ensign, who readily grasped it, and said:
+
+"All right.  I'll run my boat in under this sideport, and he can drop
+out of it if the sentry will let him pass."
+
+Of course the guard at the wide freight port left open for a better
+circulation of air between decks would allow Ridge to pass, for he was
+one of their own troop, and knew that the sergeant had been ordered
+ashore.  To give him further assurance that everything was all right,
+Ridge said:
+
+"It is my duty, you know, to go in the first boat that offers, since
+Major Dodley undoubtedly left some time since.  He said he would only
+wait two minutes, and as that was fully five minutes ago, he ought to
+be ashore by now."
+
+Thus it happened that while the messenger who had been ordered to fetch
+Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders was still fuming over the
+unpardonable delay of the trooper, and threatening all sorts of
+unpleasant things for him when he did appear, Ridge gained the railroad
+wharf without being observed from the deck of the transport.  There,
+finding an empty train just starting for Tampa, he was able to present
+himself in camp half an hour later.  From it he was sent to
+headquarters, with orders to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt,
+who had come ashore early that morning.  This Ridge hastened to do,
+without waiting to answer any of the eager questions showered upon him
+by his recent comrades of the camp.
+
+At the hotel occupied as headquarters an orderly conducted him to the
+office of the commanding general, where, upon admittance, he found
+himself not only in the presence of his own superior officer, but of a
+group of distinguished looking men in uniform, who, as he afterwards
+discovered, were Generals Miles, Shafter, Lee, and Lawton, and
+Lieutenant Boldwood of the navy, now in command of the despatch boat
+_Speedy_, recently arrived.
+
+"General," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, addressing the
+commander-in-chief, "this is Sergeant Norris of my regiment, the man
+whom I recommended for your purpose, and for whom you sent less than an
+hour ago."
+
+"Where were you when ordered to report here?" asked General Miles,
+turning abruptly to Ridge.
+
+"On board the transport _Yucatan_, lying off Port Tampa, sir."
+
+"Then you are one of the few men whom I have discovered among our
+volunteers who have learned the lesson of _prompt_ obedience," remarked
+the general, with a slight scowl on his still handsome though deeply
+lined face.
+
+"Umph!" snorted General Shafter, who was a big man, weighing about
+three hundred pounds, and whose hair was sadly rumpled, as though by
+much perplexity.
+
+General Lee, also a large, fine-looking man, smiled approvingly at the
+prompt young trooper, while General "Iron" Lawton, spare of figure and
+with a reputation as a fighter, gave him a penetrating glance, that
+Ridge knew had indelibly fixed his face upon the soldier's memory.  The
+naval man also regarded him with interest, and our hero, greatly
+confused at being thus observed, was relieved to have General Miles
+proceed, to question him further.
+
+"I understand that you speak Spanish like a native."
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"Have you ever been in Cuba?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Or travelled in Spain?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Acquainted with its principal cities?"
+
+"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
+were tending.
+
+"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
+in your country's service?"
+
+"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
+for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
+required of him than simply remaining in camp.
+
+"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
+country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death.  It is
+deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
+immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba.  If his identity
+is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
+be that of a spy.  Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"
+
+"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.
+
+"Good!  A commissioned officer was selected for this duty, but he is
+prevented by illness from performing it.  You have been chosen to take
+his place on the recommendation of Colonel Roosevelt because of your
+knowledge of Spanish, your military record, and because you are a
+native-born American.  I could have found plenty of Cubans to undertake
+the mission, and possibly one of them would have carried it to a
+satisfactory ending, but I wanted an American."
+
+"Plain North American Yankee," growled General Shafter.
+
+"As you know," continued General Miles, "a powerful expedition is about
+to leave this place for Cuba.  Very few persons have any idea where it
+is to land; but you must know that in about ten days from now it will
+appear off Daiquiri, some twelve miles east of Santiago, in which city
+I want you to be at that time.  You will sail to-night in the
+despatch-boat _Speedy_, of which this gentleman, Lieutenant Boldwood,
+is the commander.  Within three days he will land you on the northern
+coast of the province of Santiago.  During the following week I want
+you to visit the Spanish commanders at Holguin, Jiguani, and Santiago,
+to all of whom you will bear what purport to be important despatches
+from Seņor Carranza, chief of the Spanish secret service in North
+America, whose headquarters are in Montreal.
+
+"You will represent yourself to be José Remelio, one of the clerks
+attached to the recent Spanish Legation at Washington.  You will
+estimate the strength and condition of the Spanish forces in the
+province.  Also, you will meet as many of the insurgent leaders as
+possible, inform them of the coming of our expedition, and impress upon
+them the necessity of intercepting supplies or re-inforcements for
+Santiago.  For the sake of appearances, I authorize you to assume any
+military rank up to that of Captain you may deem advisable.  You will
+also be given the secret countersign of the Cuban Junta, which will
+secure for you good treatment among all Cubans of intelligence."
+
+"His best safeguard among Cubans should be that he is an American
+soldier," suggested General Lawton.
+
+"You will perceive," continued General Miles, "that I have laid out a
+vast amount of work for you to perform in a very short time; but you
+will be provided with plenty of money, and by procuring a good horse as
+soon as possible after landing I believe you can accomplish it.  I hope
+you will be able to reach Santiago and gain a knowledge of its
+defences; but no matter where you are, when you hear that our army has
+landed, make your way to it with all speed, and report immediately to
+the commanding general.  Is all this clear? and have you anything to
+suggest?"
+
+"Your instructions are perfectly clear, sir," replied Ridge, his voice
+trembling with excitement, "and I only want to suggest that instead of
+depending upon Cuban horses for transportation across the island, I be
+allowed to take my own from here."
+
+"Are you sure that your horse is enough better than those of the island
+to warrant carrying it to such a distance?"
+
+"I can vouch for that, General," interposed Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt.  "Sergeant Norris has one of the very best horses in our
+regiment, and one that has developed almost human intelligence under
+his training."
+
+"No one realizes the value of a reliable horse in times of danger
+better than I," rejoined General Miles.  "I wonder, though, if it will
+be possible to carry one on the _Speedy_?"
+
+"I believe we can manage it, General," said Lieutenant Boldwood.
+
+"Very, well, then, you may take your own horse.  How will you get it to
+the port?"
+
+"I think the simplest and probably the quickest way will be to ride
+her, sir."
+
+"Then do so with all haste, for I want the _Speedy_ to sail this very
+evening, and within two hours, if possible.  You will receive your
+despatches, funds, and promised countersign after you get on board.
+Good-bye.  Good luck to you, and remember that your proposed movements
+must be kept absolutely secret outside of this room."
+
+Ridge had barely taken his departure after shaking hands with the
+several generals, who rose to bid him farewell, when a telegraph
+message was handed to General Shafter.  He read it with perplexity,
+studied it for a few moments, and then burst into a roar of laughter.
+It was from his aide, Major Dodley, had been sent from Port Tampa, and
+read as follows:
+
+"I charge Sergeant Norris of Rough Riders with contempt, disobedience
+of orders, and desertion.  Saw him aboard transport, and delivered your
+order, whereupon he disappeared.  Have searched ship without
+discovering trace of him.  He has undoubtedly deserted."
+
+"Some persons are fools occasionally," remarked the big General, "while
+others are never anything else.  I don't think Dodley belongs to the
+former class."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES
+
+After leaving headquarters, and while making his way back to camp, our
+hero was in a state of hardly-to-be-repressed excitement.  Was one of
+his age and limited experience ever intrusted with so important a
+mission?  He did not believe it possible, and was so filled with pride
+that it seemed as though every person he passed ought to regard him
+with respectful interest.  As one after another only glanced at him
+carelessly or failed to notice him at all, he wondered at their
+stupidity, and felt like compelling their attention by proclaiming his
+great secret.
+
+At camp the situation was even more aggravating, for every one was so
+intent on his own affairs or so unhappy at being left behind that Ridge
+found himself barely noticed.  Several questioned him concerning his
+return, and one asked if the whole regiment was ordered back.
+
+"Not that I know of," answered Ridge.  "I believe I am the only one
+thus far."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you have been sent to the rear, and only wish all the
+others were as well, for it's a beastly outrage that some should be
+taken and others left.  Just as if we weren't as good as any of them!"
+was the bitter comment.
+
+"Without reply, Ridge turned towards the place where he had left his
+blanket roll, only to encounter another shock to his recent pride.  An
+officer met him.
+
+"Hello!  What troop do you belong to?" he asked, suspiciously.
+
+"Troop K, sir," answered Ridge, saluting.
+
+"I thought so.  What are you doing here?"
+
+"I was ordered ashore."
+
+"Humph!  Without any reason at all, I suppose."
+
+Ridge remained silent.
+
+"Oh, well, if you don't choose to tell why you are in disgrace you
+needn't, but you may report to the cook of the officers' mess, who is
+in need of an assistant."
+
+Here was a dilemma.  Ridge could not, of course, obey this order, since
+every moment was precious.  To disobey would cause his arrest and
+detention in the guard-house.  Nor could he inform even this officer of
+the secret mission on which he was engaged.  At that moment evening
+stable-call was sounded, and a happy inspiration came to his relief.
+
+"Very well, sir," he answered, turning as if to obey the order.  Then
+he added, "May I look after my horse first?"
+
+"I suppose so," replied the officer.  "Only be quick about it, for the
+cook is badly in need of some one to help him."
+
+So, without making a further attempt to recover his personal
+belongings, Ridge hastened to the picket-line, where Seņorita
+manifested most extravagant joy at again seeing her young master.
+
+"Is that your horse?" inquired the non-commissioned officer in charge
+of the stable guard.
+
+Upon Ridge acknowledging that the mare was his, the other continued;
+
+"Well, I'm mighty glad you've come to look after her, for she has
+nearly killed two men already, and we were just wondering whether we
+should kill her or turn her loose.  Now you'd better take her to water."
+
+"May I put on a saddle and bridle?" inquired Ridge.
+
+"Of course not.  Who ever heard of riding a cavalry horse to water any
+way but bareback?"
+
+So the young trooper was obliged to set forth on| his great undertaking
+without equipment of any kind.  In his joy at finding himself once more
+in possession of his beloved "Rita," this did not trouble him; and
+untying the mare's halter, he leaped to her back.  In an instant they
+were dashing off at full speed, followed by jeers from all who
+witnessed the proceeding, and who imagined the mare to be running away
+with her present rider, as she had with every other who had attempted
+to take her to water during her master's absence.
+
+The camp was quickly left behind, and knowing his general direction,
+Ridge soon found himself on the road to Port Tampa.  It was a hard ride
+to make without saddle or bridle, and long before the welcome lights
+marking the mile-long pier of the port came into view the young soldier
+was aching in every bone.  The dim road through the solemn pines was so
+heavy with sand that it took even fleet-footed Rita more than an hour
+to cover the distance, and night had closed in before their destination
+was reached.
+
+It was with many misgivings that Ridge rode out on the long pier,
+which, never intended for the use of horses or wagons, carried only a
+sidewalk for pedestrians beside its railway-track, for Rita regarded
+locomotives with the utmost terror.  Still, he believed he must go to
+the extreme outer end, where the big steamers lay, and where he hoped
+to find either the _Speedy_ herself or some one from her to direct his
+movements.  Half-way out he discovered a train coming directly towards
+them, and, to avoid it, turned his mare on to the platform that served
+as front yard to the pretty little inn that was here built over the
+water.
+
+At this moment a figure in white duck approached him.  It was Ensign
+Comly of the _Speedy_.
+
+"You are the very man I was sent to look for!" he cried.  "I thought
+you might be coming out here, and so was on my way to head you off and
+turn you back.  You see, the end of the pier is so crowded that our
+craft can't lie alongside.  So Captain Boldwood got hold of a small
+scow, which he has sent in to shore, towed by one of our boats, to take
+you off.  We'll just about meet it if we hurry."
+
+By this time the unusual sight of a horse in that place had aroused
+much curiosity among the guests of the inn, who came out to see what
+was going on.  Among them was an army officer, who uttered an
+exclamation the moment his eyes rested on Ridge standing in the glow of
+an electric light.  Stepping quickly up to him, he placed a heavy hand
+on the young trooper's shoulder, and said, in a harsh voice:
+
+"I arrest you, sir, and order you to come at once with me to my camp on
+shore, where a guard-house awaits you."
+
+"On what charge am I arrested?" asked Ridge, calmly, turning, and
+looking Major Herman Dodley full in the face.
+
+"On the several charges of contempt for an officer, disobedience of
+orders, and desertion," was the startling reply.
+
+"Very well, sir, I'll go with you," said Ridge, "seeing that I was
+going in that direction anyhow."
+
+"But--" remonstrated Ensign Comly.
+
+"Who are you, sir?  And what have you to say regarding this business?"
+demanded the Major, fiercely, at the same time drawing and cocking his
+revolver.
+
+"Only a United States officer."
+
+"Then, in the name of the United States, I call upon you to assist me
+in carrying this deserter to a place of security," shouted the Major,
+in theatrical tones.
+
+"Pretend to agree," said Ridge, in a low voice, heard only by Comly.
+
+"All right, Major, I'll see the thing through," agreed the navy man;
+"though I must protest that it is wholly out of my line of business."
+
+With this the three set forth, Ridge leading Rita, and the officers
+walking on either side of him.  For some distance they proceeded in a
+silence that was finally broken by the sound of oars, apparently close
+to the pier, which touched land but a short distance ahead.  At the
+same time a train of cars came thundering over the hollow structure
+behind them, causing the mare to plunge violently in a terrified effort
+to escape.
+
+"Now is your chance!" whispered Comly.
+
+Quick to take the hint, Ridge flung himself on the animal's back and
+dashed away, followed by a harmless bullet from Herman Dodley's
+revolver.
+
+Ere he could fire another shot the naval man snatched away the weapon,
+flung it into the sea, and started on a run after the disappearing
+horseman.  As he ran he shouted: "Look out for that horse, you in the
+boat, and get it aboard lively!  Do you understand?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," came a cheery answer from out of the darkness.
+
+Behind the Ensign ran Major Dodley, swearing, and also shouting:
+
+"Corporal of the guard!  Turn out the guard!  Quick!  This way!"
+
+Then all other sounds were drowned in the roar of the passing train.
+When it subsided a confused struggle between a dark mass and a number
+of dimly seen white forms was going on in the shallow water.  Several
+sailors were lifting Seņorita bodily into a little flat-bottomed boat,
+and two young men in soaked uniforms were aiding them.  Then, as two
+boats, one in tow of the other, began to move away, a squad of soldiers
+with muskets in their hands came running down to the beach.
+
+"Fire!" commanded Herman Dodley, beside himself with rage.  "Fire at
+that boat.  A deserter is escaping in it."
+
+"Don't you dare fire!" came back in a stern tone from the darkness.
+"This is a boat from a United States man-of-war, commanded by an
+officer in the discharge of his duty."
+
+The bewildered soldiers hesitated, and then, in compliance with
+repeated orders, coupled with threats, from their Major, fired a few
+harmless shots in the air, after which they returned to camp.  There
+Herman Dodley prepared another telegraphic report for General Shafter,
+that aroused that irascible warrior to profanity, and resulted in the
+speedy transference of his offending aide to New Orleans on recruiting
+service.
+
+So our hero was at length fairly started on his momentous mission, with
+its secret yet undivulged.  As the _Speedy_, with the bewildered
+Seņorita and her young master safely on board, slipped swiftly past the
+great transport _Yucatan_, Ridge, shivering in his wet clothing, said
+to Ensign Comly, who also shivered, "How I wish I could call out and
+tell Rollo all about it!"
+
+"Yes, wouldn't it make him open his eyes?  But you can't, so let's go
+below for something dry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE
+
+Twelve hours after leaving Tampa Bay the swift despatch-boat on which
+Ridge Norris was a passenger entered the northwest passage of Key West
+Harbor, and was headed towards the quaint island city that had been
+brought into such sudden prominence by the war.  The port was filled
+with United States cruisers, gun-boats, yachts converted into
+torpedo-boat destroyers, Government hospital-ships, and others flying
+the flag of the Red Cross Society, transports, colliers, supply-ships,
+water-boats, and a huddle of prizes--steamers and sailing-vessels
+captured off the Cuban coast.  Amid these the _Speedy_ slowly threaded
+her devious way to the Government dock.
+
+The hot tropical-looking city, with palm-trees towering above its
+low-roofed houses, was filled to overflowing with soldiers, sailors,
+newspaper correspondents, refugees from Cuba, and a multitude of other
+persons, all attracted by its proximity to the seat of war.  From every
+mast-head and prominent building the stars and stripes were flung to
+the breeze that swept in from the sea; while from more humble
+positions, but in even greater numbers, fluttered the flag of free
+Cuba.  On every point commanding the harbor mouth batteries were being
+erected and great guns mounted.  Bands played national airs, and one
+man-of-war enveloped in a cloud of white smoke was engaged in
+target-practice with her secondary battery.  Every Government vessel in
+the harbor had on war paint of invisible lead color, not pretty, but
+most business-like in appearance.  All were also in fighting-trim, with
+topmasts lowered and every superfluity removed from their decks.  The
+whole scene was of exciting interest, and Ridge gazed eagerly upon it
+as Ensign Comly pointed out its various features, with explanatory
+remarks.
+
+There were several reasons why the _Speedy_ should stop at Key West.
+One was that she might receive mail and despatches for the blockading
+fleet.  Another was to procure a bale of hay and some corn for
+Seņorita, since, in their hurried departure from Tampa, these had been
+forgotten, and thus far she had been fed on sea-biscuit.  A third
+reason was that Ridge might procure a saddle and bridle, besides a few
+other necessary articles of outfit for his proposed trip.
+
+He had already been furnished with his bogus despatches to Spanish
+commanders, every word of which he had carefully read, to see that they
+contained no compromising errors, and with a supply of money.  Now he
+provided himself with a repeating-rifle in a water-proof case, a
+revolver, fifty rounds of ammunition for each, an India-rubber poncho,
+a small quantity of quinine, a phial of powerful cholera mixture, a
+stout sheath-knife, and a tin cup.
+
+Within an hour the _Speedy_ was again off, running out of the south
+channel, past the grim walls of old Fort Taylor, and a few miles
+farther on passing Sand Key light, which rises from a bit of coral reef
+barely lifted above the wash of a tranquil sea.  At that time this was
+the most southerly point of United States territory.  In the deep water
+just beyond Sand Key lay a great battle-ship, tugging sullenly at her
+pondrous anchors, and looking like some vast sea monster, uncouth and
+relentless.
+
+From here it was eighty-five miles in a straight line to Havana, and
+within five hours Ridge was thrilled by the sight of a cloud-like speck
+that he knew marked the highlands of Cuba.  Gradually the coast was
+revealed, then came the low-trailing smoke of ships on blockade as they
+patrolled wearily before the entrance to Havana Harbor, and after
+awhile the outlined cathedral spires of the city itself.  There lay the
+wreck of the _Maine_, and there waited the Spanish army that
+Captain-General Blanco had sworn should yield its last drop of blood in
+resisting an invasion by the hated Yankees.  There also the guns of
+time-blackened Morro sullenly faced the floating fortresses that only
+awaited a signal to engage them in deadly conflict.
+
+Running close to Commodore Watson's flag-ship, the _San Francisco_, the
+_Speedy_ broke the tedious monotony of blockade by delivering an
+eagerly welcomed mail, with its wealth of news from the outside world.
+Then the saucy craft was off again, headed to the eastward.  Matanzas
+and Cardenas, both under blockade, were passed during the night, and
+while off the latter place Dick Comly told Ridge the story of his
+classmate, Ensign Worth Bagley, who lost his life on board the
+torpedo-boat _Winslow_, in Cardenas Bay, on May 11th, or less than one
+month before, and who was the first American officer killed in the war.
+
+"They only went in to find out who was there," began Comly, "the
+_Wilmington_, _Hudson_, and _Winslow_.  The last, being of least
+draught, ran ahead, and got within range of some hidden batteries
+before she discovered them.  She was turning to go out when they opened
+fire.  In a minute the little ship was riddled by shot and shell.  Her
+commander was wounded, her steering-gear had gone wrong, her engines
+were crippled, and she lay helpless.  The _Hudson_ ran up to tow her
+out of range, and poor old Bagley had just sung out for them to heave
+him a line, as the situation was getting rather too warm for comfort,
+when a bursting shell instantly killed him, together with four of the
+crew.  In spite of the hot fire, the _Hudson_ ran a line and brought
+out what was left of the _Winslow_ and her company; but you'd better
+believe the little craft was a mighty sad-looking wreck.  Hello!
+What's that?"
+
+A string of colored signal-lights had flashed out for a moment directly
+ahead of the _Speedy_, and then disappeared.  The strangest thing about
+them was that they had been shown just above the surface of the water,
+instead of from a masthead, as would usually be the case on a war-ship.
+The _Speedy_ had been slipping quietly along, showing her regular side
+lights, which, as she was of low freeboard, must also have appeared
+close to the water from a short distance, and might have been mistaken
+for a signal.  Now she quickly displayed the night-signal of the
+American blockading fleet, as well as her own private number, but no
+answer came to either.  By the time the _Speedy's_ crew were at
+quarters it was evident, from muffled sounds borne down the wind, that
+the stranger was a steamer in full retreat.
+
+"Give her a blank shot," ordered Captain Boldwood, and the words had
+barely left his mouth before the forward six-pounder gun had roared out
+its summons to halt; but the stranger paid no heed.
+
+A solid shot, well elevated, had as little effect.  By this time the
+despatch-boat was rushing ahead at full speed in the direction the
+unknown steamer was supposed to have taken.  Suddenly her search-light,
+sweeping the black waters with a broad arc of silver, disclosed a
+shadowy bulk moving swiftly at right angles to the course they were
+taking, and heading for a beacon blaze that had sprung up on the
+starboard or in-shore hand.
+
+"Port your helm!" cried Captain Boldwood.  "Mr. Comly, try to disable
+her.  Make every shot tell if possible."
+
+Again and again the six-pounder hurled its messenger of destruction,
+but apparently without effect.
+
+"Looks as though I couldn't hit the side of a barn at a hundred feet,"
+muttered the Ensign to Ridge, who stood beside him, thrilled by the
+novel experience.  Then he sighted his gun for a third shot, sprang
+back, and jerked the lanyard.  A flash, a roar, a choking cloud of
+smoke, and then a yell from the _Speedy's_ crew.  In the glare of the
+search-light the fugitive steamer was seen to take a sudden sheer, that
+a minute later was followed by a crash, and then she remained
+motionless.
+
+Instantly the _Speedy_ was slowed down and moved cautiously towards the
+wreck, with busy lead marking soundings every few seconds.  The beacon
+for which the chase had steered no longer blazed; but in a few minutes
+the search-light disclosed a wooded shore.
+
+"Have a boat ready, Mr. Comly, and prepare to go on board with half a
+dozen men."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"May I go with you?" asked Ridge, eagerly.
+
+"Certainly, if the Captain says so."
+
+But, to the young trooper's disappointment, Captain Boldwood refused
+permission.  "Your business is of too important a nature for you to
+assume any needless risks outside of it," he said.
+
+So Ridge could only watch enviously the departure of the boat with its
+crew of armed men.  It had not been gone two minutes when a bright
+flame shot from the steamer's deck.
+
+"They have set her on fire and abandoned her!" exclaimed the Captain.
+"I pray to God, Comly may be cautious.  Quartermaster, show the recall."
+
+The words were hardly spoken when there came a great blinding flash, an
+awful roar, and the _Speedy_ listed to her beam ends.  A vast pillar of
+flame leaped a hundred feet into the air, a huge foam-crested wave
+rolled out to sea, and then all space seemed full of flying fragments.
+The wreck had been destroyed by an explosion of her own cargo.
+
+"Lower away the yawl!  Quick, men!  There may be some left to pick up.
+Yes, Mr. Norris, you may go now."
+
+They rescued Comly, bleeding from a wound in the head, and three of his
+crew, all more or less injured, but the others had gone down with their
+boat, crushed beneath a hurtling deck beam.
+
+The _Speedy_ stood off and on until daylight enabled her commander to
+locate the scene of catastrophe and examine what was left of the
+shattered steamer.  He found that she had been run ashore on one of the
+small outlying cays that are numerous off Cardenas Bay, and with other
+floating wreckage he picked up a life-preserver on which was painted,
+"_Manuel Ros_, Barcelona."
+
+"How strangely and unexpectedly things turn out," he said to Ridge as
+he turned from examining this telltale relic.  "Our Government learned
+some time ago that the _Manuel Ros_ was taking on board at Cadiz a
+cargo of improved mines, submarine torpedoes, and high explosives for
+use in Puerto-Rican harbors.  It was positively stated that she would
+not attempt to run the Cuban blockade.  Nevertheless, we were all
+notified to keep a sharp lookout for her, especially around Santiago
+and Cienfuegos.  She was reported to be very fast, and I can well
+credit it, for there are few ships in these waters can show their heels
+as she did to the _Speedy_.  As it is, I am afraid she would have
+gained Cardenas Harbor in safety if it had not been for Mr. Comly's
+last lucky shot, which must have crippled her steering-gear.  And to
+think that a ship which would have been considered a handsome prize by
+any cruiser should be destroyed by the little _Speedy_.  I wonder,
+though, where the _Wilmington_ that generally patrols this vicinity
+could have been?"
+
+This mystery was explained a little later when the cruiser in question
+hove in sight, having been lured from her station by a small Spanish
+gunboat the evening before.
+
+After making his report of what happened, the commander of the _Speedy_
+again headed his craft to the eastward, and ran all that day, together
+with most of the following night, within sight of the Cuban coast.
+
+It wanted but an hour of daylight, when Ridge, who was sleeping on
+deck, was aroused and told that the place of his landing was at hand.
+A pot of coffee together with a substantial lunch had been prepared for
+him, and Ensign Comly, whose wound had proved to be slight, was waiting
+in a boat manned by four sailors.
+
+Seņorita was hoisted in a sling and dropped overboard to swim ashore in
+tow of the boat, and at the very last the _Speedy's_ commander
+whispered the countersign of the Junta that was to open a way through
+the Cuban lines.
+
+Then the boat was noiselessly shoved off, and slipped away through the
+chill darkness towards the denser shadow of the land that waited with
+manifold perils to test the courage of our young trooper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY
+
+"Good-bye, old man!  Good luck, and hope we shall meet again soon."
+
+With these words, accompanied by a warm hand-clasp, Ensign Dick Comly
+stepped into his boat, and it was shoved off from the bit of Cuban
+beach on which Ridge Norris had just been landed.  For a couple of
+minutes the young trooper stood motionless, listening with strained
+ears to the lessening sound of muffled oars.  It was the last link
+connecting him with home, country, and safety.  For a moment he was
+possessed of such a panic that he was on the point of shouting for
+Comly to come back and take him away.  It did not seem as though he
+could be left there alone in the dark, and amid all the crowding
+terrors of that unknown land.
+
+Just then Seņorita, who stood dripping and shivering beside him, rubbed
+her wet nose softly against his cheek, as though begging for sympathy,
+and in an instant his courage was restored.  It was enough that another
+creature more helpless than he was dependent upon him for guidance and
+protection.
+
+"It's all right, girl," he whispered, throwing an arm about the mare's
+neck.  "We'll stick to each other and pull through somehow."  Then
+plucking a handful of dried grass, he gave the animal a brisk rubbing
+that warmed them both.  By the time it was finished, birds were
+twittering in the dense growth behind them, and the eastern sky was
+suffused with the glow of coming day.
+
+Knowing nothing of his surroundings, nor what eyes might in a few
+minutes more discover these new features of the beach, Ridge now
+removed his slender belongings to a hiding-place behind some bushes,
+where he also fastened Seņorita.  Then he set forth to explore the
+shore with the hope of finding a path into the interior; for to force a
+way through the tangled chaparral that everywhere approached close to
+the water's edge seemed hopeless.
+
+He had not gone a dozen paces when Seņorita uttered a shrill neigh of
+distress at being thus deserted, and began a noisy struggle to break
+loose.  With a muttered exclamation of dismay Ridge ran back.  It was
+evident that the mare would not consent to be left.
+
+"Very well," said the young man.  "If you can't be reasonable and
+remain quietly behind for a few minutes, we must make our exploration
+in company.  Perhaps it is better so, after all, for when I do discover
+a trail we shall be ready to take instant advantage of it, and get the
+more quickly away from this unpleasantly conspicuous place."
+
+While thus talking in a low tone to the mare, Ridge was also equipping
+her for the road.  He had just finished tightening the saddle-girth and
+was about to mount, when Seņorita uttered a snort indicative of some
+strange presence.  Turning quickly, her master was confronted by a
+sight that caused his heart to sink like lead.  Only a few paces away
+stood a young man of dark but handsome features, clad in a well-worn
+suit of linen and a broad-brimmed palmetto hat.  A military belt filled
+with cartridges encircled his waist, and from it hung an empty scabbard
+of untanned cowhide, designed to carry a machete.  With that weapon
+held in one hand and a cocked pistol levelled full at Ridge in the
+other, he presented the appearance of a first-class brigand.
+
+The young trooper made a movement towards his own revolver, but it was
+instantly checked by the stranger, who said, sternly, in Spanish:
+
+"Hold there!  If you but touch a weapon I shall shoot you dead!  You
+are my prisoner, and will obey my commands.  That I am prepared to
+enforce them I will show you."
+
+With this he sounded a low whistle that was answered by a rustle in the
+bushes, from which half a dozen armed ragamuffins of all shades of
+swarthiness, from jet black to light chocolate, appeared as though by
+magic.  All were provided with machetes, some carried rifles, and each
+looked as though it would afford him the greatest pleasure to cut into
+small pieces the stranger who had invaded their territory.
+
+"You see," said their leader, with a smile, "that you are hopelessly
+surrounded, and that with a nod I can have you killed."
+
+"Yes, I see," replied Ridge, "and I should be pleased to know into
+whose hands I have fallen.  Are you Cubano or a Spaniard?"
+
+"And I will ask if you are American or Spaniard?"
+
+"But my question came first," insisted Ridge.
+
+"While I am in a position to have mine answered," replied the other,
+again smiling.  "But I will not press it at this moment.  We will first
+seek a place better suited to conversation, since here we are liable to
+be interrupted.  The American gunboats have an unpleasant habit of
+dropping shells among any party whom they may discover on the beach.
+Then, too, many Cubanos have been seen about here lately, and they
+might molest us, while it is also nearly time for the Spanish _lancha_
+that patrols this coast at sunrise and sunset.  So you see--  Disarm
+him!"
+
+This last was an order to two men who had moved noiselessly up behind
+Ridge while his attention was diverted by their leader.  Now they
+seized our young trooper, took his weapons, and marched him away,
+though allowing him to retain his hold on Seņorita's bridle.  For a few
+paces they crashed through the underbrush, hacking a rude path for the
+mare with their machetes as they went.  Then they struck a dim trail
+that ended at a grass-grown and little-used road.  Crossing this, they
+entered the grounds of what had evidently been a fine plantation,
+though a young forest growth was now rapidly spreading over its once
+well-cultivated fields.  A weedy approach between rows of noble trees
+led to the blackened ruins of a large house and outlying buildings.
+The stone walls were already over-run with a tangle of vines from which
+flamed blood-red blossoms.  Several horses cropped the rank grass about
+these ruins, and into one of them, which had been given a temporary
+thatch of palm leaves, the prisoner was led.
+
+"Here we had begun to break our fast when your mare notified us of your
+proximity," said the leader, who had already motioned to his men to
+loose their hold on the young American.  "Now if you will honor us with
+your company, we will resume that interrupted pleasure.  Manuel, we
+wait to be served."
+
+Upon this a grinning negro brought in a basketful of yams that had
+evidently been roasted among the ashes of an open fire, and set it on a
+rude table.  Beside it he placed a calabash containing a drink mixed of
+water, lime-juice, and brown sugar.  "Let us eat," said the host,
+reaching for one of the ash-encoated yams.  "But hold," he added, as
+though with a sudden thought.  "Excuse me for a moment."  Thus saying,
+he stepped outside, only to return with Ridge's saddle-bags, which he
+coolly opened.  "Coffee, as I live!" he cried, "and hard biscuit, the
+first bread I have seen in many a month!  Seņor, we are under
+obligations to you for these welcome additions to our _menu_.  Manuel,
+hast thou forgotten how to make coffee, strong, and black as thine own
+ebony face?  Waste thou not one precious grain, or, by holy St. Jago, I
+will blow out thy meagre brains."
+
+Provoked as Ridge was at seeing his entire stock of provisions thus
+appropriated to be expended on a single meal, he was not in a position
+to remonstrate.  So, a little later, when a revised edition of
+breakfast was pronounced ready, he sat down with the host whom he did
+not yet know whether to consider as friend or foe, and ate heartily of
+the food thus provided.
+
+The furnishing of that rude table was unique, for, mingled with shells
+from the beach and those of cocoanuts, both of which were used in place
+of cups, gourds, plantain-leaves, and wooden trays, appeared several
+dishes of cut glass and dainty china, generally cracked or chipped, and
+looking wofully out of place.
+
+Seeing that Ridge noticed these, the host said, carelessly:
+
+"Ah yes, seņor, we have seen better days!"  Then, lighting a cigarette,
+he continued, more sternly, "Now, sir, can you give any reason why I
+should not have you led out and shot as a spy?"
+
+"You would not dare do such a thing!" replied Ridge, indignantly.
+
+"Oh! wouldn't I?  My friend, you do not realize into whose hands you
+have fallen.  Now, merely to prove that I have both the inclination and
+power to carry out my threat, I will have you shot.  Lope!  Garzo!"
+
+Two of the ragged bandits immediately appeared.
+
+"Bind me the arms of this man and blindfold him."
+
+The order was deftly obeyed.
+
+"Now take him from my sight and shoot him."
+
+Seizing Ridge by the shoulders, the men began to drag him away.
+
+Until this moment he had not known whether to acknowledge himself an
+American or claim to be a Spaniard, nor had he believed that the
+extremely courteous leader of bandits with whom he had just
+breakfasted, and who might be either a Cuban patriot or a Spanish
+guerilla, would do him serious injury.  Now, moved by an agony of
+terror, he shouted out the word whispered to him a few hours before by
+the commander of the _Speedy_, the secret countersign of the Cuban
+Junta.
+
+Its effect was magical.  The men who were dragging him to a summary
+execution loosed their hold and stared at him in amazement, while the
+young leader sprang to where Ridge stood, tore the bandages from his
+eyes, severed his bonds, and embraced him.
+
+"Why, my brother, did you not disclose your identity long ago?" he said.
+
+"Because," replied Ridge, in a voice that still trembled from his
+recent fright, "I knew not to which side you belonged."
+
+"What!  Did you for a moment think that I might be a vile Spaniard?  I,
+Enrico del Concha, a Cuban of the Cubans?  Alas! that such a suspicion
+should fall upon one of my name."
+
+"And what," inquired Ridge, "did you take me for?"
+
+"A Spanish spy, of course.  Do you not speak the language without even
+a Cuban accent?  Did you not decline to tell me how or what you were?
+Above all, did you not carry on your person despatches addressed to
+certain Spanish generals?"
+
+Ridge clapped a hand to his breast pocket.
+
+"Yes, seņor, they are gone," laughed the other.
+
+"My rogues are clever thieves, and took them from you when we first
+met, together with your money, for which they were searching.
+Hereafter you must provide for your private papers a place of greater
+safety.  Now let us have one more cup of that delicious coffee while
+you confide to me who you are and why you are here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND
+
+Under the circumstances, Ridge felt that a frank avowal of his
+personality and present plans would be wiser than any attempt at
+deception, and this he proceeded to make.  To all that he had to tell
+the bandit leader paid closest attention, and listened without a word
+of interruption until the narrative was finished.  Then he said:
+
+"It is indeed great news that the Americans are about to invade Cuba.
+Until now they have promised much and done worse than nothing, since,
+by their blockade of Cuban ports, they have only starved to death
+thousands of miserable reconcentrados.  Now if they will proceed with
+judgment and are not swept off by fevers, something may be
+accomplished.  At the same time, from the ignorance displayed in
+sending on so important a mission as yours one so ill equipped for it,
+I cannot hope for much from them."
+
+Ridge flushed hotly.  "What do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"I mean," replied the other, coolly rolling a cigarette as he spoke,
+"that you have shown yourself to be about as fit for the duty you have
+undertaken as a babe in arms.  Did you not, upon landing, waste a whole
+hour of precious darkness during which you might have gained a safe
+distance from the always-guarded coast?  Did you not allow yourself to
+be betrayed by your horse, and captured without resistance?  Did you
+not lose your despatches at the outset, and almost your life as well?
+Are you not at this moment densely ignorant of the route you are to
+travel, and of how to meet the enemies you will encounter on every hand?
+
+"Yes, my friend, brave and resolute as you may be, you are also but a
+babe in your undertaking.  Your only forethought lay in securing the
+countersign of the Junta, which has for the moment saved your life,
+since I should certainly have caused you to be shot but for it.  Also,
+if I had not discovered you, the Spanish hawks who patrol the coast
+would have had you in their clutches a few minutes later.  Nor do you
+at this moment know how to find your way to Holguin, much less to
+Santiago."
+
+"But," argued Ridge, whose self-conceit and confidence in his own
+ability to carry out the mission he had so bravely undertaken were
+rapidly oozing away, "I have a good map of the country, a good horse,
+plenty of money with which to hire guides, am well armed, and could
+make a good fight if necessary.  I speak Spanish perfectly, am dark of
+complexion, possess the countersign of the Junta for Cubans, and
+letters from the chief of the Spanish secret service for Spaniards.
+Why, then, may I not succeed as well as another?"
+
+"You _had_ those things; but, with the exception of your ability to
+speak Spanish, your darkness of skin, and the countersign, all of them
+have been taken from you."
+
+"But you will restore them?"
+
+"And if I should, would they serve you?  Do you imagine that any true
+Cuban would disclose to an utter stranger the military secrets of his
+country for money?  If you do, you are sadly mistaken.  Could you fight
+an enemy who would lie in ambush and shoot you in the back, reserving
+the examination of your despatches until you were dead?  Even should
+you succeed in presenting those same despatches to a Spanish general,
+do you not know that he would hold you prisoner, or at least delay your
+departure until he had transmitted them to Havana for verification?
+Yet you hope to gain a complete knowledge of the military situation in
+this great province, and rejoin your friends more than a hundred miles
+away within a week.  Amigo, you are very ignorant."
+
+"Possibly I am," admitted Ridge, "but I have learned much from you
+within a short time; and if you will let me go, I will still undertake
+to accomplish my task within the time allotted to me."
+
+"I admire your spirit," replied del Concha, "and will gladly release
+you, with all your property restored; but before so doing I wish to
+make some suggestions.  In the first place, your people should have
+chosen an intelligent Cuban for this work--a man like myself, for
+instance."
+
+Ridge was on the point of saying that his superior officers had feared
+to trust a Cuban, but prudently refrained from so doing.
+
+"As they did not have the sense for that," continued the speaker, "it
+is most fortunate that you have met me, for I can give you, in a few
+words, the position and strength of every Spanish force in the
+province, as well as the location and condition of the Cuban armies, to
+which I will also gladly forward news of the anticipated American
+landing.  Thus you will be free to make your way, directed by guides
+whom I will furnish, straight to Santiago without encountering any
+dangers other than those incident to travel through a rough country."
+
+"While thanking you for your kind offer," replied Ridge, "I must still
+decline it.  My orders are to communicate directly with the Spanish
+commanders at Holguin and Jiguani, and I shall certainly attempt to
+carry them out, since the first lesson taught every American soldier is
+that of absolute and unquestioning obedience to orders."
+
+"My dear Lieutenant!" exclaimed del Concha--for this was the rank that
+Ridge had seen fit to assume--"I begin to perceive why you were chosen
+for this hopeless task, and though I utterly disapprove your proposed
+course of action, I cannot but admire your resolution.  Also I cannot
+find it in my heart to leave you to your own helpless devices.
+Therefore I shall accompany you to the vicinity of Holguin.  Then I
+shall at least be on hand to learn your fate as soon as it is decided."
+
+Willing as he would have been to set forth alone, Ridge was glad to
+have the company of one so familiar with the country as del Concha
+appeared, and one also whom he believed he might trust.  His confidence
+in the acquaintance thus strangely made was strengthened a little later
+as they rode together, and the latter, in answer to his questions,
+disclosed a portion of his own history.
+
+"I came to this place last evening," he said, "in the hope of getting a
+few shots at the Spanish lancha, which, as I told you, patrols the
+coast twice daily; for Spaniards have become so scarce of late, and
+confine themselves so closely to the larger towns, that it is sometimes
+difficult to maintain my record of one for each day."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ridge.
+
+"I mean that during the past year I have personally killed, or caused
+to be killed, a Spanish soldier for each day that has passed."
+
+The young American regarded his companion with horror.
+
+"Moreover," continued the other, coolly, "I have sworn to maintain that
+average so long as I live and the present war continues.  When I found
+you this morning I thought my duty for the day was accomplished, but
+now it is with pleasure that I shall look elsewhere for my dead
+Spaniard of this date."
+
+"Are all Cubans animated by your spirit?" asked Ridge, whose soul
+revolted at this calm discussion of what seemed to him cold-blooded
+murder.
+
+"All who have suffered what I have are, or should be, filled with my
+longing for vengeance," answered del Concha.  "Listen.  The ruined
+plantation we have just left was my home.  There I was born.  There in
+the care of a loving father and a devoted mother, in company with a
+brother who was older than I, and a younger sister, I grew up.  In
+spite of cruel taxation, we were wealthy; in spite of unrighteous laws,
+we were happy.  Finally Spain's oppression of Cuba became unbearable,
+and the war to throw it off was begun.  My father refused to take part
+in the rebellion, but my brother joined the insurgents and was killed
+in battle.  I took his place; and, because his sons aided the
+insurrection, my noble father, still loyal to Spain, was seized by the
+Spaniards and thrown into prison.  Two days later, without trial or
+previous warning, he was shot to death in the prison-yard.
+
+"For giving bread to starving women and children whose husbands and
+fathers fought in the Cuban army, my mother and sister were driven from
+their home to the nearest city, where the former, always delicate,
+died, literally of starvation, and from which my sister disappeared, so
+that I do not know her fate.  At that time, also, our house was
+stripped by the soldiers of everything that could be carried away, and
+then burned.  It is for this record of crime that I determined to spare
+no Spaniard who should come within my reach."
+
+"I am afraid," said Ridge, slowly, with a clear vision of his own dear
+home and its loved inmates in his mind, "that in your place I should
+act as you have acted."
+
+Although the city of Holguin lies only about twenty miles from the
+place where Ridge landed on the coast, the way to it was so obstructed,
+first by swamps and dense forests, and later by wooded hills and
+swollen streams, that evening shadows were closing in when Ridge and
+his ragged escort came within sight of its low roofs.  On the still air
+were borne to their ears at the same moment the clear notes of Spanish
+bugles sounding the "Retreat."
+
+Ridge had speculated much that day concerning his reception by the
+Spaniards, and as to how he should enter their lines.  Now del Concha
+proposed a plan that seemed feasible.
+
+"Ride in at full speed," he said, "while I with my men will follow as
+though in hot pursuit close up to the lines.  Of course we will
+exchange shots, though both must carefully fire too high to do any
+damage.  Is it well?  Then adios, my friend, until we meet again."
+
+A few minutes later the newly posted Spanish guard was startled by the
+sound of shots, and then by the sight of a fugitive horseman speeding
+towards them, followed closely by a party of mounted insurgents who
+were firing at him.  Drums were beat and trumpets sounded.  A small
+body of troops hastily advanced from the city, opening their ranks to
+receive the panting horse and its apparently exhausted rider, but
+closing them to give an ineffective volley against his pursuers, who
+were now flying in consternation.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, Ridge, addressed as Seņor Remelios, stood in
+the presence of General Pando, the Spanish commander of the eastern
+diocese of the island, and second only to the Captain-General, who was
+carefully reading a despatch just handed him by the young trooper.
+
+"You say, seņor, that you have just come from Gibara, where you were
+secretly landed last night?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Also from this note, signed by Lieutenant Carranza, I learn that the
+Americans are about to land in force at Cienfuegos."
+
+"Such are Seņor Carranza's latest advices."
+
+"Um!  They conflict, however, with news just brought from the south
+that a landing has already been effected at Guantanamo."
+
+Here the old soldier peered keenly at our hero, who experienced a
+thrill of uneasiness.
+
+At this moment there came a challenge from the sentry stationed at the
+door.  It was satisfactorily answered, and another individual hurriedly
+entered the room.
+
+"Your Excellency," said this person, making a profound salute, "pardon
+my intrusion; but I am come to denounce the man now standing before you
+as a Yankee spy.  His despatch is a forgery and utterly false, since
+the American army is not to land at Cienfuegos, but at Santiago."
+
+Just here Ridge obtained his first view of the speaker's face, and was
+overwhelmed with dismay to recognize in it the features of the man who
+had ridden with him all that day under the guise of a Cuban patriot.
+It was that of Enrico del Concha.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE
+
+Never in his life had our hero experienced a feeling of such utter
+helplessness as he did upon recognizing del Concha.  The treachery
+unfolded by the man's words was beyond his comprehension, and he knew
+not how to combat it.  For a moment he stared speechless at the
+traitor, then he turned to the General, who was gazing at him with
+stern inquiry.
+
+"Your Excellency," said Ridge, "the man who thus seeks to gain your
+favor, and, as I suppose, a reward, by denouncing me, is doubly a
+traitor.  He kills Spaniards at every opportunity, and now seeks my
+life at your hands because he knows that I am one.  It is true that I
+was captured by him and his band of Cuban ruffians.  To save my life, I
+told him the story that he now brings to you.  After thus allaying his
+suspicions, I seized a favorable opportunity to escape.  By the
+superior swiftness of my horse I finally reached this place in safety,
+though pursued by him to your very lines and hotly fired upon, as can
+be proved by many witnesses.  Now, therefore, I, José Remelios, bearer
+of despatches from the Seņor Carranza, denounce this man as a doubly
+dyed traitor, and demand that he be arrested on a charge of being a
+Cuban spy."
+
+"Have you ever seen him kill a Spaniard?" asked General Pando.
+
+Ridge was obliged to admit that he had not.
+
+"Then how do you know that he has done so?"
+
+"From his own boastful confession.  He claims to have taken the life of
+a Spanish soldier for every day of the last year."
+
+The General smiled.  "That is certainly a very boastful claim," he
+said, "but one not to be believed for a moment.  Think you, sir, that
+such a number of Spaniards could be killed without my knowledge? or
+that, in any case, one man could thus overcome the brave, experienced,
+and well-armed soldiers of Spain?  Your credulity, seņor, is
+refreshing.  Also I have no hesitation in telling you that ever since I
+took command of the eastern diocese, this man, recommended to me by my
+predecessor in office, has been the most faithful and valuable of my
+secret agents among the Cubans.  Time and again he has furnished early
+information of important events which has subsequently proved correct
+in every detail.  With such a record in his favor, am I now to doubt
+him upon the mere word of a stranger?  No, seņor, the honor of a
+Spaniard forbids.  I am obliged, therefore--"
+
+Just here came an interruption of voices at the door.  Hearing them,
+del Concha, who had remained silent during the foregoing conversation
+and apparently careless of what was said concerning him, uttered a few
+hurried words to the General in a low tone, and disappeared behind a
+screen that stood close at hand.  Directly afterwards a lieutenant and
+two soldiers entered with a prisoner, whom Ridge recognized as one of
+the ragged Cubans who had escorted him to Holguin.
+
+"General," said the officer, saluting, "I bring a Cuban deserter who
+claims to have information of pressing importance that he will impart
+to no one but yourself, so I have ventured to intrude; but if it is
+your pleasure, I will remove him and seek to extort his secret."
+
+"Oh no," replied the commander; "it is not worth the trouble.  Let him
+speak, and quickly, for I am pressed with business."
+
+"I come, Excellenza," began the deserter, in a trembling voice, "with
+the hope of clemency and a reward, to notify your Excellency that this
+seņor"--here he pointed to Ridge--"is not what he pretends.  I was of a
+band who captured him on the coast, and I overheard his confession to
+our leader.  From his own mouth, therefore, I learned that he is a spy,
+and--"
+
+"An American bearing false despatches," interrupted the General,
+irritably.  "You see I already know all that you would say.  Remove
+your prisoner, soldados."  Then, in a lower tone to the officer, he
+added: "Take him away and dispose of him.  Such _canaille_ are as
+troublesome as fleas.  Immediately upon completing the job you may
+return, as I have other business for you."
+
+With a salute, the officer hurried after his men.  At the same time del
+Concha emerged from his place of concealment, and the General, turning
+to Ridge, said:
+
+"You have doubtless noted, seņor, how quickly the information
+concerning yourself brought by this gentleman is confirmed.  Therefore
+you will not be surprised to have me order you into confinement until
+your case can be reported to Havana"--at this moment came the startling
+sound of a volley of musketry, evidently fired close at hand--"and a
+decision concerning it received from the Captain-General," concluded
+the speaker, paying no heed to the firing.
+
+As Ridge was about to utter a protest, the officer who had left the
+room a minute before, re-entered it, saluted with stiff precision, and
+stood awaiting orders.
+
+"Lieutenant Navarro," said the General, "you will remove this
+gentleman, who is charged with being an American spy, and bid the
+officer in charge of the guard-house hold him in closest custody until
+he receives further instructions.  Adios, Seņor Remelios.  May your
+night's rest be peaceful."
+
+Perceiving that resistance or protest would be useless, Ridge passively
+allowed himself to be led away.  A file of soldiers stood outside, and,
+surrounded by these, he was marched to the guardhouse, where, after
+being searched and relieved of everything contained by his pockets, he
+was led into a bare, cell-like room.
+
+A wooden stool and a heap of filthy straw in one corner constituted its
+sole furnishing.  Through a grating in the door came the flickering
+light of a lamp burning in the corridor, while outer air was admitted
+by a small iron-barred opening in one of the side walls some six feet
+above the floor.  The place reeked with dampness, and, in spite of
+these openings, its air was foul and stifling.  A few minutes after
+Ridge entered it, and as he sat in dumb despair, vainly striving to
+realize his unhappy situation, a soldier brought him a bowl of bean
+porridge and a jug of water.  Without a word, he set these down and
+departed.
+
+A little later other soldiers came and gazed curiously at him through
+the grated door, always speaking of him as "el Yanko," and making merry
+at his expense.  Thus several hours passed, and he still sat
+motionless, trying to think; but his brain was in a whirl, and he
+seemed as powerless to concentrate his thoughts as he was friendless.
+He realized dimly that at regular intervals a guard, pacing the outer
+corridor, paused before the door of his cell to peer in at him, and so
+make sure of his presence; but he paid slight attention to this
+official scrutiny.
+
+Suddenly his ear caught a sound strange to that place--a girlish voice
+laughing merrily and evidently exchanging brisk repartee with the
+soldiers in the guard-room.  It was a pleasanter sound than any he had
+heard, and he listened to it eagerly.  After a little the voice seemed
+to draw nearer, and he could distinguish the words, "el Yanko."  He,
+then, was the subject of that gay conversation.  A moment later, from
+the same source, came an expression that numbed him with the awfulness
+of its possible meaning.  "To be shot at sunrise?  Poor fellow!"  Could
+he be the "poor fellow" meant?  Of course not; but then he might be.
+Such a summary disposition of prisoners was not unknown to Spanish
+jailers.
+
+While his mind was busy with this startling question the laughing
+voice, now lowered almost to a whisper, approached his door, and he
+became conscious of a scrutiny through the grating.  Also a discussion
+was going on outside, and he heard:
+
+"No, no, not a smile, not a word, unless you open the door so that I
+may see el Yanko.  I have never seen one in all my life--never."
+
+A short pause, then a key turned, and the door was gently opened.  Two
+figures entered.  A soldier and a slender girl, who clung fearfully to
+his arm.  They stood and looked at Ridge as he sat on his wooden stool,
+and he stared back.  For a moment the three gazed at one another in
+silence.
+
+Then the girl exclaimed, pettishly:
+
+"If that is all your famous Yanko amounts to, I have already seen
+enough, since he looks exactly like other men, only more ugly than
+some.  Come, let us go."
+
+With this she playfully turned her companion about and pushed him from
+the cell.  As she did so she made a quick backward movement with her
+right hand, and something fell on the straw pallet as though flung
+there.  A second later the door was relocked, and, with merry laughter
+again echoing through the dim corridor, they were gone.
+
+Curiously Ridge fumbled in the musty bedding until he found a small
+packet enveloped in brown paper.  He opened it eagerly.  Inside were
+two tiny steel saws, made from a watch spring, and a little tube of
+oil.  There was also a bit of white paper on which was writing.  By
+holding this close to the lamp-lighted grating.  Ridge read:
+
+"You have only till daylight.  Saw out a bar and squeeze through.
+Friends will await you outside.  Destroy this."  There was no signature.
+
+"What friends can I have in this place?" thought the young trooper, as
+he nervously chewed the bit of paper to a pulp.  At the same time he
+was tremulous with a new hope.  "Perhaps I can do it," he said, "and
+anything will be better than sitting in idleness, with a prospect of
+being shot at sunrise."
+
+Standing on his wooden stool he could easily reach the lower end of the
+iron bars closing the cell window, and he at once began work on them.
+At first he seemed to produce about as much effect as would the gnawing
+of a mouse, but after a while his tiny saw was buried in the tough
+iron.  Then footsteps approached, and Ridge had barely time to fling
+himself on the vile-smelling pallet before a sentry was peering in at
+the grating.  A ray of light fell where he lay, but fortunately failed
+to reach the side on which the barred aperture was located.  So the
+prisoner made a long bunch of the straw, covered it with his coat, and
+placed his water-jug at one end, thus causing the whole to bear a rude
+resemblance to a human figure.
+
+After that he worked steadily, only pausing at the sound of footsteps,
+but not leaving the scene of his operations.  He found that he must cut
+two bars instead of only one, and a saw snapped in twain when the first
+was but half severed.  After that he handled the other with intense
+caution, and his heart throbbed painfully with anxiety as the work
+neared completion.
+
+For hours he toiled, and he knew that daylight could not be far off
+when the second bar was finally cut.  To bend it aside took all his
+strength, and so occupied was he in doing this that for the first time
+that night he heeded not a sound of footsteps in the corridor.
+
+"What goes on here?" questioned a harsh voice, and Ridge's heart leaped
+into his mouth.  With desperate energy he wrenched the bars to one
+side, hearing as he did so a fumbling at the lock of his door.
+Utilizing his strength to the utmost, he pulled himself up, forced his
+body through the narrow opening, and pitched headlong to the ground
+outside.  At the same time came fierce shouts, a pistol-shot, and a
+great clamor from the place he had left,
+
+But strong hands were helping him to his feet, and a voice was saying
+in his ears: "You have done well, amigo.  Now we must fly for our
+lives."
+
+Of course it could not be; but to Ridge's senses, confused by the shock
+of his fall, it seemed as though the voice was that of the false friend
+who had betrayed him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS
+
+Without a knowledge of direction or purpose, Ridge suffered himself to
+be guided by his unknown friend through several narrow streets.  They
+ran at top speed and in silence, but behind them came a clamor of
+soldiers from the guard-house.  By their shouts that a prisoner was
+escaping, these aroused that portion of the town, and frightened
+occupants of squalid houses caught shadowy glimpses of the fugitives as
+they sped past.  To the pursuers these same spectators pointed eagerly
+the course taken by those who fled, so that the scent of the chase was
+kept hot.
+
+A sudden turn disclosed three horses, one bearing a rider, and all
+standing motionless.  A glad whinny of recognition came from one as
+Ridge Norris gained its side, and in another moment his own Seņorita
+was speeding him away from the scene of his recent danger.
+
+As the three swept through the outer picket-line unharmed by its thick
+flying bullets, they were startled by a clatter of hoofs at right
+angles to their course, and coming swiftly towards them.  A cavalry
+patrol warned by the uproar, and catching sight of the fugitives in the
+growing dawn, was striving to intercept them.  They also fired as they
+rode, and two of those who fled bent low over their horses' necks that
+they might offer as small a mark as possible.  Not so the young
+American, who now found himself under fire for the first time in his
+life.  He had found his rifle still attached to the saddle; and now,
+with every drop of blood in his body at fighting heat, he sat erect,
+half turned, and fired back until every shot in his magazine was
+exhausted.  As a result, several of the pursuers dropped from the
+chase; but it was hotly maintained by the others, who also kept up a
+desultory shooting.
+
+They had gained a good mile from town when suddenly one of Ridge's
+companions uttered a sharp cry, in a voice distinctly feminine, and
+reeled in her saddle.  The other, whom Ridge now knew to be del Concha,
+leaped from his horse and caught her in his arms as she fell.
+
+"We must make a stand and fight!" he cried, as Ridge reined Seņorita to
+a sudden halt beside him.  "Drive the beasts ahead and conceal yourself
+on the other side.  I will remain here."
+
+They were already among the foothills of the Almiqui Mountains, and had
+just passed a low crest which, for the moment, hid them from their
+pursuers.  The ambush was so quickly arranged that, two minutes later
+when these appeared, they saw nothing of it and heard only a rush of
+horses' hoofs in the ravine below.
+
+With a yell the Spanish cavalrymen put spurs to their steeds and dashed
+down the declivity.  The first two were allowed to pass.  Then came a
+double flash of flame from the bushes and one of the riders fell, while
+another uttered the cry of a wounded man.  Two more were killed before
+the panic-stricken horsemen were borne beyond range.  Those who
+remained unhurt left the road and fled for their lives down the bed of
+a little stream that crossed it at the foot of the hill.  The wounded
+man was despatched by del Concha where he lay, before Ridge could
+interpose a word in his behalf.
+
+"And why not?" asked the Cuban, as he coolly wiped his machete on the
+grass.  "Can the blood-debt that I owe them ever be paid?  Are they not
+adding to it every day?  Even now, does not she who is dearest of all
+the world to me lie wounded at their hands?"
+
+"But, I thought you were in their service, and that they trusted you."
+
+"So they do trust me, and to their sorrow," replied del Concha, with a
+bitter laugh.  "But there is no time for explanations.  A precious life
+hangs in the balance, and only instant action may save it.  If you can
+recover the horses, or even one of them, all may go well.  If not,
+there is little room for hope."
+
+Without reply Ridge whistled a shrill note that echoed sharply among
+the hills.  The distant neigh of a horse came in answer, and he started
+on a run down the road.  At the foot of the slope he encountered
+Seņorita coming back to meet him; and springing to her back he went in
+pursuit of her companions whom he soon discovered grazing by the
+wayside.  At sight of him they fled at full speed; but they might as
+well have raced with the wind as with the fleet-footed mare; and,
+within ten minutes from the time of leaving del Concha, Ridge returned,
+leading the horse the Cuban had ridden.  The other was left, tied to a
+tree where he had captured it.
+
+Del Concha was holding in his arms their wounded comrade, apparently a
+slender youth, whose face was now disclosed to Ridge for the first time
+by the light of the newly risen sun.  Although it was of deathly
+pallor, and the eyes were closed, he instantly recognized it as
+belonging to the girl of the laughing voice who had so cleverly
+contrived to aid him the evening before.
+
+"Yes," said del Concha, noting the look of recognition, "it was she who
+carried you the saws and message.  She is the bravest girl in all Cuba,
+and the sweetest.  It was for my sake and that of her country that she
+aided you; for she is a devoted patriot, and my _fiancée_.  We were to
+be married as soon as an American army landed.  She would have it so.
+Now if she dies, I cannot bear it."
+
+While he spoke, the grief-stricken man, in whom there was slight
+resemblance to the debonair bandit of the day before, laid his burden
+gently down, and mounted the horse that Ridge had recovered.
+
+"Now give her to me," he said; and, tenderly lifting the light form,
+Ridge placed it once more in his arms.  The girl had been shot in the
+back, and the cruel Mauser bullet, long but slender as a lead-pencil,
+had passed through her body.
+
+"My only hope is to get her to the nearest camp of refugees, and that
+is still five miles away," said del Concha.
+
+After that they rode in silence, the sorrowing lover, with his precious
+burden leading the way, and the young American oppressed by the sadness
+of the incident for which he felt wholly, though unwittingly to blame,
+following with the spare horse.  Mingled with our hero's self-reproach
+was also a decided curiosity as to how del Concha would explain the
+double part he had played the evening before.
+
+As they advanced into the heart of the mountains, ever climbing, their
+road grew rougher and narrower, until finally it was a mere trail.
+Although they passed occasional ruins of huts, they did not see one
+that was inhabited or habitable.  Neither did they encounter a human
+being until their destination was reached, though for the last mile of
+their progress they were constantly watched by wild-looking figures
+that peered at them from behind rocks or bushes.  Often, after a single
+glance at the horsemen, these ragged scouts would dart away, scurrying
+through the brush with the noiseless speed of rabbits, and one able to
+see them would have observed that all took the same direction.  It was
+towards a camp of Cuban refugees, snugly hidden in one of the most
+inaccessible recesses of the mountains, and to it they bore the news of
+approaching visitors.
+
+Therefore the camp was in a state of expectancy even before the
+new-comers were challenged by its outpost, and as del Concha had long
+since been recognized, they received a cordial greeting.  The wounded
+girl was at once taken to a commodious hut, where she could be cared
+for by nurses of her own sex, while a substantial breakfast, roughly
+cooked and of the simplest character, was made ready for the two men.
+It was served on the ground just outside the hut of the Cuban General
+commanding the camp and its few hundreds of ragged soldiers.  This
+officer expressed great joy upon learning from Ridge that an American
+army was about to land in Cuba, and promised to harass any expedition
+sent against it from Holguin.
+
+After breakfast, while del Concha was gone to inquire concerning his
+sweetheart, the General took Ridge to his private observatory, a superb
+palm, occupying an eminence, and towering above the surrounding forest.
+From its leafy crown one could look directly down on Holguin and, with
+a good glass, clearly discern the movements of its garrison.
+
+While thus alone with the General our young trooper asked questions
+about del Concha.
+
+"He is one of the bravest and most patriotic of Cubans," declared the
+other, warmly.  "No one has done more than he to advance our cause."
+
+"Has he ever been suspected of being a Spanish spy?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Certainly not, seņor.  Such a question is almost an insult."
+
+"Yet the lieutenant has good cause for his inquiry," said del Concha
+himself, who joined them at that moment.  "Moreover, he is entitled to
+an explanation from me, which I will hasten to give before he shall
+demand it."
+
+"It will afford me great pleasure to hear it," said Ridge, "for some of
+your recent actions have been, to say the least, very puzzling."
+
+"As, for instance, when I denounced you to General Pando.  Certainly
+you must have thought badly of me at that time.  I did it, however, to
+save both you and myself, since shortly after you left us I learned
+that one of my troop had deserted for the purpose of betraying you to
+the Spanish General, who, he hoped and believed, would give him a
+liberal reward for so doing.  As Pando supposes me to be one of his
+agents--in which capacity, by-the-way, I have been able to render
+valuable service to Cuba--"
+
+"Indeed, yes," muttered the General.
+
+"--I saw at once," continued del Concha, "that in order to save us both
+I must forestall the deserter and do the denouncing myself.  You
+witnessed the result in the reception accorded the man when he appeared
+with his stale news, and are aware of his fate."
+
+"No, I am not," said Ridge.
+
+"Did you not hear the volley by which he was shot within one minute
+after being led from Pando's presence?"
+
+"Was that it?" asked the young American, in an awe-stricken tone.
+
+"Certainly; and served him exactly right, too.  Also saved me the job
+of punishing him.  After that, and after you had been removed, Pando
+confided to me that, as yours was a perfectly clear case, he should not
+bother Blanco with it, but should promptly dispose of it by having you
+shot at sunrise.  He also honored me with a mission to Santiago, on
+which he desired that I should set forth immediately.  I of course
+accepted, only with a mental resolve to take you along, and this, with
+Eva's help, I was in a fair way to accomplish when the dear girl
+received her terrible wound."
+
+"Bless her!" exclaimed Ridge, fervently, now fully realizing for the
+first time all that had been done for him.  "I hope, with all my heart,
+that her wound is not serious."
+
+"I fear it is, though for the present she seems quite comfortable."
+
+"And you are going to Santiago?"
+
+"Not one step beyond this point until she is out of danger."
+
+"But I must go," said Ridge, decidedly.
+
+"Certainly; and I have a competent guide ready to start at any moment,
+and conduct you on the next stage of your journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD
+
+While Ridge was greatly disappointed at losing the guidance and
+companionship of the young Cuban, in whom his confidence was now wholly
+restored, he could not, under the circumstances, urge him to go
+farther, nor did he dare longer delay his own journey.  With Seņorita,
+all his belongings, including his undelivered despatches, and the money
+stolen when he was captured by del Concha, had been restored to him.
+So he now added to his outfit a grass-woven hammock that he purchased
+in the refugee camp, and was then ready to set forth.
+
+The new guide awaiting him was a coal-black negro named Dionysio, who
+was of such huge stature that the other Cubans seemed pygmies beside
+him.  He was armed only with a great machete, ground to exceeding
+sharpness, and he disdained to ride a horse, declaring that he could,
+on foot, cover a greater distance in less time than any horse on the
+island, which Ridge was able to credit after a short experience with
+his ebony guide.  Besides, being a big man and a very strong one,
+Dionysio was a silent man, as taciturn as an Indian, and never spoke
+except upon necessity.
+
+When Ridge was introduced to him he was sitting in the shade of a
+corojo-palm, smoking a cigarette and lovingly fingering the razor-like
+edge of his machete.
+
+"This is the Seņor Americano whom you are to guide to Jiguani, and
+afterwards, if he requires it, to Santiago," said del Concha,
+
+Dionysio looked keenly at Ridge, but uttered no word.
+
+"He is ready to start."
+
+The negro stood up, to signify that he was also ready.
+
+"You will not let the Spaniards kill him," Dionysio tapped his machete
+significantly.
+
+"Well, my friend, adios," said del Concha, "and may you come safely to
+your journey's end!"
+
+Accepting this farewell as a signal to move, the black giant set forth
+at a swinging pace, and, in order not to lose sight of him, Ridge was
+obliged instantly to follow.  In another minute, therefore, they had
+crossed the clearing, plunged again into the forest, and the refugee
+camp was as lost to their view as though it had not existed.
+
+The silent guide bore on his shoulders a burden of yams rolled in a
+hammock, but it in no way interfered with the freedom of his movements.
+For miles he maintained, up hill and down, the same speed with which he
+had set out, and which so taxed Seņorita's endurance that Ridge was
+finally forced to call a halt.  The heat of the sun was by this time
+intense, while the forest steamed from a succession of brief but
+drenching showers that had swept over it since they started.
+
+As Dionysio comprehended what was wanted he proceeded, without a word,
+to construct a small bower of branches and palm leaves, beneath which
+he slung Ridge's hammock.  The young trooper's eyes were so leaden with
+sleep that he had no sooner slipped into this than he was lost in a
+dreamless slumber.
+
+When he next awoke, greatly refreshed by his long nap, the great heat
+of the day was past, and the shadows of coming evening produced a
+pleasant coolness.  For a few minutes Ridge lay in a state of lazy
+content, gazing with languid interest at his surroundings.  The sky, so
+far as he could see it, was cloudless, the crisp leaves of a tall palm
+close at hand rustled in a light breeze like the patter of rain, gayly
+plumaged paroquets and nonpareils flitted across his line of vision,
+and the air was filled with the pleasant odor of burning wood, mingled
+with the fragrance of a cigarette that Dionysio smoked while squatted
+on his heels before a small fire.  A little beyond, Seņorita, tethered
+to a tree, cropped at a small patch of coarse grass, and--but Ridge
+could not credit his senses until he had rubbed his eyes vigorously to
+make sure that they were doing their duty--another horse was sharing
+the grass-plot with her.  As he assured himself of this, Ridge sat up,
+and was about to demand an explanation of the negro, when his question
+was checked by another sight still more amazing.
+
+A human figure staring fixedly at him with glaring eyes was rigidly
+bound to the trunk of a near-by tree.  It was that of a young man in
+the uniform of a Spanish officer.  His face was covered with blood,
+upon which a swarm of flies had settled, and he was so securely
+fastened that he could not move hand nor foot.  He was also gagged so
+that he could make no sound beyond an inarticulate groan, which he
+uttered when he saw that Ridge was awake and looking at him.
+
+With an exclamation of dismay the young American leaped from his
+hammock.  At the same moment Dionysio rose to his feet with a broad
+grin on his black face, and spoke for the first time since Ridge had
+made his acquaintance.
+
+"Him Holguin Spaniard," he said, pointing to the prisoner.  "Me catch
+him.  Keep him for Americano to kill.  Now you shoot him."
+
+[Illustration: "'Him Holguin Spaniard.  Now you shoot him,' said the
+Cuban."]
+
+Thus saying, the negro handed Ridge a loaded pistol that he had taken
+from the Spaniard, and then stepped aside with an air of ferocious
+expectancy to note with what skill the latter would fire at the human
+target thus provided.
+
+Mechanically Ridge accepted the weapon, and with blazing eyes strode
+towards the hapless Spaniard, who uttered a groan of agony, evidently
+believing that his last moment had arrived.  As the young trooper
+passed the place where Dionysio had squatted, he snatched the negro's
+big machete from the ground.
+
+At this the latter chuckled with delight, evidently believing that the
+blood-thirsty Americano was about to hew his victim in pieces, an
+operation that, to him, would be vastly more entertaining than a mere
+shooting.  Then he stared in bewilderment; for, instead of cutting the
+prisoner down, Ridge began to sever the lashings by which he was bound.
+As the keen-edged machete cut through the last of these, the released
+man fell forward in a faint, and the young American, catching him in
+his arms, laid him on the sward.  "Bring water!" he ordered, with a
+sharp tone of authority, and the negro obeyed.
+
+"You no kill him?" he asked, as he watched Ridge bathe the blood from
+the unconscious man's face.
+
+"Not now," was the evasive answer.  "Where did you get him?"
+
+Little by little, one word at a time, he gained from the taciturn negro
+an idea of what had taken place while he slept.  It seemed that, while
+he had followed rough mountain trails in his roundabout course to and
+from the refugee camp, there was a much better road to which they had
+closely approached, when he was forced by exhaustion to call a halt.
+After he fell asleep, Dionysio, going for water to a spring that he
+knew of, had detected a sound of hoof-beats advancing along this road
+from the direction of Holguin.  Concealing himself near the spring, he
+waited until the horseman, a Spanish officer, rode up to it.  Then he
+leaped upon the man, dragged him to the ground, and had him secured
+almost before the astonished officer knew what was happening.  He was
+also dazed by a wound in the head received as he was hurled from his
+horse.
+
+Dionysio was on the point of killing him, as he had many a Spaniard,
+but reflecting that the Americano whom he was guiding would doubtless
+enjoy that pleasure, he generously decided to yield it to him and
+reserve the victim until Ridge should finish his nap.  So, after
+gagging the Spaniard, that he might not disturb him who slept, Dionysio
+flung him across his shoulder and carried him to camp.  There he
+secured him to a tree so that Ridge might see him upon awakening, and
+then calmly resumed his duties as camp cook and sentry.  The
+unfortunate prisoner, wounded, bound, and powerless to move or speak,
+tormented by heat and insects, and parched by a burning thirst, had
+thus suffered for hours, while the young American who was to kill him
+slept close at hand, blissfully unaware of his presence.
+
+As Ridge pityingly cleansed the face of this enemy whose present
+sufferings had been terminated by unconsciousness, he all at once
+recognized it as that of the officer who had conveyed him from General
+Pando's quarters to the guard-house in Holguin.  At the same time,
+noting a slight rustle of paper somewhere in the man's clothing, he
+began a search for it, and finally discovered a despatch in an official
+envelope.  Carefully opening this without breaking the seal, he found
+it to contain two papers.  One was a personal note from General Pando
+to the Spanish commander at Jiguani, calling his attention to the
+other, which was an order to set forth at once with his entire force
+for Santiago, where an American army was about to land, and where he
+would be joined by 5000 troops from Holguin.
+
+"This is interesting," commented Ridge, "and of course must not be
+allowed to reach its destination.  So I will just put in its place my
+Carranza despatch to this same gentleman, informing him that the
+Americans are to land at Cienfuegos.  It will have added weight if it
+appears to come from General Pando, and will surely start him off in a
+direction where he can do no harm.
+
+"I wonder, though, what I had best do with you," he continued,
+meditatively, addressing the unconscious form beside him.  "Of course
+you will recognize me as soon as you are able to sit up and take
+notice.  Of course, also, I can't kill you in cold blood; nor can I
+turn you over to the tender mercies of Dionysio, for that would amount
+to exactly the same thing.  I don't dare let you go, and I can't be
+bothered with you as a prisoner; so what on earth I am to do with you
+I'm sure I don't know.  I almost wish you wouldn't wake up at all."
+
+Just here, owing to Ridge's kindly ministrations, the cause of his
+perplexity opened his eyes, looked the young American full in the face,
+and smiled a faint smile in which recognition and gratitude were
+equally blended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD
+
+Of course there was no further thought of continuing the journey that
+evening, for the Spanish officer was in no condition to travel, and our
+young trooper was not one to desert even an enemy who was helpless and
+in distress.  So he informed Dionysio that they would remain where they
+were until morning, and ordered him to make things as comfortable as
+possible for the night.
+
+"You no kill him?" asked the negro, who had regarded his companion's
+actions of the past half hour with evident disfavor.
+
+"Not to-night," replied Ridge.  "I am going to save him until morning.
+He will be stronger then, and in a better condition to afford us
+entertainment.  Besides, I want time to think out the best way of doing
+it."
+
+"To-morrow you kill him?" persisted the other.
+
+"Perhaps.  That is, if I have hit upon a good plan.  Something novel
+and interesting, you know."
+
+"You no kill him, me kill him," muttered Dionysio, as he sullenly began
+to make preparations for the night.
+
+The remark, though not intended for the young American, still reached
+his ears and caused him a feeling of uneasiness.
+
+"I believe you would, you black devil," he said to himself, "but you
+sha'n't commit your cowardly murder if I can help it."  Then he again
+turned his attention to the prisoner, who was by this time sitting up
+and regarding his captors curiously.
+
+"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, as Ridge rejoined him.
+
+"No, of course not.  What put such an idea into your head?"
+
+"Because it so often happens that undesirable prisoners are disposed of
+in that way.  You know I was ordered to have one shot only last night
+at just about this hour."
+
+"Was it last night?" murmured Ridge.  "It seems a month ago."  Then he
+added, aloud, "Yes, I know, for I recognize you as Lieutenant Navarro,
+the officer who brought in the deserter, disposed of him according to
+General Pando's order, and then conducted me to prison."
+
+"For which reason I should think you would now want to kill me," said
+the other, with a smile.
+
+"We Americans are not in the habit of killing persons merely for
+obedience to orders."
+
+"You are an American, then?"
+
+"Yes," admitted Ridge, "and I thought you knew I was one."
+
+"I was not certain, nor was the General, though he was determined to be
+on the safe side, and have you placed beyond a chance of making
+mischief."
+
+"So I understood," laughed Ridge, "and for that reason I came away
+without waiting to say good-bye."
+
+"Your escape raised an awful row," said the other, "and the General is
+furious over it.  Swears he will hang every man, woman, or child
+connected with it if he discovers who aided you.  Do you care to tell
+me how it was effected?"
+
+"No," was the prompt reply, "I do not."
+
+"I didn't suppose you would.  At the same time I am greatly interested
+in it, especially as it caused me to be sent on my present mission.
+General Pando feared that you might make the same attempt at Jiguani as
+at Holguin.  So I was ordered to get there first and have a reception
+prepared for you.  Now, having failed to carry out his instructions, I
+do not know that I should dare present myself before him again, even if
+you should set me free, which, of course, is something not to be hoped
+for.  What do you propose to do with me, anyway?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Ridge, "but we will consider the situation
+after supper, which I see is ready."
+
+The simple meal of roasted yams, which in war time was the principal
+article of food known to Cuban campaigners, was quickly eaten, and the
+two young men, already regarding each other more as friends than
+enemies, renewed their conversation.
+
+"I am not anxious to resume my connection with General Pando's army in
+any case," began Lieutenant Navarro, "since it is about to march
+against your countrymen, whom I esteem highly."
+
+"Why?" asked Ridge.  "Were you ever in my country?"
+
+"Yes, and quite recently.  You see, I have some distant cousins of my
+own name living in New Mexico, and only a year ago I paid them a visit.
+I was so charmed with the country, and so cordially welcomed, that I
+expressed a desire to remain with them and become a citizen of the
+United States, They encouraged the idea, and offered me an interest in
+a great ranch, where one of them, Maximilian by name, who is about my
+own age, proposed to become my partner.  I accepted the offer, declared
+my intention of becoming a citizen before the proper authorities, and
+then returned to Spain to settle up my home affairs and procure money
+for my new undertaking.
+
+"Unfortunately I had not served out my full military term, and before I
+could purchase exemption for the remaining time, there was a call for
+more troops to quell this miserable insurrection, and I was ordered
+with Blanco, the new Captain-General, to Cuba.  Of course I don't mind
+fighting Cubans, whom I detest; but I do object to fighting against
+those whom I already consider as my adopted countrymen, especially as I
+have recently learned that the cousin with whom I was to go into
+business has joined the American army."
+
+"Maximilian Navarro of New Mexico!" exclaimed Ridge.  "Why, I know him
+well.  He is a captain in my own regiment, the First Volunteer
+Cavalry--the Rough Riders, as we are called.  I saw him only five days
+ago, and hope soon to meet him again, before Santiago."
+
+"Then are we friends rather than enemies!" cried the young Spaniard,
+grasping the other's hand, "and I will go with you to meet my cousin."
+
+"Would you go as a deserter?"
+
+"No, but as a prisoner of war under your protection."
+
+"Of course," replied Ridge, who had just gained an inspiration.  "A
+prisoner of war on parole, for you will give me your promise not to
+serve against the United States unless exchanged, will you not?"
+
+"Most willingly," replied the other.
+
+"But," continued Ridge, "if I take you to your cousin, I want you first
+to do me a favor."
+
+"Gladly."
+
+"And before I give you my whole confidence you must earn it."
+
+"If it lies within my power, I will do so."
+
+"Very good," said Ridge.  "According to our laws, you are a citizen of
+the United States from having filed your intention to become one.
+Therefore, while not desiring you to fight against your native land, I
+am going to ask you to prove your loyalty to your adopted country by
+aiding my present mission."
+
+"How may I do so?"
+
+"By continuing your journey to Jiguani, delivering your despatches,
+which, by-the-way, I have examined; procuring for me a Spanish uniform,
+and meeting me two days later at Enramada.  From there we will go
+together into Santiago, where you shall introduce me as your friend.
+Then will come my turn; for when the Americans land we will join them,
+and I shall take pleasure in presenting you to my friends as my friend.
+Will you undertake to do this?"
+
+"Seņor Teniente, I will," answered the young Spaniard, "and there is my
+hand on it.  One thing, however, I must ask," he continued.  "How will
+you deliver me from the hate of yonder black devil by the fire?  But
+for you he would have taken my life long since, and when he discovers
+that you do not intend to kill me, he will assuredly make an attempt to
+do so."
+
+"I have no doubt he would if he had a chance," replied Ridge, "but we
+must take turns at watching, and see that he doesn't get one.  I will
+remain on guard the first half of the night, since you need sleep more
+than I, and will also show how fully I trust you by restoring your
+pistol."
+
+"Your confidence will not be misplaced, seņor."
+
+With these arrangements perfected, the little camp sank into quiet, the
+only sounds being the chirping of insects, the harsh cries of night
+birds, and those made by the horses, which occasionally snorted at some
+fancied alarm.  The two white men lay in their respective hammocks
+under the rude thatch of palm leaves, while Dionysio occupied a similar
+but smaller shelter beyond the fire.
+
+For a long time Ridge watched the flicker of its flames, until they
+finally died down, and the darkness was only illumined by the fitful
+flashing of fire-flies.  As these were the most brilliant he had ever
+seen, his eyes followed their zig-zag dartings until they exercised a
+hypnotic influence, and his heavy breathing showed him to be fast
+asleep.
+
+A few minutes later the occupant of the other hammock lifted his head
+and listened.  Then he slipped noiselessly to the ground and
+disappeared in the profound darkness at the back of the hut.  For an
+hour longer the peace of the camp was unbroken.  At the end of that
+time one of the horses snorted more loudly than usual, while the other
+dropped heavily to the ground as though lying down.
+
+After awhile, if Ridge had been awake, he might have noted a slight
+rustling in the grass, as though some animal were making a cautious way
+through it towards the hut.  But his slumber was too profound to be
+easily broken, and no instinct warned him of approaching danger.
+
+The rustling drew closer, until it sounded within a few feet of the
+unconscious sleeper.  Then a black bulk slowly lifted from the ground,
+and gradually assumed the proportions of a man standing motionless.  Of
+a sudden this figure, whose blurred outlines were barely discernible,
+made a quick movement, and the hammock of the young Spaniard was cut in
+twain by the sweeping blow of a machete.
+
+At the same moment a pistol-shot rang out, followed by another and
+another.  There was a smothered yell, a rush of feet, a brief struggle
+from the place where the horses were tethered, a crash, and directly
+afterwards Seņorita, trembling in every limb, made her way to where her
+young master stood, as he had leaped from his hammock, dazed, and
+uncertain what to do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+IN THE HANDS OP SPANISH GUERILLAS
+
+In addition to his alarm, Ridge was overcome with a guilty knowledge of
+having fallen asleep while on guard.  Of course, he felt certain that
+he had only closed his eyes for a minute; but in that minute something
+dreadful, for which he was responsible, had happened.  He had no idea
+what it was, but imagined the worst, and was greatly relieved to hear
+the voice of his prisoner-comrade at his side.
+
+"What on earth--" he began; but just then Seņorita dashed up to him in
+a state of terror, and for the moment demanded his attention.  As he
+soothed her he called loudly for Dionysio, but there was no response.
+
+"I am afraid he has escaped," said the young Spaniard, in rather a
+faint voice, from the ground, to which he had dropped exhausted by
+weakness and the intense strain of the past few hours.  "He tried to
+kill me, you know."
+
+"Tried to kill you!" exclaimed Ridge, incredulously.  "But wait a
+moment.  We must have a light.  This darkness is awful."
+
+Thus saying, he stepped to where a few coals of the camp-fire still
+smouldered, and began to throw on sticks, which, after a little
+coaxing, sprang into a bright blaze.  By its light he detected two dark
+forms lying motionless a short distance away, and, with pistol held
+ready for action, went to discover their nature.
+
+"Navarro must have been dreaming, or else greatly mistaken," he said to
+himself, "for here is Dionysio fast asleep.  Come, wake up!" he cried
+aloud, at the same time prodding the prostrate form with his toe.  As
+there was no response, he stooped to give the sleeper a vigorous
+shaking; but almost with the first touch he sprang back in horror.  The
+man lay on his back, but with his head so twisted about that only its
+rear portion was visible, and Ridge instinctively knew that he was
+dead.  The other motionless form was that of a dead horse, the one
+recently ridden by Lieutenant Navarro.
+
+Having made this ghastly discovery, Ridge hastily returned to the hut
+to gain from his companion an explanation of what had happened,
+
+"I could not sleep," said the young Spaniard, in answer to his
+inquiries, "though I lay still and tried hard to do so, until, by your
+heavy breathing, I discovered that you were no longer awake."
+
+"I am awfully ashamed of myself," said Ridge.
+
+"It is not to be wondered at," rejoined the other, consolingly.  "You
+had not so much at stake as I, for only my life was threatened.
+Somehow, I felt certain that the black fiend who thirsted for my blood
+was also lying awake, and would make an attempt to kill me in my
+hammock before morning.  So, without disturbing you, I moved to the
+back of the hut and waited for him.  It must have been an hour before
+the horses began to give signs of great uneasiness, and then one of
+them fell.  I suppose he must have killed it."
+
+"Yes," said Ridge, "I reckon he did, since it now lies dead, and
+bleeding from a stab behind the left fore-shoulder."
+
+"I imagined something of the kind," continued the other, "but still
+thought it safer for both of us not to disturb you.  So I waited, more
+keenly alert than before, but heard nothing, until I saw him slowly
+rise and stand beside my hammock.  The blow that he dealt it would have
+cut me in two had I still occupied it; and, with this discovery of his
+design, I fired three shots, one of which, I think, must have hit him.
+At any rate, he uttered a great cry and staggered away."
+
+"After that," said Ridge, "he must have tried to escape on my horse,
+which probably flung him over her head and broke his neck.  Didn't you,
+old girl?"
+
+Had Seņorita possessed the power of speech, she would certainly have
+answered "Yes," for that was exactly what had happened.
+
+"At any rate," continued the young trooper, with a sigh of relief, "I
+am mighty glad my neglect of duty did not result more seriously.  At
+the same time we are left in an awkward shape for continuing our
+journey."
+
+"How so?" asked the other.  "I am not afraid to walk."
+
+"But I have lost my guide."
+
+"You have lost one and gained another, who will serve you with equal
+skill, since I know very well the road to Jiguani."
+
+"Of course you must know it," replied Ridge.  "How stupid of me not to
+remember! and, as we can take turns at riding my horse, we shall
+doubtless get along all right."
+
+There was no more sleep for either of the young soldiers that night;
+and by earliest dawn, having already eaten their frugal breakfast of
+roasted yams--an article of diet of which Ridge was becoming heartily
+tired--they set forth on the road to Jiguani.
+
+As they were already on the southern slope of the mountains and
+descending into a broad valley, they made such rapid progress, by
+alternately riding and walking, that the sun had not passed its
+meridian when they reached the Cauto--the longest river in Cuba.  There
+was formerly a small settlement at the crossing, but it had long since
+been destroyed, and now only presented the sight, so common in Cuba, of
+charred ruins devoid of human presence.  There was neither bridge nor
+boat, but Lieutenant Navarro declared the river fordable at this point.
+Ridge regarded dubiously the chocolate-colored flood already swollen by
+the first of the summer rains, and wished that they had at least two
+horses with which to cross it.  As they had not, and as nothing was to
+be gained by delay, he took his companion up behind him, and Seņorita,
+thus doubly burdened, plunged bravely into the stream.  Until they were
+half-way across all went well, the mare cautiously feeling her way, and
+the water not reaching more than to her belly,  Then, without warning,
+she dropped into a hole so deep that the turbid current closed above
+the heads of her riders as well as her own.
+
+Reappearing on the surface, the mare struck out for shore, with Ridge
+swimming beside her, and the young Spaniard, who was a poor swimmer,
+clinging desperately to her tail.  Fortunately the channel into which
+they had plunged was so narrow that within two minutes they had reached
+its farther side in safety, and could once more touch bottom.  Wading
+up-stream to a point where the road left the river, they emerged from
+the water, soaked and dripping, but thankful to have met with no worse
+harm than a ducking.
+
+As Ridge turned to laugh at the forlorn appearance presented by his
+companion, the latter uttered an exclamation of dismay, and at the same
+moment they were surrounded by half a dozen as villainous-looking
+ruffians as our troopers had yet seen in Cuba.  His heart sank within
+him.  Again was he a prisoner with the prospect at least of having his
+journey seriously delayed.  In the confusion of the moment he did not
+note that those into whose hands he had fallen wore blouses and
+trousers of blue drilling traversed by narrow, vertical stripes of
+white, the campaign uniform of the Spanish army in Cuba; but his
+companion instantly recognized it, and demanded, with a tone of
+authority, "Who commands here?"
+
+"I do," replied the most ill-favored of the crew, stepping forward.
+
+"You are a guerilla, are you not?"
+
+"A captain of irregular cavalry, seņor.  And you?"
+
+"I," replied the lieutenant, "am a major of regulars, attached to the
+staff of General Luis Pando, and on an urgent mission to Jiguani.  My
+horse was killed by insurgents this morning, and I had a narrow escape,
+leaving one of them dead."
+
+"Which is the reason that two of you rode one horse in crossing the
+river, and so led me to mistake you for 'mamby?'" [1] said the guerilla
+captain.
+
+"Very likely, sir, though I can't be accountable for your mistakes.
+Now you may let your men make a fire by which we can dry ourselves, and
+you may also have food prepared, for we are hungry."
+
+"But your friend, Major, who is he?" asked the other, scanning Ridge's
+brown canvas uniform doubtfully.
+
+"None of your business, sir.  Let it be sufficient that he is my
+friend, and do as I bid you without further words."
+
+At this Discipline, even though suspicious, yielded to the voice of
+Authority, and the guerilla made surly announcement that both fire and
+food were close at hand.
+
+This proved true; for, on gaining the face of the bluff, our friends
+found themselves in the presence of some twenty more guerillas, who
+were gathered about fires, cooking and eating strips of meat from a
+recently butchered steer.  Their horses were picketed close at hand,
+and beyond them grazed a herd of small wild-looking Cuban cattle.  For
+these this detachment of "beef-riders" had scoured the country-side,
+and they were now returning with them to Jiguani.  A scout from this
+party, patrolling the river-bank, had notified the captain that
+strangers were about to cross from the other side, and he had thus been
+enabled to prepare for their reception.
+
+He was evidently disappointed that they and their belongings could not
+be seized as prizes of war, and manifested this by the envious glances
+that he cast at Seņorita as well as upon the weapons that Ridge was
+drying and cleaning.  Especially was the young trooper's rifle an
+object of longing admiration, and, after a critical examination, the
+captain even went so far as to offer to buy it; but Ridge refused to
+part with the gun, whereupon the man turned sulky, and declined to hold
+further intercourse with him.
+
+After a while the whole party again took the road, Lieutenant Navarro
+riding a spare horse that he had "requisitioned" from the guerilla
+leader.  The latter rode with his guests at the head of the
+advance-guard, and Ridge noticed that, as two scouts were still in
+front of them, while others of the guerillas rode on either side, they
+were completely surrounded, and practically prisoners.  He suggested as
+much to his companion, but the latter only smiled, and said:
+
+"What matters it, so long as we are safely escorted to Jiguani?"
+
+"But I don't want to go there."
+
+"True.  I had forgotten.  You wish to proceed to Enramada, where I am
+to join you."
+
+"Yes, on the second day from now."
+
+"With only slight delay we might travel together."
+
+"I have reasons for preferring to go alone."
+
+"You will be in danger from the Cubans."
+
+"Ask your guerilla captain if he thinks so."
+
+The latter said he did not believe there were any insurgents on the
+Enramada road just then, since their chief, General Garcia, had
+withdrawn from Bayamo, and was understood to be collecting his entire
+force near El Cobre, in the Sierra Maestra, or southern coast range.
+
+"Very well, then," said Ridge.  "I desire to leave you as soon as we
+come to the Enramada road, and I wish that you would inform your
+guerilla friend that I propose to do so."
+
+"I will do better; for when we reach the forks, which will be shortly,
+I will order you to take the one to the left, while we keep to the
+right, and he will not dare attempt to detain you."
+
+But the guerilla, who had determined to possess himself of Ridge's
+horse and rifle, did dare do that very thing.  Thus, when at the
+forking of the roads the order was given as proposed, and Ridge started
+to obey it, the captain whipped out a pistol, and declared that the
+stranger must accompany him into Jiguani for examination before the
+authorities.
+
+At this our young trooper clapped spurs to Seņorita, flung himself flat
+on her back, and dashed away on his chosen road, followed by a
+scattering volley of pistol-shots, and by four of the best mounted
+among the guerillas, who, at their captain's command, sprang after him
+in hot pursuit.
+
+
+[1] Derisive term applied by Spaniards to Cuban insurgents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+DEATH OF SEŅORITA
+
+From the earliest days of Spanish rule in Cuba human life has been held
+very cheap.  Especially of late years, when thousands of men, women,
+and children have been wantonly murdered, has the killing of a man for
+any reason been lightly regarded.  So in the present instance the
+guerilla captain instructed those detailed to overtake the escaping
+prisoner to kill him and bring back all his property.  It seemed to him
+an easy task for his well-mounted beef-riders, familiar with every foot
+of that region, to overtake and overpower one who had already travelled
+far that day, and was evidently a stranger to the country.  When they
+had done so he would obtain that coveted rifle.  On the whole, he was
+glad that one of his prisoners had made a foolish dash for liberty, and
+rather wished the other would do the same thing.
+
+But the other contented himself with denouncing the action of the
+guerilla captain in bitter terms, and promising to report it the moment
+they reached the Spanish lines.  At all of which the latter only smiled
+contemptuously.
+
+In the mean time Ridge, lying low on his horse's neck to offer as small
+a target as possible to the shots fired by his pursuers whenever they
+sighted him, was uttering words of encouragement in Seņorita's ear, and
+she was responding with such a burst of speed that the beef-riders were
+quickly left far behind.  At length nothing was to be seen or heard of
+them; and, believing that they had given over the chase as hopeless,
+the young trooper allowed the panting mare who had borne him so bravely
+to slacken her heading pace until it was reduced to a walk.
+
+He was still in the broad Cauto valley, where the sabanetas, or open
+glades of tall grasses, were interspersed with wide tracts of
+impenetrable jungle and forests of palms.  By these his view was
+limited on every side, but he knew that the mountains among which he
+hoped to find the insurgent leader lay to the southward.  So he
+determined to leave the road by the first trail leading in that
+direction, and continue on it until he should meet some one willing to
+guide him to his destination.
+
+Having formed this crude plan, and believing that Seņorita had been
+allowed sufficient time to recover her breath, he began to urge her to
+a better speed, but, to his surprise, she failed to respond.  Neither
+words nor spur served to move her from the slow walk into which she had
+fallen.  Such a thing had not happened since the beginning of their
+acquaintance in far-away San Antonio, and the young trooper dismounted
+to discover what had gone wrong.
+
+He had not far to look, for, as he touched the ground, a red trickle of
+blood caught his eye.  The plucky little mare had been hit by one of
+the beef-riders' shots, but had given no sign until now, when her
+weakness could no longer be overcome.  So copious was the flow of blood
+that it was evident an artery had been severed, and already had the
+loss been very great.  In vain did Ridge strive to stanch the cruel
+outspurt.  He had no proper appliances, and the evil was too serious to
+be remedied by his simple skill.  Even as he made the attempt the
+gallant beast swayed, staggered, and then sank with a groan to the
+ground.  Almost sobbing with grief and dismay, Ridge flung himself
+beside her and threw an arm caressingly across her neck.
+
+"Poor old girl!  Dear old girl!" he cried.  "To think that I should
+have brought you here just for this.  It is too bad! too bad!  And what
+shall I do without you?"
+
+Then with a sudden thought he sprang to his feet and began an eager
+search on both sides of the road for water, but found none.
+Disappointed and heavy-hearted, he returned to Seņorita.  She lay as he
+had left her, but motionless and with closed eyes.  Again he knelt at
+her side, and at the sound of his voice the loving eyes were once more
+opened.  At the same time, with a mighty effort, the proud head was
+uplifted, as though the mare were about to struggle to her feet.  Just
+then came a shot from behind them, and, with a bullet intended for her
+young master buried deep in her brain, the dear horse yielded up her
+life.
+
+The shot was so instantly followed by a clatter of hoofs, that Ridge
+had barely time to snatch his rifle and fling himself to the ground
+behind Seņorita's body before the beef-riders appeared charging up the
+road, yelling and firing, as they came.
+
+With his rifle resting across the mare's side, Ridge took quick aim and
+fired.  One of the advancing horsemen threw up his arms and fell over
+backward, but the young American did not see him; for, without waiting
+to note the effect of his shot, he dropped the rifle and seized his
+revolver.  It was a self-cocking weapon, and as rapidly as he could
+pull the trigger he delivered the contents of all six chambers at the
+guerillas.  Whether or not they fired in return he did not know, but as
+the smoke from his own fusillade cleared away he saw one man lying
+motionless in the road, and another dragging himself into the grass at
+one side.  From that direction also came the furious plunging of a
+horse.  Of the others who had pursued him nothing was to be seen.
+Hastily reloading his revolver, and throwing another cartridge into the
+chamber of his rifle, Ridge nervously awaited further developments.
+Would they again charge upon his front, or would they seek to outflank
+him by crawling through the dense growth on either side?  The latter
+would be the safer move, and could be easily made.
+
+As our young soldier realized this, he decided to forestall the attempt
+by taking to the grass himself, and in another moment he was cautiously
+creeping on hands and knees amid the hot brown stalks that grew many
+feet above his head.  Fearing that his movement might attract
+attention, he did not go far; but, after making his way for a few rods
+parallel to the road, he again gained its edge and halted at a place
+where, peering between the grass stems, he could see his dead horse.
+
+Here he lay motionless until he became convinced that his enemies had
+beaten a retreat and would trouble him no more.  Thus thinking,
+impatient of delay, and painfully cramped by his position, he was about
+to rise when the long silence was broken by a low cuckoo call close at
+hand.  Was it a signal or the note of some strange bird?  As Ridge
+hesitated, the call was answered from the other side of the road.
+Again it sounded from the side on which he lay; then, from the opposite
+side a man's head came slowly into view, low down among the grass
+stems.  After hasty glances both up and down the road it was withdrawn,
+and the cuckoo notes were again exchanged.  Then two of the baffled
+beef-riders rose boldly to their feet and stepped out in full view,
+close beside the dead horse.  The young trooper could not distinguish
+their words; but, from their angry gestures, they were discussing his
+disappearance and the advisability of a further attempt to capture him.
+
+At the same moment his own thoughts were of a most conflicting nature.
+One of the men was covered by his rifle, and his finger was on its
+ready trigger, but he hesitated to pull it.  They had killed his horse
+and sought to take his life.  Even now they would shoot him down
+without mercy, and as a pastime, if the opportunity offered.  Knowing
+this, and realizing his danger if those men should discover him, the
+young American still hesitated to fire from ambush and take human life
+in cold blood.
+
+That others did not feel as he did about such things was shown while he
+hesitated, for the two beef-riders had been in sight but a few seconds
+when there came a flash and a roar of guns from the opposite side of
+the road, a little beyond where Ridge was hiding.  Both the guerillas
+fell as though struck by a thunder-bolt, and their blue-clad forms lay
+motionless across Seņorita's body.  Her death was amply avenged.
+
+At this startling demonstration in his behalf, Ridge sprang to his feet
+in full view of half a dozen men, ragged and swarthy, who were running
+down the road with yells of delight.  They halted at sight of the
+stranger, and some raised their weapons; but he, recognizing them as
+Cubans, called out: "I am Americano, and those Spaniards whom you have
+so bravely killed sought my life.  Viva Cuba libre!"
+
+Upon this they again advanced with shouts and eager questions.  They
+belonged to a detachment of the Cuban army on its way to join General
+Garcia, and had been attracted by the sound of firing.  Coming to
+discover its cause, they had seen the dead horse, and were stealing
+cautiously towards it when halted by the familiar cuckoo call of their
+enemies.
+
+That Ridge had suffered at the hands of the Spaniards, and fought with
+them, was a sufficient passport to their favor.  Thus when he explained
+his desire to meet their general they consented to guide him to the
+Cuban rendezvous, which they said was high up in the mountains.
+
+With a heavy heart and tear-dimmed eyes the young American turned from
+a last look at his beloved horse, and set forth with these new
+acquaintances on their toilsome march.  He carried only his arms, but
+the Cubans had stripped the dead--both men and horses--of everything
+valuable, and were thus well laden with trophies.
+
+A short distance from the spot where Seņorita had given her own life in
+saving that of her master, they turned into a barely discernible trail
+that soon brought them to the foot-hills, where they camped for the
+night.  All the next day they pushed on, with infrequent halts, ever
+climbing higher over trails so rough and obscure that only experienced
+eyes could follow them.  Here and there they passed food-stations
+guarded by old men, poorly clad women, and naked children.  Each of
+these consisted of a thatched hut, an open fire, and a sweet-potato
+patch, and to the marching Cubans they supplied roasted potatoes,
+sugar-cane, and occasionally a few ripe mangoes.
+
+Ridge and a guide, to whom he had promised money, outstripped the
+others, and shortly before sunset of the second day reached the summit
+of a pass lying between the great bulk of El Cobre on the east and Pico
+Turquino, the tallest mountain in Cuba.  From this point was outspread
+a superb view of densely wooded mountain slopes tumbling steeply down
+to the boundless blue of the Caribbean Sea.  Here the guide departed,
+promising shortly to return, leaving Ridge to gaze upon the wonderful
+panorama unfolded on all sides, and thrilled with the thought that he
+had crossed Cuba.
+
+While he stood thus, forgetful of everything save the marvellous beauty
+of his surroundings, he was puzzled by a sound as of distant thunder
+coming from a direction in which no cloud was visible.  As he
+speculated concerning this phenomenon, he was startled by a voice close
+at hand saying, in English: "That is a welcome sound to Cuban ears,
+seņor, since it is the thunder of American war-ships bombarding the
+defences of Santiago."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN
+
+"The thunder of American war-ships!"  Instantly, as Ridge learned its
+nature, the mighty sound took on a new significance, and seemed like
+the voice of his own glorious country demanding freedom for an
+oppressed people.  Filled with this thought, he turned to the man who
+had suggested it, and found himself in the presence of one wearing the
+uniform of a Cuban officer.  The latter had taken off his hat, and the
+young American noted a livid bullet scar in the centre of his broad
+white forehead.  The man was elderly, fine-looking, and smooth-shaven
+except for a heavy white mustache.  His picture had been published in
+every illustrated paper and magazine in the United States.
+
+Promptly giving a military salute, Ridge said, "I believe I have the
+honor of addressing General Garcia."
+
+"Yes, I am Calixto Garcia.  But who are you?"
+
+"An officer of the American army, come to you with a message from its
+commanding General."
+
+"Have you credentials or despatches by which you may be known?"
+
+"Only this, sir."  Here Ridge lowered his voice and gave, for the
+second time since landing in Cuba, the secret countersign of the Junta.
+
+"It is sufficient," said the General, smiling and holding out his hand.
+"Now what is your message?"
+
+"That the American army of invasion, having sailed from Tampa, is due
+within the next two days to arrive off Santiago; and General Shafter,
+who commands it, is desirous of an interview with you before landing
+his troops.  He asks you to name the place of meeting."
+
+"Thank you, sir, for bringing me this great news, and gladly will I
+meet your General whenever he may choose to come.  Also I will fix the
+place of meeting down yonder at Aserraderos.  From this station I will
+watch day and night for his ships, and when they come will be ready to
+receive him."
+
+"Very good, sir.  I will so report to my General."
+
+"But how do you expect to communicate with him?" asked Garcia,
+curiously.
+
+"I propose to go from here to Enramada, to which place I was about to
+ask you to favor me with a mount and a guide.  At that point I have
+arranged to meet a friend who will give me Spanish protection, and
+under whose escort I shall visit Santiago.  After that I shall be
+guided by circumstances.  But if I live I shall certainly be at
+Daiquiri in time to meet the American army."
+
+"You have undertaken a difficult task, and I only hope it may be
+accomplished," replied the General, thoughtfully.  "Of course I will
+furnish you with a horse and an escort to Enramada, which place, as you
+are doubtless aware, is already occupied by my men."
+
+"By the Cubans?" cried Ridge, in dismay.
+
+"Certainly.  We drove out the Spaniards several days ago, and have
+advanced our lines to within a few miles of Santiago.  At present that
+city is surrounded on three sides by the forces of Generals Castillo
+and Rabi."
+
+"In that case, sir, I shall ask for protection to the extreme limit of
+the Cuban lines, both for myself and my friend."
+
+"Is he a Spaniard?" asked Garcia, suspiciously.
+
+"He is an American citizen," replied Ridge, "though at present
+appearing as a Spaniard, and wearing the uniform of a Spanish officer."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+"He is travelling under the name of Ramon Navarro."
+
+"Very Spanish indeed, and he could not have done a more reckless or
+foolish thing than attempt to pass himself off as a Spaniard in this
+part of the island.  If he is discovered near Enramada he will
+undoubtedly be killed without a chance to explain who he really is.
+But that is the way with you Americans.  Confident in your own
+ignorance, you are always pushing ahead without stopping to count the
+cost."
+
+"At the same time we generally get there."
+
+"Get where?" asked the other, sharply.
+
+"To the place we start for."
+
+"Oh yes, you get there, in some shape, though perhaps sorry that you
+have done so.  In the present campaign, for instance, I have no doubt
+that the very first Americans landed will make a dash for Santiago,
+without waiting for artillery or even provisions.  If they win a
+victory, it will be by the good fortune that often attends fools; but
+the chances are that when they enter Santiago it will be as prisoners
+of war."
+
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, "I am an American, and an officer in the American
+army."
+
+"Pardon, seņor; I forgot," replied the General.  "I was allowing myself
+to utter aloud my thoughts, a thing extremely wrong and ill-advised.  I
+have really no doubt in the world that your gallant countrymen will
+conduct themselves most admirably.  Now if you will come to my poor
+camp I will make you as comfortable as possible for the night, and in
+the morning we will decide what is best for you to do."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said our young trooper, "but with your permission I
+should prefer to make a start at once, with the hope of reaching
+Enramada before my comrade, and thus preventing a sad mistake on the
+part of your troops."
+
+"But, my young friend, you have already travelled far to-day and are
+exhausted."
+
+"I still have some strength left."
+
+"Night is upon us, and the trails are very dangerous."
+
+"There is a young moon, and you will furnish reliable guides," replied
+Ridge, smiling.
+
+"If I should not furnish them?"
+
+"Then I would set forth alone."
+
+"You are determined, then, to proceed at once?"
+
+"I am, sir, unless detained by force."
+
+"Ah, heavens!  These Americans!" cried the General, with an air of
+resignation.  "They will leave nothing for to-morrow that may be
+squeezed into to-day.  They know not the meaning of 'maņana.'  Ever
+impatient, ever careless of consequences, and yet they succeed.  Can it
+be that theirs is the way of wisdom?  But no, it is their good fortune,
+what they call 'luck.'  Yes, seņor, it shall be as you desire.  In an
+hour all shall be in readiness for your departure."
+
+"Couldn't you make it half an hour, General?" asked Ridge, with an
+audacity that drew forth only a grunt from the Cuban leader.
+
+So it happened that in something less than an hour from the time of
+this important interview our young American, well fed, and provided
+with a pass through the Cuban lines for himself and one friend, was
+retracing his steps down the northern slope of the Sierra Maestra.  He
+was mounted on a raw-backed but sure-footed Cuban pony, and escorted by
+half a dozen ragged cavalrymen.  They had barely started before he was
+thankful that he had not attempted to make the journey unguided; nor
+had they gone a mile before he knew that he could never have
+accomplished it alone.  Often he found himself traversing narrow trails
+on the brink of black space where a single misstep would have brought
+his career to a sudden termination.  Again he passed through gloomy
+tunnels of dense foliage, slid down precipitous banks, only to plunge
+into rushing, bowlder-strewn torrents at the bottom, and scramble up
+slopes of slippery clay on the farther side, All this was done by the
+feeble and ever-lessening light of a moon in its first quarter, and as
+it finally sank out of sight the leader of the escort called a halt,
+declaring that they could not move another rod before daybreak.
+
+Thus Ridge was forced to take a few hours of rest, and so exhausted was
+he that his companions had difficulty in rousing him at dawn.  Again
+they pushed forward, shivering in the chill of early morning, and
+blistered by the sun's fervent heat a few hours later, until ten
+o'clock found them on the grass-grown highway leading from Santiago to
+Bayamo, and a few miles west of Enramada.  Here, as Ridge believed
+himself to be well in advance of his comrade, he decided to await his
+coming.  At the same time he sent one of his escort into Enramada to
+discover if Lieutenant Navarro had by any chance reached that place,
+and to arrange for fresh mounts.  Then he threw himself down in the
+scant shadow of a thorny bush for a nap.
+
+Apparently his companions, who had promised to keep a close watch of
+the highway, did the same thing, for when he next awoke it was with a
+start and the consciousness that a horseman was dashing past at full
+speed on the road to Enramada.
+
+In less than a minute the shamefaced squad was in hot pursuit, but
+though they strove to atone for their neglect of duty by furious
+riding, they did not overtake the horseman until they discovered him
+halted by an outpost, who allowed him to pass as they came in sight.
+When they in turn were halted they learned that the man whom they had
+followed so briskly was a Cuban scout just in from a tour of
+observation.
+
+So Ridge rode slowly into Enramada, reported to the officer in command,
+and remained in that wretched village until nightfall in a state of
+nervous impatience.  He was most anxious to push forward, since every
+minute was now of value, but could not desert the friend whom he had
+promised to meet at this place.  He feared that without his protection
+Navarro would come to grief among the Cubans, and also he was depending
+upon the young Spaniard for a safe entry into Santiago.
+
+At length dusk had fallen.  The impatient young trooper had eaten a
+supper of tough bull-beef and "those everlasting yams," as he called
+them, with his Cuban friends, and was pacing restlessly to and fro a
+short distance beyond a camp-fire, about which they smoked their
+cigarettes, when a ragged, slouch-hatted figure approached him.
+
+"Seņor Americano."
+
+"Well, what do you want?"
+
+"If Don José Remelios desires the company of Ramon Navarro into
+Santiago, I am ready."
+
+"Good Heavens, man!"
+
+"Hush!  Tell them you can wait no longer.  Set forth alone, follow the
+railroad, and I will meet you."
+
+Then, before Ridge could reply, the figure darted away and was lost in
+the night shadows.
+
+Fifteen minutes later the young American, despite the polite protests
+of his entertainers, had left Enramada, dismissed the escort who had
+passed him through the Cuban pickets, declined further guidance, on the
+plea that he could not get lost while following the railway, and was
+watching anxiously for the appearance of his friend.
+
+Suddenly he was confronted by a motionless horseman dimly seen on the
+embankment ahead of him, and in another minute the comrades were
+exchanging greetings.
+
+"How did you reach Enramada without my knowledge?" asked Ridge,
+finally.  "I have watched every moving creature in the place since
+noon."
+
+"Slipped in, disguised by this horrible Cuban costume, after dark,"
+laughed Navarro.  "Shouldn't have come at all but for my promise, and a
+recollection that I was a prisoner of war on parole, since I learned at
+Jiguani that Enramada was occupied by the insurgents."
+
+"But I have a pass for you from Garcia himself."
+
+"Even had I known it I should not have ventured among those who might
+have recognized me; for where a Spaniard is concerned, any Cuban will
+kill him first and examine his pass afterwards."
+
+"I suppose that is so," replied Ridge, with a memory of del Concha.
+"Anyhow, I am mighty glad everything is turning out so well.  Now,
+hurrah for Santiago, and the American army that is to capture it!"
+
+"Do you believe they can do it?"
+
+"Of course I do," was the confident answer.  But a few hours later,
+when from a wooded hilltop he looked down, upon the widespread city in
+which were quartered 10,000 veteran troops, protected by strong
+intrenchments, formidable batteries, and by Admiral Cervera's powerful
+squadron, he wondered if, after all, his countrymen had not undertaken
+a task far more difficult than they imagined.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE TWO ADMIRALS
+
+It was a glorious morning, and a glorious sight was disclosed by the
+rising sun--a palm-shaded city of red-tiled roofs, dominated by a fine,
+double-towered cathedral, and a broad, land-locked bay set in a circle
+of rounded hills and rugged mountains.  On the placid bosom of the bay
+rode Cervera's proud squadron of war-ships--five mighty cruisers, four
+of which were of the latest model and most approved armament; two
+wicked-looking torpedo-boat destroyers, each claimed to be more than a
+match for any battle-ship afloat, and a few gunboats that had been used
+for coast patrol.  From the war-ships came the cherry notes of bugles,
+and from the Plaza de Armas, in which a regiment was passing in review,
+swelled the inspiring music of a full military band.  Beyond the city
+every near-by elevation was occupied by a stout block-house, each
+displaying the red and yellow flag of Spain, and forming the nucleus
+for radiating lines of rifle-pits.  Far down at the entrance to the bay
+rose the grim walls of Santiago's Morro Castle, and beyond it floated
+against the blue sky soft smoke clouds that Ridge felt sure must come
+from the American ships on blockade.
+
+This was Santiago.  This the peaceful scene that was soon to be
+transformed into a battle-field.  Here, within a few days, victory and
+defeat would meet face to face.  Which side would claim the former?
+Until this moment Ridge had never doubted.  He had often heard the
+boast that his own regiment could drive every Spaniard out of Cuba, and
+had believed it.  Now he knew that here alone was work cut out for an
+army.
+
+These reflections of our young trooper were interrupted by his
+companion, who said, "It is a wonderful picture; but I am too hungry to
+gaze on it any longer; so let us hasten into the city, with the hope of
+finding a breakfast."
+
+Both the young men wore Spanish uniforms that Navarro had brought with
+him, and, protected by these, they rode boldly down to the nearest
+outpost.  Here the lieutenant demanded that they be conducted to
+headquarters, to which they were accordingly sent under guard.
+
+Many of the narrow streets through which they passed were indescribably
+filthy, but these became cleaner as they neared the Casa Municipal.
+Here they were graciously received by General Linares, to whom they
+were presented by one of his staff, who recognized Navarro as a friend.
+The General complimented them on having eluded the Cubans, and was much
+gratified to learn that Pando's army was on its way from Holguin to
+reinforce him.  After a few minutes of conversation, during which he
+promised to give both of them details for field duty, he dismissed
+them, and they were at liberty to accept an invitation to breakfast at
+the San Carlos Club.
+
+In the cool club-house, which faces the Plaza de Armas, where the band
+plays in the evening and fountains plash softly amid blossoming
+shrubbery, Ridge and his companion were introduced to many officers, a
+number of whom were from the warships.
+
+Santiago was very dull just then; its communication with the outside
+world was cut off.  No ships could enter its beautiful harbor, business
+was almost at a standstill, and there was little to talk about.  So the
+advent of two strangers into the club was hailed with joy, and they
+were plied with questions.  No one seemed to suspect that our young
+American was other than what he professed to be, though his answers to
+many of their questions were necessarily vague and unsatisfactory.  In
+order to entertain them, the resident officers proposed various trips
+to places of near-by interest, such as the fortifications, the barracks
+where Lieutenant Hobson of the American navy was confined, the Morro,
+from which a view of the blockading squadron could be had, or to the
+Spanish war-ships lying in the harbor, the last of which was accepted
+for that morning.
+
+As soon, therefore, as breakfast was over, the new-comers were escorted
+to the water-front, where lay several steam-launches.  As they reached
+the landing-place a fine-looking man, white bearded, with twinkling
+eyes and kindly features, drove up in a carriage, and alighting with
+springy step, was instantly saluted by every officer present.  He
+acknowledged the courtesy by lifting his hat and speaking to several of
+them, whom he called by name.  Emboldened by his kindness, these
+ventured to present the new arrivals and mention their desire to visit
+the Spanish ships; whereupon Admiral Cervera, bravest and most
+chivalrous of Spain's commanders, promptly invited them to accompany
+him to the flag-ship.
+
+As they steamed down the bay in the superbly appointed launch flying an
+Admiral's flag and manned by a picked crew in snowy duck, Ridge sat
+silent, in a very confused frame of mind, and paying scant attention to
+the gay conversation carried on by the other members of the party.  He
+had been overcome by the courtesy of his reception in Santiago, and was
+feeling keenly the meanness of his position.
+
+"I'll be shot for disobedience of orders before I ever again undertake
+to act the low-down part of a spy," he reflected, bitterly.  At the
+same time he was wondering how he should manage to escape the kindly
+but embarrassing attentions of these new-found friends, and reach
+Daiquiri in time to communicate with General Shafter upon his arrival.
+
+In spite of these thoughts, he did not fail to admire the beauty and
+massive symmetry of the ships they were approaching.  There lay the
+_Cristobal Colon_, latest product of Italian skill; the splendid
+_Vizcaya_, that had recently attracted the admiration of all who saw
+her in New York Harbor; the _Almirante Oquendo_, that had been received
+with such wild enthusiasm in Havana; the _Maria Teresa_, famed for the
+richness of her interior fittings; the _Reina Mercedes_, used as a
+hospital-ship; the _Pluton_ and the _Furor_, low, black, and ugly to
+look upon, both holding records for enormous speed, and more dreaded as
+engines of destruction than all the others put together.  Stripped to
+fighting trim, these ships were the very embodiment of modern
+sea-power, and in his ignorance Ridge wondered if anything afloat could
+resist them.  From them his attention was at length attracted to the
+Admiral, who was saying:
+
+"I am about to send this launch, under a flag of truce, out to the
+American flag-ship to procure some supplies for our prisoners, the
+Seņor Hobson and his men.  So if you have a desire to view the Yankee
+ships at close range I shall be pleased to have you accompany it.
+Possibly you speak the English, in which case you might prove of use as
+interpreter."
+
+"I do not speak it so well as does my friend the Seņor Remelios,"
+replied Lieutenant Navarro, to whom this invitation had been extended.
+
+"Then it may be that he will do me the favor to accompany the launch,"
+suggested the Admiral, and of course Ridge gladly embraced the
+opportunity thus offered.
+
+"Perhaps I can stay on board the American ship," he said to himself,
+"and not be compelled to revisit Santiago until I can do so as an
+honest fighter, instead of as a contemptible spy.  And what a chance it
+will be for Navarro to escape from the Spaniards!"
+
+Half an hour later the trim launch, now displaying a large white flag
+forward, had passed the masts of the sunken _Merrimac_, the frowning
+Morro on its lofty headland, and, standing out to sea, was drawing near
+the superb cruiser _New York_, flag-ship of Admiral Sampson's fleet.
+On either side of her, in imposing array, lay the great battle-ships
+_Iowa_, _Massachusetts_, _Texas_, and _Oregon_, the last of which had
+recently hurried to the scene of conflict from San Francisco, making a
+record voyage of 13,000 miles by way of Cape Horn.  Besides these there
+was the _Brooklyn_, swiftest of American cruisers, together with half a
+dozen more--cruisers, gunboats, yachts, and torpedo-boats--all in
+war-paint, all ready for instant action, and all flying the banner of
+stars and stripes.  At the wonderful sight Ridge's heart glowed with
+patriotism and a new courage.  How impregnable looked the huge
+battle-ships!--how terrible!  Nothing could withstand them!  He felt
+sure of that.
+
+The young Spaniard who sat beside him gazed on the outspread American
+fleet in silent amazement.  He had thought Cervera's ships formidable,
+but now it seemed to him they would be but playthings for these modern
+leviathans.
+
+As the Spanish launch ranged alongside the flagship, an object of
+curious attention to all on board, it was courteously received; but, to
+Ridge's disappointment, only the officer in charge was permitted to
+leave it.  A few minutes later, however, a cadet tripped lightly down
+the side ladder to say that the gentleman who spoke English was
+requested to report on deck.  As in obedience to this order our young
+trooper followed him up the ladder, he found opportunity to say in a
+low but earnest voice:
+
+"I must see the Admiral, alone if possible.  Have important
+communication for him.  Try and arrange an interview."
+
+The cadet looked back in surprise, and then nodded his head.  The next
+moment they were on deck, when the "Seņor Remelios" could barely
+control his joyful emotions at finding himself once more among his
+countrymen and beneath his country's flag.
+
+After a brief transaction of business the guests were invited into the
+ward-room, which they had scarcely entered when word was passed that
+the one speaking English was again wanted on deck.  Promptly obeying
+this summons, Ridge was conducted to a large after-cabin which he found
+occupied by two officers.  One, with stern features, iron-gray beard,
+deeply lined forehead, and piercing eyes, he instantly recognized as
+Admiral Sampson.  The other he guessed to be Captain Chadwick,
+commander of the ship.
+
+"Well, sir," began the former, sharply, as the new-comer was left
+standing, cap in hand, before them, "I understand that you wish to make
+a private communication of importance.  What is it?  Are you desirous
+of deserting your countrymen and joining us?  If so, I would advise you
+to go elsewhere before declaring your intention, because on board this
+ship we have very little sympathy for deserters."
+
+"Seeing that I am an American soldier, sir, belonging to Colonel Wood's
+First Volunteer Cavalry, and am here by special order from General
+Miles, I don't think there is much danger that I shall desert," replied
+Ridge.
+
+Both of his hearers uttered exclamations as he announced his
+nationality, and Captain Chadwick muttered, "I should never have
+suspected it."
+
+At that moment Ridge caught sight of his own face in a mirror, the
+first he had seen in two weeks, and was startled to note how very
+Spanish he looked.
+
+In a few minutes he had explained the situation, and given General
+Garcia's message appointing Aserraderos as a meeting-place to the
+American commander.  When his report was finished, he added: "Now, sir,
+can't I remain here until the army arrives?  I never realized until
+to-day how humiliating it is to be a spy."
+
+"I wish I might say yes," replied Admiral Sampson, meditatively, "but
+fear I cannot.  According to your own account, you have not completed
+your mission by making a study of the condition and defences of
+Santiago, upon which you are to report to the commander of the first
+American force that lands.  Also, I could not detain one who comes as a
+Spanish officer under flag of truce, without making things very
+unpleasant for such of our men as are held prisoners by the enemy.  You
+must not think of your position as humiliating, but as one of great
+importance and responsibility, as well as of great danger.  You say,
+too, that you have a Spanish friend in the launch who wishes to remain
+here with you, and whom you cannot desert, but I certainly could not
+receive him under the circumstances.  Therefore, much as I regret to
+say so, it seems to me that both my duty and yours point to your return
+by the way you came."
+
+As Ridge, admitting the justice of this decision, was about to take his
+leave, the executive officer of the ship entered hastily and reported:
+
+"A heavy smoke to the eastward, sir, believed to be that of the
+transports bringing General Shafter's army."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY
+
+Both officers sprang to their feet at the startling announcement that
+the eagerly awaited but long delayed transports were in sight, and
+Admiral Sampson extended his hand to Ridge, saying:
+
+"Go back to Santiago and your duty, my boy.  I will convey your report
+concerning the meeting with Garcia to General Shafter."
+
+Then all hurried to the deck, and in another minute the great war-ship
+had started eastward to welcome the troops, while the Spanish launch,
+which had been hastily dismissed, was heading towards Santiago Bay with
+every member of the party she had brought out still on board.
+
+"What is about to happen?" asked one of the Spanish officers, in
+bewilderment.
+
+"The ships bringing the American army have been sighted," replied
+Ridge, who saw no reason for withholding information that must soon be
+known to every one.
+
+Upon this there was great excitement in the launch, which was pressed
+to its utmost speed, that the news might be carried to Admiral Cervera
+and General Linares as quickly as possible.
+
+At his own request, Ridge, in company with Lieutenant Navarro, was
+permitted to carry it to the General, who said, quietly:
+
+"Very good, gentlemen; and now, since the time for action has arrived,
+I will assign you to the important duty of patrolling the coast, from
+which you will bring to me, at Sevilla, earliest word of any attempted
+landing by the enemy.  You will act independently, but in co-operation
+with Captain del Rey, who is already scouting in the neighborhood of
+Guantanamo with his company of cavalry.  It is supposed that the
+landing will be made there, but--as Heaven only knows what these
+Yankees may do--we must watch every possible point."
+
+Nothing could have suited Ridge better than this; and a few minutes
+later, with Santiago left behind, he and his companion were galloping
+in the direction of the Morro, from whose lofty walls they would be
+able to command a vast sweep of ocean and coast.  Already were its
+garrison crowding tower and battlement to gaze wonderingly at the
+American fleet coming from the eastward.  A double column eight miles
+long of ships, crowded to their utmost capacity with armed men, was
+advancing under low-trailing banners of black smoke, like a resistless
+fate.  As they neared the war-ships, that had for a month impatiently
+awaited them, these thundered forth a welcome from their big guns.
+Bands played, swift steam-launches darted to and fro, and a mighty
+volume of cheering from twice ten thousand throats was borne to those
+who listened on land like the roar of a breaking tempest.  The American
+army and navy had met at last, and were joined in a common cause.
+
+For an hour our young trooper watched with swelling heart this
+wonderful meeting of his countrymen.  Then he had the satisfaction of
+seeing one of the transports steam away to the westward in the
+direction of Aserraderos.  While his companions asked one another the
+meaning of this manoeuvre, he believed it to indicate that the meeting
+between Generals Shafter and Garcia, for which he had arranged, was
+about to be effected.
+
+As it was evident that no landing was to be attempted that day, the
+young men so reported to General Linares at Sevilla, where they also
+spent the night.  Another day of suspense and anxious waiting was
+passed, with the American transports rolling idly in the offing, and
+making no effort to discharge their human freight.  At the same time
+the war-ships kept the Spaniards in a state of feverish excitement by
+shelling every place along twenty miles of coast where a landing might
+be made.
+
+A swarm of Spanish scouts watched these operations from the hill-tops,
+and at short intervals during the day reported the enemy's movements to
+General Linares; but of them all none was so active as Ridge and his
+companion.  From earliest dawn until dark they scoured the country
+lying adjacent to the coast, gaining a complete knowledge of its
+so-called roads, which were but the roughest of trails, only intended
+for saddle or pack animals, and of its defences.  They also made such
+full reports to headquarters of everything that was going on as to
+completely win the confidence of the Spanish commander.  Consequently
+he was not prepared to accept, without further proof, the abrupt
+statement made by a major of his staff, that one of his favorite scouts
+was an American, and probably a spy.
+
+It was the second day after the arrival of the transports.  The two
+officers were alone in the room occupied by General Linares as an
+office, and from it Ridge had just departed after making a report to
+the effect that he had not yet seen anything indicating the selection
+of a landing-place on the part of the enemy.
+
+"What makes you think him an American?" asked the General.
+
+"Because," replied the Major, "I have recognized him.  His face was
+familiar from the first, and when I saw him ride I knew that I had also
+seen him ride before, but could not tell where.  Only now has it come
+to me, and I know that in Yokohama I saw him within a year win the
+great hurdle-race of the English and American residents."
+
+"Even that would not make him an American."
+
+"It was everywhere proclaimed that he was such."
+
+"Are you certain that this is the same man?"
+
+"I am certain.  I now also recall his name.  It was Norreese--the Seņor
+Norreese."
+
+"But he was introduced by Lieutenant Navarro, who is known to every
+one, and whose loyalty is beyond question."
+
+"Did Lieutenant Navarro know him in Spain?"
+
+"I will ask him."
+
+So an orderly was despatched to request Lieutenant Navarro to report
+immediately at headquarters.
+
+The two friends were eating a hasty lunch when this message reached
+them, and Ridge had just announced his intention to start for Daiquiri
+as soon as it was finished.  He alone knew that the American landing
+would be made there, and he wished to be on hand when it was effected.
+Navarro had arranged to go with him, and both were impatient of the
+delay promised by the General's order.
+
+"It is too bad!" exclaimed Ridge; "for we ought to be there now, since
+they may already be landing.  I hope the General doesn't want to send
+us off in some other direction."
+
+"For fear that he may," said the other, "you had better start at once
+towards Daiquiri, and I will follow the moment I am at liberty to do
+so."
+
+"That's good advice," repeated Ridge, "and I will do as you suggest."
+
+With this understanding, and having arranged a place of meeting, the
+young trooper set forth on his twelve-mile ride over the narrow trails
+of the broken and densely wooded hill country lying southeast from
+Sevilla, while Navarro hastened to obey the summons of the Spanish
+General.
+
+"How long have you known the Seņor Remelios?" was the first question
+asked of the young Lieutenant.
+
+"Only since meeting him in Holguin, where General Pando introduced us,
+and ordered me to accompany him."
+
+"Have you noted anything suspicious in his actions--anything that would
+lead you to suspect him of being other than what he claims?"
+
+"I have not, sir," answered the Lieutenant, calmly, though with inward
+trepidation, since the question showed that a suspicion of some kind
+had been directed against his friend.
+
+"Neither have I," said the General; "for he has admirably performed the
+duties assigned to him.  At the same time I am desirous of asking him
+some questions, and so have sent for him.  I will request also that you
+remain during our interview, and carefully compare his answers with
+your own knowledge of his recent movements."
+
+Just here the Major who had recognized Ridge, and who had gone to bring
+him to headquarters, returned with the information that he whom they
+sought was not to be found.
+
+"Do you know where he is?" asked the General, sharply, of Lieutenant
+Navarro.
+
+"I do not, sir, though I think it likely that he has started for
+Siboney, where we had planned to go together to watch the American
+ships."
+
+"Then you will accompany Major Alvarez to that place, find the Seņor
+Remelios, and use your friendly influence to bring him back here.  If
+for any reason he should refuse to come, he must be compelled by force,
+for he is suspected of being an American spy.  I tell you this, because
+there is no question of Lieutenant Navarro's loyalty, and I assign you
+to this duty to show how entirely I trust you."
+
+"I will do my best, sir," replied the young Spaniard, acknowledging
+this compliment with a bow.  Then, wondering in which direction his
+duty really lay, he departed in company with the Major, who was
+impatient to make good his charges against the Seņor Remelios.
+
+Lieutenant Navarro had been moody and unhappy ever since the coming of
+the American transports.  He had not confided his trouble to his
+companion, but had performed his duties mechanically, and would not
+talk of anything else.  Ridge noticed this change in his friend, and
+had formed a shrewd guess as to its cause, but waited for the other to
+speak first concerning it.
+
+In the mean time, as the young trooper neared Daiquiri, he met scouts
+from Captain del Rey's detachment hastening towards headquarters with
+news that the Americans were landing.  At this he increased his speed,
+until he finally reached the hill agreed upon as a place of meeting
+with Navarro, and then his heart was thrilled with the sight out-spread
+before him.  Half a dozen transports and a few of the smaller war-ships
+lay in the little harbor.  Steam-launches towing strings of boats
+crowded with troops were plying between the ships and the one small
+pier that offered a landing-place.  The Spaniards had retreated,
+burning houses and bridges behind them, and already dark masses of
+American troops were forming on the narrow strip of level land
+separating the hills from the sea.  These were his own people, and
+Ridge longed to rush forward and join them, but was faced by two
+obstacles.  One was a strong Spanish force concealed in a ravine
+between him and the Americans as though to dispute their advance at
+that point, and the other was the memory that he had promised to await
+at this place the coming of Navarro, whom he expected to see with each
+minute.
+
+Suddenly, as he impatiently wondered what he ought to do, there came a
+quick rush of feet, and the young Spaniard, breathless with haste,
+stood beside him.
+
+"Amigo," he gasped, "you are in great danger.  By some mischance the
+General has discovered that you are an American, and Major Alvarez is
+charged with your capture.  You have been traced to this point, and
+even now the hill is being surrounded to prevent your escape.  Within
+two minutes soldiers will ascend from all sides, and, until they come,
+you are my prisoner."
+
+At this Ridge started back and clapped a hand to his pistol.
+
+"But I do not forget," continued the other, "that I am also your
+prisoner, on parole not to fight against your countrymen, or that to
+you I owe my life.  So I am come to save yours and aid your escape, or
+die beside you in making the attempt.  First, though, let us exchange
+prisoners, for, amigo, it has come to me within these two days that I
+cannot desert my own people in this time of their need.  Let me then
+remain with them until all is over, which must be shortly.  Then, if I
+still live, I will return to you and seek my cousin.  Oh, my friend,
+grant me this favor, and with every breath I will thank you!  May it be
+so?  Will you do as I ask?"
+
+"Of course I will," answered Ridge, heartily.  "I had already guessed
+your feelings, and made up my mind to give back your parole if you
+should ask for it.  So now you are free to act as seems to you best."
+
+"God bless you, amigo!" cried the young Spaniard, his face radiant with
+joy.  "Now they come!  Conceal yourself, while I do what may be done to
+save you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ROLLO IN CUBA
+
+The sound of voices and of men crashing through the underbrush as they
+advanced up the hill from all sides was distinctly heard, and Ridge
+realized, with dismay, how completely he was surrounded.  It did not
+seem possible that he could escape, but he mechanically obeyed his
+friend's instructions, and, diving into a dense thicket, lay flat on
+the ground beneath its leafy shelter.
+
+At that same moment Navarro raised a great shout of "Here he is!  There
+he goes!  Look out for him!"  He also fired several shots in rapid
+succession; and one of these wounding the horse that Ridge had ridden,
+sent it crashing in terrified flight directly towards the Spanish
+troops in the ravine.  After the flying animal sprang the lieutenant,
+firing as he ran, and yelling to those on the hill to follow him.
+
+With savage cries, and as eagerly as hounds in sight of a fox, the
+Spaniards gave over their careful beating of every covert, and rushed
+from all sides towards the scene of disturbance.  Several of them
+passed so close to Ridge that he could have touched them, but in their
+blind haste they failed to notice him.  In another moment they had
+swept over the crest of the hill and were plunging down its farther
+side.  Before they reached the bottom, Ridge's wounded and terrified
+horse burst from cover directly among the ambushed troops in the
+ravine, by whom it was quickly killed.  Then came the pursuers.
+
+"Where is he?  What have you done with him?" demanded Lieutenant
+Navarro, excitedly.
+
+"Who, seņor?"
+
+"The spy! The Americano!"
+
+"We have seen no one, only this brute of a horse."
+
+"But he was mounted on it.  I saw him and fired.  He fled in this
+direction, and we pursued him."
+
+"He must have been hit and fallen from the saddle."
+
+"Then he is still close at hand," panted Major Alvarez, who had just
+reached the scene, "and alive or dead we must find him.  Scatter, men,
+and search!" he added, fiercely, turning to the baffled soldiers of his
+command, who were crowding confusedly behind him.
+
+This command was never obeyed; for at that moment, with a shriek and a
+roar, a shell from one of the American war-ships dropped into the
+ravine, and burst among the startled Spaniards.  Their presence had
+been detected by the firing on the hillside, and with the range thus
+obtained the Yankee gunners sent shell after shell with deadly
+precision among the ambushed troops.
+
+Completely demoralized by the awful effect of this fire, the Spaniards
+broke from cover and fled, leaving a score of dead behind, and bearing
+with them a desperately wounded officer.  They carried him as far as
+Sevilla, which place they did not reach until the following morning,
+and where General Linares bent pityingly over him.
+
+"Loyal and brave even unto death," he murmured.  "For this last
+faithful service to Spain you shall rank as Captain."  Then, as the
+closed eyes of the wounded man were opened with a look of recognition,
+the General turned to those who had brought him, and said:
+
+"He is too valuable to our cause, and too brave a Spaniard to die if we
+can save his life.  Therefore carry Captain Navarro to the hospital in
+Santiago, and deliver my orders that he receive the best of care."
+
+So the painful journey was resumed, but on the crest of San Juan
+Heights, overlooking the city, the litter-bearers found that they were
+carrying a dead man.  It was useless to convey him farther, and a
+little later they buried him, with full military honors, on the sunny
+slope that was shortly destined to become the scene of one of the
+world's decisive battles.
+
+In the mean time Ridge Norris, snatched from the very jaws of
+destruction by the prompt devotion of his prisoner-friend, had emerged
+from his concealment, and hastened down the hill in a direction
+opposite to that taken by those who sought his life.
+
+After awhile, believing that he had gained a safe distance from them,
+he paused to consider his situation.  A minute later, when he had just
+planned to make a great circuit that should outflank the Spaniards in
+the ravine, and bring him to where the Americans were landing, a rush
+of approaching feet and a medley of voices caused him to plunge into
+the dense growth bordering the trail.  Then catching a glimpse of the
+retreating Spaniards, whom he imagined to be searching for him, he
+forced his way still deeper into the tangle, until they were lost to
+hearing as well as to sight.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, reassured by the unbroken silence of his
+surroundings, our young American attempted to regain the trail he had
+left, but, to his dismay, had failed to do so when darkness overtook
+him.  The idea of spending a night in that Cuban jungle was decidedly
+unpleasant; but as there was nothing else to be done, Ridge quickly
+made such preparations for it as his limited resources would allow.
+His knowledge of Cuban woodcraft was much greater now than it had been
+two weeks earlier, and within fifteen minutes he had constructed a rude
+hammock of tough vines, over which was laid a great palm-leaf.  This
+would at least swing him clear of the ground, with its pestilent
+dampness and swarming land-crabs.  Although he knew that he should
+suffer from cold before morning, he dared not light a fire, for it
+would be almost certain to attract unwelcome attention.  So he lined
+his swinging-bed with such dried grasses as he could find, and nestling
+in it tried to sleep.  For hours this was impossible.  The forest about
+him was filled with strange rattlings, dashings, and other
+indescribable sounds.  He was also cold and hungry.  But at length he
+lost consciousness of his unhappy position, and drifted into troubled
+dreams.
+
+When next he awoke the sun was shining, and there was a confusion of
+voices close at hand.  He could not catch the drift of conversation;
+but, as the tongue spoken was Spanish, he lay motionless and listened,
+expecting each moment to be discovered by some straggler.  For several
+hours his unseen neighbors cooked, ate, smoked cigarettes, laughed, and
+talked without suspecting his presence within a few yards of them;
+while he, desperately hungry, cramped, and filled with impatience at
+this aggravating detention, wondered if they were going to stay there
+forever.
+
+When, after what seemed an eternity of suspense, those who had
+unwittingly kept him prisoner took their departure, the sun had passed
+its meridian, and Ridge, parched with thirst, was suffering as much
+from the breathless heat as he had with cold a few hours earlier.  As
+he cautiously approached the scene of the recent bivouac he found it to
+be where a small stream crossed a narrow trail, and, after quenching
+his thirst, he followed the latter in what he believed to be the
+direction of Daiquiri.  At any rate, it was the opposite one from that
+taken by his recent unwelcome neighbors.  Up hill and down the dim
+trail led him, across streams and through dark ravines, but always
+buried in dense foliage, through which he could gain no outlook.
+
+After our young trooper had followed the devious course of this rough
+pathway for several miles, he suddenly came to a halt, and stood
+spellbound.  From directly ahead of him came a burst of music swelling
+grandly through the solemn stillness of the forest.  A regimental band
+was playing "The Star-spangled Banner," and never before had such
+glorious notes been borne to his ears.  Tears started to his eyes; but
+without pausing to brush them away he dashed forward.  A minute later
+he stood on the brow of a declivity looking down upon the sea-coast
+village of Siboney, which he instantly recognized, though its
+transformation from what it was when he had last seen it was wonderful.
+Then it had been a stronghold of Spanish troops.  Now the
+fortifications crowning its encircling hills, abandoned by those who
+had erected them, stood empty and harmless; while in the village, and
+on the narrow plain surrounding it, an advance-guard of the American
+army was pitching its tents.  Over a building on a hill-side opposite
+to where Ridge stood, which he remembered as headquarters of the
+Spanish Commandant, floated an American flag, evidently just raised,
+and from that quarter also came the inspiring music that had so
+quickened his pulses.
+
+Ten minutes later he stood before that very building, having passed
+through the American lines unquestioned, though stared at curiously by
+those who noticed him at all.  He wore the first Spanish uniform they
+had ever seen, and, not recognizing it, they took him for a Cuban
+officer, several of whom had already visited the camp.  So the young
+American, looking in vain for a familiar face among the thousand or so
+of his busy countrymen, made his way to headquarters, where, for the
+first time, a sentry halted him and demanded his business.  While he
+was thus detained an officer issued from the building, mounted a horse,
+and was about to ride away when Ridge sprang forward, calling:
+
+"General!  General Lawton!"
+
+The officer halted, looked keenly at the sun-browned young man in
+Spanish uniform, and, almost without hesitation, said:
+
+"You are Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders, I believe?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Ridge, saluting, and overjoyed at being recognized.
+
+"I looked for you at Daiquiri," continued the General, "and hope you
+can give good reason for not reporting there as ordered."
+
+"I believe I can, sir."
+
+"Then come in with me and give it to Major-General Wheeler, who is at
+present in command."
+
+Within half an hour the young scout had been complimented by both
+Generals on the success of his recent undertaking, and had furnished
+them with information of the utmost value concerning the obstacles to
+be encountered between Siboney and Santiago.  The first of these he
+stated would be found at Las Guasimas, where the two trails from
+Siboney to Sevilla on the Santiago road formed a junction some three
+miles inland.  A little later he had the honor of guiding General
+Wheeler on a reconnoissance over one of these trails, and pointing out
+the location of a strongly intrenched Spanish force, posted to oppose
+the American advance.
+
+When they returned to Siboney the sun had set, and Ridge, faint for the
+want of food, was wondering where he should find a supper, when a
+mighty cheering, mingled with wild cowboy yells, rose from a point
+where the Daiquiri road entered the village.
+
+"It sounds as though your irrepressible comrades had arrived," said the
+little General, turning to his young guide with a quizzical smile,
+"though I did not expect them before to-morrow.  Perhaps you would like
+to go and welcome them."
+
+"Thank you, sir.  Indeed I should," and in another moment Ridge was
+hastening in the direction of the familiar sounds.
+
+How his heart swelled with loving pride, as he sighted the red and
+white guidons of the on-sweeping column; and when the one bearing the
+magical letter "K" came into view, he could have wept for very joy.
+
+But he didn't weep.  There wasn't any time, for in another minute he
+was among them, proclaiming his identity to incredulous ears.
+
+When the Riders of Troop K were finally forced to acknowledge that he
+was really their own sergeant whom they believed was left behind in
+Tampa, all military discipline was for the moment flung to the winds.
+They yelled and whooped and danced about him, slapping him on the back,
+wringing his hands, and acting so like madmen, that the rest of the
+command stared at them in blank amazement.
+
+As for Rollo Van Kyp, he first hugged his recovered tent-mate into
+breathlessness, and then invited the entire troop to take supper with
+him at the Waldorf in celebration of the prodigal Sergeant's return.
+To this invitation a hundred voices answered as one:
+
+"Yes, we will!  Yes, we will!  Rollo in Cuba, yes, we will!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE
+
+"Couldn't you let me begin that supper with a hardtack right now?"
+pleaded our hungry young trooper, as soon as he could make himself
+heard.  "It's a day and a half since my last meal, which was only a
+small ration of boiled rice, and it seems as though a hardtack at this
+minute would do me more good than the promise of a hundred Waldorf
+suppers."
+
+The hunger that demanded even a despised hard-tack was at that time so
+incredible to the well-fed Riders, that at first they could not believe
+his request to be made in earnest.  When, however, they saw the
+eagerness with which he began to devour one of the iron-clad biscuits,
+hesitatingly offered by Rollo Van Kyp, they were convinced that he was
+indeed on the verge of starvation.  They were also reminded of their
+own keen appetites, for, amid the excitement of that day's landing and
+their forced march from Daiquiri, they had eaten nothing since a
+daylight breakfast.  But each man carried three days' rations, and
+camp-fires were quickly ablaze in every direction.  From these
+delicious odors of boiling coffee and frizzling bacon so stimulated
+their hunger, that when, tin cup and plate in hand, they sat down to
+that first meal on Cuban soil, they pronounced it equal to any ever
+served in New York City.
+
+While Ridge, sharing his chum's cup and plate, was striving between
+mouthfuls of this thoroughly enjoyable supper to answer a few of the
+innumerable questions showered upon him, he suddenly became aware of an
+officer standing on the edge of the fire-light and regarding him with
+interest.  As our young trooper sprang to his feet with a salute, he
+was covered with confusion to recognize in the motionless figure his
+own Lieutenant-Colonel, and to remember that in all this time he had
+neglected to report his return to the regiment.  He began a confused
+apology, but the other interrupted him, laughing.
+
+"It is all right, Sergeant," he said.  "We heard of you from General
+Wheeler, who, by-the-way, is much pleased with the results of your
+expedition.  So I came to find you, with a reprimand for not having
+reported at once to Colonel Wood, but when I saw you devouring
+hardtack, I was quite willing to accept starvation as your excuse.
+Now, however, the Colonel would be pleased to see you."
+
+After an hour spent at headquarters, where he was honored with an
+invitation to eat a second supper, during which his apparently
+unappeasable appetite for hardtack and bacon caused much amusement.
+Ridge was allowed to return to his comrades.  A throng of these
+gathered about the camp-fire of Rollo Van Kyp's mess, and, unmindful of
+the showers that fell at short intervals, listened for hours with
+breathless interest and undisguised envy to the story of his recent
+adventures.  They were happily reassured by his description of the
+strength of Santiago's fortifications, and his assertion that the
+Spaniards would put up a good fight before surrendering them; for they
+had been inclined to think and speak contemptuously of the enemy who
+they feared would yield without a struggle.
+
+So the greater part of the night was passed.  They ought to have been
+asleep, storing up strength against the morrow; but who could sleep
+amid the uproar and excitement of that first night at Siboney?  Not the
+Rough Riders, at any rate.  Half a dozen transports had come into the
+little bay; and from them scores of boat-loads of troops and supplies
+were being landed through the roaring surf on the open beach.  A
+thousand naked figures, screaming, ducking, and splashing one another
+like so many schoolboys on a frolic, assisted and impeded the landing
+of their comrades, who, crowded into pontoons and small boats, were
+pitched, howling with delight, from the crest of each in-rolling
+breaker.  A half-moon and the powerful search-lights of two war-ships
+flooded the whole extraordinary scene with brightness.  On shore the
+dripping arrivals crowded about the red camp-fires drying their soaking
+uniforms, cooking, eating, singing, laughing, and filled with
+irrepressible happiness at having escaped from their "prison hulks" and
+reached Cuba at last.
+
+Thus, at dead of night, was an army landed on a hostile shore, and by
+two o'clock in the morning five thousand American troops were crowded
+in and about the village of Siboney.
+
+Acting on the reports brought him by Ridge Norris and by certain Cubans
+whom the Spanish rear-guard had driven back the day before, as well as
+upon the knowledge gained by his own reconnoissance, General Wheeler
+had determined to attack the enemy, who were strongly posted at the
+forking of two roads leading from Siboney to Sevilla.  The broader of
+these roads bore to the right through a narrow valley, while the other,
+merely a rough trail, climbed the hill back of the village and followed
+the crest of a ridge to the place of intersection.  Both passed through
+an almost impenetrable growth of small trees and underbrush, thickly
+set with palms, bamboos, Spanish-bayonets, thorn bushes, and cactus,
+all bound together by a tangle of tough vines, and interspersed with
+little glades of rank grasses.  To the right-hand trail, miscalled the
+wagon-road, were assigned eight troops from two regiments of dismounted
+regular cavalry, the First and Tenth (colored), under General Young.
+With these Colonel Wood and his Rough Riders, advancing over the
+hill-trail, were to form a junction at the forks, locally known as Las
+Guasimas, three miles away.
+
+So at earliest dawn the troops detailed for this duty were astir, after
+but three hours of troubled sleep.  The regulars, having the longer
+route to traverse, were given a half-hour's start of the others, who,
+in the mean time, made coffee and bolted a few mouthfuls of food.  Then
+troops were formed, First Sergeants called the roll, the order,
+"Forward march!" was given, and the Riders, burdened with
+blanket-rolls, haversacks, canteens, tin cups, carbines, and
+cartridge-belts filled to their utmost capacity, began to scramble up
+the steep hill-side.
+
+The sun was already red and hot, the steaming air was breathless, and
+by the time the top of the first hill was gained the panting troopers
+were bathed in perspiration that trickled from them in rivulets.  A
+short breathing-space was allowed, and then, with Ridge Norris and a
+Cuban scout to feel the way, the line of march was again taken up.
+Next behind the scouts came a "point" of five men, then Capron's troop
+strung out in single file and acting as advance-guard.  Behind these
+followed the main body of the little army, headed by Colonel Wood.  For
+an hour and a half they toiled forward in this fashion, laughing,
+joking, commenting on the tropical strangeness of their surroundings,
+and wondering if there was a Spaniard nearer to them than Santiago.
+
+At length a halt was called, and the wearied men, suffering greatly
+from the sweltering heat, gladly flung themselves to the ground.  At
+the same moment Ridge was reporting to Colonel Wood that he had located
+the Spaniards only a few hundred yards ahead, and behind strong
+intrenchments.  Upon this the Colonel moved cautiously forward to study
+the position, leaving his men to fan themselves with their hats and
+exchange laughing comments upon one another's appearance, utterly
+unconscious of the enemy's proximity.
+
+Suddenly word was passed back for silence in the ranks.  Then came
+"Attention!" and "Load carbines!"
+
+"Something must be up," whispered Rollo Van Kyp to Mark Gridley, and
+just then all eyes were directed inquiringly towards Ridge Norris, who
+was taking a place with his own troop.
+
+"The Spaniards are right in front of us," he whispered, and almost
+instantly the startling news was passed down the line.  There was no
+joking now, nor complaints of the heat, but each man stood with
+compressed lips, peering into the dense underbrush on either side, and
+wishing that the suspense was over.
+
+Now came the hurried forming of a line of battle.  One troop was sent
+straight to the front, two were deployed to the left, and two more, one
+of which was that of Ridge and Rollo, were ordered to force their way
+through the thickets on their right, down into the valley, where they
+were to make connection with the regulars.  While these movements were
+being executed, and with a suddenness that caused every man's nerves to
+tingle, a sharp firing began somewhere off in the right, and ran like a
+flash of powder along the whole line.
+
+Blanket-rolls and haversacks had already been flung aside, and the
+sweating troopers, with their flannel shirts open at the throat and
+sleeves rolled up to the elbows, bore only their carbines, ammunition,
+and canteens of water.  At first Ridge had only his revolver, but
+within five minutes he had snatched up the carbine of a man who fell
+dead at his side, and was as well armed as the rest.
+
+For an hour the Riders fought blindly, seeing no enemy, but pouring
+their own volleys in the direction from which the steady streams of
+Mauser bullets seemed to come.  The smokeless powder used by the
+Spaniards gave no trace of their location, while the sulphurous cloud
+hanging over the Americans formed a perfect target for the Spanish fire.
+
+Still the dark-blue line was steadily advanced, sometimes by quick
+rushes, and again by a crawling on hands and knees through the high,
+hot grass.  Always over the heads of the troopers and among them
+streamed a ceaseless hail of bullets from Mauser rifles and
+machine-guns.  Men fell with each minute, some not to rise again, some
+only wounded; but the others never paused to note their fate.  Those
+who could must push on and get at the Spaniards.  Those who were
+helpless to advance must, for the present, be left to care for
+themselves as best they might.
+
+At length the ever-advancing line reached the edge of a grassy valley
+set here and there with clumps of palms.  To the left was a stone
+building, formerly a distillery, now a Spanish fort, and directly in
+front was an intrenched ridge.  To this the Spaniards had been slowly
+but surely driven, and now they occupied their strongest position.
+
+At almost the same moment, and as though animated by a single thought,
+Roosevelt on the extreme left and Wood on the right gave the order to
+charge.  With a yell the panting, smoke-begrimed Riders broke from
+cover and sprang after their dauntless leaders.  They charged by
+rushes, running fifty feet, then dropping in the hot grass and firing;
+then reload, rise, and run forward.  On their right the regulars were
+doing the same thing in the same manner with the precision of machines,
+while the colored troops stormed the ridge with a steadiness and grim
+determination that won for them undying fame, and answered forever the
+question as to whether or not the negro is fitted to be a soldier.
+
+The assault was unsupported by artillery; those making it had no
+bayonets, and the Spanish fire, ripping, crackling, and blazing in
+vivid sheets from block-house and rifle-pit, was doubling and trebling
+in fury; but there was no hesitation on the part of the Americans, no
+backward step.
+
+The Spaniards could not understand it.  This thin line of yelling men
+advancing with such confidence must have the whole American army close
+behind them.  In that case another minute would see an assault by
+overwhelming numbers.  Thus thinking, the Spaniards faltered, glanced
+uneasily behind them, and finally ran, panic-stricken, towards
+Santiago, while Rough Riders and regulars swarmed with exulting yells
+and howls of triumph into the abandoned trenches.  The first land
+battle of the war had been fought and won.  Wood, Roosevelt, Young,
+Rough Riders, and regulars had covered themselves with glory, and
+performed a deed of heroism that will never be forgotten so long as the
+story of the American soldier is told.
+
+"If we only had our horses we could catch every one of those chaps,"
+said Rollo Van Kyp, as he sat in a window of the ruined building just
+captured by the Riders, happily swinging his legs and fanning himself
+with his hat.  The young millionaire's face was black with powder,
+covered with blood from the scratching of thorns, and streaked with
+trickling perspiration.  His shirt and trousers were in rags.
+
+"It's a beastly shame we weren't allowed to bring them," he continued,
+"for this fighting on foot in the tropics is disgustingly hot work.
+Now if I were in Teddy's place--"
+
+"Private Van Kyp," interrupted Sergeant Norris, sternly, "instead of
+criticising your superiors you had better go and wash your face, for
+your personal appearance is a disgrace to the troop.  But oh, Rollo!"
+he added, unable longer to maintain the assumed dignity under which he
+had tried to hide his exultation, "wasn't it a bully fight? and aren't
+you glad we're here? and don't you wish the home folks could see us at
+this very minute?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS
+
+The fight of Las Guasimas, in which Rough Riders and colored regulars
+covered themselves with glory, was only a first brisk skirmish between
+the advanced outposts of opposing armies, but its influence on both
+sides was equal to that of a pitched battle.  It furnished a notable
+example of the steadiness and bull-dog tenacity of the American
+regular, as well as the absolute fearlessness and determination to win,
+at any cost, of the dudes and cowboys banded under the name of Rough
+Riders.  It afforded striking proof that it is not the guns, but the
+men behind them, who win battles, since an inferior force, unsupported
+by artillery, and unprovided with bayonets, had charged and driven from
+strong intrenchments nearly four times their own number of an enemy
+armed with vastly superior weapons.  It inspired the Americans with
+confidence in themselves and their leaders, while it weakened that of
+the Spaniards in both.  To the Rough Riders it was a glorious and
+splendidly won victory, and as they swarmed over the intrenchments,
+from which the fire of death had been so fiercely hurled at them that
+morning, they yelled themselves hoarse with jubilant cheers.
+
+Then came the reaction.  They were exhausted with the strain of
+excitement and their tremendous exertions under the pitiless tropical
+sun.  Strong men who had fought with tireless energy all at once found
+themselves trembling with weakness, and the entire command welcomed the
+order to make camp on the grassy banks of a clear stream shaded by
+great trees.
+
+In their baptism of fire eight of the Riders had been killed outright,
+thirty-four more were seriously wounded, and fully half of the
+remainder could show the scars of grazing bullets or tiny clean-cut
+holes through their clothing, telling of escapes from death by the
+fraction of an inch.  Ridge Norris, for instance, found a livid welt
+across his chest, looking as though traced by a live coal, and marking
+the course of a bullet that, with a hair's deflection, would have ended
+his life, while Rollo Van Kyp's hat seemed to have been an especial
+target for Spanish rifles.
+
+After regaining their breath, and receiving assurance that the enemy
+had retreated beyond their present reach, these two, in company with
+many others, went back over the battle-field to look up the wounded,
+and bring forward the packs flung aside at the beginning of the fight.
+
+At sunset that evening the Riders buried their dead, in a long single
+grave lined with palm-leaves, on a breezy hill-side overlooking the
+scene of their victory.  The laying to rest of these comrades, who only
+a few hours before, had been so full of life with all its hopes and
+ambitions, was the most impressive ceremony in which any of the
+survivors had ever engaged.  It strengthened their loyalty and devotion
+to each other and to their cause as nothing else could have done, and
+as the entire command gathered close about the open grave to sing
+"Nearer my God to Thee," many a voice was choked with feelings too
+solemn for expression, and many a sun-tanned cheek was wet with tears.
+The camp of the Rough Riders was very quiet that night, and the events
+of the day just closed were discussed in low tones, as though in fear
+of awakening the sleepers on the near-by hill-side.
+
+After the fight of Las Guasimas, its heroes rested and waited for six
+days, while the remainder of the army effected its landing and made its
+slow way to the position they had won over the narrow trails they had
+cleared.  These days of waiting were also days of vast discomfort, and
+the patient endurance of drenching tropical rains and steaming heat,
+the wearing of the same battle-soiled clothing day after day and night
+after night, and, above all, of an ever-present hunger, that sapped
+both strength and spirits.  They had started out with but three days'
+rations, and four days passed before a scanty supply of hard-tack,
+bacon, and coffee began to dribble into camp.  The road to Siboney,
+flooded by constant rains, bowlder-strewn, and inches deep in mud, was
+for a long time impassable to wagons; and during those six days such
+supplies of food and ammunition as reached the idle army were brought
+to it by three trains of pack-mules that toiled ceaselessly back and
+forth between the coast and the front, bringing the barest necessities
+of life, but nothing more.
+
+So the American army suffered and prayed to be led forward, while the
+Spaniards between them and Santiago strengthened their own position
+with every hour, and confidently awaited their coming.  The invaders
+now occupied the Sevilla plateau, and were within five miles of the
+city they sought to capture.  In their front lay a broad wooded valley,
+to them an unknown region, and on its farther side rose a range of
+hills, that Ridge Norris told them were the San Juan Heights, strongly
+protected by block-houses, rifle-pits, and bewildering entanglements of
+barbed wire, a feature of modern warfare now appearing for the first
+time in history.  With their glasses, from the commanding eminence of
+El Poso Hill, crowned with the ruined buildings of an abandoned
+plantation, the American officers could distinctly see the Spaniards at
+work on their intrenchments a mile and a half away, and note the
+ever-lengthening lines of freshly excavated earth.
+
+But for six days the army waited, and its artillery, which was expected
+to seriously impair, if not utterly destroy the effectiveness of those
+ever-growing earthworks, still reposed peacefully on board the ships
+that had brought it to Cuba.  Only two light batteries had been landed,
+and on the sixth day after Las Guasimas these reached the front.  At
+the same time came word that General Pando with 5000 Spanish
+reinforcements was nearing the besieged city from the north.  In that
+direction, and only three miles from Santiago, lay the fortified
+village of Caney, held by a strong force of Spanish troops.  If it were
+captured, Pando's advance might be cut off.  So General Shafter, coming
+ashore for the first time a week after the landing of his troops,
+planned a forward movement with this object in view.  Lawton's division
+was to capture Caney, and then swing round so as to sever all outside
+communication with Santiago.  While he was doing this, demonstrations
+that should deter the Spaniards from sending an additional force in
+that direction were to be made against San Juan and Aguadores.  These
+movements were to occupy one day, and on the next the reunited army was
+to attack the entire line of the San Juan ridge.  In the mean time no
+one knew anything of the valley lying between this strongly protected
+ridge and those who proposed to capture it.
+
+So the order was issued, and late in the afternoon of June 30th, in a
+pouring rain, the camps were broken, and the drenched army eagerly
+began its forward movement.  Lawton's division marching off to the
+right slipped and stumbled through the mud along a narrow, almost
+impassable, trail over the densely wooded hills until eight o'clock
+that evening, when, within a mile of Caney, it lay down for the night
+in the wet grass without tents or fire, and amid a silence strictly
+enjoined, for fear lest the Spaniards should discover its presence, and
+run away before morning.
+
+At the same time Wheeler's division of dismounted cavalry, including
+the Rough Riders and Kent's infantry division, advanced as best it
+could over the horrible Santiago road, ankle-deep in mud and water, to
+El Poso Hill, on and about which it passed a wretchedly uncomfortable
+night.  Seven thousand heavily equipped men, mingled with horses,
+artillery, pack-mules, and army wagons, all huddled into a narrow gully
+slippery with mud, advance so slowly, however eager they may be to push
+forward, that although the movement was begun at four o'clock, midnight
+found the rearmost regiment still plodding wearily forward.
+
+With the coming of daylight, on July 1st, the army lay beneath a dense
+blanket of mist that spread its wet folds over the entire region they
+were to traverse.  It was eight o'clock before Grimes's battery of four
+light field-pieces, posted on El Poso Hill, opened an ineffective fire
+upon the heights across the broad valley.  For twenty minutes the
+Spaniards paid no attention to the harmless barking of the little guns;
+then the smoke cloud hanging over them proved so admirable and
+attractive a target that they could no longer resist firing at it.  So
+shells began to fall about the battery with such startling accuracy
+that a score of Americans and Cubans gathered near it were killed or
+wounded before they could seek shelter.  Among these first victims of
+the San Juan fight were several of the Rough Riders.
+
+About this time General Sumner, temporarily in command of the cavalry,
+was ordered to advance his troops into the valley as far as the edge of
+the wooded belt, and within half a mile of the San Juan batteries.
+
+"What shall I do when I get there?" asked General Sumner.
+
+"Await further orders," was the curt reply.
+
+There were other changes in commands that morning; for
+Brigadier-General Young, being prostrated by a fever, the Colonel of
+the Rough Riders was assigned to his duties, and became "General" Wood
+from that hour.  At the same time his Lieutenant-Colonel stepped into
+the vacancy thus created, and as "Colonel" Roosevelt was destined to
+win for himself and his dashing command immortal fame before the
+setting of that day's sun.
+
+So the Rough Riders, together with five other regiments of dismounted
+cavalry, started down the deep-cut road, which in places was not over
+ten feet wide, and was everywhere sticky with mud, while an entire
+infantry division was crowded into it behind them.  Like all other
+roads in that country, this one, now densely packed with human beings
+advancing at a snail's pace along nearly three miles of its length, was
+bordered on both sides by an impenetrable tropical jungle.
+
+The Spaniards were advised of the forward movement, and though they
+could not see it, were already directing a hot fire at this road, of
+whose location they were, of course, well aware, and from the outset
+dead and wounded men marked the line of American progress.  After a
+mile of marching under these conditions, the foremost troops came to a
+place where the San Juan River crossed the road.  A short distance
+beyond it crossed again, thus forming the ox-bow to be known ever after
+that memorable day as the "Bloody Bend."  A little farther on was open
+country, and here General Sumner obeyed instructions by deploying his
+troopers to the right in a long skirmish line on the edge of the
+timber.  In this position they lay down, sheltering themselves as best
+they could behind bushes or in the tall hot grass, and anxiously
+awaited further orders from headquarters.  The Spanish fire, which they
+might not return, was ceaseless and pitiless, though because of absence
+of smoke none could see whence it came.
+
+Already the loss in killed and wounded was assuming alarming
+proportions, and still on-coming troops were pouring into that Bloody
+Bend, where they must accept, with what fortitude they could command,
+their awful baptism of fire.  Fifty feet above their heads floated the
+observation balloon of the engineers, betraying their exact position
+and forming an admirable focus for the enemy's fire, which, after
+awhile, to the vast relief of every one, shot the balloon to pieces so
+that it dropped from sight among the trees.
+
+For hours the troops waited thus in the frightful tropical heat,
+monuments of patient endurance.  The dead and the living lay side by
+side, though such of the wounded as could be reached were dragged back
+to dressing-stations on the river-banks.  Even here they were not safe,
+for the dense foliage that afforded a grateful shade also concealed
+scores of Spanish sharp-shooters.  These maintained a cowardly and
+deadly fire, the source of which could rarely be discovered, upon all
+coming within range, regardless of whether they were wounded men,
+surgeons in discharge of their duties, hospital stewards, or Red Cross
+assistants, thus adding a fresh horror to warfare.
+
+It was a terrible position, and the American army was being cut to
+pieces without a chance to fire a gun in self-defence.  To advance
+appeared suicidal, to attempt a retreat meant utter destruction.  No
+orders could come over the blockaded road from the Commander-in-Chief,
+miles in the rear, nor could word of the awful situation be sent back
+to him in time.  The men thus trapped gazed at one another with the
+desperate look of hunted animals brought to bay.  Must they all die,
+and was there no salvation?
+
+Suddenly a mounted officer dashed into the open, pointing with his
+sword to the nearest hill crowned by a block-house.  Then through a
+storm of bullets he spurred towards it, and, with a mighty yell ringing
+high above the crash of battle, his men sprang after him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD
+
+A few minutes before this, while the Rough Riders lay in sullen
+despair, with death on all sides and filling the air above them, a
+staff-officer from headquarters, keenly anxious concerning the
+situation and for the honor of his chief, appeared among them.
+Whatever happened, he could not afford to betray uneasiness or fear.
+So he walked erect as calmly as though inspecting troops on parade,
+apparently unconscious of the bullets that buzzed like hornets about
+him.  He was studying the position of the several regiments, and his
+face lighted with a smile as he found himself among the men of the
+First Volunteer Cavalry.
+
+"Hello, Rough Riders!" he cried.  "Glad to see you taking things so
+cool and comfortable.  By-the-way, there is a promotion for one of you
+waiting at headquarters.  It came by cable last evening.  Sergeant
+Norris is promoted to a lieutenancy for distinguished service.  If any
+one knows where he is, let the word be passed.  It may be an
+encouragement for him to hear the good news."
+
+Those men near enough to catch the officer's words raised a cheer, and
+Ridge, who lay among them, sprang to his feet with a flushed face.
+
+"That's him!" shouted Rollo Van Kyp, and the officer, stepping forward
+with extended hand, said, "I congratulate you, Lieutenant Norris, and
+am proud to make your acquaintance."
+
+At that moment Colonel Roosevelt, on horseback, and so forming the most
+conspicuous target for Spanish bullets on the whole field, dashed to
+the front, pointed to the nearest block-house, and called upon his men
+to follow him.  With a yell they sprang forward, and Ridge, being
+already on his feet, raced with the front rank.
+
+In line with the Rough Riders were their fighting partners, the black
+riders of the Tenth United States Cavalry, and at the first intimation
+of an advance these leaped forward in eager rivalry of their white
+comrades.  Across the plain they charged, and then up the steep
+hill-side, while the Spanish fire doubled in fury, and the tall grass
+in front of them was cut as though by the scythe of a mower.
+Spectators in the rear gazed appalled at the thin line of troopers thus
+rushing to what seemed certain destruction.
+
+"It is not war--it is suicide!" cried a foreign attache.
+
+Whatever it was, it afforded an example that others were quick to
+follow, and the moment the intention of the Rough Riders became
+evident, regiment after regiment on the left--dismounted cavalry and
+infantry, regulars and volunteers, Hawkins's men and Kent's--broke from
+the cover that had afforded them so little protection, and swept across
+the open towards the deadly intrenchments crowning the main ridge of
+San Juan Heights.  There was no order for this glorious charge.  The
+commanding generals had not even contemplated such a bit of splendid
+but reckless daring.  Even now, so hopeless did it seem, they would
+have stopped it if they could; but they might as well have tried to
+arrest the rush of an avalanche by wishing.  It was a voluntary
+movement of men goaded beyond further endurance by suffering and
+suspense.  As one of the foreign military spectators afterwards said,
+"It was a grand popular uprising, and, like most such, it proved
+successful."
+
+The Rough Riders and the negro troopers who charged with them had no
+bayonets, and did but little firing until more than half-way up the
+hill they had undertaken to capture.  With carbines held across their
+breasts, they simply moved steadily forward without a halt or a
+backward glance.  Behind them the slope was dotted with their dead and.
+wounded, but the survivors took no heed of their depleted ranks.
+Roosevelt, with the silken cavalry banner fluttering beside him, led
+the way, and there was no man who would not follow him to the death.
+
+Half-way up the hill-side Ridge Norris pitched headlong to the ground,
+and some one said: "Poor fellow!  News of his promotion came just in
+time."  As the young Lieutenant fell, another officer, cheering on his
+men immediately behind him, also dropped, pierced with bullets.  The
+sword that he had been waving was flung far in advance, and as Ridge,
+who had only stumbled over an unnoticed mound of earth, regained his
+feet unharmed, he saw it lying in front of him and picked it up.  He
+was entitled to carry a sword now, and here was one to his hand.
+
+The Spaniards could not believe that these few men, frantically
+climbing that bullet-swept hill-side, would ever gain the crest.  So
+they doggedly held their position, firing with the regularity of
+machines, and expecting with each moment to see the American ranks melt
+away or break in precipitate night.  They did melt away in part, but
+not wholly, and their only flight was a very slow one that bore them
+steadily upward.
+
+Just under the brow of the hill they paused for a long breath, and then
+leaped forward in a fierce final rush.  Over the rifle-pits they
+poured, tearing down the barbed-wire barricades with their bare hands,
+and making a dash for the block-house.  Already the dismayed Spaniards
+were streaming down the farther side of the hill.  A last withering
+volley crashed from the loop-holed building, and then its defenders
+also took to panic-stricken flight.  In another minute the flaunting
+banner of Spain had been torn down, and the stars and stripes of
+freedom waved proudly in its place.  At the same moment, from earthwork
+and rifle-pit fluttered the yellow silk flags of the cavalry and the
+troop guidons; while to distant ears the news of victory was borne by
+the cheer of exhausted but intensely happy men.
+
+Many of them were for the moment incapable of further effort, but as
+many more, inspired with fresh strength by success, dashed down the
+opposite side of the hill in pursuit of the flying Spaniards.  Among
+these was Ridge Norris, waving his newly acquired sword, and yelling
+that there were other hills yet to be captured.  A few minutes later
+these found themselves madly charging, for a second time, up a steep,
+bullet-swept slope in company with other cavalrymen and long lines of
+infantry.  Now they were assaulting San Juan Heights, defended by the
+strongest line of works outside of Santiago.  The Spaniards had deemed
+the position impregnable, and so it would have been to any troops on
+earth save Americans or British; but the men now swarming up its
+slippery front not only believed it could be taken, but that they could
+take it.  And they did take it, as the first hill had been taken, by
+sheer pluck and dauntless determination.  In vain did the Spaniards
+hurl forth their deadliest fire of machine-gun and rifle.  The grim
+American advance was as unchecked as that of an ocean tide.  Finally it
+surged with a roar like that of a storm-driven breaker over the crest,
+and dashed with resistless fury against the crowning fortifications.
+In another minute the Spaniards were in full flight, and from the
+hard-won heights of San Juan thousands of panting, cheering, jubilant
+Yankee soldiers were gazing for the first time upon the city of
+Santiago, which, only three miles away, lay at their feet, and
+apparently at their mercy.
+
+While the troops who had thus stormed and carried San Juan were
+exulting over their almost incredible victory, word came that Lawton's
+men had performed a similar feat at Caney, and after hours of
+ineffective firing had finally won the forts by direct and unsupported
+assault.
+
+Thus the entire line of Santiago's outer defences, many miles in
+length, had fallen to the Americans; but could they hold them until the
+arrival of their artillery?  This was the question anxiously discussed
+at headquarters, where several of the Generals declared immediate
+retreat to be the only present salvation of the American army.  The
+existing fortifications of San Juan Heights were unavailable for use
+against the Spaniards, and it did not seem possible that the tired
+troops could dig new ones in time.  The enemy had as yet suffered but
+slight losses, and still occupied his inner line of forts,
+block-houses, and rifle-pits, nearly, if not quite, as strong as those
+just won from him.  Beyond lay Santiago, with barricaded streets,
+loop-holed walls, and everywhere bewildering mazes of barbed wire.
+
+While the commanding officers discussed the situation, arguing hotly
+for and against retreat, their men dug trenches along the farther crest
+of the San Juan hills.  All night long they worked by the light of a
+full moon, excavating the gravelly soil with bayonet and meat-tin,
+filling hundreds of bags with sand, and laying them in front of the
+shallow pits, with little spaces between them, through which
+rifle-barrels might be thrust.  At the same time they scooped out
+terraces on the slope up which they had charged, and there pitched
+their camps, a long way from drinking-water, but close to the
+firing-line.  Thus by daylight they were ready for any movement the
+enemy might make.  Nor were they prepared any too quickly, for with
+earliest dawn the Spaniards opened a heavy fire, both artillery and
+rifle, on the American position.  In places the opposing lines were not
+three hundred yards apart, and across this narrow space the Spanish
+fire was poured with unremitting fury for fourteen consecutive hours.
+
+The Americans only returned this fire by an occasional rifle-shot, to
+show that they were still on hand, and through the interminable hours
+of that blistering day they simply clung by sheer grit to the heights
+they had won.
+
+On the previous day the Americans had lost over a thousand men killed
+or wounded, and during the present one-sided fight one hundred and
+seven more fell victims to Spanish bullets; but the trenches had been
+held, and that day's work settled forever the question of their
+retention.
+
+In the mean time Lieutenant Norris, who had miraculously escaped unhurt
+from the very front of two fierce charges, was curious to know whose
+sword he was carrying; and so, after San Juan Heights had been safely
+won, he strolled back over the battle-field to try and discover its
+owner.  After a long search he found the little mound of earth over
+which he had stumbled, and was startled to see it was a recently made
+grave.  Beside it lay an officer in Rough Rider uniform, face down, and
+wearing an empty scabbard.  His, then, was the sword; but who was he?
+A gentle turning of the still body revealed the placidly handsome
+features of the young New-Mexican, Arthur Navarro.  Near the grave,
+across which one of his arms had been flung, as though lovingly, lay a
+wooden cross bearing a rudely cut inscription in Spanish.  It had
+evidently been overthrown by the charging Americans.  Now Ridge picked
+it up, read the inscription, and stared incredulous.  "Captain Ramon
+Navarro, Royal Spanish Guards.  Died for his country, June 22, 1898."
+
+"My friend Ramon, killed the very day he saved me from capture!"
+murmured Ridge.  "But how marvellous that they should have buried him
+here, that his grave should have saved my life by giving me that fall,
+and that the bullets intended for me should have taken the life of the
+cousin who was to have been his partner!"
+
+So the two, one from the New World and one from the Old, who loved each
+other, but had been separated during life by the calls of duty, were
+united in death; for they buried the young New-Mexican close beside his
+Spanish cousin, and the grasses of San Juan Hill wave above them both.
+
+Wearing the sword thus intrusted to him, and which he would send to
+far-away New Mexico at the earliest opportunity, Lieutenant Norris bore
+his full share of the second day's fighting on San Juan Heights.  Late
+that night, as he was coming in from the trenches, he was called to
+General Sumner's tent to act as interpreter.  A deserter, apparently a
+Spanish sailor, had just been brought in, and was evidently trying to
+convey some important information that no one present could understand.
+
+"He says," exclaimed Ridge, after listening intently to the man, "that
+Admiral Cervera's ships--coaled, provisioned, and under full head of
+steam--are about to make a dash from the harbor.  He thinks they will
+start soon after sunrise, or when our ships have drawn off to their
+accustomed day-time distance."
+
+Although the reliability of this startling news was very doubtful, it
+was deemed of sufficient importance to be immediately transmitted to
+Admiral Sampson.
+
+"Who is the best rider in your command?" asked the General, turning to
+Colonel Roosevelt, who had assisted at the examination of the Spanish
+deserter.
+
+"Lieutenant Norris," was the unhesitating answer.
+
+"Then let Mr. Norris take my orderly's horse, make his way with all
+speed to Siboney, press into service the first steam craft he comes
+across, and carry this fellow's statement, with my compliments, to
+Admiral Sampson."
+
+Five minutes later our young trooper, once more on horseback, and in a
+blaze of excitement, was galloping for dear life over the rugged road
+by which the army had come from the coast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT
+
+On the memorable morning of July 3d the sun had risen from the fog-bank
+that promised a hot day before our young trooper, wearied and
+mud-bespattered with his journey, and his face still powder-grimed with
+the smoke of the day's fighting, rode into the village of Siboney.  It
+no longer presented the scenes of excited bustle and eager enthusiasm
+that had marked it on the eve of Las Guasimas, for the army had
+departed long since, and only its shattered wrecks of humanity had
+drifted back.  Now Siboney was a place of suffering and death; for here
+had been established the hospitals to which wounded men limped
+painfully from the distant front, or were brought in heavily jolting
+army wagons.
+
+On this peaceful Sunday morning--for it was Sunday, though Ridge did
+not know it at the time--a great stillness brooded over Siboney, and
+almost the only persons visible were medical attendants, who moved
+quietly about the big hospital tents or the fever-infested buildings
+that had been pressed into the same service.
+
+In the little harbor lay but a single steam-vessel, a transport, though
+others could be dimly seen far out at sea, where they spent most of
+their time, which fact largely accounted for the woful lack of supplies
+at the front.  A boat from the single ship that had ventured into the
+harbor lay on the beach discharging freight.  To it Ridge hurried, and,
+addressing himself to the man who appeared to be in charge, said:
+
+"I have an important communication for the Captain of your ship.  Will
+you take me off to her?"
+
+With a contemptuous glance at the disreputable-looking young trooper,
+the man answered:
+
+"See about it when I get ready to go."
+
+"Please make haste, then, for my business is very important, and I am
+in a great hurry."
+
+"Oh, you be.  Reckon you'd better swim out, then, for I've been hurried
+by you landlubbers 'bout as much as I propose to be on this v'y'ge."
+
+Ridge's face flushed, and he wanted to make an angry retort; but there
+was no other boat available, and he could not afford to throw away this
+chance.  So he bit his lips and silently watched the deliberate
+movements of the men, who seemed to find a pleasure in aggravating him
+by their slowness.
+
+The boat could have been unloaded in five minutes, but the operation
+was made to consume a half-hour, during which time Ridge stood silent,
+though with finger-nails digging into the palms of his clinched hands.
+All at once, without a word of warning, the boat's crew began to shove
+their craft from the beach.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge, springing forward.  "I am going with you."
+
+"Why aren't you aboard, then?" asked the mate, with a grin, as his men
+gave another shove that launched the boat into deep water.
+
+Leaping into the sea, Ridge barely succeeded in clutching a gunwale and
+pulling himself aboard, amid chuckles of laughter from the crew.  His
+ducking had not improved his personal appearance, and as he now sat in
+the bow of the boat dripping water from every point, he formed an
+object for so much rude wit and coarse merriment, that upon reaching
+the transport he was furious with pent-up wrath.
+
+On gaining the deck of the ship he hurried forward, and found her
+Captain smoking an after-breakfast cigar in his comfortably appointed
+cabin.
+
+"Well, sir, who are you? and what do you want?" demanded this
+individual, as Ridge presented himself at the door.
+
+"I am an army officer bearing a message of the utmost importance from
+General Sumner to Admiral Sampson; and as this is the only steam-vessel
+in the harbor, I have come to ask that you will carry me to the
+flag-ship."
+
+"If you haven't got cheek!" ejaculated the Captain.  "So you are an
+army officer, are you?"
+
+"That is what I said."
+
+"You don't look it.  Are you the Quartermaster-General?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Thought not.  Didn't know but what you'd claim to be, though, since
+he's the only army officer that I take orders from."
+
+"But I am not giving an order.  I am making a request that any American
+should be glad to grant, seeing that my message concerns the safety of
+the United States fleet, and may alter the whole course of the war."
+
+"What is it?" demanded the Captain, bluntly.
+
+"You have no business to ask," replied Ridge.  "At the same time I will
+tell you, that you may be induced to get your ship under way the more
+quickly.  The Spanish squadron is about to make a dash from Santiago
+Harbor with the hope of taking our fleet by surprise and escaping."
+
+"What is that to me?" asked the Captain, coolly.
+
+"What is that to you!" cried Ridge.  "Why, some of our ships may be
+destroyed if they are not warned in time."
+
+"That is their lookout, not mine.  Besides, Uncle Sam can afford to pay
+for them; while if this ship should be injured the loss would fall on
+the owners, and I should lose my job."
+
+"Do you mean that you refuse to take me out to the flag-ship?"
+
+"Of course I do," responded the Captain; "and not one foot nearer to
+it, or to any other warship, does my vessel move this day than she is
+at present."
+
+"Then, sir," said Ridge, still struggling to maintain his calmness, "I
+will thank you to set me ashore again, as speedily as possible."
+
+"Why should I set you ashore?" asked the Captain, with exasperating
+indifference.  "You came on board without an invitation, and now you
+may stay here until the next boat is ready to run in, which will be in
+the course of an hour or two."
+
+"By which time half the American fleet may have been destroyed for lack
+of warning," groaned Ridge.  Then he added, his face blazing with
+anger: "I hope you are not an American, and I don't believe you can be,
+for you are a traitor, a coward, and a contemptible cur.  I only hope I
+may meet you again some time when I am off duty, and can give you the
+thrashing you deserve."
+
+"All right, my young mud-lark," replied the Captain.  "I'll give you a
+dose of medicine whenever you want it.  Now clear out of here, and
+don't let me catch sight of you again!"
+
+Ridge did not hear these last words, for he was already walking rapidly
+aft, filled with a tumult of rage and perplexity.  What ought he to do?
+What could he do?  Was ever any one so utterly helpless in a crisis of
+such importance?  Not until he reached the extreme after part of the
+ship did a ray of light break upon the situation.  Then he caught sight
+of a yacht steaming swiftly into the harbor.  She might be a
+despatch-boat, or a destroyer, or any one of half a dozen things; but
+whatever she was, she could help him if she only would.
+
+Close at hand was a jack-staff upholding an American ensign.  Acting
+upon the impulse of his despair.  Ridge hauled down this flag, and then
+half-masted it, union down, thus making a signal of distress that
+called for prompt aid from any vessel sighting it.  Then he gazed
+eagerly at the swiftly approaching yacht.  She must have noticed his
+signal, for she was now headed directly for the transport, and Ridge,
+clinging with one hand to an awning stanchion as he stood on the rail,
+frantically waved his hat.
+
+Suddenly a bellow of rage close at hand caused him to look in-board.
+The Captain of the transport, his face purple with passion, was rushing
+towards the jack-staff.
+
+"How dare you hoist the signal of a mutiny?" he howled.  "I'll show--"
+
+"Because there is one on board," shouted Ridge, springing in front of
+the infuriated man, and at the same moment whipping out his revolver.
+"Halt where you are!" he added, fiercely.  "For if you dare touch that
+flag before I am through with it I will blow out your traitorous
+brains!"
+
+The Captain, cowed by the steadily levelled muzzle of that pistol,
+obeyed this order and stood still; but at the same time he yelled for
+any of the transport's crew who might be within hearing to tumble aft
+in a hurry.
+
+In another minute they came--mates, deck-hands, engineers, stewards,
+and stokers--blocking the narrow gangways on either side of the
+deck-house.  But beyond this they dared not go; for they too were
+confronted by that levelled pistol, and its holder's assurance that he
+would fire at the first man who advanced another step.
+
+Thus the single figure with a cocked revolver and the unarmed mob that
+it held at bay faced each other for a full minute, during which time
+the purple-faced Captain raved, foamed at the mouth, and, with bitter
+curses, ordered his men to make a rush at the young pirate.  That they
+did not obey was because of the unflinching steadiness of the young
+pirate's gaze, which they realized would detect their slightest forward
+movement.
+
+All at once Ridge caught a glimpse of a man on the roof of the
+deck-house, just as he dodged from sight behind the life-raft.  He
+thought he had also seen a gun in the man's hand.  The next instant he
+sprang over the ship's rail into the sea, and as he did so a shot rang
+out behind him.  It was not repeated when he came to the surface, for
+the very good reason that an armed boat from the steam-yacht was so
+close at hand, that ere the young trooper had cleared his eyes of salt
+water, its occupants were hauling him aboard.
+
+"Sergeant Norris!" cried an amazed voice from the stern sheets.  "Can
+it be possible?"
+
+"Lieutenant Norris, if you please," answered our dripping hero, with
+what dignity he could command.  "But oh, Comly! get me aboard your ship
+as quick as you can.  It is a matter of life or death!"
+
+"But I am ordered to investigate the mutiny on that transport" replied
+the bewildered Ensign.
+
+"I am the mutiny, and in capturing me you have got the whole of it,"
+declared Ridge.  "So, as you value your future prospects, get me aboard
+the _Speedy_, before it shall be too late."
+
+"All right," answered the young naval officer.  "I'll risk it for your
+sake.  So here goes."
+
+Once on board the despatch-boat our young trooper placed the whole
+situation in a few words before Captain Boldwood, who no sooner
+comprehended it than he ordered his little ship headed up the coast
+with all speed.
+
+"It will be almighty rough on the Admiral," he said to Ridge, "if
+Cervera comes out while he is away, after all his careful planning and
+weeks of weary waiting."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Only that Admiral Sampson has chosen to-day, of all days, to come down
+here for an interview with General Shafter, and we were sent ahead to
+make things ready for him at Siboney.  He was to have followed us
+within half an hour; but perhaps we can turn him back in time.  At any
+rate, we'll do our best."
+
+So the little _Speedy_ flew back over the way she had just come,
+displaying from her masthead as she went a string of gay bunting that
+read:
+
+"The enemy's ships are escaping."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS
+
+As the _Speedy_ rounded the first headland those on board saw the great
+war-ship they were to intercept coming leisurely down the coast, not
+more than a mile away.  The yacht fired a gun to call attention to her
+momentous signal, and within a few seconds an answer, showing that it
+was seen and understood, was displayed from the _New York_.  At the
+same time the latter began to turn, so as to retrace her course.  She
+had hardly begun the movement before the _Speedy_ slipped up under her
+quarter.
+
+"Where did you get your information?" called out Captain Chadwick
+through a megaphone.
+
+"Messenger from the Commanding General," was the answer.
+
+"All right.  Keep on, and warn the fleet, if you reach them before we
+do."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" and then the swift yacht had moved beyond range even of
+a megaphone.
+
+All at once the little group of officers gathered on the _Speedy's_
+bridge, of course including Lieutenant Ridge Norris, knew that they
+were not to have the honor of warning the fleet; for a line of smoke,
+evidently moving seaward, appeared above the hills from the direction
+of Santiago Bay.
+
+"They are coming out!" cried the _Speedy's_ Captain; "and, if they have
+the pluck to keep on, we are about to witness one of the greatest
+sea-fights of the century."
+
+If the entire American blockading fleet had been on hand the coming
+contest would have been too unequal to be interesting.  As it was, the
+_Massachusetts_, _New Orleans_, and _Newark_ had gone to Guantanamo
+after coal, while the _New York_ was too far away to take any active
+part in the fighting.  This left only the _Brooklyn_, _Oregon_, _Iowa_,
+_Indiana_, and _Texas_ on guard, with the converted yachts _Gloucester_
+and _Vixen_ acting as picket-boats.
+
+The American ships lay some three miles off shore under low steam, and
+their crews were preparing for Sunday morning inspection.  Two of the
+battle-ships were overhauling their forward turrets, and repairing
+damages received during a bombardment of the forts on the previous day.
+The _Brooklyn_ lay farthest to the westward, and the _Indiana_ at the
+eastern end of the line, with the _Texas_, _Iowa_, and _Oregon_ between
+them.  Inshore of these were the two yachts.
+
+In Santiago Bay, about to rush out on these unsuspecting ships, were
+four of the finest cruisers in the world, possessed of greater speed
+than any of the Americans except the _Brooklyn_, and under a full head
+of steam: with them were two torpedo-boat destroyers, ranking among the
+most powerful and swiftest of their class.
+
+At half-past nine o'clock of that peaceful Sunday morning, as the
+_Speedy_ was still some five miles to the eastward of Santiago Bay,
+with the _New York_ just completing her turn, two miles farther down
+the coast, a shot from the _Iowa_ drew attention to her fluttering
+signal, "The enemy is escaping."
+
+Almost at the same moment the same startling signal broke out from a
+masthead of the _Texas_, which opened the battle with the mighty roar
+of a twelve-inch shell.  The _Brooklyn_ was also flying signal
+250--"The enemy is escaping"--and within three minutes from the
+discovery of that moving smoke behind the Morro her forward eight-inch
+battery was in full play against the _Maria Teresa_, first of the
+Spaniards to show her glistening hull around the point.
+
+Dashing at full speed from the harbor-mouth, outlined by the smokeless
+flames of her forward turret and port batteries, Admiral Cervera's
+flag-ship was quickly headed to the westward, and for the most open
+point of the blockade.  Behind her steamed the _Vizcaya_, _Colon_,
+_Oquendo_, and the torpedo-boats _Furor_ and _Pluton_.
+
+During the whole long blockade, the one standing order given by Admiral
+Sampson to cover an emergency like the present had been, "Should the
+enemy come out, close in and engage."
+
+Now the ships that he had left on guard did close in with what speed
+they could command, while their sweating stokers toiled like demons in
+the hideous heat of the fire-rooms to produce still greater heat and
+more steam.  As the on-rushing Spaniards cleared the harbor's mouth,
+every American ship was moving towards them and delivering a fire so
+incredibly terrific and of such deadly accuracy that its like was never
+known in the whole history of naval warfare.
+
+At the outset the little _Gloucester_, commanded by
+Lieutenant-Commander Richard Wainwright, who had been navigating
+officer of the _Maine_ at the time of her destruction, made a dash for
+her legitimate opponents, the two torpedo-boats.  They in turn sought
+shelter behind the _Oquendo_, and for a minute it looked as though the
+yacht were about to attack the big cruiser.  Then the _Texas_ began to
+pay particular attention to the _Oquendo_; and, seemingly content to
+leave her in such good hands, the Gloucester again started after the
+destroyers.  Suddenly a great shell from the _Indiana_, hurled over the
+yacht, struck one of them fairly amidships, and, with a roar heard high
+above the din of firing, the unfortunate boat plunged to the bottom,
+carrying with her all on board.
+
+The _Gloucester_ now directed her energies against the remaining
+destroyer, running well within range of the shore batteries to get at
+her, and within ten minutes had so riddled her with a storm of small
+projectiles that she lowered her colors, turned in towards the beach,
+struck on a reef, and in another moment was being helplessly pounded to
+pieces by the surf.  At the same time small boats from the plucky yacht
+that had placed her in this sad plight were busily engaged in rescuing
+such of her crew as could be reached.
+
+In the mean time both the _Teresa_ and _Oquendo_ had received so
+frightful a fire from the _Indiana_, _Iowa_, and _Texas_, that within
+six miles of Santiago Harbor the former, enveloped in flames, and no
+longer capable of defending herself, was also headed for the beach,
+where the gallant little _Gloucester_ soon afterwards came to her
+assistance and rescued hundreds of her perishing crew, including brave
+old Admiral Cervera.
+
+A few minutes later the _Almirante Oquendo_, with colors lowered and
+flames pouring from her open ports, also turned slowly inshore, and was
+beached within half a mile of the Spanish flag-ship.  It was only forty
+minutes since the fight began; but in that short space four of the
+Spanish squadron had been destroyed, without loss of life to the
+Americans, and but slight damage to their ships.  With the burning
+_Teresa_ and _Oquendo_ stayed the battle-ship _Indiana_, her men
+working in eager emulation with those of the _Gloucester_ to save the
+lives of their recent enemies.
+
+The next victim to succumb beneath the terrible American fire was the
+superb _Vizcaya_, which, pounded to death by the _Brooklyn_, _Oregon_,
+and _Texas_, was run on the beach at Aserraderos, seventeen miles west
+of Santiago Bay, a few minutes after eleven o'clock.  Like her
+unfortunate consorts, she also was a mass of flame, and had no sooner
+struck than scores of her people leaped overboard to escape being
+roasted alive.  Among these swimmers a body of Cuban troops poured a
+cowardly fire from the beach; but Captain Evans of the _Iowa_ quickly
+put a stop to that, and stood by the blazing wreck so long as there was
+a Spaniard left to be rescued from flame or flood.
+
+Of all Cervera's powerful squadron only a single ship was now left, the
+swift _Cristobal Colon_, which, by keeping behind the others, had as
+yet come to little harm.  When the _Vizcaya_ was run ashore, the
+_Colon_ was more than four miles ahead of her leading pursuer, the
+_Brooklyn_.  Close on the heels of the latter came the wonderful
+battle-ship _Oregon_, which had unexpectedly developed such
+extraordinary speed that, although starting next to the last of the
+American ships, she now very nearly led the chase.  Next behind her
+came the _Texas_, while the superb _New York_, though still far in the
+rear, was overhauling all three, and had the race been long enough
+would eventually have exchanged broadsides with the _Colon_.
+
+But she was not to be granted that satisfaction; for shortly after one
+o'clock, when the chase had lasted two hours, the _Oregon_ threw a
+couple of great thirteen-inch shells, at a range of five miles, so
+close to the flying Spaniard that they deluged her with tons of water.
+Upon this, to the surprise of every one, and without making any sort of
+a fight, the finest ship of the Spanish navy lowered her flag and was
+headed in for the beach.  After she had thus surrendered, and before
+the Americans could board, she was wrecked by her own crew, who opened
+sea-valves, smashed out dead lights, threw overboard the breech-blocks
+of their great guns, and in many other ways worked what destruction
+they could in the time allotted.  As a result of this vandalism, the
+fine ship rolled over on her side soon after striking, and would have
+slipped off into deep water had not the _New York_ rammed her to a
+better position higher up the beach.
+
+Thus was destroyed the fine squadron that had been a menace to the
+Americans ever since the war began.  Spain's loss was 600 human lives,
+1200 prisoners, and six ships, valued at $12,000,000; while that of the
+Americans was one man killed and three wounded, all on the _Brooklyn_,
+together with a few trifling injuries to the _Brooklyn_, _Iowa_, and
+_Texas_.
+
+And Ridge Norris, from the deck of the little _Speedy_, had been a
+spectator of the whole affair from beginning to end.  Thrilled with
+such excitement as he had never before known, he had seen ship after
+ship wearing the proud colors of Spain driven helplessly to the beach
+by the withering blasts of Yankee gunnery, until all were destroyed.
+Never before had our young American been so proud of his country and
+his countrymen.  Now his wonderful day was to be crowned with a great
+honor; for, no sooner was it certain that the _Colon_ had surrendered,
+than a message from the flag-ship bade the _Speedy_ return with all
+haste to Siboney and land the army officer whom she had brought out,
+that he might convey the glorious news to General Shafter and the men
+in the trenches before Santiago.
+
+"That's you, old man!" cried Ensign Comly, "And I envy you your present
+job a heap more than I did the one you were undertaking the last time
+we set you ashore."
+
+So back past the blazing wrecks of Cervera's squadron and on to Siboney
+dashed the despatch-boat.  The transport from which Ridge had been
+rescued that morning still lay in the harbor, and her Captain, hailing
+the _Speedy_, eagerly asked for news; but none was given him, and he
+was treated to a contemptuous silence that caused him to grow more
+purple-faced than ever.
+
+As Ridge was rowed ashore he directed Ensign Comly's attention to a
+large steam-yacht painted lead-color in imitation of the war-ships, but
+flying a Red Cross flag, that had evidently just arrived.
+
+"She looks a little like Rollo Van Kyp's _Royal Flush_," he said; "but
+what is her name?  G-r-a-y--Gray man?  Gray mare?  Oh no, _Gray Nun_.
+Queer name for a yacht, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes; and those nurses on her deck don't look a bit like nuns," replied
+Ensign Comly.  "Believe I'll make a call if we lie here this evening,
+for I understand that some of the nicest girls in the country have
+enlisted under the Red Cross since you chaps were sent to Santiago."
+
+"Wish I could join you," sighed Ridge; "only I haven't spoken to a girl
+in so long that I shouldn't know what to say."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN
+
+The American army occupying the muddy trenches before Santiago had been
+rendered very unhappy that morning by a rumor that Cervera's ships had
+made a dash from the harbor, evaded the blockade, and escaped almost
+unharmed.  How this rumor started no one knew, but it spread like
+wildfire, and was generally believed.  There was ample opportunity for
+discussing it, since all firing had ceased, while under a flag of truce
+an envoy from General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago.  So
+the men in the trenches were free to stand erect and stretch
+themselves, to wander about, leaving their rifles in position between
+the sand-bags, and even to make little fires, over which to boil cups
+of coffee, all without drawing the fire of a single Spanish
+sharp-shooter.  It was a very novel sensation, and they enjoyed it.  At
+the same time they were not happy, for Cervera's ships had escaped.
+What could the Yankee sailors have been about to let such a thing
+happen?  What a disgrace it was, and how the whole world would jeer!
+Even Santiago seemed hardly worth capturing now.
+
+All at once a sound of shouting was borne faintly to their ears from
+the distant rear.  What had happened?  Had they been outflanked by the
+Spaniards and attacked from that direction?  No, for a band was playing
+on El Poso Hill, and the sound of shouting was advancing, like a roar
+of the sea.  No one looked towards Santiago now, but all eyes, turned
+to the rear, were fixed on the point where the Sevilla road left the
+timber.  At this place they gazed in eager but silent anticipation.
+Suddenly a horseman emerged from it and dashed at full speed across the
+valley, waving his hat and yelling as he came.
+
+Up the slope of San Juan Hill he charged and through the terraced
+camps, that broke into a jubilant roar as he reached them.  But he did
+not pause until he had gained the very trenches, where among the
+wondering Rough Riders he slipped wearily from his foam-flecked horse,
+shouting huskily but exultantly as he did so:
+
+"Sampson has destroyed the Spanish fleet!  Not a ship escaped!  I know,
+for I saw the whole fight!"
+
+"Hurrah!"  "Hooray!"  "Whoop-ee!"  "Wow, wow, wow!" howled the Riders,
+as in their wild jubilation they danced, hugged each other, and flung
+things in the air.  Then they raised Ridge high on their shoulders and
+bore him as proudly aloft as though he alone had achieved the wonderful
+victory of which he brought the news.  Indeed, they seemed to believe
+that but for his presence with the American ships things might perhaps
+have gone differently, and Rollo Van Kyp only voiced the general
+sentiment when he said:
+
+"Lucky thing for Sampson that he had at least one 'Terror' along to see
+that the scrap was conducted according to rules.  How I wish, though,
+that the _Nun_ had got here in time to take part in that fight, for she
+can outfoot the old _Corsair_--_Gloucester_, I mean--almost two to one.
+If she had only been on hand I believe she would have captured one of
+these little fellows alive, before he had a chance to make the beach."
+
+"The who?" asked Ridge, in perplexity, for the latter part of this
+remark had been addressed to him alone.
+
+"The _Nun_.  _Gray Nun_ is her whole name.  My yacht--used to be the
+_Royal Flush_, you know.  I offered her to the government as a gift, to
+be converted into a war-ship.  But they wouldn't accept her.  So I
+changed her name, and turned her over to the Red Cross people, to use
+as long as they had need of her.  Don't know, though, as they took me
+up, for we left about that time, and I haven't heard since."
+
+"But they did!" exclaimed Ridge.  "And she reached Siboney to-day, for
+I saw her there not more than two hours ago, flying a Red Cross flag,
+and crowded with nurses."
+
+"Good enough!" cried Rollo.  "That is almost as fine news as the other.
+The old _Flush_ must feel funny, though, all cluttered up with nurses,
+for that isn't exactly the kind of a crowd she has been used to.  Same
+time, if my steward carried out the orders I wired him, she must be
+loaded to the muzzle with good things to eat and drink, for I told him
+to fill her up with the best to be had in New York City.  So if any of
+the fellows are hankering for a change of grub, all they've got to do
+is to catch a fever or a Mauser bullet, and apply for a berth on the
+Nun.  For my own part I prefer hardtack, bacon, and good health; but
+then tastes differ, you know."
+
+"It was a splendid thing to do!" exclaimed Ridge; "and I don't believe
+there is another in the command would have thought of it.  The boys
+will be prouder than ever of the old regiment to know that it contains
+a fellow not only able but willing to do such a thing."
+
+"Oh, pshaw!" replied Rollo, flushing.  "There isn't one but would do as
+much and more, only some of them don't happen to have yachts lying
+idle.  And you mustn't tell them, old man.  I wouldn't for anything
+have it get out that the _Nun_ is my boat.  That's the reason I changed
+her name.  Some of them might think I was putting on airs, you know, if
+it should get out that I kept my yacht here at Siboney."
+
+"But you'll get leave to run down and see her, won't you?"
+
+"Not much, I won't.  The dear old skipper would be sure to give me
+away, though his orders are not to mention my name in connection with
+her."
+
+So the bountiful supply of delicacies and comforts of every kind
+provided by Rollo Van Kyp were distributed among the sick and wounded
+in the Siboney hospitals, and many a fever-stricken patient owed his
+life to the devoted care of the "gray nuns," as the nurses brought by
+the yacht were generally called; but only Ridge Norris knew whose was
+the generous forethought that had provided all these things.
+
+In the mean time the truce, first declared on that memorable Sunday,
+was extended from day to day, for one reason or another, for a week.
+General Linares had been wounded early in the fighting, General Vara
+del Rey had been killed at Caney, and the command of Santiago had
+finally devolved upon General Toral.  To him, then, was sent the
+summons to surrender.  This he refused to do, but begged for time in
+which to remove women, children, and other non-combatants from the city
+before it should be bombarded.  This was allowed, and nearly 20,000 of
+these helpless ones, frightened, bewildered, and half famished, were
+driven from Santiago to seek such refuge as the surrounding country
+might afford.  War-wrecked and devastated as it was, its resources in
+the way of food and shelter were so slender that hundreds of them died
+from exposure, starvation, or disease, and but for the generosity of
+the Americans, who fed them to the full extent of their ability,
+thousands more must have perished.
+
+And others came out from the beleaguered city; for an exchange of
+prisoners had been effected, and just before sunset on the third day of
+the truce three horsemen rode towards the American lines along the
+palm-shaded highway leading from Santiago.  Two of them were Spanish
+officers, but one wore the white duck uniform of the American navy, and
+behind him clattered an ambulance in which were seven of the proudest,
+happiest sailormen ever turned loose from an enemy's prison.  They were
+Hobson and his men, the heroes of the _Merrimac_, free at last to
+return to their own people.  And never did heroes receive a more royal
+welcome than that accorded this handful of blue-jackets by their
+comrades of the army.  From the outermost trenches all the way to
+Siboney, where a launch awaited them, their progress was an ovation of
+wildest enthusiasm.  Every soldier of the thousands whom they
+encountered first saluted and then cheered until he was hoarse, while
+one regimental band after another crashed forth its most inspiring
+music in their honor.  Out on the star-lit sea lay the great flag-ship
+from which these men had departed on their desperate mission more than
+a month before, and when, late that evening, they again reached it,
+they were once more safe at home with their work well done, and their
+fame established forever.
+
+For a week the truce continued, and while the Spaniards strengthened
+their defences, the Americans lengthened their lines, built roads over
+which to bring up their artillery, provided their camps with bomb-proof
+shelters, and received reinforcements.  Knowing all this, General Toral
+still refused to surrender, and during the afternoon of Sunday, July
+10th, the white flags were taken down and a bombardment of the city was
+begun.  For two hours, or until the coming of darkness, a heavy
+cannonade with brisk rifle-fire was kept up by both sides, but with
+little damage to either.  With sunrise of the following morning it was
+resumed.
+
+"I wonder what it is all for?" asked Rollo Van Kyp, as he crouched in
+the hot trench, industriously firing his carbine at the flashes from
+the Spanish rifle-pits.  "We don't seem to hit them, and they certainly
+don't hit us.  Now if Teddy would only order a charge, it would be
+something sensible.  But this play-fighting is disgusting!"
+
+Just then a Spanish shell burst close above the heads of this
+particular group of Rough Riders, and a fragment from it cut the staff
+of the troop guidon, planted in the soft earth, so that the silken flag
+fell outward.  In an instant Rollo had leaped over the protecting
+embankment, picked up the fallen flag, and, amid yells of approbation
+from his comrades, restored it to its former position.  Then,
+half-turning and swinging his hat defiantly above his head, the daring
+young trooper sprang back to his place of safety.  As he did so,
+something seemed to go wrong, and instead of landing on his feet he
+pitched awkwardly, and then lay motionless in the bottom of the trench.
+
+At the same moment trumpet and bugle along the whole line sounded the
+order "cease firing," and once more the white flags of truce fluttered
+in the sunlight.  Santiago was again summoned to surrender; and this
+time the summons was so seriously considered that, two days later, it
+was obeyed.  Although no one knew it at the time, the last shot of the
+campaign had been fired and the war was virtually ended.
+
+But the last shot had stricken down brave, generous, light-hearted
+Rollo Van Kyp just as he had covered himself with glory and was within
+a hair's-breadth of safety; for, as Lieutenant Norris knelt anxiously
+beside his friend, the gallant young trooper lay as though dead, with
+blood streaming over his face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+TWO INVALID HEROES
+
+Rollo Van Kyp, carefully lifted from the bloody trench in which he had
+fought and suffered so cheerfully, was borne to the rear, and the
+assistant surgeon of his regiment accompanied him to the hospital at
+Siboney.  Ridge Norris wanted to do this, but his duties would not
+permit of his absence, for officers were becoming scarce, and as yet no
+one knew but that the fighting might be resumed at any moment.  So he
+watched the departure of the ambulance with a heavy heart, and the
+whole troop shared his sorrow at the loss of their well-loved comrade.
+
+The next day the assistant surgeon returned and reported Rollo's wound
+apparently so serious that there was little hope for him.  "There was
+just one chance," he added, in answer to Lieutenant Norris's anxious
+inquiry for details, "and, by good luck, I secured it for him at the
+last moment.  He would surely have died in Siboney, but if he can get
+home and into a Northern hospital he may pull through.  By the greatest
+good fortune a Red Cross ship was about to start for the States with a
+number of the worst cases; and, just as she was sailing, I managed to
+get Van Kyp aboard.  She was so crowded that they weren't going to take
+him, until her skipper--as big-hearted a Yankee sailorman as ever trod
+a deck--said he would give up his own cabin rather than have a Rough
+Rider left behind to die."
+
+"What was his name?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Haven't an idea."
+
+"Do you know the name of the ship?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  She is the _Gray Nun_, a converted yacht."
+
+"Rollo Van Kyp's own boat!" cried Ridge.
+
+"You don't mean it?"
+
+"I do."  And then Ridge told all that he knew of his friend's splendid
+contribution to the service that was doing more than the government
+itself towards alleviating the sufferings of the American troops before
+Santiago.  When he finished, he said, "Of course the skipper recognized
+Van Kyp?"
+
+"No, he didn't," replied the other--"at least, not then, for the poor
+chap's face was covered to protect it from the sun, and I didn't
+mention his name until after he had been taken aboard, when I gave it
+to the surgeon in charge.  At first I only described him as a Rough
+Rider wounded in recovering his troop flag, and the skipper said that
+was all he wanted to know about him."
+
+Besides his news of Rollo, the surgeon had brought from Siboney a
+number of letters recently arrived there for the Rough Riders, and one
+of these was handed to Ridge.  Opening it curiously, for he did not
+recognize the handwriting of its address, the latter read as follows:
+
+
+"DEAR MR. NORRIS,--I have just been made very happy by learning from a
+friend of yours, a Mr. Comly, who is in the navy, that you are not only
+alive and well, but still with your regiment, and have done all sorts
+of splendid things.  This is news that will cause great rejoicing among
+all your friends, including your own family, who have been very anxious
+and unhappy concerning you.  Major Dodley reported in New Orleans that
+you had been placed under arrest for desertion--of course no one who
+knew you believed that for a moment--but had escaped and run away.
+Your father was so furious that he gave the Major a horse-whipping in
+front of the St. Charles, and made him take back every word.  Then he
+telegraphed and wrote to Tampa; but half of your regiment had left, and
+those who remained behind could tell nothing except that you had
+disappeared in a very mysterious manner.  You may imagine the distress
+of your father.
+
+"I had returned to my own home, but Dulce wrote me all about it, and I
+received her letter when on the point of starting for New York to offer
+my services as a Red Cross nurse, for I didn't feel that I could let
+the war go on a day longer without having some share in it.  I was
+accepted, and immediately assigned to duty aboard the society's ship
+_Gray Nun_, to which I am still attached.  That is how I happen to be
+here, and I am so glad I came, for I don't believe even you can imagine
+how much we were needed.  I have also discovered you, and shall write
+to Dulce at once.  Hoping that we may meet before long, I remain,
+
+"Very sincerely your friend,
+
+"SPENCE CUTHBERT.
+
+"On board _Gray Nun_, off Siboney, _July_ 8, 1898."
+
+
+"Whew!" whistled Ridge, softly, as he finished reading this letter.
+"If that isn't a budget of news!  Spence Cuthbert here in Cuba nursing
+wounded soldiers!  But it is just like the dear girl to do such a
+thing.  If I had only known of it sooner, though, I might have found a
+chance to run down to Siboney and see her.  Now it is too late, for the
+_Nun_ has gone again.  She will discover Rollo, though, and take care
+of him.  Lucky fellow!  Wish I was in his place!  And Comly, too!  He
+must have made that call and scraped an acquaintance.  What cheek those
+navy chaps have, anyway!  So Dodley reports me as a deserter, does he?
+And the dear old dad horsewhipped him.  Oh, if I had only been there!
+It is a shame that I haven't managed to write home, and I'll do so this
+very minute."
+
+In pursuance of this resolve, Ridge did write a long letter to his
+mother, in which he told of his great disappointment at not seeing
+Spence Cuthbert before she left Cuba, and sent it to Siboney to be
+forwarded at the first opportunity.
+
+After that, other exciting events in connection with his duty occupied
+our young Lieutenant's attention; for at a meeting of Generals Shafter
+and Toral, under a great tree midway between the American and Spanish
+lines, the latter finally agreed to surrender the entire province of
+Santiago, with all the troops within its limits.  On this occasion each
+General was accompanied by members of his staff, and to Ridge again
+fell the honor of acting as official interpreter.  Thus for days he was
+kept so continually busy that he hardly found time for sleep.  Then, on
+Sunday, the 17th of July, one week after the firing of the last shot,
+and two weeks after the destruction of Cervera's ships, at precisely
+noon, the red and yellow banner of Spain was lowered forever from over
+Santiago's municipal palace, and the glorious stars and stripes proudly
+flung to the breeze in its place.  The impressive ceremony was
+witnessed by the Ninth Regiment of United States Infantry, two mounted
+troops of the Second Regular Cavalry, and by the brilliant staff who
+surrounded General Shafter.  Besides these, Spanish officers and
+citizens of Santiago crowded every window, doorway, and portico of the
+cathedral, the San Carlos Club, the Venus restaurant, and other
+buildings facing the Plaza de Armas, and watched the proceedings in
+silence.
+
+As the starry flag of the United States ran slowly to the top of the
+tall staff the Ninth Regiment band crashed forth the inspiring strains
+of "The Star-spangled Banner," and every American present, excepting,
+of course, the troops on duty, bared his head.  At the same moment the
+thunder of distant artillery firing a national salute of twenty-one
+guns and exultant cheering from the trenches a mile beyond the city
+told that the glorious news had reached the waiting army.
+
+At the conclusion of the ceremony, General Leonard Wood, formerly
+Colonel of the Rough Riders, was installed as Military Governor of the
+conquered city, and one of the first to congratulate him upon this new
+honor was the young Lieutenant of his old command, who had been
+permitted to do so much towards bringing the Santiago campaign to its
+happy conclusion.  For Ridge Norris, in appreciation of his recent
+services, had been one of the very few guests invited to witness the
+change of flags.
+
+Shortly after it was all over, as Ridge was slowly making his way back
+to camp, no longer upheld by excitement and utterly weary from his
+recent labors, he encountered a forlorn little group of natives, who
+aroused his instant sympathy.  A young woman, gaunt and hollow-cheeked,
+with three children, trying to make her way back to the city, had sunk
+exhausted by the road-side.  One of the children was a babe held
+tightly pressed to her bosom.  Of the others, one was a small boy, who
+stood manfully by his mother's side; while a little girl, burning with
+fever, lay tossing and moaning on the ground.
+
+As Ridge reached this group the woman cried, imploringly, "Help, Seņor
+Americano!  For love of the good God help me reach the city before my
+little ones perish!"
+
+Ridge could understand and could talk to her in her own tongue.  So in
+a few minutes he had learned her pitiful story.  It was that of many
+another--a tale of starvation, sickness, death of her husband, and of
+homeless wandering for days.  Now her one desire and hope was to return
+to her home in Santiago.  Even before she had concluded her sad
+narration our young trooper had picked up the fever-stricken child,
+and, with the others following him, was retracing his steps towards the
+city.  He did not leave them until they were safe in the wretched hovel
+they called home, and he had procured for them a supply of food.  Then,
+followed by fervent blessings, he again started for the American lines.
+
+[Illustration: Ridge escorts a Cuban family into Santiago.]
+
+That evening he could not eat the coarse camp fare of his mess, and the
+next morning found him raving in the delirium of fever.  When, a little
+later, the Rough Riders were removed to a more healthful camp-ground, a
+few miles back in the hills, Lieutenant Norris, with several other
+fever-stricken members of the command, was taken to one of the Spanish
+hospitals in Santiago, where, three days later, Spence Cuthbert found
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS
+
+The month of August was drawing to its close when an expectant throng
+of people gathered about the wharf of the great military camp recently
+established for the home-returning American army at Montauk Point, on
+the extreme eastern end of Long Island.  Most of the throng were
+soldiers, but among them was a little group of civilians accompanied by
+a young trooper wearing a brand-new uniform, but looking very pale and
+weak, as though recovering from a severe illness.  He was Rollo Van
+Kyp, only just out from the New York hospital to which he had been
+taken more than a month before.  With him, and anticipating his every
+need, were Mr. and Mrs. Norris and Dulce.  Their Long Island summer
+home had not been sold, and now there was no need that it should be,
+since Mr. Norris's affairs had taken a decided turn for the better.  As
+soon, therefore, as they learned that the army was to be sent to
+Montauk, they went to this cottage and fitted it up as a convalescent
+hospital, for any of their boy's wounded comrades to whom he might
+desire to show particular attention.  Thus Dulce, though not enrolled
+in the Red Cross service, wore a nurse's costume, and Rollo Van Kyp,
+who had insisted on coming down to welcome his home-returning comrades,
+was one of her patients.  Now they were looking for Ridge, of whose
+illness they had not yet learned.
+
+Those Rough Riders left behind at Tampa had already been transferred to
+Montauk, together with all the horses of the regiment, and these hearty
+young troopers formed the greater part of the throng now assembled to
+greet the heroes of Las Guasimas, of San Juan, and of the Santiago
+trenches, for Colonel Roosevelt and his men were coming home, and the
+_Miami_, on which they were embarked, was nearing the wharf.  Her decks
+were crowded with men, worn and weary, clad in battle-stained uniforms,
+and filled with a great joy at once more breathing the air of their
+native land.  Already was Rollo recognizing familiar faces, and eagerly
+pointing them out.
+
+"But where is my boy?" cried Mrs. Morris.  "I cannot see him."
+
+The others did not answer, for they too were greatly disappointed at
+not discovering the face they most longed to see.
+
+At length the slow-moving ship was made fast, its gang-plank was run
+out, and the eager troopers began to swarm ashore.  Some were so weak
+that comrades were obliged to support their feeble steps; but all were
+radiant with the joy of home-coming.  Cheer after cheer greeted each
+troop, as with silken guidons fluttering above them they marched from
+the ship, and finally a perfect roar of welcome announced the
+appearance of their Colonel.
+
+"There's Teddy!" cried Rollo, with a feeble attempt at waving his hat.
+"Oh, how good it is to see him again!"
+
+"But my boy!  Where is my boy?" cried the distracted mother, crowding
+her way to the very front rank of spectators.  As she did so, Colonel
+Roosevelt passed close to her, and she clutched his arm.
+
+"Oh, sir, my boy!  Where is my boy?  Do not tell me he is dead!"
+
+"It is Mrs. Norris, Colonel," explained Rollo Van Kyp, pressing
+forward, "and she is disappointed at not seeing the Lieutenant."
+
+"Thank God, my dear fellow, that you are alive!" exclaimed the Colonel,
+grasping Van Kyp's hand.  Then, in a lower tone, he added, "We had to
+leave poor Norris behind.  He was too ill to be brought on a transport,
+but he may come at any time on a hospital-ship.  Here is a note for his
+family from one of the hospital nurses.  My dear madam," he added,
+turning to Mrs. Norris, "your son is alive, but detained for a time at
+Santiago.  If you will excuse me now, I will see you again very
+shortly, and tell you of all the fine things he has done."
+
+With this the embarrassed Colonel passed on, thankful at having thus
+concluded one of the interviews with anxious parents that he so dreaded.
+
+For a moment Mrs. Norris stared after him in speechless agony; for the
+mother's keen ear had overheard his low-spoken words to Rollo Van Kyp,
+and she knew that her boy had been left in Cuba too ill to be moved.
+Then she uttered a moan, and fainted in her husband's arms.
+
+A little later, when the saddened group had been driven back to the
+cottage that had been so happily prepared for the reception of their
+soldier, they read Spence Cuthbert's note, hastily written as the Rough
+Riders were embarking at Santiago.  It told of the terrible suffering
+that had impelled her to remain behind when the _Gray Nun_ went north,
+of her disappointment at not hearing anything from Ridge, and how she
+had at last discovered him in the Santiago hospital, to which she had
+been transferred immediately after the surrender.
+
+"I did not dare write sooner," she continued, "for we had no hope that
+he could live; but now he is again conscious, and has recognized me.
+The doctors talk of sending him north as soon as he can be moved; but,
+remembering the horrors of the _Seneca_ and the _Concho_, I dread the
+voyage for him even more than I do the pestilent air of this awful
+hospital.  In fact, I am in despair, and know not what is best to be
+done."
+
+"I know!" exclaimed Rollo Van Kyp, as Dulce, with tear-filled eyes,
+finished reading this pitiful note.  "He must be brought back on the
+_Nun_.  Mr. Norris, she leaves New York to-morrow with a fresh lot of
+nurses for Santiago, and if you will only take the run down on her you
+can bring the dear old chap back in comfort."
+
+Mr. Norris hesitated a moment.  "Do you realize," he asked, "that if
+your yacht brings back a single yellow-fever patient it may never be
+safe to use her again?"
+
+"My dear sir!" cried Rollo, "if she were all that I had in the world
+she would still be at the service of my dearest friend."
+
+So Mr. Norris thankfully accepted the young millionaire's offer, and
+sailed the very next day for Santiago.
+
+A week later a Red Cross nurse, worn and wearied almost to the point of
+exhaustion by her days and nights of caring for sick and dying
+soldiers, sat in a Santiago hospital beside one of her patients, gently
+fanning him.  His eyes were closed, and she hoped that he slept.  As
+she watched him her own eyes slowly filled with tears; for she did not
+believe he would ever gain sufficient strength to bear removal from
+that house of sorrow.  The air of the ward was hot, damp, and lifeless.
+Sickening odors rising from the streets of the filthy city drifted in
+through its open windows.  The whole atmosphere of the place was
+depressing, and suggestive of suffering that could only end with death.
+
+"Poor Ridge!" she murmured bitterly to herself.  "After all your
+splendid work, it is cruel to leave you here to die, deserted and
+forgotten!"
+
+Just then the patient opened wide his eyes, and an expression of eager
+anticipation flitted across his white face.  "Dad is coming," he
+whispered.  "I hear his footstep.  Oh, Spence, he is here, and will
+take us home!"
+
+The nurse listened, but heard only the moans of other sufferers, and
+thinking that this one had dreamed of his father's coming, tried to
+soothe him with hopeful promises.  Then, all at once, she uttered a
+little cry of joy, for at the far end of the long white ward she saw
+one of the house surgeons escorting a familiar figure.  In another
+minute Mr. Norris, seeming to bring with him a breath of bracing
+northern air, stood beside his son's cot.
+
+"I thank God and you, Spence Cuthbert, that my boy is still alive!" he
+cried.  "And now, how soon can we take him north?  I have Van Kyp's
+yacht waiting out here in the harbor, and we can start at a moment's
+notice."
+
+"I believe I could go this very minute, dad," said Ridge, his voice
+already strengthened with hope and happiness.  "But, father," he added,
+anxiously, "we must take Spence with us; for she has promised to stay
+with me as long as I need her, and I know I couldn't travel without
+her."
+
+"Of course we will take her, son, and keep her, too, just as long as we
+can."
+
+For three days longer Ridge lay on that cot, gaining strength with each
+moment of renewed hope and eager anticipation.  During this time Mr.
+Norris occupied the intervals of rest from watching beside his son with
+visiting the battle-fields near the city over which the young trooper
+had so bravely fought.  On these expeditions he was accompanied and
+guided by a Cuban named del Concha, recommended by General Wood, to
+whom he had rendered valuable service by the giving of intelligent and
+honestly patriotic advice.  When del Concha discovered that the
+American seņor whom he was asked to guide was father to his friend, the
+brave _teniente_ Norris, he was overjoyed to be of assistance to him,
+and completely won the elder gentleman's heart by praise of his son and
+stories of the latter's exploits while executing his dangerous mission
+among the Spaniards of Cuba.  Del Concha also told of himself; and,
+among other things, that, on the very day he had learned of Santiago's
+surrender, he had married his sweetheart, the brave girl who had
+assisted Ridge to escape from the Holguin prison, and who was now very
+nearly recovered from her wound.
+
+At length the joyous day came when Ridge could be moved, and he was
+carefully borne in a litter, by four of the stalwart negro troopers, in
+whose company he had charged up San Juan Heights, through the streets
+of Santiago to the waiting yacht.  Besides the young trooper and his
+proud father, the _Nun_ carried northward a score more of convalescent
+soldiers, to whom Spence Cuthbert, and a group of her companion nurses,
+also returning home from their glorious service, gave devoted care.
+
+On the day that Montauk was to be reached, Ridge was strong enough to
+be carried on deck, where, from a pillowed steamer-chair, he gazed
+happily at the loved features of the nearing coast.  He was the very
+first to spy his mother, who again waited in trembling eagerness on the
+wharf, this time not to be disappointed.
+
+"And there are Rollo," he said, to the girl who stood beside him, "and
+Dulce, and the Colonel.  And oh, Spence, to think that but for you I
+should certainly never have seen them again!"
+
+For many days after the home-coming of our young trooper the Norris
+cottage was strictly quarantined against a possible outbreak of
+yellow-fever; but, as Rollo Van Kyp said:
+
+"Who cares?  I'm sure I don't; for all of the world I want to see just
+now is held within these walls."
+
+The very first time Ridge was allowed to go out, he was driven to the
+Rough-Rider camp to be mustered from service with his regiment.  On
+this occasion he wore a lieutenant's uniform, at which his mother,
+seated beside him in the carriage, gazed with such undisguised pride
+that he laughingly accused her of being more susceptible to the
+influence of brass buttons than any girl of his acquaintance.
+
+Only once after this did our young lieutenant wear his uniform, and
+that was when, two months later, he was married in a little Kentucky
+church to Spence Cuthbert, who, at his earnest request, wore as her
+wedding-dress the costume of a Red Cross nurse.
+
+Dulce was, of course, maid of honor, while Rollo Van Kyp was best man.
+When the simple ceremony was over, and they were all gathered to wish
+the radiant couple God-speed on their wedding journey, Rollo unfolded
+the great news he had received that morning.
+
+"Teddy has been nominated for Governor of New York!" he cried.  "And I
+am to stump the State with him.  When he is elected he is going to make
+me a Colonel on his staff, so that Dulce won't have to marry a mere
+private after all."
+
+And Dulce, blushing furiously, replied, "I would rather marry a private
+soldier who had charged up San Juan Hill than any staff-officer in the
+world."
+
+"How about taking both?" asked Rollo.
+
+
+
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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of "Forward, March", by Kirk Munroe</title>
+<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
+BODY { color: Black;
+       background: White;
+       margin-right: 10%;
+       margin-left: 10%;
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+	a:hover {color:#ff0000}
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+</head>
+<body>
+<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, "Forward, March", by Kirk Munroe</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: "Forward, March"</p>
+<p>       A Tale of the Spanish-American War</p>
+<p>Author: Kirk Munroe</p>
+<p>Release Date: July 7, 2005  [eBook #16231]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "FORWARD, MARCH"***</p>
+<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Frontispiece" BORDER="2" WIDTH="322" HEIGHT="525">
+<H5>
+[Frontispiece: The Rough Riders fought without seeing the enemy.]
+</H5>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+"FORWARD, MARCH"
+</H1>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A Tale of the
+</H3>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+By
+</H4>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+KIRK MUNROE
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+AUTHOR OF
+<BR><BR>
+"THE PAINTED DESERT" "RICK DALE" THE "MATE SERIES" ETC.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATED
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">1899</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<CENTER>
+
+<TABLE WIDTH="80%">
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"><B>CHAPTER</B></TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">A BOWL OF ROSES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">WAR IS DECLARED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">ROLLO THE TERROR</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">OFF FOR THE WAR</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE <I>MERRIMAC</I></A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap17">IN THE HANDS OF SPANISH GUERILLAS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap18">DEATH OF SEŅORITA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap19">CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap20">THE TWO ADMIRALS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap21">A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap22">ROLLO IN CUBA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap23">THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap24">FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap25">RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap26">MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap27">DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap28">LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap29">TWO INVALID HEROES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap30">ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+</H2>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+THE ROUGH RIDERS FOUGHT WITHOUT SEEING THE ENEMY&#8230; Frontispiece
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-034">
+"SILAS PINE GAZED ABOUT HIM WITH THE AIR OF ONE WHO IS DAZED"
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-122">
+"'HIM HOLGUIN SPANIARD.  NOW YOU SHOOT HIM,' SAID THE CUBAN"
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-242">
+RIDGE ESCORTS A CUBAN FAMILY INTO SANTIAGO
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+"FORWARD, MARCH!"
+</H1>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A BOWL OF ROSES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In the morning-room of a large, old-fashioned country-house, situated a
+few miles outside the city of New Orleans, sat a young man arranging a
+bowl of roses.  Beside him stood a pretty girl, in riding costume, whose
+face bore a trace of petulance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do make haste, Cousin Ridge, and finish with those stupid flowers.  You
+have wasted half an hour of this glorious morning over them already!" she
+exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wasted?" rejoined Ridge Norris, inquiringly, and looking up with a
+smile.  "I thought you were too fond of flowers to speak of time spent in
+showing them off to best advantage as 'wasted.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, of course I'm fond of them," answered Spence Cuthbert, who was from
+Kentucky on a Mardi Gras visit to Dulce Norris, her school-chum and
+cousin by several removes, "but not fond enough to break an engagement on
+account of them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An engagement?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly.  You promised to go riding with me this morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And so I will in a minute, when I have finished with these roses."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I want you to come this instant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And leave a duty unperformed?" inquired Ridge, teasingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In a minute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No.  I won't wait another second."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this the girl flung herself from the room, wearing a very determined
+expression on her flushed face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge rose to follow her, and then resumed his occupation as a clatter of
+hoofs on the magnolia-bordered driveway announced the arrival of a
+horseman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She won't go now that she has a caller to entertain," he said to himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But in this he was mistaken; for within a minute another clatter of
+hoofs, mingled with the sound of laughing voices, gave notice of a
+departure, and, glancing from an open window, Ridge saw Spence Cuthbert
+ride gayly past in company with a young man whose face seemed familiar,
+but whose name he could not recall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they swept by both looked up laughing, while the horseman lifted his
+hat in a bow that was almost too sweeping to be polite.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What did you say Ridge was doing?" he asked, as they passed beyond
+earshot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arranging a bowl of roses," answered Spence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nice occupation for a man," sneered the other.  "And he preferred doing
+that to riding with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So it seems."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I am not wholly surprised, for, as I remember him, he was a
+soft-hearted, Miss Nancy sort of a boy, who was always coddling sick
+kittens, or something of the kind, and never would go hunting because he
+couldn't bear to kill things.  He apparently hadn't a drop of sporting
+blood in him, and I recall having to thrash him on one occasion because
+he objected to my shooting a bird.  I thought of course, though, that he
+had outgrown all such nonsense by this time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no nonsense about him!" flashed out Spence, warmly; and then,
+to her companion's amazement, the girl began a most spirited defence of
+her absent cousin, during which she denounced in such bitter terms the
+taking of innocent lives under the name of "sport" that the other was
+finally thankful to change the conversation to a more congenial topic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time Dulce Norris had entered the morning-room to find out
+why Spence had gone to ride with Herman Dodley instead of with Ridge, as
+had been arranged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was that Herman Dodley?" asked the latter, without answering his
+sister's question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, of course, but why do you ask with such a tragic air?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because," replied Ridge, "I have heard reports concerning him which, if
+confirmed, should bar the doors of this house against him forever."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean, Ridge Norris?  I'm sure Mr. Dodley bears as good a
+reputation as the majority of young men one meets in society.  Of course
+since he has got into politics his character has been assailed by the
+other party; but then no one ever believes what politicians say of one
+another."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No matter now what I mean," rejoined the young man.  "Perhaps I will
+tell you after I have spoken to father on the subject, which I mean to do
+at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge Norris, on his way to the library, where he hoped to find his
+father, was somewhat of a disappointment to his family.  Born of a mother
+in whose veins flowed French and Spanish blood, and who had taught him to
+speak both languages, and of a New England father, who had spent his
+entire business life in the far South, Ridge had been reared in an
+atmosphere of luxury.  He had been educated in the North, sent on a grand
+tour around the world, and had finally been given a position, secured
+through his father's influence, in a Japanese-American banking house.
+From Yokohama he had been transferred to the New York office, where, on
+account of a slight misunderstanding with one of his superiors, he had
+thrown up his position to return to his home only a few days before this
+story opens.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now his family did not know what to do with him.  He disliked business,
+and would not study for a profession.  He was a dear, lovable fellow,
+honest and manly in all his instincts; but indolent, fastidious in his
+tastes, and apparently without ambition.  He was devoted to music and
+flowers, extremely fond of horses, which he rode more than ordinarily
+well, and had a liking for good books.  He had, furthermore, returned
+from his travels filled with pride for his native land, and declaring
+that the United States was the only country in the world worth fighting
+and dying for.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Taking the morning's mail from the hand of a servant who had just brought
+it, Ridge entered his father's presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here are your letters, sir," he said, "but before you read them I should
+like a few moments' conversation with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly, son.  What is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge told what he had heard concerning Herman Dodley, the elder man's
+brows darkened; and, when the recital was finished, he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fear all this is true, and have little doubt that Dodley is no better
+than he should be; but, unfortunately, I am so situated at present that I
+cannot forbid him the house.  I will warn Dulce and her friend against
+him; but just now I am not in a position to offend him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, father!" cried Ridge, amazed to hear his usually fearless and
+self-assertive parent adopt this tone.  "I thought that you were--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Independent of all men," interrupted the other, finishing the sentence.
+"So I believed myself to be.  But I am suddenly confronted by business
+embarrassments that force me temporarily to adopt a different policy.
+Truly, Ridge, we are threatened with such serious losses that I am making
+every possible sacrifice to try and stem the tide.  I have even placed
+our summer home on the Long Island coast in an agent's hands, and am
+deeply grieved that you should have thrown up a position, promising at
+least self-support, upon such slight provocation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he ordered me about as though I were a servant, instead of
+requesting me to do things in a gentlemanly way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And were you not a servant?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir, I was not--at least, not in the sense of being amenable to
+brutal commands.  I was not, nor will I ever be, anybody's slave."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh well, my boy!" replied the elder, with a deep sigh, "I fear you will
+live to discover by sad experience that pride is the most expensive of
+earthly luxuries, and that one must consent to obey orders long before he
+can hope to issue commands.  But we will discuss your affairs later, for
+now I must look over my letters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While Mr. Norris was thus engaged, Ridge opened the morning paper, and
+glanced carelessly at its headlines.  Suddenly he sprang to his feet with
+a shout, his dark face glowing and his eyes blazing with excitement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By heavens, father!" he cried, "the United States battle-ship <I>Maine</I>
+has been blown up in Havana Harbor with a loss of two hundred and sixty
+of her crew.  If that doesn't mean war, then nothing in the world's
+history ever did.  You needn't worry about me any more, sir, for my duty
+is clearly outlined."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you propose to do?" asked the elder man, curiously.  "Will you
+try to blow up a Spanish battle-ship in revenge?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir.  But I shall enlist at the very first call to arms, and offer
+my life towards the thrashing of the cowards who have perpetrated this
+incredible crime."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thrilled to the core by the momentous news he had just read, Ridge
+hastened to impart it to his mother and sister.  At the same time he
+ordered a horse on which he might ride to the city for further details of
+the stupendous event.  As he was about to depart, Spence Cuthbert and her
+escort, returning from their ride, dashed up to the doorway.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you heard the news?" cried Ridge, barely nodding to Dodley.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," replied Spence.  "Isn't it dreadful?  Mr. Dodley told me all about
+it, and after hearing it I couldn't bear to ride any farther, so we came
+back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish he had told me before you started," said Ridge, "so that I might
+have been in the city long ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were so busily and pleasantly engaged with your roses that I
+hesitated to interrupt you," murmured Herman Dodley.  "Now, however, if I
+can be of any assistance to you in the city, pray consider me at your
+service."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you assist me, sir, to obtain a commission in the army that will be
+summoned to visit a terrible punishment upon Spain for her black
+treachery?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Undoubtedly I could, and of course I would do so with pleasure if the
+occasion should arise.  But there won't be any war.  The great Yankee
+nation is too busy accumulating dollars to fight over a thing of this
+kind.  We will demand a money indemnity, it will be promptly paid, and
+the whole affair will quickly be forgotten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, his face pale with passion.  "The man who utters such
+words is at heart a traitor to his country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If it were not for the presence of ladies, I would call you to account
+for that remark," muttered Dodley.  "As it is, I shall not forget it.
+Ladies, I have the honor to wish you a very good-morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this the speaker, who had not dismounted, turned his horse's head
+and rode away.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WAR IS DECLARED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Never was the temper and patience of the American people more sorely
+tried than by the two months of waiting and suspense that followed the
+destruction of their splendid battle-ship.  The <I>Maine</I> had entered
+Havana Harbor on a friendly visit, been assigned to a mooring, which
+was afterwards changed by the Spanish authorities, and three weeks
+later, without a suspicion of danger having been aroused or a note of
+warning sounded, she was destroyed as though by a thunder-bolt.  It was
+nearly ten o'clock on the night of Tuesday, February 15th.  Taps had
+sounded and the crew were asleep in their hammocks, when, by a terrific
+explosion, two hundred and fifty-eight men and two officers were hurled
+into eternity, sixty more were wounded, and the superb battle-ship was
+reduced to a mass of shapeless wreckage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was firmly believed throughout the United States that this appalling
+disaster was caused by a submarine mine, deliberately placed near the
+mooring buoy to which the <I>Maine</I> had been moved, to be exploded at a
+favorable opportunity by Spanish hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniards, on the other side, claimed and strenuously maintained
+that the only explosion was that of the ship's own magazines, declaring
+in support of this theory that discipline on all American men-of-war
+was so lax as to invite such a catastrophe at any moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To investigate, and settle if possible, this vital question, a Court of
+Inquiry, composed of four prominent naval officers, was appointed.
+They proceeded to Havana, took volumes of testimony, and, after six
+weeks of most searching investigation, made a report to the effect that
+the <I>Maine</I> was destroyed by two distinct explosions, the first of
+which was that of a mine located beneath her, and causing a second
+explosion--of her own magazines--by concussion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During these six weeks the country was in a ferment.  For three years
+war had raged in Cuba, where the natives were striving to throw off the
+intolerable burden of Spanish oppression and cruelty.  In all that time
+the sympathies of America were with the struggling Cubans; and from
+every State of the Union demands for intervention in their behalf, even
+to the extent of going to war with Spain, had grown louder and more
+insistent, until it was evident that they must be heeded.  With the
+destruction of the <I>Maine</I> affairs reached such a crisis that the
+people, through their representatives in Congress, demanded to have the
+Spanish flag swept forever from the Western hemisphere.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In vain did President McKinley strive for a peaceful solution of the
+problem; but with both nations bent on war, he could not stem the tide
+of popular feeling.  So, on the 20th of April he was obliged to demand
+from Spain that she should, before noon of the 23d, relinquish forever
+her authority over Cuba, at the same time withdrawing her land and
+naval forces from that island.  The Spanish Cortes treated this
+proposition with contempt, and answered it by handing his passports to
+the American Minister at Madrid, thereby declaring war against the
+great American republic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this time Spain believed her navy to be more than a match for that
+of the United States, and that, with nearly two hundred thousand
+veteran, acclimated troops on the island of Cuba, she was in a position
+to resist successfully what she termed the "insolent demands of the
+Yankee pigs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On this side of the Atlantic, Congress had appropriated fifty millions
+of dollars for national defence, the navy was being strengthened by the
+purchase of additional ships at home and abroad, fortifications were
+being erected along the entire coast, harbors were mined, and a
+powerful fleet of warships was gathered at Key West, the point of
+American territory lying nearest the island of Cuba.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then came the President's call for 125,000 volunteers, followed a few
+weeks later by a second call for 75,000 more.  This was the summons for
+which our young friend, Ridge Norris, had waited so impatiently ever
+since that February morning when he had arranged a bowl of roses and
+read the startling news of the <I>Maine's</I> destruction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one in all the country had been more impatient of the long delay
+than he; for it had seemed to him perfectly evident from the very first
+that war must be declared, and he was determined to take an active part
+in it at the earliest opportunity.  His father was willing that he
+should go, his mother was bitterly opposed; Dulce begged him to give up
+his design, and even Spence Cuthbert's laughing face became grave
+whenever the subject was mentioned, but the young man was not to be
+moved from his resolve.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mardi Gras came and passed, but Ridge, though escorting his sister and
+cousin to all the festivities, took only a slight interest in them.  He
+was always slipping away to buy the latest papers or to read the
+bulletins from Washington.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you go as a private, son?" asked his father one evening when the
+situation was being discussed in the family circle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no!  If he goes at all--which Heaven forbid--it must be as an
+officer," interposed Mrs. Norris, who had overheard the question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course a gentleman would not think of going as anything else,"
+remarked Dulce, conclusively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe there were gentlemen privates on both sides during the Civil
+War," said Spence Cuthbert, quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course," admitted Dulce, "but that was different.  Then men fought
+for principles, but now they are going to fight for--for--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The love of it, perhaps," suggested the girl from Kentucky.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know I don't mean that," cried Dulce.  "They are going to fight
+because--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because their country calls them," interrupted Ridge, with energy,
+"and because every true American endorses Decatur's immortal toast of
+'Our Country.  May she always be in the right; but, right or wrong, our
+country.'  Also because in the present instance we believe it is as
+much our right to save Cuba from further oppression at the hands of
+Spain as it always is for the strong to interpose in behalf of the weak
+and helpless.  For these reasons, and because I do not seem fit for
+anything else, I am going into the city to-morrow to enlist in whatever
+regiment I find forming."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my boy! my boy!" cried Mrs. Norris, flinging her arms around her
+son's neck, "do not go tomorrow.  Wait a little longer, but one week,
+until we can see what will happen.  After that I will not seek further
+to restrain you.  It is your mother who prays."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right, mother dear, I will wait a few days to please you, though I
+cannot see what difference it will make."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the young man waited as patiently as might be a week longer, and
+before it was ended the whole country was ringing with the wonderful
+news of Admiral George Dewey's swift descent upon the Philippine
+Islands with the American Asiatic squadron.  With exulting heart every
+American listened to the thrilling story of how this modern Farragut
+stood on the bridge of the Olympia, and, with a fine contempt for the
+Spanish mines known to be thickly planted in the channel, led his ships
+into Manila Bay.  Almost before the startled Spaniards knew of his
+coming he had safely passed their outer line of defences, and was
+advancing upon their anchored fleet of iron-clad cruisers.  An hour
+later he had completely destroyed it, silenced the shore batteries, and
+held the proud city of Manila at his mercy.  All this he had done
+without the loss of a man or material damage to his ships, an exploit
+so incredible that at first the world refused to believe it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To Ridge Norris, who had spent a week in the Philippines less than a
+year before, the whole affair was of intense interest, and he bitterly
+regretted not having remained in the Far East that he might have
+participated in that glorious fight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would gladly have shipped as a sailor on the <I>Olympia</I> if I had only
+known what was in store for her!" he exclaimed; "but a chance like
+that, once thrown away, never seems to be offered again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my boy, it is better now," said Mrs. Norris, with a triumphant
+smile.  "Then you would have been only a common seaman; one week ago
+you would have enlisted as a common soldier.  Now you may go as an
+officer--what you will call a lieutenant--with the chance soon to
+become a captain, and perhaps a general.  Who can tell?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Whatever do you mean, mother?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What I say, and it is even so; for have I not the promise of the
+Governor himself?  But your father will tell you better, for he knows
+what has been done."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Ridge went to his father, who confirmed what he had just heard,
+saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, son; your mother has exerted her influence in your behalf, and
+procured for you the promise of a second-lieutenant's commission,
+provided I am willing to pay for the honor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How, father?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By using my influence to send Herman Dodley to the Legislature as soon
+as he comes back from the war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is Dodley going into the army?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  He is to be a major."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And would you help to send such a man to the Legislature?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you wanted to be a lieutenant badly enough to have me do so, I
+would."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Father, you know I wouldn't have you do such a thing even to make me
+President of the United States!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, son, I know it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And the two, gazing into each other's eyes, understood each other
+perfectly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would rather go as a private, father."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would rather have you, son; though it would be a great
+disappointment to your mother."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She need not know, for I will go to some distant camp before
+enlisting.  I wouldn't serve in the same regiment with Herman Dodley,
+anyhow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course not, son."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose his appointment is political--as well as the one intended
+for me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; and so it is with every other officer in the regiment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That settles it.  I would sooner join the Cubans than fight under the
+leadership of mere politicians.  So, when I do enlist, it will be in
+some regiment where the word politics is unknown, even if I have to go
+into the regular army."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Son, I am prouder of you than I ever was before.  What will you want
+in the way of an outfit?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One hundred dollars, if you can spare so much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You shall have it, with my blessing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So it happened that, a few days later, Ridge Norris started for the
+war, though without an idea of where he should find it or in what
+capacity he should serve his country.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ROLLO THE TERROR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On the evening when Ridge decided to take his departure for the seat of
+war he was driven into the city by his father, who set him down near the
+armory of the regiment in which he had been offered a lieutenant's
+commission--for a consideration.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't want you to tell me where you are going, son," said Mr. Norris,
+"for I would rather be able to say, with a clear conscience, that I left
+you at headquarters, and beyond that know nothing of your movements."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right, father," replied the young fellow.  "I won't tell you a thing
+about it, for I don't know where I am going any more than you do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then good-bye, my boy, and may Almighty God restore you to us safe and
+well when the war is over.  Here is the money you asked for, and I only
+wish I were able to give you ten times the sum.  Be careful of it, and
+don't spend it recklessly, for you must remember that we are poor folk
+now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus saying, the elder man slipped a roll of crisp bills into his son's
+hand, kissed him on the cheek, a thing he had not done before in a dozen
+years, and, without trusting his voice for another word, drove rapidly
+away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a minute Ridge stood in the shadow of the massive building, listening
+with a full heart to the rattle of departing wheels.  Then he stooped to
+pick up the hand-bag, which was all the luggage he proposed to take with
+him.  As he did so, two men brushed past him, and he overheard one of
+them say:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, old Norris was bought cheap.  A second-lieutenancy for his cub
+fixed him.  The berth'll soon be vacant again though, for the boy hasn't
+sand enough to--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here the voice of the speaker was lost as the two turned into the armory.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thanks for your opinion, Major Dodley," murmured Ridge; "that cheap
+berth will be vacant sooner than you think."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, picking up his "grip," the young fellow walked rapidly away towards
+the railway station.  He was clad in a blue flannel shirt, brown canvas
+coat, trousers, and leggings, and wore a brown felt hat, the combination
+making up a costume almost identical with that decided upon as a Cuban
+campaign uniform for the United States army.  Ridge had provided himself
+with it in order to save the carrying of useless luggage.  In his "grip"
+he had an extra shirt, two changes of under-flannels, several pairs of
+socks, a pair of stout walking-shoes, and a few toilet articles, all of
+which could easily be stowed in an army haversack.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Our hero's vaguely formed plan, as he neared the station, was to take the
+first east-bound train and make his way to one of the great camps of
+mobilization, either at Chickamauga, Georgia, or Tampa, Florida, where he
+hoped to find some regiment in which he could conscientiously enlist.  A
+train from the North had just reached the station as he entered it; but,
+to his disgust, he found that several hours must elapse before one would
+be ready to bear him eastward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was too excited to wait patiently, but wandered restlessly up and down
+the long platform.  All at once there came to his ears the sound of a
+familiar voice, and, turning, he saw, advancing towards him, in the full
+glare of an electric light, three men, all young and evidently in high
+spirits.  One, thin, brown, and wiry, was dressed as a cowboy of the
+Western plains.  Another, who was a giant in stature, wore a golf suit of
+gray tweed; while the third, of boyish aspect, whom Ridge recognized as
+the son of a well-known New York millionaire, was clad in brown canvas
+much after his own style, though he also wore a prodigious revolver and a
+belt full of cartridges.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was Roland Van Kyp, called "Rollo" for short, one of the most
+persistent and luxurious of globe-trotters, who generally travelled in
+his own magnificent steam-yacht <I>Royal Flush</I>, on board of which he had
+entertained princes and the cream of foreign nobility without number.
+Everybody knew Van Kyp, and everybody liked him; he was such a genial
+soul, ever ready to bother himself over some other fellow's trouble, but
+never intimating that he had any of his own; reckless, generous,
+happy-go-lucky, always getting into scrapes and out of them with equal
+facility.  To his more intimate friends he had been variously known as
+"Rollo Abroad," "Rollo in Love," "Rollo in Search of a Wife," or "Rollo
+at Play," and when Ridge became acquainted with him in Yokohama he was
+"Rollo in Japan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He now recognized our hero at a glance, and sprang forward with
+outstretched hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hello, Norris, my dear boy!" he cried.  "Whatever brings you here?
+Thought you were still far away in the misty Orient, doing the grand
+among the little brown Japs, while here you are in flannel and canvas as
+though you were a major-general in the regular army.  What does it mean?
+Are you one of us?  Have you too become a man of war, a fire-eater, a
+target for Mausers?  Have you enlisted under the banner of the screaming
+eagle?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not yet," laughed Ridge, "but I am on my way East to do so in the first
+regiment uncontaminated by politics that I can find."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, old man, you don't want to go East.  You want to come West with
+us.  There is but one regiment such as you have named, and it is mine;
+for, behold!  I am now Rollo in the Army, Rollo the Rough Rider, Rollo
+the Terror.  Perhaps it would be more becoming, though, to say 'Ours,'
+for we are all in it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should rather imagine that it would," growled he of the golf
+stockings, now joining in the conversation.  "And, 'Rollo in Disguise,'
+suppose you present us to your friend; for, if I am not mistaken, he is a
+gentleman of whom I have heard and would like much to meet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course you would," responded Rollo, "and I beg your pardon for not
+having introduced you at once; but in times of war, you know, one is apt
+to neglect the amenities of a more peaceful existence.  Mr. Norris, allow
+me to present my friend and pupil in the art of football-playing--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, come off," laughed the big man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pupil, as I was saying when rudely interrupted," continued Rollo, "Mr.
+Mark Gridley."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not Gridley, the famous quarter-back!" exclaimed Ridge, holding out his
+hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's him," replied Van Kyp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And aren't you Norris, the gentleman rider?" asked Gridley.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have ridden," acknowledged Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So has this my other friend and fellow-soldier," cried Van Kyp.
+"Norris, I want you to know Mr. Silas Pine, of Medora, North Dakota, a
+bad man from the Bad Lands, a bronco-buster by profession, who has also
+consented to become a terror to Spaniards in my company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you a company, then?" asked Ridge, after he had acknowledged this
+introduction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have--that is, I belong to one; but, in the sense you mean, you must
+not use the word company.  That is a term common to 'doughboys,' who, as
+you doubtless know, are merely uniformed pedestrians; but we of the
+cavalry always speak of our immediate fighting coterie as a 'troop.'
+Likewise the 'battalion' of the inconsequent doughboy has for our behoof
+been supplanted by the more formidable word 'squadron,' to show that we
+are <I>de jure</I> as well as <I>de facto</I> men of war.  Sabe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you are really in the cavalry?" asked Ridge, while laughing at this
+nonsense.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I really am, or rather I really shall be when I get there; for
+though enlisted and sworn in, we haven't yet joined or been sworn at."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is your regiment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean our 'command.'  Why, didn't I tell you?  'Teddy's Terrors,'
+Roosevelt's Rough Riders.  First Volunteer Cavalry, U.S.A., Colonel
+Leonard Wood commanding."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The very one!" cried Ridge.  "Why didn't I think of it before?  How I
+wish I could join it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And why not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought there were so many applications that the ranks were more than
+full."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So there may be, but, like lots of other full things, there's always
+room for one more, if he's of the right sort."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you imagine I would stand the slightest chance of getting in?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should say you would.  With me ready to use my influence in your
+behalf, and me and Teddy the chums we are, besides you being the rider
+you are.  Why the first question Teddy asks of an applicant is 'Can you
+ride a horse?'  And when you answer, 'Sir, I am the man who wrote--I mean
+who won the silver hurdles at the last Yokohama gym.', he'll be so
+anxious to have you in the regiment that he'd resign in your favor rather
+than lose you.  Oh, if I only had your backing do you suppose I'd be a
+mere private Terror?  No, siree, I'd be corporal or colonel or something
+of that kind, sure as you're born.  But come on, let's get aboard, for
+there's the tinkle-bell a-tinkling."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I haven't bought my ticket yet," remonstrated Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You won't need one, son.  We're travelling in my private car
+'Terror'--used to be named 'Buster,' you know--and the lay-out is free to
+all my friends."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus it happened that kindly Fate had interposed to guide our hero's
+footsteps, but it was not until he found himself seated in the luxurious
+smoking-room of Rollo Van Kyp's private railway carriage that it occurred
+to him to inquire whither they were bound.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To the plains of Texas, my boy, and the city of San Antonio de Bexar,
+where Teddy and his Terrors are impatiently awaiting our advent," replied
+Rollo.  At the same time he touched an electric bell and ordered a
+supper, which, when it appeared, proved to be one of the daintiest meals
+that Ridge Norris had ever eaten.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+During the remainder of that night and all the following day the train
+to which the "Terror" was attached sped westward through the rich
+lowlands of southern Louisiana and across the prairies of Texas.  It
+crossed the tawny flood of the Mississippi on a huge railway ferry to
+Algiers, and at New Iberia it passed a side-tracked train filled with
+State troops bound for Baton Rouge.  Early the next morning at Houston,
+Texas, it drew up beside another train-load of soldiers on their way to
+Austin.  To the excited mind of our young would-be cavalryman it seemed
+as though the whole country was under arms and hurrying towards the
+scene of conflict.  Was he not going in the wrong direction, after all?
+And would not those other fellows get to Cuba ahead of him in such
+force that there would be no Spaniards left for the Riders to fight?
+This feeling was so increased upon reaching the end of the journey,
+where he saw two San Antonio companies starting for the East, that he
+gave expression to his fears, whereupon Van Kip responded, promptly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't you fret, old man.  We'll get there in plenty of time.  Teddy's
+gone into this thing for blood, and he's got the inside track on
+information, too.  Fixed up a private ticker all of his own before he
+left Washington, and when he gets ready to start he'll go straight to
+the front without a side-track.  Oh, I know him and his ways! for, as
+I've said before, we're great chums, me and Teddy.  I shouldn't wonder
+if he'd be at the station to meet us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To Rollo's disappointment, neither Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt nor any
+one else was on hand to welcome the Riders' new recruits, but this was
+philosophically explained by the young New-Yorker on the ground that he
+had thoughtlessly neglected to telegraph their coming.  Being thus left
+to their own devices, and anxious to join their regiment as quickly as
+possible, the three who were already enlisted engaged a carriage to
+convey them to the fair-grounds, just beyond the city limits, where the
+Riders were encamped, leaving Ridge to occupy the car in solitary state
+until morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You just stay here and make yourself cozy," said Rollo, "while we go
+and get our bearings.  I'll see Teddy and fix things all right for you,
+so that you can come out and join us bright and early tomorrow.  So
+long.  Robert, take good care of Mr. Norris, and see that he has
+everything to make him comfortable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This order was delivered to the colored steward of the car, and in
+another minute the excited trio had rattled away, leaving Ridge to a
+night of luxurious loneliness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To occupy his time he took a brisk walk into the city, and reached the
+Alamo Plaza before he knew where he was.  Then, suddenly, he realized;
+for, half-hidden by a great ugly wooden building, used as a
+grocery-store, he discovered an antiquated, half-ruinous little
+structure of stone and stucco that he instantly recognized, from having
+seen it pictured over and over again.  It was the world-renowned Alamo,
+one of the most famous monuments to liberty in America; and, hastening
+across the plaza, Ridge stood reverently before it, thrilled with the
+memory of Crockett and Bowie, Travis and Bonham, who, more than half a
+century before, together with their immediate band of heroes, here
+yielded up their lives that Texas might be free.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge was well read in the history of the Lone Star State, and now he
+strove to picture to himself the glorious tragedy upon which those grim
+walls had looked.  As he thus stood, oblivious to his surroundings, he
+was recalled to them by a voice close at hand, saying, as though in
+soliloquy:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What a shame that so sacred a monument should be degraded by the
+vulgarity of its environment!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it not?" replied Ridge, turning towards the speaker.  The latter
+was a squarely built man, about forty years of age, with a face
+expressive of intense determination, which at the moment was partially
+hidden by a slouch hat pulled down over the forehead, and a pair of
+spectacles.  He was clad in brown canvas, very much as was Ridge
+himself; but except for facings of blue on collar and sleeve be wore no
+distinctive mark of rank.  For a few minutes the two talked of the
+Alamo and all that it represented.  Then the stranger asked, abruptly,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you belong to the Rough Riders?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," replied Ridge, "but I hope to.  I am going to make application to
+join them to-morrow, or rather I believe a friend is making it for me
+this evening.  Are you one of them, sir?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, though I have not yet joined.  In fact, I have only just reached
+San Antonio."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So have I," said Ridge.  "I came in on the Eastern train less than an
+hour ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Strange that I did not see you," remarked the other.  "Were you in the
+Pullman?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I was in a private car."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I noticed that there was one, though I did not know to whom it
+belonged.  Is it yours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh no!" laughed Ridge.  "I am far too poor to own anything so
+luxurious.  It belongs to my friend, Mr. Roland Van Kyp, of New York."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sometimes called Rollo?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; do you know him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have met him.  Is he the one who is to use his influence in your
+behalf?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you ride a horse?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have ridden," rejoined Ridge, modestly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In many places.  The last was Japan, where I won the silver hurdles of
+the Yokohama gymkana."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed!  And your name is--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ridge Norris," replied the young man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have heard the name, and am glad to know you, Mr. Norris.  Now I
+must bid you good-evening.  Hope we shall meet again, and trust you may
+be successful in joining our regiment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this the stranger walked rapidly away, leaving Ridge somewhat
+puzzled by his manner, and wishing he had asked his name.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About eight o'clock the next morning, as Ridge, waited on by the
+attentive Robert, was sitting down to the daintily appointed
+breakfast-table of Rollo Van Kyp's car, the young owner himself burst
+into the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hello, Norris!" he cried.  "Just going to have lunch?  Don't care if I
+join you.  Had breakfast hours ago, you know, and a prime one it was.
+Scouse, slumgullion, hushpuppy, dope without milk, and all sorts of
+things.  I tell you life in camp is fine, and no mistake.  Slept in a
+dog-tent last night with a full-blooded Indian--Choctaw or something of
+that kind, one of the best fellows I ever met.  Couldn't catch on to
+his name, but it doesn't make any difference, for all the boys call him
+'Hully Gee'--'Hully' for short, you know.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But such fun and such a rum crowd you never saw!  Why, there are
+cowboys, ranchers, prospectors, coppers, ex-sheriffs, sailors,
+mine-owners, men from every college in the country, tennis champions,
+football-players, rowing-men, polo-players, planters, African
+explorers, big-game hunters, ex-revenue-officers, and Indian-fighters,
+besides any number of others who have led the wildest kinds of life,
+all chock-full of stories, and ready to fire 'em off at a touch of the
+trigger.  Teddy hasn't come yet, and so I haven't been able to do
+anything for you; but you must trot right out, all the same, and join
+our mess.  Besides, I want you to pick out a horse for me, something
+nice and quiet, 'cause I'm not a dead game rider, you know.  Same time
+he must be good to look at, sound, and fit in every respect.  I've
+already bought one this morning, a devilish pretty little mare, on Sile
+Pine's say-so that she was gentle, but after a slight though very
+trying experience, I'm afraid a bronco-buster's ideas of gentleness and
+mine don't exactly agree."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why?  Did she throw you?" asked Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, she didn't exactly throw me.  I was merely projected about a
+thousand yards as though from a dynamite-gun, and then the brute tried
+to chew me up.  You see she's a Mexican--what Mark Twain would call a
+'genuine Mexican plug'--and doesn't seem to sabe United States; for
+when I began to reason with her she simply went wild.  I left her
+tearing through the camp like a steam-cyclone, and if we find anything
+at all to show where it was located, it is more than I hope for.  But
+there's a new lot of prime-looking cattle just arrived, and they are
+going like hot cakes; so come along quick and help me get something
+rideable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half an hour later Ridge found himself in the first army camp he had
+ever visited, amid a body of men the most heterogeneous but typically
+American ever gathered together.  Millionaire dudes and clubmen from
+the great Eastern cities fraternized with the wildest representatives
+of far Western life.  Men of every calling and social position, all
+wearing blue flannel shirts and slouch hats, were here mingled on terms
+of perfect equality.  They were drilling, shooting, skylarking, playing
+cards, performing incredible feats on horseback, cooking, eating,
+singing, yelling, and behaving in every respect like a lot of
+irrepressible schoolboys out for a holiday.  Here a red-headed Irish
+corporal damned the awkwardness of a young Boston swell, fresh from
+Harvard, who had been detailed as cook in a company kitchen; while,
+close at hand, a New-Yorker of the bluest blood was washing dishes with
+the deftness gained from long experience on a New Mexican sheep-ranch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge and Rollo passed through one of the canvas-bordered streets of
+this unique camp, the former suddenly leaped aside with an exclamation
+of alarm.  An unknown beast, fortunately chained, had made a spring at
+him, with sharp claws barely missing his leg.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mustn't mind a little thing like that," laughed Rollo, with the
+air of one to whom such incidents were of every-day occurrence.  "It's
+only 'Josephine,' a young mountain lion from Arizona, and our
+regimental mascot.  She's very playful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So it seems," replied Ridge, "and I suppose I shall learn to like her
+if I join the regiment; but the introduction was a little startling."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A short distance beyond the camp was gathered a confused group of
+officers, troopers, men in citizen's dress, some of whom were
+swart-faced Mexicans, and horses.  To this Rollo led the way; and, as
+the new-comers drew near they saw that for a moment all eyes were
+directed towards a man engaged in a fierce struggle with a horse.  The
+animal was a beautiful chestnut mare with slender limbs, glossy coat,
+and superb form.  Good as she was to look upon, she was just then
+exhibiting the spirit of a wild-cat or anything else that is most
+savage and untamable, and was attempting, with desperate struggles, to
+throw and kill the man who rode her.  He was our recent acquaintance,
+Silas Pine, bronco-buster from the Bad Lands, who, with clinched teeth
+and rigid features, was in full practice of his chosen profession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All at once, no one could tell how, but with a furious effort the mare
+shook off her hated burden, and, with a snort of triumph, dashed madly
+away.  The man was flung heavily to the ground, where he lay motionless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's my horse," remarked Rollo, quietly, "and Sile undertook to
+either break or kill her.  Nice, gentle beast, isn't she?  Hello,
+you're in luck, for there's Roosevelt now.  Oh, Teddy!  I say, Teddy!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two officers on horseback were approaching the scene, and in one of
+them Ridge recognized his chance acquaintance of the evening before.
+Towards this individual Van Kyp was running.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All at once the second officer, who proved to be Colonel Leonard Wood
+of the regular army, now commanding the Riders, turned to a sergeant
+who stood near by, and said, sharply:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arrest that man and take him to the guard-house.  We have had enough
+of this 'Teddy' business, and I want it distinctly understood that
+hereafter Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt is to receive the title of his
+rank from every man in this command."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In another moment Rollo Van Kyp had been seized by the brawny sergeant,
+lately a mounted policeman of New York city, and was being marched
+protestingly away, leaving Ridge bewildered, friendless, and uncertain
+what to do.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While our hero stood irresolute, he saw Silas Pine gain a sitting
+posture, and gaze about him with the air of one who is dazed.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-034"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-034.jpg" ALT="Silas Pine gazed about him with the air of one who is dazed." BORDER="2" WIDTH="322" HEIGHT="377">
+<H5>
+[Illustration: "Silas Pine gazed about him with the air of one who is dazed."]
+</H5>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Are you badly hurt?" inquired Ridge, as he reached the man's side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know," replied Silas, moving his limbs cautiously, and feeling
+of various portions of his body to ascertain if any bones were broken.
+"Reckon not.  But will you kindly tell me what happened?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were breaking in Mr. Van Kyp's horse, and got thrown," replied
+Ridge, as gravely as possible, but with an irrepressible smile lurking
+in the corners of his mouth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bronco-buster, noting this, became instantly filled with wrath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Got thrown, did I?  And you think it a thing to laugh at, do you?
+Well, you wouldn't if you'd been in my place.  I claim to know
+something about hosses, and I tell you that's not one at all.  She's a
+'hoss devil,' that's what she is, for all she looks quiet as a sheep.
+But I'll kill her yet or die trying to tame her; for such a brute's not
+fit to live."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Won't you let me try my hand at it first?" asked Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You? you?" exclaimed the man in contemptuous amazement.  "Yes, I will,
+for if you are fool enough to tackle her, you are only fit to be
+killed, and might as well die now as later.  Oh yes, young feller, you
+can try it; only leave us a lock of your hair to remember you by, and
+we'll give you a first-class funeral."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time two Mexican riders, who had started in pursuit of the
+runaway animal, had cornered it in an angle of the high fence
+surrounding the camp-grounds, flung their ropes over its head, and were
+dragging it back, choking and gasping for breath, to the scene of its
+recent triumph.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge in Spanish, running towards them as he spoke,
+and shouting commands in their own language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slipping the cruel ropes from the neck of the quivering mare, that
+stared at him with wild eyes, Ridge petted and soothed her, at the same
+time talking gently in Spanish, a tongue that she showed signs of
+understanding by pricking forward her shapely ears.  After a little
+Ridge led the animal to a watering-trough, where she drank greedily,
+and then into camp, where he begged a handful of sugar from one of the
+cooks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some ten minutes later, without having yet attempted to gain the
+saddle, he led the mare back to the place from which they had started,
+all the while talking to her and stroking her glossy neck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why don't you ride?" growled Silas Pine, who still remained on the
+scene of his recent discomfiture, and had watched Ridge's movements
+curiously.  "Any fool can lead a hoss to water and back again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For answer Ridge gathered up the bridle reins, and placing his hands on
+pommel and cantle, sprang lightly into the saddle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mare laid her ears flat back and began to tremble with rage, but
+her rider, bending low over the proud neck, talked to her as though she
+were a human being, and in another moment they were off like the wind.
+Twice they circled the entire grounds at a speed as yet unequalled in
+the camp, and then drew up sharply where Silas Pine still stood
+awaiting them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Norris," said that individual, stepping forward, "I owe you an
+apology, and must say I never saw a finer--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here the mare snapped viciously at the bronco-buster, from whose
+spurs her flanks were still bleeding, and leaped sideways with so
+sudden a movement that any but a most practiced rider would have been
+flung to the ground.  Without appearing in the least disconcerted by
+this performance, Ridge began to reply to Silas Pine, but was
+interrupted by the approach of the two mounted officers, who had
+watched the recent lesson in bronco-breaking with deep interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you do that with any horse?" inquired Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, abruptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe I can, sir," replied Ridge, lifting his hand in salute.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I heard you talking in Spanish.  Do you speak it fluently?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As well as I do English, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe you wish to enlist in this regiment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a friend of Private Van Kyp?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The one in whose behalf he was about to make application."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge again answered in the affirmative.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Colonel, I believe we want this young man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe we do," replied Colonel Wood.  Then, to Ridge, he added: "If
+you can pass a satisfactory physical examination, I know of no reason
+why you should not be permitted to join this command.  I want you to
+understand, though, that every man admitted to it is chosen solely for
+personal merit, and not through friendship or any influence, political
+or otherwise, that he may possess.  Now you may take that horse to the
+picket-line, see that it is properly cared for, and report at my
+quarters in half an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without uttering a word in reply, but again saluting, Ridge rode away
+happier than he had ever been in his life, and prouder even than when
+he had won the silver hurdles at Yokohama.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An hour later he had successfully passed his physical examination, and
+was waiting, with a dozen other recruits, to be sworn into the military
+service of the United States.  To these men came Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, who had just resigned the Assistant-Secretaryship of the
+Navy in order to join the front rank of those who were to fight his
+country's battles.  To them he said: "Gentlemen, you have reached the
+last point.  If any one of you does not mean business, let him say so
+now.  In a few minutes more it will be too late to back out.  Once in,
+you must see the thing through, performing without flinching whatever
+duty is assigned to you, regardless of its difficulty or danger.  If it
+be garrison duty, you must attend to it; if meeting the fever, you must
+be willing; if it is the hardest kind of fighting, you must be anxious
+for it.  You must know how to ride, how to shoot, and how to live in
+the open, lacking all the luxuries and often the necessities of life.
+No matter what comes, you must not squeal.  Remember, above everything,
+that absolute obedience to every command is your first lesson.  Now
+think it over, and if any man wishes to withdraw, he will be gladly
+excused, for hundreds stand ready to take his place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Did any of those young men accept this chance to escape the dangers and
+privations, the hardships and sufferings, awaiting them?  Not one, but
+all joined in an eager rivalry to first take the oath of allegiance and
+obedience, and sign the regimental roll.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As it happened, this honor fell to Ridge Norris, and a few minutes
+later he passed out of the building an enlisted soldier of the United
+States, a private in its first regiment of volunteer cavalry, and
+ordered to report to the first sergeant of Troop "K"--Rollo Van Kyp's
+troop, he remembered with pleasure.  "Poor old boy! how I wish I could
+see him and tell him of my good luck!" he reflected.  "Wonder how long
+he will be kept in that beastly guard-house?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the moment our young trooper was passing headquarters, and even as
+this thought came into his mind, he was bidden by Colonel Wood to
+deliver a written order to the corporal of the guard.  "It is for the
+release from arrest of your friend Van Kyp," explained the colonel,
+kindly, "and you may tell him that it was obtained through the
+intercession of Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a light heart Ridge hastened to perform this first act of his
+military service; and not long afterwards he and Rollo were happily
+engaged, under the supervision of Sergeant Higgins, in erecting the
+little dog-tent that they were to occupy in company, and settling their
+scanty belongings within its narrow limits.  When this was finally
+accomplished to their satisfaction, they went to the picket-line to
+visit the pretty and high-spirited mare that had been the immediate
+cause of Ridge's good fortune.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Isn't she a beauty?" he exclaimed, walking directly up to the mare,
+and throwing an arm about her neck, a caress to which the animal
+submitted with evident pleasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," admitted Rollo, hesitatingly, as he stepped nimbly aside to
+avoid a snap of white teeth.  "I suppose she is, but she seems awfully
+vicious, and I can't say that she is exactly the style of horse that I
+most admire.  Tell you what I'll do, Norris.  I'll give her to you,
+seeing that you and she seem to hit it off so well.  You've won her by
+rights, anyhow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge's face flushed.  He already loved the mare, and longed to own
+her, but his pride forbade him to accept so valuable a gift from one
+who was but little more than a stranger.  So he said;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh no!  Thanks, awfully, old man, but I couldn't think of taking her
+in that way.  If you don't mind, though, I'll buy the mare of you,
+gladly paying whatever you gave for her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good," replied Rollo, who imagined Ridge to be quite well off,
+and to whom any question of money was of slight consequence.  "I paid
+an even hundred dollars for her with saddle and bridle thrown in, and
+if you won't accept her as a gift, you may have her for that sum."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Done," said Ridge, "and here's your money."  With this he pulled from
+his pocket the roll of bills that his father, bidding him not to spend
+them recklessly, had thrust into his hand on parting, and which until
+now he had not found occasion to touch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although this left our young soldier penniless, he did not for a moment
+regret the transaction by which he had gained possession of what he
+considered the very best mount in the whole regiment.  He at once named
+the beautiful mare "Seņorita," and upon her he lavished a wealth of
+affection that seemed to be fully reciprocated.  While no one else
+could do anything with her, in Ridge's hands she gained a knowledge of
+cavalry tactics as readily as did her young master, and by her quick
+precision of movement when on drill or parade she was instrumental in
+raising him first to the grade of corporal, and then to that of
+sergeant, which was the rank he held three weeks later, on the eve of
+the Rough Riders' departure for Tampa.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time the days spent at San Antonio were full of active
+interest and hard work from morning reveille until the mellow
+trumpet-notes of taps.  At the same time it was work mixed with a vast
+amount of harmless skylarking, in which both Ridge and Rollo took such
+active part as to win the liking of every member of their troop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Each day heard the same anxious inquiry from a thousand tongues: "When
+shall we go to the front?  Is the navy going to fight out this war
+without the army getting a show?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be patient," counselled the wiser men, "and our chance will come.  The
+powerful Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera must first be located and
+rendered harmless, while the army must be licked into effective shape
+before it is allowed to fight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They heard of the blockade by the navy of Havana and other Cuban ports,
+of the apparently fruitless bombardment of San Juan in Porto Rico, and
+of the great gathering of troops and transports at Tampa.  Finally came
+the welcome news that the dreaded Spanish fleet was safely bottled by
+Admiral Sampson in the narrow harbor of Santiago.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then on the 29th of May, only a little more than one month after the
+declaration of war, came the welcome order to move to Tampa and the
+front.  Instantly the camp presented a scene of wildest bustle and
+excitement.  One hundred railway cars, in six long trains, awaited the
+Riders.  The regiment was drawn up as if for parade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forward, march!" ordered Colonel Wood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On to Cuba!" sang the trumpets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And the "Terrors" yelled themselves hoarse at the prospect of being let
+loose.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OFF FOR THE WAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Of course Ridge had written home and informed his family of his
+whereabouts as soon as he found himself regularly enlisted with the
+Rough Riders.  The news afforded Mr. Norris immense satisfaction, while
+Spence Cuthbert declared that if Ridge were her brother she should be
+proud of him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If that is said for my benefit," remarked Dulce, "you may rest assured
+that I am always proud of my brother.  I must confess, though, that I
+should like it better if he were an officer; for, as I have never known
+any private soldiers, I can't imagine what they are like.  It must be
+very unpleasant, though, to have to associate with them all the time.
+I wish Ridge had told us more about that Mr. Van Kyp who owns the car.
+Of course, though, one of his wealth and position must be an officer, a
+captain at the very least, and perhaps Ridge doesn't see much of him
+now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Norris was greatly disappointed to find that all her efforts in
+her son's behalf had been wasted That he should have deliberately
+chosen to becoming a "common soldier," as she expressed it, instead of
+accepting the commission offered him, was beyond her comprehension.
+She mourned and puzzled over this until the arrival of Ridge's next
+letter, which conveyed the gratifying intelligence that, having been
+made a corporal, he was now an officer.  She did not know what a
+corporal was, but that Ridge had risen above the ranks of "common
+soldiers" was sufficient, and from that moment the fond mother began to
+speak with pride of her son, who was an officer in the cavalry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the quiet household was thrown into a flutter of excitement
+by the receipt of a telegram, which read:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have again been promoted.  Regiment ordered to Tampa.  Leave to-day.
+Meet us at Algiers, if possible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Norris hurried into the city to consult railway officials
+concerning the movements of the regiment, and found that the train
+bearing his son's troop would pass through the city on the morrow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early the next morning, therefore, he escorted his wife and the girls
+across the Mississippi, where, in the forlorn little town of Algiers,
+they awaited as patiently as might be the coming of their soldier boy.
+The mother's anxiety to meet her son was almost equalled by her desire
+to see how handsome he would look in an officer's uniform.  Concerning
+this she had formed a mental picture of epaulettes, gold lace, brass
+buttons, plumes, and a sword; for had she not seen army officers in
+Paris?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two girls discussed as to whether or not Ridge was now travelling
+in the same luxurious private car that had borne him to San Antonio.
+Spence thought not, but Dulce believed he would be.  "Of course if
+Ridge was still a private I don't suppose it would be good form for
+<I>Captain</I> Van Kyp to invite him," she said; "but now that he is an
+officer, and perhaps even of equal rank, I can't imagine any reason why
+they should not travel together as they did before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no reason, and the joint proprietors of the little dog-tent,
+of which, when in marching order, each carried one-half, were
+travelling together on terms of perfect equality, as was discovered a
+little later, when the long train, thickly coated with dust and
+cinders, rumbled heavily into the station.  Heads protruded from every
+window of the crowded coaches, and hundreds of eyes gazed approvingly
+at the pretty girls who were anxiously looking for a private car, while
+trying not to blush at the very audible compliments by which they were
+greeted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly they heard the familiar voice.  "Mother!  Father!  Girls!" it
+called, and turning quickly in that direction, they discovered the
+object of their search.  Sun-browned and dust-begrimed, his face
+streaked by rivulets of perspiration, wearing a disreputable-looking
+felt hat and a coarse blue flannel shirt, open at the throat, their
+boy, beaming with delight, was eagerly beckoning to them.  Two other
+cinder-hued faces were attempting to share the window with him, but
+with only partial success.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The car doors were guarded, and no one was allowed to pass either in or
+out until the train was safely on the great boat that was to transfer
+it across the river.  There the turbulent stream of humanity was
+permitted to burst forth, and in another moment a stalwart young
+soldier, who seemed to have broadened by inches since she last saw him,
+had flung his arms about Mrs. Norris's neck.  Then he shook hands with
+his father and kissed both the girls, at which Spence Cuthbert blushed
+more furiously than ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A score of young fellows, all as grimy as Ridge, and all wearing the
+same uniform, watched this performance curiously, and now the latter
+began to present them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is First Sergeant Higgins, mother, of our troop, and Mr. Gridley,
+and Mr. Pine of North Dakota.  Dulce, allow me to introduce my
+tentmate, Mr. Van Kyp."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So he rattled off name after name, until the poor girls were thoroughly
+bewildered, and could not tell which belonged to whom, especially, as
+Dulce said, when they all looked exactly alike in those absurd hats,
+horrid flannel shirts, and ridiculous leggings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rollo Van Kyp was the only one of whose name and personality she felt
+certain, which is probably the reason she allowed that persuasive young
+trooper to escort her to the forward deck of the boat, where they
+remained until the river was almost crossed.  After a while Ridge and
+Spence also strolled off together, ostensibly to find Dulce and Rollo,
+though they did not succeed until the farther shore was nearly reached,
+when all four came back together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rollo Van Kip had lost his hat, while Dulce held tightly in one
+daintily gloved hand a curious-looking package done up in newspaper.
+At the same time Spence Cuthbert blushed whenever something in the
+pocket of her gown gave forth a metallic jingle, and glanced furtively
+about to see if any one else had heard it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few days later Dulce appeared in a new riding-hat, which at once
+attracted the admiration and envy of all her girl friends.  At the same
+time it was a very common affair, exactly like those worn by Uncle
+Sam's soldier boys, and on its front was rudely traced in lead pencil
+the words, "Troop K, Roosevelt's Rough Riders."  In fact, it was one of
+the very hats that Dulce herself had recently designated as "absurd."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About the same time that Miss Norris appeared wearing a trooper's hat
+her friend Miss Cuthbert decorated the front of her riding-jacket with
+brass buttons.  When Sergeant Norris sharply reprimanded Private Van
+Kyp for losing his hat, Rollo answered that he considered himself
+perfectly excusable for so doing, since in a breeze strong enough to
+blow the buttons off a sergeant's blouse a hat stood no show to remain
+on its owner's head, whereupon the other abruptly changed the subject.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time Mrs. Norris, who had recognized among the names of the
+young men presented to her those of some of the best-known families of
+the country, was surrounded by a group of Ridge's friends, who, as they
+all wore the same uniform that he did, she imagined must also be
+officers.  So she delighted their hearts and rose high in their
+estimation by treating them with great cordiality, and calling them
+indiscriminately major, captain, or whatever military title happened on
+the end of her tongue.  This she did until her husband appeared on the
+scene with Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, whom he had known in
+Washington.  The moment the fond mother discovered this gentleman to be
+her son's superior officer, she neglected every one else to ply him
+with questions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did he think her boy would make a fine soldier?  Was Ridge really an
+officer?  If so, what was his rank, and why did he not wear a more
+distinctive uniform?  Did <I>General</I> Roosevelt believe there would be
+any fighting, and if there was, would he not order Ridge to remain in
+the safest places?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To all of these questions the Lieutenant-Colonel managed to return most
+satisfactory answers.  He thought Ridge was in a fair way to make a
+most excellent soldier, seeing that he had already gained the rank of
+sergeant, which was very rapid promotion, considering the short time
+the young man had been in the service.  As to his uniform, he now wore
+that especially designed for active campaigning, which Mrs. Norris must
+know was much less showy than one that would be donned for dress
+parades in time of peace.  Yes, he fancied there might be a little
+fighting, in which case he meditated giving Ridge a place behind
+Sergeant Borrowe's dynamite gun, where he would be as safe as in any
+other position on the whole firing line.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Not only was Mrs. Norris greatly comforted by these kindly assurances,
+but she received further evidence that her boy was indeed an officer
+entitled to command and be obeyed when the troopers were ordered to
+re-enter the cars, for she heard him say:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, boys, tumble in lively!  Now, Rollo, get a move on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Certainly an officer to whom even <I>Captain</I> Van Kyp yielded obedience
+must be of exalted rank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was some delay in starting the train, which was taken advantage
+of by Mr. Norris to disappear, only to return a few minutes later,
+followed by a porter bearing a great basket of fruit.  This was given
+to Ridge for distribution among his friends.  Spence Cuthbert also
+shyly handed him a box of choice candies, which she had carried all
+this time; but Dulce, seeing her brother thus well provided, gave her
+box to Rollo Van Kyp--a proceeding that filled the young millionaire
+with delight, and caused him to be furiously envied by every other man
+in the car.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Finally the heavy train began slowly to pull out, its occupants raised
+a mighty cheer, the trumpeters sounded their liveliest quickstep, and
+those left behind, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting words of
+farewell, felt their eyes fill with sudden tears.  Until this moment
+the war had been merely a subject for careless discussion, a thing
+remote from them and only affecting far-away people.  Now it was real
+and terrible.  Their nearest and dearest was concerned in it.  They had
+witnessed the going of those who might never return.  From that moment
+it was their war.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On Thursday, June 2d, with their long, dusty journey ended, the last of
+the Rough Riders reached Tampa, hot and weary, but in good spirits, and
+eager to be sent at once to the front.  They found 25,000 troops,
+cavalry, infantry, and artillery, most of them regulars, already
+encamped in the sandy pine barrens surrounding the little city, and
+took their place among them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At Port Tampa, nine miles away, lay the fleet of transports provided to
+carry them to Cuba.  Here they had lain for many days.  Here the army
+had waited for weeks, sweltering in the pitiless heat, suffering the
+discomforts of a campaign without its stimulant of excitement,
+impatient of delay, and sick with repeated disappointments.  The
+regulars were ready for service; the volunteers thought they were, but
+knew better a few weeks later.  Time and again orders for embarkation
+were received, only to be revoked upon rumors of ghostly warships
+reported off some distant portion of the coast.  Spain was playing her
+old game of <I>maņana</I> at the expense of the Americans, and inducing her
+powerful enemy to refrain from striking a blow by means of terrifying
+rumors skilfully circulated through the so-called "yellow journals" of
+the great American cities, which readily published any falsehood that
+provided a sensation.  At length, however, the last bogie appeared to
+be laid, and one week after the Riders reached Tampa a rumor of an
+immediate departure, more definite than any that had preceded it,
+flashed through the great camp: "Everything is ready, and to-morrow we
+shall surely embark for Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE <I>MERRIMAC</I>
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Only half the regiment was to go, and no horses could be taken, except
+a few belonging to officers.  The capacity of the transports was
+limited, and though troops were packed into them like sardines into a
+can, there was only room for 15,000 men, together with a few horses, a
+pack-train of mules, four light batteries, and two of siege-guns.  So,
+thousands of soldiers, heartbroken by disappointment, and very many
+things important to the success of a campaign, were to be left behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two dismounted squadrons of the Rough Riders were chosen to accompany
+the expedition, which, with the exception of themselves and two
+regiments of volunteer infantry, was composed of regulars; and, to the
+great joy of Ridge and his immediate friends, their troop was among
+those thus selected.  But their joy was dimmed by being dismounted, and
+Ridge almost wept when obliged to part with his beloved mare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However, as Rollo philosophically remarked, "Everything goes in time of
+war, or rather most everything does, and what can't go must be left
+behind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So five hundred of the horseless riders were piled into a train of
+empty coal-cars, each man carrying on his person in blanket roll and
+haversack whatever baggage he was allowed to take, and they were
+rattled noisily away to Port Tampa, where, after much vexatious delay,
+they finally boarded the transport <I>Yucatan</I>, and felt that they were
+fairly off for Cuba.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But not yet.  Again came a rumor of strange war-ships hovering off the
+coast, and with it a frightened but imperative order from Washington to
+wait.  So they waited in the broiling heat, crowded almost to
+suffocation in narrow spaces--men delicately reared and used to every
+luxury, men who had never before breathed any but the pure air of
+mountain or boundless plain--and their only growl was at the delay that
+kept them from going to where conditions would be even worse.  They ate
+their coarse food whenever and wherever they could get it, drank tepid
+water from tin cups that were equally available for soup or coffee, and
+laughed at their discomforts.  "But why don't they let us go?" was the
+constant cry heard on all sides at all hours.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During this most tedious of all their waitings, only one thing of real
+interest happened.  They had heard of the daring exploit of Naval
+Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, who, on the night of June 3d, had
+sunk the big coal-steamer <I>Merrimac</I> in the narrowest part of Santiago
+Harbor, in the hope of thus preventing the escape of Admiral Cervera's
+bottled fleet, and they had exulted over this latest example of
+dauntless American heroism, but none of the details had yet reached
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On one of their waiting days a swift steam-yacht, now an armed
+government despatch-boat, dashed into Tampa Bay, and dropped anchor
+near the <I>Yucatan</I>.  Rumor immediately had it that she was from the
+blockading fleet of Santiago, and every eye was turned upon her with
+interest.  A small boat carried her commanding officer ashore, and
+while he was gone another brought one of her juniors, Ensign Dick
+Comly, to visit his only brother, who was a Rough Rider.  The <I>Speedy</I>
+had just come from Santiago, and of course Ensign Comly knew all about
+Hobson.  Would he tell the story of the <I>Merrimac</I>?  Certainly he
+would, and so a few minutes after his arrival the naval man was
+relating the thrilling tale as follows:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't suppose many of you fellows ever heard of Hobson before this,
+but every one in the navy knew of him long ago.  He is from Alabama,
+was the youngest man in the Naval Academy class of '89, graduated
+number 2, was sent abroad to study naval architecture, and, upon
+returning to this country, was given the rank of Assistant Naval
+Constructor.  At the beginning of this war he was one of the
+instructors at Annapolis, but immediately applied for active duty, and
+was assigned to the <I>New York</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When Victor Blue, of the <I>Suwanee</I>, had proved beyond a doubt by going
+ashore and counting them that all of Cervera's ships were in Santiago
+Harbor, Hobson conceived the plan of keeping them there by taking in a
+ship and sinking it across the channel.  Of course it was a perfectly
+useless thing to do, for Sampson's fleet is powerful enough to lick the
+stuffing out of the whole Spanish navy, if only it could get the
+chance.  However, the notion took with the Admiral, and Hobson was told
+to go ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He selected the collier <I>Merrimac</I>, a big iron steamer 300 feet long,
+stripped her of all valuable movables, and fastened a lot of torpedoes
+to her bottom.  Each one of these was sufficiently powerful to sink the
+ship, and all were connected by wires with a button on the bridge.
+Hobson's plan was to steam into the channel at full speed, regardless
+of mines or batteries, and anchor his ship across the narrowest part of
+the channel.  There he proposed to blow her up and sink her.  What was
+to become of himself and the half dozen men who were to go with him I
+don't know, and don't suppose he cared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At the same time there was some provision made for escape in case any
+of them survived the blowing up of their ship.  They carried one small
+dingy along, and an old life-raft was left on board.  A steam-launch
+from the <I>New York</I> was to follow them close in under the batteries,
+and lie there so long as there was a chance of picking any of them up,
+or until driven off.  Cadets Palmer and Powell, each eager to go on
+this service, drew lots to see which should command the launch, and
+luck favored the latter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When it was known that six men were wanted to accompany Hobson to
+almost certain death, four thousand volunteered, and three thousand
+nine hundred and ninety-four were mightily disappointed when the other
+six were chosen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should have felt just as they did if I had been left in camp," said
+Ridge, who was following this story with eager interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Me too," replied Rollo Van Kyp, to whom the remark was addressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The worst of it was," continued the Ensign, "that those fellows didn't
+get to go, after all, for when they had put in twenty-four hours of
+hard work on the <I>Merrimac</I>, with no sleep and but little to eat, only
+kept up by the keenest kind of excitement, it was decided to postpone
+the attempt until the following night.  At the same time the Admiral,
+fearing the nerve of the men would be shaken by so long a strain,
+ordered them back to their ships, with thanks for their devotion to the
+service, and selected six others to take their places.  The poor
+fellows were so broken up by this that some of them cried like babies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was as bad as though we should be ordered to remain behind now,"
+said Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," answered Rollo.  "But that would be more than I could bear.  I'd
+mutiny and refuse to go ashore.  Wouldn't you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should certainly feel like it," laughed the former.  "But orders are
+orders, and we have sworn to obey them, you know.  At the same time
+there's no cause for worry.  We are certain to go if any one does."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, me and Teddy--" began Rollo, but Ridge silenced him that they
+might hear the continuation of the Ensign's story.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At three o'clock on Friday morning, the 3d," resumed Comly, "the
+<I>Merrimac</I> left the fleet and steamed in towards Santiago entrance.  On
+board, besides Hobson and his six chosen men, was one other, a coxswain
+of the <I>New York</I>, who had helped prepare the collier for her fate, and
+at the last moment stowed himself away in her hold for the sake of
+sharing it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With Hobson on the bridge, two men at the wheel, two in the
+engine-room, two stoking, and one forward ready to cut away the anchor,
+the doomed ship entered the narrow water-way and passed the outer line
+of mines in safety.  Then the Spaniards discovered her, and from the
+way they let loose they must have thought the whole American fleet was
+trying to force the passage.  In an instant she was the focus for a
+perfect cyclone of shot and shell from every gun that could be brought
+to bear, on both sides of the channel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was like rushing into the very jaws of hell, with mines exploding
+all about her, solid shot and bursting shells tearing at her vitals,
+and a cloud of Mauser bullets buzzing like hornets across her deck.
+How she lived to get where she was wanted is a mystery; but she did,
+and they sunk her just inside the Estrella battery.  At the last they
+could not steer her, because her rudder was knocked away.  So they
+anchored, waited as cool as cucumbers for the tide to swing her into
+position, opened all their sea-valves, touched off their torpedoes, and
+blew her up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So far everything had worked to perfection.  The seven men, still
+unhurt, were well aft, where Hobson joined them the moment he had
+pressed the button; but now their troubles began.  The dingy in which
+they had hoped to escape had been shot to pieces, and they dared not
+try to get their raft overboard, for the growing light would have
+revealed their movements, and they would have been a target for every
+gunner and rifleman within range.  So they could only lie flat on deck
+and wait for something to happen.  A little after daybreak the ship
+sank so low and with such a list that the raft slipped into the water
+and floated of its own accord.  On this all of them, including two had
+been wounded by flying splinters, rolled overboard after it, caught
+hold of the clumsy old float, and tried to swim it out to where Powell
+could pick them up.  They had only gained a few yards when a
+steam-launch coming from the harbor bore down on them.  Some marines in
+the bow were about to open fire, when Hobson sang out, 'Is there any
+officer on board that launch entitled to receive the surrender of
+prisoners of war?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Yes, seņor, there is,' answered a voice, which also ordered the
+marines not to fire, and I'll be blowed if Admiral Cervera himself
+didn't stick his head out from under the awning.  The old fellow was as
+nice as pie to Hobson and his men, told them they had done a fine
+thing, took them back to his ship, fed them, fitted them out with dry
+clothing, and then sent Captain Oviedo, his chief of staff, out to the
+<I>New York</I>, under a flag of truce, to report that the <I>Merrimac's</I>
+crew, though prisoners, were alive and well.  He also offered to carry
+back any message or supplies the American Admiral might choose to send
+them.  Didn't every soul in that fleet yell when the signal of Hobson's
+safety was made?  Well, I should rather say we did.  I only hope old
+Cervera will fall into our hands some day, so that we can show him how
+we appreciate his decency."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Three cheers for the Spanish Admiral right now!" shouted Ridge, and
+the yell that instantly rose from the deck of the <I>Yucatan</I> in reply
+was heard on shore for a mile inland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The noise had barely subsided when a voice called for Sergeant Norris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here I am.  Who wants me?" replied Ridge, inquiringly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take your belongings ashore, sir, and report back at camp
+immediately," was the startling response, delivered in the form of an
+order by Major Herman Dodley, who was now on the staff of the
+commanding general.  "I have a boat in waiting.  If you are ready
+within two minutes I will set you ashore.  Otherwise you will suffer
+the consequences of your own delay," added the Major, who, while on
+duty at Port Tampa, had received by telegraph the orders he was now
+carrying out.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Having ascertained from the captain of his troop that the order brought
+by Major Dodley was one that must be obeyed, Ridge went below with a
+very heavy heart to collect his scanty possessions.  As he did so his
+thoughts were full of bitterness.  Why should any one be sent back to
+that hateful camp, and for what reason had he been singled out from all
+his fellows?  It looked as though he were being disgraced, or at least
+chosen for some duty that would keep him from going to Cuba, which
+would be almost as bad.  At the same time he could not imagine what he
+had done to incur the displeasure of his superiors.  It was all a
+mystery, and a decidedly unpleasant one.  That the order should come
+through Dodley, too, whom he particularly disliked, was adding insult
+to injury.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'd rather swim ashore than go with that man!" he exclaimed to Rollo
+Van Kyp, who, full of sympathy, and genuinely distressed at the
+prospect of their separation, had gone below with him.  Ridge had told
+his chum all about Dodley, whom they had discovered lounging on a
+breezy veranda of the great Tampa Bay hotel a few days before, so that
+now the latter fully comprehended his feelings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a beastly shame!" cried Rollo; "or rather it's two beastly
+shames, and if you say so, old man, we'll just quietly chuck that Major
+fellow overboard, so that you can have his boat all to yourself.  Then,
+instead of going ashore, you head down the bay for some place where you
+can hide until we come along and pick you up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's a great scheme," replied Ridge, with a sorrowful little smile,
+"but I am afraid it wouldn't work, and so there is nothing left for me
+but submission to the inevitable.  I do hate to go with Dodley, though."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here Ensign Comly appeared on the scene with his brother, whom he
+was bidding farewell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I say, Comly!" cried Rollo, who knew him, "why can't you set my friend
+Norris here ashore?  It wouldn't be much out of your way, would it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not at all," answered the ensign, courteously.  "And I should be
+pleased to accommodate any friend of yours.  I must go at once, though;
+so, if Mr. Norris will come on deck--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but that won't do," interrupted Van Kyp.  "He must get off the
+ship without any one on deck seeing him."  With this he explained the
+situation to the ensign, who readily grasped it, and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right.  I'll run my boat in under this sideport, and he can drop
+out of it if the sentry will let him pass."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course the guard at the wide freight port left open for a better
+circulation of air between decks would allow Ridge to pass, for he was
+one of their own troop, and knew that the sergeant had been ordered
+ashore.  To give him further assurance that everything was all right,
+Ridge said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is my duty, you know, to go in the first boat that offers, since
+Major Dodley undoubtedly left some time since.  He said he would only
+wait two minutes, and as that was fully five minutes ago, he ought to
+be ashore by now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus it happened that while the messenger who had been ordered to fetch
+Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders was still fuming over the
+unpardonable delay of the trooper, and threatening all sorts of
+unpleasant things for him when he did appear, Ridge gained the railroad
+wharf without being observed from the deck of the transport.  There,
+finding an empty train just starting for Tampa, he was able to present
+himself in camp half an hour later.  From it he was sent to
+headquarters, with orders to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt,
+who had come ashore early that morning.  This Ridge hastened to do,
+without waiting to answer any of the eager questions showered upon him
+by his recent comrades of the camp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the hotel occupied as headquarters an orderly conducted him to the
+office of the commanding general, where, upon admittance, he found
+himself not only in the presence of his own superior officer, but of a
+group of distinguished looking men in uniform, who, as he afterwards
+discovered, were Generals Miles, Shafter, Lee, and Lawton, and
+Lieutenant Boldwood of the navy, now in command of the despatch boat
+<I>Speedy</I>, recently arrived.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"General," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, addressing the
+commander-in-chief, "this is Sergeant Norris of my regiment, the man
+whom I recommended for your purpose, and for whom you sent less than an
+hour ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where were you when ordered to report here?" asked General Miles,
+turning abruptly to Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On board the transport <I>Yucatan</I>, lying off Port Tampa, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you are one of the few men whom I have discovered among our
+volunteers who have learned the lesson of <I>prompt</I> obedience," remarked
+the general, with a slight scowl on his still handsome though deeply
+lined face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Umph!" snorted General Shafter, who was a big man, weighing about
+three hundred pounds, and whose hair was sadly rumpled, as though by
+much perplexity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+General Lee, also a large, fine-looking man, smiled approvingly at the
+prompt young trooper, while General "Iron" Lawton, spare of figure and
+with a reputation as a fighter, gave him a penetrating glance, that
+Ridge knew had indelibly fixed his face upon the soldier's memory.  The
+naval man also regarded him with interest, and our hero, greatly
+confused at being thus observed, was relieved to have General Miles
+proceed, to question him further.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I understand that you speak Spanish like a native."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you ever been in Cuba?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Or travelled in Spain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Acquainted with its principal cities?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
+were tending.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
+in your country's service?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
+for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
+required of him than simply remaining in camp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
+country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death.  It is
+deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
+immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba.  If his identity
+is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
+be that of a spy.  Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good!  A commissioned officer was selected for this duty, but he is
+prevented by illness from performing it.  You have been chosen to take
+his place on the recommendation of Colonel Roosevelt because of your
+knowledge of Spanish, your military record, and because you are a
+native-born American.  I could have found plenty of Cubans to undertake
+the mission, and possibly one of them would have carried it to a
+satisfactory ending, but I wanted an American."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Plain North American Yankee," growled General Shafter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you know," continued General Miles, "a powerful expedition is about
+to leave this place for Cuba.  Very few persons have any idea where it
+is to land; but you must know that in about ten days from now it will
+appear off Daiquiri, some twelve miles east of Santiago, in which city
+I want you to be at that time.  You will sail to-night in the
+despatch-boat <I>Speedy</I>, of which this gentleman, Lieutenant Boldwood,
+is the commander.  Within three days he will land you on the northern
+coast of the province of Santiago.  During the following week I want
+you to visit the Spanish commanders at Holguin, Jiguani, and Santiago,
+to all of whom you will bear what purport to be important despatches
+from Seņor Carranza, chief of the Spanish secret service in North
+America, whose headquarters are in Montreal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will represent yourself to be José Remelio, one of the clerks
+attached to the recent Spanish Legation at Washington.  You will
+estimate the strength and condition of the Spanish forces in the
+province.  Also, you will meet as many of the insurgent leaders as
+possible, inform them of the coming of our expedition, and impress upon
+them the necessity of intercepting supplies or re-inforcements for
+Santiago.  For the sake of appearances, I authorize you to assume any
+military rank up to that of Captain you may deem advisable.  You will
+also be given the secret countersign of the Cuban Junta, which will
+secure for you good treatment among all Cubans of intelligence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His best safeguard among Cubans should be that he is an American
+soldier," suggested General Lawton.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will perceive," continued General Miles, "that I have laid out a
+vast amount of work for you to perform in a very short time; but you
+will be provided with plenty of money, and by procuring a good horse as
+soon as possible after landing I believe you can accomplish it.  I hope
+you will be able to reach Santiago and gain a knowledge of its
+defences; but no matter where you are, when you hear that our army has
+landed, make your way to it with all speed, and report immediately to
+the commanding general.  Is all this clear? and have you anything to
+suggest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your instructions are perfectly clear, sir," replied Ridge, his voice
+trembling with excitement, "and I only want to suggest that instead of
+depending upon Cuban horses for transportation across the island, I be
+allowed to take my own from here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you sure that your horse is enough better than those of the island
+to warrant carrying it to such a distance?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can vouch for that, General," interposed Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt.  "Sergeant Norris has one of the very best horses in our
+regiment, and one that has developed almost human intelligence under
+his training."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one realizes the value of a reliable horse in times of danger
+better than I," rejoined General Miles.  "I wonder, though, if it will
+be possible to carry one on the <I>Speedy</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe we can manage it, General," said Lieutenant Boldwood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very, well, then, you may take your own horse.  How will you get it to
+the port?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think the simplest and probably the quickest way will be to ride
+her, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then do so with all haste, for I want the <I>Speedy</I> to sail this very
+evening, and within two hours, if possible.  You will receive your
+despatches, funds, and promised countersign after you get on board.
+Good-bye.  Good luck to you, and remember that your proposed movements
+must be kept absolutely secret outside of this room."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge had barely taken his departure after shaking hands with the
+several generals, who rose to bid him farewell, when a telegraph
+message was handed to General Shafter.  He read it with perplexity,
+studied it for a few moments, and then burst into a roar of laughter.
+It was from his aide, Major Dodley, had been sent from Port Tampa, and
+read as follows:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I charge Sergeant Norris of Rough Riders with contempt, disobedience
+of orders, and desertion.  Saw him aboard transport, and delivered your
+order, whereupon he disappeared.  Have searched ship without
+discovering trace of him.  He has undoubtedly deserted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Some persons are fools occasionally," remarked the big General, "while
+others are never anything else.  I don't think Dodley belongs to the
+former class."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After leaving headquarters, and while making his way back to camp, our
+hero was in a state of hardly-to-be-repressed excitement.  Was one of
+his age and limited experience ever intrusted with so important a
+mission?  He did not believe it possible, and was so filled with pride
+that it seemed as though every person he passed ought to regard him
+with respectful interest.  As one after another only glanced at him
+carelessly or failed to notice him at all, he wondered at their
+stupidity, and felt like compelling their attention by proclaiming his
+great secret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At camp the situation was even more aggravating, for every one was so
+intent on his own affairs or so unhappy at being left behind that Ridge
+found himself barely noticed.  Several questioned him concerning his
+return, and one asked if the whole regiment was ordered back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not that I know of," answered Ridge.  "I believe I am the only one
+thus far."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I'm glad you have been sent to the rear, and only wish all the
+others were as well, for it's a beastly outrage that some should be
+taken and others left.  Just as if we weren't as good as any of them!"
+was the bitter comment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Without reply, Ridge turned towards the place where he had left his
+blanket roll, only to encounter another shock to his recent pride.  An
+officer met him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hello!  What troop do you belong to?" he asked, suspiciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Troop K, sir," answered Ridge, saluting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought so.  What are you doing here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was ordered ashore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Humph!  Without any reason at all, I suppose."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge remained silent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, well, if you don't choose to tell why you are in disgrace you
+needn't, but you may report to the cook of the officers' mess, who is
+in need of an assistant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here was a dilemma.  Ridge could not, of course, obey this order, since
+every moment was precious.  To disobey would cause his arrest and
+detention in the guard-house.  Nor could he inform even this officer of
+the secret mission on which he was engaged.  At that moment evening
+stable-call was sounded, and a happy inspiration came to his relief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, sir," he answered, turning as if to obey the order.  Then
+he added, "May I look after my horse first?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose so," replied the officer.  "Only be quick about it, for the
+cook is badly in need of some one to help him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So, without making a further attempt to recover his personal
+belongings, Ridge hastened to the picket-line, where Seņorita
+manifested most extravagant joy at again seeing her young master.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that your horse?" inquired the non-commissioned officer in charge
+of the stable guard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon Ridge acknowledging that the mare was his, the other continued;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I'm mighty glad you've come to look after her, for she has
+nearly killed two men already, and we were just wondering whether we
+should kill her or turn her loose.  Now you'd better take her to water."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I put on a saddle and bridle?" inquired Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course not.  Who ever heard of riding a cavalry horse to water any
+way but bareback?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the young trooper was obliged to set forth on| his great undertaking
+without equipment of any kind.  In his joy at finding himself once more
+in possession of his beloved "Rita," this did not trouble him; and
+untying the mare's halter, he leaped to her back.  In an instant they
+were dashing off at full speed, followed by jeers from all who
+witnessed the proceeding, and who imagined the mare to be running away
+with her present rider, as she had with every other who had attempted
+to take her to water during her master's absence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The camp was quickly left behind, and knowing his general direction,
+Ridge soon found himself on the road to Port Tampa.  It was a hard ride
+to make without saddle or bridle, and long before the welcome lights
+marking the mile-long pier of the port came into view the young soldier
+was aching in every bone.  The dim road through the solemn pines was so
+heavy with sand that it took even fleet-footed Rita more than an hour
+to cover the distance, and night had closed in before their destination
+was reached.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was with many misgivings that Ridge rode out on the long pier,
+which, never intended for the use of horses or wagons, carried only a
+sidewalk for pedestrians beside its railway-track, for Rita regarded
+locomotives with the utmost terror.  Still, he believed he must go to
+the extreme outer end, where the big steamers lay, and where he hoped
+to find either the <I>Speedy</I> herself or some one from her to direct his
+movements.  Half-way out he discovered a train coming directly towards
+them, and, to avoid it, turned his mare on to the platform that served
+as front yard to the pretty little inn that was here built over the
+water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this moment a figure in white duck approached him.  It was Ensign
+Comly of the <I>Speedy</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are the very man I was sent to look for!" he cried.  "I thought
+you might be coming out here, and so was on my way to head you off and
+turn you back.  You see, the end of the pier is so crowded that our
+craft can't lie alongside.  So Captain Boldwood got hold of a small
+scow, which he has sent in to shore, towed by one of our boats, to take
+you off.  We'll just about meet it if we hurry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time the unusual sight of a horse in that place had aroused
+much curiosity among the guests of the inn, who came out to see what
+was going on.  Among them was an army officer, who uttered an
+exclamation the moment his eyes rested on Ridge standing in the glow of
+an electric light.  Stepping quickly up to him, he placed a heavy hand
+on the young trooper's shoulder, and said, in a harsh voice:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I arrest you, sir, and order you to come at once with me to my camp on
+shore, where a guard-house awaits you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On what charge am I arrested?" asked Ridge, calmly, turning, and
+looking Major Herman Dodley full in the face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the several charges of contempt for an officer, disobedience of
+orders, and desertion," was the startling reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, sir, I'll go with you," said Ridge, "seeing that I was
+going in that direction anyhow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But--" remonstrated Ensign Comly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you, sir?  And what have you to say regarding this business?"
+demanded the Major, fiercely, at the same time drawing and cocking his
+revolver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only a United States officer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, in the name of the United States, I call upon you to assist me
+in carrying this deserter to a place of security," shouted the Major,
+in theatrical tones.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pretend to agree," said Ridge, in a low voice, heard only by Comly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right, Major, I'll see the thing through," agreed the navy man;
+"though I must protest that it is wholly out of my line of business."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this the three set forth, Ridge leading Rita, and the officers
+walking on either side of him.  For some distance they proceeded in a
+silence that was finally broken by the sound of oars, apparently close
+to the pier, which touched land but a short distance ahead.  At the
+same time a train of cars came thundering over the hollow structure
+behind them, causing the mare to plunge violently in a terrified effort
+to escape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now is your chance!" whispered Comly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quick to take the hint, Ridge flung himself on the animal's back and
+dashed away, followed by a harmless bullet from Herman Dodley's
+revolver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ere he could fire another shot the naval man snatched away the weapon,
+flung it into the sea, and started on a run after the disappearing
+horseman.  As he ran he shouted: "Look out for that horse, you in the
+boat, and get it aboard lively!  Do you understand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, ay, sir," came a cheery answer from out of the darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Behind the Ensign ran Major Dodley, swearing, and also shouting:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Corporal of the guard!  Turn out the guard!  Quick!  This way!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then all other sounds were drowned in the roar of the passing train.
+When it subsided a confused struggle between a dark mass and a number
+of dimly seen white forms was going on in the shallow water.  Several
+sailors were lifting Seņorita bodily into a little flat-bottomed boat,
+and two young men in soaked uniforms were aiding them.  Then, as two
+boats, one in tow of the other, began to move away, a squad of soldiers
+with muskets in their hands came running down to the beach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fire!" commanded Herman Dodley, beside himself with rage.  "Fire at
+that boat.  A deserter is escaping in it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't you dare fire!" came back in a stern tone from the darkness.
+"This is a boat from a United States man-of-war, commanded by an
+officer in the discharge of his duty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bewildered soldiers hesitated, and then, in compliance with
+repeated orders, coupled with threats, from their Major, fired a few
+harmless shots in the air, after which they returned to camp.  There
+Herman Dodley prepared another telegraphic report for General Shafter,
+that aroused that irascible warrior to profanity, and resulted in the
+speedy transference of his offending aide to New Orleans on recruiting
+service.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So our hero was at length fairly started on his momentous mission, with
+its secret yet undivulged.  As the <I>Speedy</I>, with the bewildered
+Seņorita and her young master safely on board, slipped swiftly past the
+great transport <I>Yucatan</I>, Ridge, shivering in his wet clothing, said
+to Ensign Comly, who also shivered, "How I wish I could call out and
+tell Rollo all about it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, wouldn't it make him open his eyes?  But you can't, so let's go
+below for something dry."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Twelve hours after leaving Tampa Bay the swift despatch-boat on which
+Ridge Norris was a passenger entered the northwest passage of Key West
+Harbor, and was headed towards the quaint island city that had been
+brought into such sudden prominence by the war.  The port was filled
+with United States cruisers, gun-boats, yachts converted into
+torpedo-boat destroyers, Government hospital-ships, and others flying
+the flag of the Red Cross Society, transports, colliers, supply-ships,
+water-boats, and a huddle of prizes--steamers and sailing-vessels
+captured off the Cuban coast.  Amid these the <I>Speedy</I> slowly threaded
+her devious way to the Government dock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hot tropical-looking city, with palm-trees towering above its
+low-roofed houses, was filled to overflowing with soldiers, sailors,
+newspaper correspondents, refugees from Cuba, and a multitude of other
+persons, all attracted by its proximity to the seat of war.  From every
+mast-head and prominent building the stars and stripes were flung to
+the breeze that swept in from the sea; while from more humble
+positions, but in even greater numbers, fluttered the flag of free
+Cuba.  On every point commanding the harbor mouth batteries were being
+erected and great guns mounted.  Bands played national airs, and one
+man-of-war enveloped in a cloud of white smoke was engaged in
+target-practice with her secondary battery.  Every Government vessel in
+the harbor had on war paint of invisible lead color, not pretty, but
+most business-like in appearance.  All were also in fighting-trim, with
+topmasts lowered and every superfluity removed from their decks.  The
+whole scene was of exciting interest, and Ridge gazed eagerly upon it
+as Ensign Comly pointed out its various features, with explanatory
+remarks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were several reasons why the <I>Speedy</I> should stop at Key West.
+One was that she might receive mail and despatches for the blockading
+fleet.  Another was to procure a bale of hay and some corn for
+Seņorita, since, in their hurried departure from Tampa, these had been
+forgotten, and thus far she had been fed on sea-biscuit.  A third
+reason was that Ridge might procure a saddle and bridle, besides a few
+other necessary articles of outfit for his proposed trip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had already been furnished with his bogus despatches to Spanish
+commanders, every word of which he had carefully read, to see that they
+contained no compromising errors, and with a supply of money.  Now he
+provided himself with a repeating-rifle in a water-proof case, a
+revolver, fifty rounds of ammunition for each, an India-rubber poncho,
+a small quantity of quinine, a phial of powerful cholera mixture, a
+stout sheath-knife, and a tin cup.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Within an hour the <I>Speedy</I> was again off, running out of the south
+channel, past the grim walls of old Fort Taylor, and a few miles
+farther on passing Sand Key light, which rises from a bit of coral reef
+barely lifted above the wash of a tranquil sea.  At that time this was
+the most southerly point of United States territory.  In the deep water
+just beyond Sand Key lay a great battle-ship, tugging sullenly at her
+pondrous anchors, and looking like some vast sea monster, uncouth and
+relentless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From here it was eighty-five miles in a straight line to Havana, and
+within five hours Ridge was thrilled by the sight of a cloud-like speck
+that he knew marked the highlands of Cuba.  Gradually the coast was
+revealed, then came the low-trailing smoke of ships on blockade as they
+patrolled wearily before the entrance to Havana Harbor, and after
+awhile the outlined cathedral spires of the city itself.  There lay the
+wreck of the <I>Maine</I>, and there waited the Spanish army that
+Captain-General Blanco had sworn should yield its last drop of blood in
+resisting an invasion by the hated Yankees.  There also the guns of
+time-blackened Morro sullenly faced the floating fortresses that only
+awaited a signal to engage them in deadly conflict.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Running close to Commodore Watson's flag-ship, the <I>San Francisco</I>, the
+<I>Speedy</I> broke the tedious monotony of blockade by delivering an
+eagerly welcomed mail, with its wealth of news from the outside world.
+Then the saucy craft was off again, headed to the eastward.  Matanzas
+and Cardenas, both under blockade, were passed during the night, and
+while off the latter place Dick Comly told Ridge the story of his
+classmate, Ensign Worth Bagley, who lost his life on board the
+torpedo-boat <I>Winslow</I>, in Cardenas Bay, on May 11th, or less than one
+month before, and who was the first American officer killed in the war.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They only went in to find out who was there," began Comly, "the
+<I>Wilmington</I>, <I>Hudson</I>, and <I>Winslow</I>.  The last, being of least
+draught, ran ahead, and got within range of some hidden batteries
+before she discovered them.  She was turning to go out when they opened
+fire.  In a minute the little ship was riddled by shot and shell.  Her
+commander was wounded, her steering-gear had gone wrong, her engines
+were crippled, and she lay helpless.  The <I>Hudson</I> ran up to tow her
+out of range, and poor old Bagley had just sung out for them to heave
+him a line, as the situation was getting rather too warm for comfort,
+when a bursting shell instantly killed him, together with four of the
+crew.  In spite of the hot fire, the <I>Hudson</I> ran a line and brought
+out what was left of the <I>Winslow</I> and her company; but you'd better
+believe the little craft was a mighty sad-looking wreck.  Hello!
+What's that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A string of colored signal-lights had flashed out for a moment directly
+ahead of the <I>Speedy</I>, and then disappeared.  The strangest thing about
+them was that they had been shown just above the surface of the water,
+instead of from a masthead, as would usually be the case on a war-ship.
+The <I>Speedy</I> had been slipping quietly along, showing her regular side
+lights, which, as she was of low freeboard, must also have appeared
+close to the water from a short distance, and might have been mistaken
+for a signal.  Now she quickly displayed the night-signal of the
+American blockading fleet, as well as her own private number, but no
+answer came to either.  By the time the <I>Speedy's</I> crew were at
+quarters it was evident, from muffled sounds borne down the wind, that
+the stranger was a steamer in full retreat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give her a blank shot," ordered Captain Boldwood, and the words had
+barely left his mouth before the forward six-pounder gun had roared out
+its summons to halt; but the stranger paid no heed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A solid shot, well elevated, had as little effect.  By this time the
+despatch-boat was rushing ahead at full speed in the direction the
+unknown steamer was supposed to have taken.  Suddenly her search-light,
+sweeping the black waters with a broad arc of silver, disclosed a
+shadowy bulk moving swiftly at right angles to the course they were
+taking, and heading for a beacon blaze that had sprung up on the
+starboard or in-shore hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Port your helm!" cried Captain Boldwood.  "Mr. Comly, try to disable
+her.  Make every shot tell if possible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again and again the six-pounder hurled its messenger of destruction,
+but apparently without effect.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Looks as though I couldn't hit the side of a barn at a hundred feet,"
+muttered the Ensign to Ridge, who stood beside him, thrilled by the
+novel experience.  Then he sighted his gun for a third shot, sprang
+back, and jerked the lanyard.  A flash, a roar, a choking cloud of
+smoke, and then a yell from the <I>Speedy's</I> crew.  In the glare of the
+search-light the fugitive steamer was seen to take a sudden sheer, that
+a minute later was followed by a crash, and then she remained
+motionless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly the <I>Speedy</I> was slowed down and moved cautiously towards the
+wreck, with busy lead marking soundings every few seconds.  The beacon
+for which the chase had steered no longer blazed; but in a few minutes
+the search-light disclosed a wooded shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have a boat ready, Mr. Comly, and prepare to go on board with half a
+dozen men."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I go with you?" asked Ridge, eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly, if the Captain says so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But, to the young trooper's disappointment, Captain Boldwood refused
+permission.  "Your business is of too important a nature for you to
+assume any needless risks outside of it," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Ridge could only watch enviously the departure of the boat with its
+crew of armed men.  It had not been gone two minutes when a bright
+flame shot from the steamer's deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They have set her on fire and abandoned her!" exclaimed the Captain.
+"I pray to God, Comly may be cautious.  Quartermaster, show the recall."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The words were hardly spoken when there came a great blinding flash, an
+awful roar, and the <I>Speedy</I> listed to her beam ends.  A vast pillar of
+flame leaped a hundred feet into the air, a huge foam-crested wave
+rolled out to sea, and then all space seemed full of flying fragments.
+The wreck had been destroyed by an explosion of her own cargo.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lower away the yawl!  Quick, men!  There may be some left to pick up.
+Yes, Mr. Norris, you may go now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They rescued Comly, bleeding from a wound in the head, and three of his
+crew, all more or less injured, but the others had gone down with their
+boat, crushed beneath a hurtling deck beam.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Speedy</I> stood off and on until daylight enabled her commander to
+locate the scene of catastrophe and examine what was left of the
+shattered steamer.  He found that she had been run ashore on one of the
+small outlying cays that are numerous off Cardenas Bay, and with other
+floating wreckage he picked up a life-preserver on which was painted,
+"<I>Manuel Ros</I>, Barcelona."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How strangely and unexpectedly things turn out," he said to Ridge as
+he turned from examining this telltale relic.  "Our Government learned
+some time ago that the <I>Manuel Ros</I> was taking on board at Cadiz a
+cargo of improved mines, submarine torpedoes, and high explosives for
+use in Puerto-Rican harbors.  It was positively stated that she would
+not attempt to run the Cuban blockade.  Nevertheless, we were all
+notified to keep a sharp lookout for her, especially around Santiago
+and Cienfuegos.  She was reported to be very fast, and I can well
+credit it, for there are few ships in these waters can show their heels
+as she did to the <I>Speedy</I>.  As it is, I am afraid she would have
+gained Cardenas Harbor in safety if it had not been for Mr. Comly's
+last lucky shot, which must have crippled her steering-gear.  And to
+think that a ship which would have been considered a handsome prize by
+any cruiser should be destroyed by the little <I>Speedy</I>.  I wonder,
+though, where the <I>Wilmington</I> that generally patrols this vicinity
+could have been?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This mystery was explained a little later when the cruiser in question
+hove in sight, having been lured from her station by a small Spanish
+gunboat the evening before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After making his report of what happened, the commander of the <I>Speedy</I>
+again headed his craft to the eastward, and ran all that day, together
+with most of the following night, within sight of the Cuban coast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It wanted but an hour of daylight, when Ridge, who was sleeping on
+deck, was aroused and told that the place of his landing was at hand.
+A pot of coffee together with a substantial lunch had been prepared for
+him, and Ensign Comly, whose wound had proved to be slight, was waiting
+in a boat manned by four sailors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seņorita was hoisted in a sling and dropped overboard to swim ashore in
+tow of the boat, and at the very last the <I>Speedy's</I> commander
+whispered the countersign of the Junta that was to open a way through
+the Cuban lines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the boat was noiselessly shoved off, and slipped away through the
+chill darkness towards the denser shadow of the land that waited with
+manifold perils to test the courage of our young trooper.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Good-bye, old man!  Good luck, and hope we shall meet again soon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With these words, accompanied by a warm hand-clasp, Ensign Dick Comly
+stepped into his boat, and it was shoved off from the bit of Cuban
+beach on which Ridge Norris had just been landed.  For a couple of
+minutes the young trooper stood motionless, listening with strained
+ears to the lessening sound of muffled oars.  It was the last link
+connecting him with home, country, and safety.  For a moment he was
+possessed of such a panic that he was on the point of shouting for
+Comly to come back and take him away.  It did not seem as though he
+could be left there alone in the dark, and amid all the crowding
+terrors of that unknown land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then Seņorita, who stood dripping and shivering beside him, rubbed
+her wet nose softly against his cheek, as though begging for sympathy,
+and in an instant his courage was restored.  It was enough that another
+creature more helpless than he was dependent upon him for guidance and
+protection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, girl," he whispered, throwing an arm about the mare's
+neck.  "We'll stick to each other and pull through somehow."  Then
+plucking a handful of dried grass, he gave the animal a brisk rubbing
+that warmed them both.  By the time it was finished, birds were
+twittering in the dense growth behind them, and the eastern sky was
+suffused with the glow of coming day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Knowing nothing of his surroundings, nor what eyes might in a few
+minutes more discover these new features of the beach, Ridge now
+removed his slender belongings to a hiding-place behind some bushes,
+where he also fastened Seņorita.  Then he set forth to explore the
+shore with the hope of finding a path into the interior; for to force a
+way through the tangled chaparral that everywhere approached close to
+the water's edge seemed hopeless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had not gone a dozen paces when Seņorita uttered a shrill neigh of
+distress at being thus deserted, and began a noisy struggle to break
+loose.  With a muttered exclamation of dismay Ridge ran back.  It was
+evident that the mare would not consent to be left.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," said the young man.  "If you can't be reasonable and
+remain quietly behind for a few minutes, we must make our exploration
+in company.  Perhaps it is better so, after all, for when I do discover
+a trail we shall be ready to take instant advantage of it, and get the
+more quickly away from this unpleasantly conspicuous place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While thus talking in a low tone to the mare, Ridge was also equipping
+her for the road.  He had just finished tightening the saddle-girth and
+was about to mount, when Seņorita uttered a snort indicative of some
+strange presence.  Turning quickly, her master was confronted by a
+sight that caused his heart to sink like lead.  Only a few paces away
+stood a young man of dark but handsome features, clad in a well-worn
+suit of linen and a broad-brimmed palmetto hat.  A military belt filled
+with cartridges encircled his waist, and from it hung an empty scabbard
+of untanned cowhide, designed to carry a machete.  With that weapon
+held in one hand and a cocked pistol levelled full at Ridge in the
+other, he presented the appearance of a first-class brigand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young trooper made a movement towards his own revolver, but it was
+instantly checked by the stranger, who said, sternly, in Spanish:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold there!  If you but touch a weapon I shall shoot you dead!  You
+are my prisoner, and will obey my commands.  That I am prepared to
+enforce them I will show you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this he sounded a low whistle that was answered by a rustle in the
+bushes, from which half a dozen armed ragamuffins of all shades of
+swarthiness, from jet black to light chocolate, appeared as though by
+magic.  All were provided with machetes, some carried rifles, and each
+looked as though it would afford him the greatest pleasure to cut into
+small pieces the stranger who had invaded their territory.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see," said their leader, with a smile, "that you are hopelessly
+surrounded, and that with a nod I can have you killed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I see," replied Ridge, "and I should be pleased to know into
+whose hands I have fallen.  Are you Cubano or a Spaniard?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I will ask if you are American or Spaniard?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But my question came first," insisted Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"While I am in a position to have mine answered," replied the other,
+again smiling.  "But I will not press it at this moment.  We will first
+seek a place better suited to conversation, since here we are liable to
+be interrupted.  The American gunboats have an unpleasant habit of
+dropping shells among any party whom they may discover on the beach.
+Then, too, many Cubanos have been seen about here lately, and they
+might molest us, while it is also nearly time for the Spanish <I>lancha</I>
+that patrols this coast at sunrise and sunset.  So you see--  Disarm
+him!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This last was an order to two men who had moved noiselessly up behind
+Ridge while his attention was diverted by their leader.  Now they
+seized our young trooper, took his weapons, and marched him away,
+though allowing him to retain his hold on Seņorita's bridle.  For a few
+paces they crashed through the underbrush, hacking a rude path for the
+mare with their machetes as they went.  Then they struck a dim trail
+that ended at a grass-grown and little-used road.  Crossing this, they
+entered the grounds of what had evidently been a fine plantation,
+though a young forest growth was now rapidly spreading over its once
+well-cultivated fields.  A weedy approach between rows of noble trees
+led to the blackened ruins of a large house and outlying buildings.
+The stone walls were already over-run with a tangle of vines from which
+flamed blood-red blossoms.  Several horses cropped the rank grass about
+these ruins, and into one of them, which had been given a temporary
+thatch of palm leaves, the prisoner was led.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here we had begun to break our fast when your mare notified us of your
+proximity," said the leader, who had already motioned to his men to
+loose their hold on the young American.  "Now if you will honor us with
+your company, we will resume that interrupted pleasure.  Manuel, we
+wait to be served."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon this a grinning negro brought in a basketful of yams that had
+evidently been roasted among the ashes of an open fire, and set it on a
+rude table.  Beside it he placed a calabash containing a drink mixed of
+water, lime-juice, and brown sugar.  "Let us eat," said the host,
+reaching for one of the ash-encoated yams.  "But hold," he added, as
+though with a sudden thought.  "Excuse me for a moment."  Thus saying,
+he stepped outside, only to return with Ridge's saddle-bags, which he
+coolly opened.  "Coffee, as I live!" he cried, "and hard biscuit, the
+first bread I have seen in many a month!  Seņor, we are under
+obligations to you for these welcome additions to our <I>menu</I>.  Manuel,
+hast thou forgotten how to make coffee, strong, and black as thine own
+ebony face?  Waste thou not one precious grain, or, by holy St. Jago, I
+will blow out thy meagre brains."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Provoked as Ridge was at seeing his entire stock of provisions thus
+appropriated to be expended on a single meal, he was not in a position
+to remonstrate.  So, a little later, when a revised edition of
+breakfast was pronounced ready, he sat down with the host whom he did
+not yet know whether to consider as friend or foe, and ate heartily of
+the food thus provided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The furnishing of that rude table was unique, for, mingled with shells
+from the beach and those of cocoanuts, both of which were used in place
+of cups, gourds, plantain-leaves, and wooden trays, appeared several
+dishes of cut glass and dainty china, generally cracked or chipped, and
+looking wofully out of place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seeing that Ridge noticed these, the host said, carelessly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah yes, seņor, we have seen better days!"  Then, lighting a cigarette,
+he continued, more sternly, "Now, sir, can you give any reason why I
+should not have you led out and shot as a spy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You would not dare do such a thing!" replied Ridge, indignantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh! wouldn't I?  My friend, you do not realize into whose hands you
+have fallen.  Now, merely to prove that I have both the inclination and
+power to carry out my threat, I will have you shot.  Lope!  Garzo!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two of the ragged bandits immediately appeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bind me the arms of this man and blindfold him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The order was deftly obeyed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now take him from my sight and shoot him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seizing Ridge by the shoulders, the men began to drag him away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Until this moment he had not known whether to acknowledge himself an
+American or claim to be a Spaniard, nor had he believed that the
+extremely courteous leader of bandits with whom he had just
+breakfasted, and who might be either a Cuban patriot or a Spanish
+guerilla, would do him serious injury.  Now, moved by an agony of
+terror, he shouted out the word whispered to him a few hours before by
+the commander of the <I>Speedy</I>, the secret countersign of the Cuban
+Junta.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Its effect was magical.  The men who were dragging him to a summary
+execution loosed their hold and stared at him in amazement, while the
+young leader sprang to where Ridge stood, tore the bandages from his
+eyes, severed his bonds, and embraced him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, my brother, did you not disclose your identity long ago?" he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because," replied Ridge, in a voice that still trembled from his
+recent fright, "I knew not to which side you belonged."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What!  Did you for a moment think that I might be a vile Spaniard?  I,
+Enrico del Concha, a Cuban of the Cubans?  Alas! that such a suspicion
+should fall upon one of my name."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what," inquired Ridge, "did you take me for?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A Spanish spy, of course.  Do you not speak the language without even
+a Cuban accent?  Did you not decline to tell me how or what you were?
+Above all, did you not carry on your person despatches addressed to
+certain Spanish generals?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge clapped a hand to his breast pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, seņor, they are gone," laughed the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My rogues are clever thieves, and took them from you when we first
+met, together with your money, for which they were searching.
+Hereafter you must provide for your private papers a place of greater
+safety.  Now let us have one more cup of that delicious coffee while
+you confide to me who you are and why you are here."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Under the circumstances, Ridge felt that a frank avowal of his
+personality and present plans would be wiser than any attempt at
+deception, and this he proceeded to make.  To all that he had to tell
+the bandit leader paid closest attention, and listened without a word
+of interruption until the narrative was finished.  Then he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is indeed great news that the Americans are about to invade Cuba.
+Until now they have promised much and done worse than nothing, since,
+by their blockade of Cuban ports, they have only starved to death
+thousands of miserable reconcentrados.  Now if they will proceed with
+judgment and are not swept off by fevers, something may be
+accomplished.  At the same time, from the ignorance displayed in
+sending on so important a mission as yours one so ill equipped for it,
+I cannot hope for much from them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge flushed hotly.  "What do you mean?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I mean," replied the other, coolly rolling a cigarette as he spoke,
+"that you have shown yourself to be about as fit for the duty you have
+undertaken as a babe in arms.  Did you not, upon landing, waste a whole
+hour of precious darkness during which you might have gained a safe
+distance from the always-guarded coast?  Did you not allow yourself to
+be betrayed by your horse, and captured without resistance?  Did you
+not lose your despatches at the outset, and almost your life as well?
+Are you not at this moment densely ignorant of the route you are to
+travel, and of how to meet the enemies you will encounter on every hand?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, my friend, brave and resolute as you may be, you are also but a
+babe in your undertaking.  Your only forethought lay in securing the
+countersign of the Junta, which has for the moment saved your life,
+since I should certainly have caused you to be shot but for it.  Also,
+if I had not discovered you, the Spanish hawks who patrol the coast
+would have had you in their clutches a few minutes later.  Nor do you
+at this moment know how to find your way to Holguin, much less to
+Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But," argued Ridge, whose self-conceit and confidence in his own
+ability to carry out the mission he had so bravely undertaken were
+rapidly oozing away, "I have a good map of the country, a good horse,
+plenty of money with which to hire guides, am well armed, and could
+make a good fight if necessary.  I speak Spanish perfectly, am dark of
+complexion, possess the countersign of the Junta for Cubans, and
+letters from the chief of the Spanish secret service for Spaniards.
+Why, then, may I not succeed as well as another?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You <I>had</I> those things; but, with the exception of your ability to
+speak Spanish, your darkness of skin, and the countersign, all of them
+have been taken from you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you will restore them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And if I should, would they serve you?  Do you imagine that any true
+Cuban would disclose to an utter stranger the military secrets of his
+country for money?  If you do, you are sadly mistaken.  Could you fight
+an enemy who would lie in ambush and shoot you in the back, reserving
+the examination of your despatches until you were dead?  Even should
+you succeed in presenting those same despatches to a Spanish general,
+do you not know that he would hold you prisoner, or at least delay your
+departure until he had transmitted them to Havana for verification?
+Yet you hope to gain a complete knowledge of the military situation in
+this great province, and rejoin your friends more than a hundred miles
+away within a week.  Amigo, you are very ignorant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly I am," admitted Ridge, "but I have learned much from you
+within a short time; and if you will let me go, I will still undertake
+to accomplish my task within the time allotted to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I admire your spirit," replied del Concha, "and will gladly release
+you, with all your property restored; but before so doing I wish to
+make some suggestions.  In the first place, your people should have
+chosen an intelligent Cuban for this work--a man like myself, for
+instance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge was on the point of saying that his superior officers had feared
+to trust a Cuban, but prudently refrained from so doing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As they did not have the sense for that," continued the speaker, "it
+is most fortunate that you have met me, for I can give you, in a few
+words, the position and strength of every Spanish force in the
+province, as well as the location and condition of the Cuban armies, to
+which I will also gladly forward news of the anticipated American
+landing.  Thus you will be free to make your way, directed by guides
+whom I will furnish, straight to Santiago without encountering any
+dangers other than those incident to travel through a rough country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"While thanking you for your kind offer," replied Ridge, "I must still
+decline it.  My orders are to communicate directly with the Spanish
+commanders at Holguin and Jiguani, and I shall certainly attempt to
+carry them out, since the first lesson taught every American soldier is
+that of absolute and unquestioning obedience to orders."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear Lieutenant!" exclaimed del Concha--for this was the rank that
+Ridge had seen fit to assume--"I begin to perceive why you were chosen
+for this hopeless task, and though I utterly disapprove your proposed
+course of action, I cannot but admire your resolution.  Also I cannot
+find it in my heart to leave you to your own helpless devices.
+Therefore I shall accompany you to the vicinity of Holguin.  Then I
+shall at least be on hand to learn your fate as soon as it is decided."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Willing as he would have been to set forth alone, Ridge was glad to
+have the company of one so familiar with the country as del Concha
+appeared, and one also whom he believed he might trust.  His confidence
+in the acquaintance thus strangely made was strengthened a little later
+as they rode together, and the latter, in answer to his questions,
+disclosed a portion of his own history.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I came to this place last evening," he said, "in the hope of getting a
+few shots at the Spanish lancha, which, as I told you, patrols the
+coast twice daily; for Spaniards have become so scarce of late, and
+confine themselves so closely to the larger towns, that it is sometimes
+difficult to maintain my record of one for each day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" asked Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I mean that during the past year I have personally killed, or caused
+to be killed, a Spanish soldier for each day that has passed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young American regarded his companion with horror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Moreover," continued the other, coolly, "I have sworn to maintain that
+average so long as I live and the present war continues.  When I found
+you this morning I thought my duty for the day was accomplished, but
+now it is with pleasure that I shall look elsewhere for my dead
+Spaniard of this date."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are all Cubans animated by your spirit?" asked Ridge, whose soul
+revolted at this calm discussion of what seemed to him cold-blooded
+murder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All who have suffered what I have are, or should be, filled with my
+longing for vengeance," answered del Concha.  "Listen.  The ruined
+plantation we have just left was my home.  There I was born.  There in
+the care of a loving father and a devoted mother, in company with a
+brother who was older than I, and a younger sister, I grew up.  In
+spite of cruel taxation, we were wealthy; in spite of unrighteous laws,
+we were happy.  Finally Spain's oppression of Cuba became unbearable,
+and the war to throw it off was begun.  My father refused to take part
+in the rebellion, but my brother joined the insurgents and was killed
+in battle.  I took his place; and, because his sons aided the
+insurrection, my noble father, still loyal to Spain, was seized by the
+Spaniards and thrown into prison.  Two days later, without trial or
+previous warning, he was shot to death in the prison-yard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For giving bread to starving women and children whose husbands and
+fathers fought in the Cuban army, my mother and sister were driven from
+their home to the nearest city, where the former, always delicate,
+died, literally of starvation, and from which my sister disappeared, so
+that I do not know her fate.  At that time, also, our house was
+stripped by the soldiers of everything that could be carried away, and
+then burned.  It is for this record of crime that I determined to spare
+no Spaniard who should come within my reach."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," said Ridge, slowly, with a clear vision of his own dear
+home and its loved inmates in his mind, "that in your place I should
+act as you have acted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although the city of Holguin lies only about twenty miles from the
+place where Ridge landed on the coast, the way to it was so obstructed,
+first by swamps and dense forests, and later by wooded hills and
+swollen streams, that evening shadows were closing in when Ridge and
+his ragged escort came within sight of its low roofs.  On the still air
+were borne to their ears at the same moment the clear notes of Spanish
+bugles sounding the "Retreat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge had speculated much that day concerning his reception by the
+Spaniards, and as to how he should enter their lines.  Now del Concha
+proposed a plan that seemed feasible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ride in at full speed," he said, "while I with my men will follow as
+though in hot pursuit close up to the lines.  Of course we will
+exchange shots, though both must carefully fire too high to do any
+damage.  Is it well?  Then adios, my friend, until we meet again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes later the newly posted Spanish guard was startled by the
+sound of shots, and then by the sight of a fugitive horseman speeding
+towards them, followed closely by a party of mounted insurgents who
+were firing at him.  Drums were beat and trumpets sounded.  A small
+body of troops hastily advanced from the city, opening their ranks to
+receive the panting horse and its apparently exhausted rider, but
+closing them to give an ineffective volley against his pursuers, who
+were now flying in consternation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half an hour afterwards, Ridge, addressed as Seņor Remelios, stood in
+the presence of General Pando, the Spanish commander of the eastern
+diocese of the island, and second only to the Captain-General, who was
+carefully reading a despatch just handed him by the young trooper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You say, seņor, that you have just come from Gibara, where you were
+secretly landed last night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, General."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Also from this note, signed by Lieutenant Carranza, I learn that the
+Americans are about to land in force at Cienfuegos."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such are Seņor Carranza's latest advices."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Um!  They conflict, however, with news just brought from the south
+that a landing has already been effected at Guantanamo."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here the old soldier peered keenly at our hero, who experienced a
+thrill of uneasiness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this moment there came a challenge from the sentry stationed at the
+door.  It was satisfactorily answered, and another individual hurriedly
+entered the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your Excellency," said this person, making a profound salute, "pardon
+my intrusion; but I am come to denounce the man now standing before you
+as a Yankee spy.  His despatch is a forgery and utterly false, since
+the American army is not to land at Cienfuegos, but at Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here Ridge obtained his first view of the speaker's face, and was
+overwhelmed with dismay to recognize in it the features of the man who
+had ridden with him all that day under the guise of a Cuban patriot.
+It was that of Enrico del Concha.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Never in his life had our hero experienced a feeling of such utter
+helplessness as he did upon recognizing del Concha.  The treachery
+unfolded by the man's words was beyond his comprehension, and he knew
+not how to combat it.  For a moment he stared speechless at the
+traitor, then he turned to the General, who was gazing at him with
+stern inquiry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your Excellency," said Ridge, "the man who thus seeks to gain your
+favor, and, as I suppose, a reward, by denouncing me, is doubly a
+traitor.  He kills Spaniards at every opportunity, and now seeks my
+life at your hands because he knows that I am one.  It is true that I
+was captured by him and his band of Cuban ruffians.  To save my life, I
+told him the story that he now brings to you.  After thus allaying his
+suspicions, I seized a favorable opportunity to escape.  By the
+superior swiftness of my horse I finally reached this place in safety,
+though pursued by him to your very lines and hotly fired upon, as can
+be proved by many witnesses.  Now, therefore, I, José Remelios, bearer
+of despatches from the Seņor Carranza, denounce this man as a doubly
+dyed traitor, and demand that he be arrested on a charge of being a
+Cuban spy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you ever seen him kill a Spaniard?" asked General Pando.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge was obliged to admit that he had not.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then how do you know that he has done so?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"From his own boastful confession.  He claims to have taken the life of
+a Spanish soldier for every day of the last year."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The General smiled.  "That is certainly a very boastful claim," he
+said, "but one not to be believed for a moment.  Think you, sir, that
+such a number of Spaniards could be killed without my knowledge? or
+that, in any case, one man could thus overcome the brave, experienced,
+and well-armed soldiers of Spain?  Your credulity, seņor, is
+refreshing.  Also I have no hesitation in telling you that ever since I
+took command of the eastern diocese, this man, recommended to me by my
+predecessor in office, has been the most faithful and valuable of my
+secret agents among the Cubans.  Time and again he has furnished early
+information of important events which has subsequently proved correct
+in every detail.  With such a record in his favor, am I now to doubt
+him upon the mere word of a stranger?  No, seņor, the honor of a
+Spaniard forbids.  I am obliged, therefore--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here came an interruption of voices at the door.  Hearing them,
+del Concha, who had remained silent during the foregoing conversation
+and apparently careless of what was said concerning him, uttered a few
+hurried words to the General in a low tone, and disappeared behind a
+screen that stood close at hand.  Directly afterwards a lieutenant and
+two soldiers entered with a prisoner, whom Ridge recognized as one of
+the ragged Cubans who had escorted him to Holguin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"General," said the officer, saluting, "I bring a Cuban deserter who
+claims to have information of pressing importance that he will impart
+to no one but yourself, so I have ventured to intrude; but if it is
+your pleasure, I will remove him and seek to extort his secret."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh no," replied the commander; "it is not worth the trouble.  Let him
+speak, and quickly, for I am pressed with business."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I come, Excellenza," began the deserter, in a trembling voice, "with
+the hope of clemency and a reward, to notify your Excellency that this
+seņor"--here he pointed to Ridge--"is not what he pretends.  I was of a
+band who captured him on the coast, and I overheard his confession to
+our leader.  From his own mouth, therefore, I learned that he is a spy,
+and--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An American bearing false despatches," interrupted the General,
+irritably.  "You see I already know all that you would say.  Remove
+your prisoner, soldados."  Then, in a lower tone to the officer, he
+added: "Take him away and dispose of him.  Such <I>canaille</I> are as
+troublesome as fleas.  Immediately upon completing the job you may
+return, as I have other business for you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a salute, the officer hurried after his men.  At the same time del
+Concha emerged from his place of concealment, and the General, turning
+to Ridge, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have doubtless noted, seņor, how quickly the information
+concerning yourself brought by this gentleman is confirmed.  Therefore
+you will not be surprised to have me order you into confinement until
+your case can be reported to Havana"--at this moment came the startling
+sound of a volley of musketry, evidently fired close at hand--"and a
+decision concerning it received from the Captain-General," concluded
+the speaker, paying no heed to the firing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge was about to utter a protest, the officer who had left the
+room a minute before, re-entered it, saluted with stiff precision, and
+stood awaiting orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lieutenant Navarro," said the General, "you will remove this
+gentleman, who is charged with being an American spy, and bid the
+officer in charge of the guard-house hold him in closest custody until
+he receives further instructions.  Adios, Seņor Remelios.  May your
+night's rest be peaceful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Perceiving that resistance or protest would be useless, Ridge passively
+allowed himself to be led away.  A file of soldiers stood outside, and,
+surrounded by these, he was marched to the guardhouse, where, after
+being searched and relieved of everything contained by his pockets, he
+was led into a bare, cell-like room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A wooden stool and a heap of filthy straw in one corner constituted its
+sole furnishing.  Through a grating in the door came the flickering
+light of a lamp burning in the corridor, while outer air was admitted
+by a small iron-barred opening in one of the side walls some six feet
+above the floor.  The place reeked with dampness, and, in spite of
+these openings, its air was foul and stifling.  A few minutes after
+Ridge entered it, and as he sat in dumb despair, vainly striving to
+realize his unhappy situation, a soldier brought him a bowl of bean
+porridge and a jug of water.  Without a word, he set these down and
+departed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A little later other soldiers came and gazed curiously at him through
+the grated door, always speaking of him as "el Yanko," and making merry
+at his expense.  Thus several hours passed, and he still sat
+motionless, trying to think; but his brain was in a whirl, and he
+seemed as powerless to concentrate his thoughts as he was friendless.
+He realized dimly that at regular intervals a guard, pacing the outer
+corridor, paused before the door of his cell to peer in at him, and so
+make sure of his presence; but he paid slight attention to this
+official scrutiny.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly his ear caught a sound strange to that place--a girlish voice
+laughing merrily and evidently exchanging brisk repartee with the
+soldiers in the guard-room.  It was a pleasanter sound than any he had
+heard, and he listened to it eagerly.  After a little the voice seemed
+to draw nearer, and he could distinguish the words, "el Yanko."  He,
+then, was the subject of that gay conversation.  A moment later, from
+the same source, came an expression that numbed him with the awfulness
+of its possible meaning.  "To be shot at sunrise?  Poor fellow!"  Could
+he be the "poor fellow" meant?  Of course not; but then he might be.
+Such a summary disposition of prisoners was not unknown to Spanish
+jailers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While his mind was busy with this startling question the laughing
+voice, now lowered almost to a whisper, approached his door, and he
+became conscious of a scrutiny through the grating.  Also a discussion
+was going on outside, and he heard:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no, not a smile, not a word, unless you open the door so that I
+may see el Yanko.  I have never seen one in all my life--never."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A short pause, then a key turned, and the door was gently opened.  Two
+figures entered.  A soldier and a slender girl, who clung fearfully to
+his arm.  They stood and looked at Ridge as he sat on his wooden stool,
+and he stared back.  For a moment the three gazed at one another in
+silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the girl exclaimed, pettishly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If that is all your famous Yanko amounts to, I have already seen
+enough, since he looks exactly like other men, only more ugly than
+some.  Come, let us go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this she playfully turned her companion about and pushed him from
+the cell.  As she did so she made a quick backward movement with her
+right hand, and something fell on the straw pallet as though flung
+there.  A second later the door was relocked, and, with merry laughter
+again echoing through the dim corridor, they were gone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Curiously Ridge fumbled in the musty bedding until he found a small
+packet enveloped in brown paper.  He opened it eagerly.  Inside were
+two tiny steel saws, made from a watch spring, and a little tube of
+oil.  There was also a bit of white paper on which was writing.  By
+holding this close to the lamp-lighted grating.  Ridge read:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have only till daylight.  Saw out a bar and squeeze through.
+Friends will await you outside.  Destroy this."  There was no signature.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What friends can I have in this place?" thought the young trooper, as
+he nervously chewed the bit of paper to a pulp.  At the same time he
+was tremulous with a new hope.  "Perhaps I can do it," he said, "and
+anything will be better than sitting in idleness, with a prospect of
+being shot at sunrise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Standing on his wooden stool he could easily reach the lower end of the
+iron bars closing the cell window, and he at once began work on them.
+At first he seemed to produce about as much effect as would the gnawing
+of a mouse, but after a while his tiny saw was buried in the tough
+iron.  Then footsteps approached, and Ridge had barely time to fling
+himself on the vile-smelling pallet before a sentry was peering in at
+the grating.  A ray of light fell where he lay, but fortunately failed
+to reach the side on which the barred aperture was located.  So the
+prisoner made a long bunch of the straw, covered it with his coat, and
+placed his water-jug at one end, thus causing the whole to bear a rude
+resemblance to a human figure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After that he worked steadily, only pausing at the sound of footsteps,
+but not leaving the scene of his operations.  He found that he must cut
+two bars instead of only one, and a saw snapped in twain when the first
+was but half severed.  After that he handled the other with intense
+caution, and his heart throbbed painfully with anxiety as the work
+neared completion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For hours he toiled, and he knew that daylight could not be far off
+when the second bar was finally cut.  To bend it aside took all his
+strength, and so occupied was he in doing this that for the first time
+that night he heeded not a sound of footsteps in the corridor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What goes on here?" questioned a harsh voice, and Ridge's heart leaped
+into his mouth.  With desperate energy he wrenched the bars to one
+side, hearing as he did so a fumbling at the lock of his door.
+Utilizing his strength to the utmost, he pulled himself up, forced his
+body through the narrow opening, and pitched headlong to the ground
+outside.  At the same time came fierce shouts, a pistol-shot, and a
+great clamor from the place he had left,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But strong hands were helping him to his feet, and a voice was saying
+in his ears: "You have done well, amigo.  Now we must fly for our
+lives."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course it could not be; but to Ridge's senses, confused by the shock
+of his fall, it seemed as though the voice was that of the false friend
+who had betrayed him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Without a knowledge of direction or purpose, Ridge suffered himself to
+be guided by his unknown friend through several narrow streets.  They
+ran at top speed and in silence, but behind them came a clamor of
+soldiers from the guard-house.  By their shouts that a prisoner was
+escaping, these aroused that portion of the town, and frightened
+occupants of squalid houses caught shadowy glimpses of the fugitives as
+they sped past.  To the pursuers these same spectators pointed eagerly
+the course taken by those who fled, so that the scent of the chase was
+kept hot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A sudden turn disclosed three horses, one bearing a rider, and all
+standing motionless.  A glad whinny of recognition came from one as
+Ridge Norris gained its side, and in another moment his own Seņorita
+was speeding him away from the scene of his recent danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the three swept through the outer picket-line unharmed by its thick
+flying bullets, they were startled by a clatter of hoofs at right
+angles to their course, and coming swiftly towards them.  A cavalry
+patrol warned by the uproar, and catching sight of the fugitives in the
+growing dawn, was striving to intercept them.  They also fired as they
+rode, and two of those who fled bent low over their horses' necks that
+they might offer as small a mark as possible.  Not so the young
+American, who now found himself under fire for the first time in his
+life.  He had found his rifle still attached to the saddle; and now,
+with every drop of blood in his body at fighting heat, he sat erect,
+half turned, and fired back until every shot in his magazine was
+exhausted.  As a result, several of the pursuers dropped from the
+chase; but it was hotly maintained by the others, who also kept up a
+desultory shooting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had gained a good mile from town when suddenly one of Ridge's
+companions uttered a sharp cry, in a voice distinctly feminine, and
+reeled in her saddle.  The other, whom Ridge now knew to be del Concha,
+leaped from his horse and caught her in his arms as she fell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must make a stand and fight!" he cried, as Ridge reined Seņorita to
+a sudden halt beside him.  "Drive the beasts ahead and conceal yourself
+on the other side.  I will remain here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were already among the foothills of the Almiqui Mountains, and had
+just passed a low crest which, for the moment, hid them from their
+pursuers.  The ambush was so quickly arranged that, two minutes later
+when these appeared, they saw nothing of it and heard only a rush of
+horses' hoofs in the ravine below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a yell the Spanish cavalrymen put spurs to their steeds and dashed
+down the declivity.  The first two were allowed to pass.  Then came a
+double flash of flame from the bushes and one of the riders fell, while
+another uttered the cry of a wounded man.  Two more were killed before
+the panic-stricken horsemen were borne beyond range.  Those who
+remained unhurt left the road and fled for their lives down the bed of
+a little stream that crossed it at the foot of the hill.  The wounded
+man was despatched by del Concha where he lay, before Ridge could
+interpose a word in his behalf.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And why not?" asked the Cuban, as he coolly wiped his machete on the
+grass.  "Can the blood-debt that I owe them ever be paid?  Are they not
+adding to it every day?  Even now, does not she who is dearest of all
+the world to me lie wounded at their hands?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, I thought you were in their service, and that they trusted you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So they do trust me, and to their sorrow," replied del Concha, with a
+bitter laugh.  "But there is no time for explanations.  A precious life
+hangs in the balance, and only instant action may save it.  If you can
+recover the horses, or even one of them, all may go well.  If not,
+there is little room for hope."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without reply Ridge whistled a shrill note that echoed sharply among
+the hills.  The distant neigh of a horse came in answer, and he started
+on a run down the road.  At the foot of the slope he encountered
+Seņorita coming back to meet him; and springing to her back he went in
+pursuit of her companions whom he soon discovered grazing by the
+wayside.  At sight of him they fled at full speed; but they might as
+well have raced with the wind as with the fleet-footed mare; and,
+within ten minutes from the time of leaving del Concha, Ridge returned,
+leading the horse the Cuban had ridden.  The other was left, tied to a
+tree where he had captured it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Del Concha was holding in his arms their wounded comrade, apparently a
+slender youth, whose face was now disclosed to Ridge for the first time
+by the light of the newly risen sun.  Although it was of deathly
+pallor, and the eyes were closed, he instantly recognized it as
+belonging to the girl of the laughing voice who had so cleverly
+contrived to aid him the evening before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said del Concha, noting the look of recognition, "it was she who
+carried you the saws and message.  She is the bravest girl in all Cuba,
+and the sweetest.  It was for my sake and that of her country that she
+aided you; for she is a devoted patriot, and my <I>fiancée</I>.  We were to
+be married as soon as an American army landed.  She would have it so.
+Now if she dies, I cannot bear it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While he spoke, the grief-stricken man, in whom there was slight
+resemblance to the debonair bandit of the day before, laid his burden
+gently down, and mounted the horse that Ridge had recovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now give her to me," he said; and, tenderly lifting the light form,
+Ridge placed it once more in his arms.  The girl had been shot in the
+back, and the cruel Mauser bullet, long but slender as a lead-pencil,
+had passed through her body.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My only hope is to get her to the nearest camp of refugees, and that
+is still five miles away," said del Concha.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After that they rode in silence, the sorrowing lover, with his precious
+burden leading the way, and the young American oppressed by the sadness
+of the incident for which he felt wholly, though unwittingly to blame,
+following with the spare horse.  Mingled with our hero's self-reproach
+was also a decided curiosity as to how del Concha would explain the
+double part he had played the evening before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they advanced into the heart of the mountains, ever climbing, their
+road grew rougher and narrower, until finally it was a mere trail.
+Although they passed occasional ruins of huts, they did not see one
+that was inhabited or habitable.  Neither did they encounter a human
+being until their destination was reached, though for the last mile of
+their progress they were constantly watched by wild-looking figures
+that peered at them from behind rocks or bushes.  Often, after a single
+glance at the horsemen, these ragged scouts would dart away, scurrying
+through the brush with the noiseless speed of rabbits, and one able to
+see them would have observed that all took the same direction.  It was
+towards a camp of Cuban refugees, snugly hidden in one of the most
+inaccessible recesses of the mountains, and to it they bore the news of
+approaching visitors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Therefore the camp was in a state of expectancy even before the
+new-comers were challenged by its outpost, and as del Concha had long
+since been recognized, they received a cordial greeting.  The wounded
+girl was at once taken to a commodious hut, where she could be cared
+for by nurses of her own sex, while a substantial breakfast, roughly
+cooked and of the simplest character, was made ready for the two men.
+It was served on the ground just outside the hut of the Cuban General
+commanding the camp and its few hundreds of ragged soldiers.  This
+officer expressed great joy upon learning from Ridge that an American
+army was about to land in Cuba, and promised to harass any expedition
+sent against it from Holguin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After breakfast, while del Concha was gone to inquire concerning his
+sweetheart, the General took Ridge to his private observatory, a superb
+palm, occupying an eminence, and towering above the surrounding forest.
+From its leafy crown one could look directly down on Holguin and, with
+a good glass, clearly discern the movements of its garrison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While thus alone with the General our young trooper asked questions
+about del Concha.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is one of the bravest and most patriotic of Cubans," declared the
+other, warmly.  "No one has done more than he to advance our cause."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Has he ever been suspected of being a Spanish spy?" asked Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly not, seņor.  Such a question is almost an insult."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet the lieutenant has good cause for his inquiry," said del Concha
+himself, who joined them at that moment.  "Moreover, he is entitled to
+an explanation from me, which I will hasten to give before he shall
+demand it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will afford me great pleasure to hear it," said Ridge, "for some of
+your recent actions have been, to say the least, very puzzling."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As, for instance, when I denounced you to General Pando.  Certainly
+you must have thought badly of me at that time.  I did it, however, to
+save both you and myself, since shortly after you left us I learned
+that one of my troop had deserted for the purpose of betraying you to
+the Spanish General, who, he hoped and believed, would give him a
+liberal reward for so doing.  As Pando supposes me to be one of his
+agents--in which capacity, by-the-way, I have been able to render
+valuable service to Cuba--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed, yes," muttered the General.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"--I saw at once," continued del Concha, "that in order to save us both
+I must forestall the deserter and do the denouncing myself.  You
+witnessed the result in the reception accorded the man when he appeared
+with his stale news, and are aware of his fate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I am not," said Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you not hear the volley by which he was shot within one minute
+after being led from Pando's presence?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was that it?" asked the young American, in an awe-stricken tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly; and served him exactly right, too.  Also saved me the job
+of punishing him.  After that, and after you had been removed, Pando
+confided to me that, as yours was a perfectly clear case, he should not
+bother Blanco with it, but should promptly dispose of it by having you
+shot at sunrise.  He also honored me with a mission to Santiago, on
+which he desired that I should set forth immediately.  I of course
+accepted, only with a mental resolve to take you along, and this, with
+Eva's help, I was in a fair way to accomplish when the dear girl
+received her terrible wound."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bless her!" exclaimed Ridge, fervently, now fully realizing for the
+first time all that had been done for him.  "I hope, with all my heart,
+that her wound is not serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fear it is, though for the present she seems quite comfortable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you are going to Santiago?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not one step beyond this point until she is out of danger."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I must go," said Ridge, decidedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly; and I have a competent guide ready to start at any moment,
+and conduct you on the next stage of your journey."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While Ridge was greatly disappointed at losing the guidance and
+companionship of the young Cuban, in whom his confidence was now wholly
+restored, he could not, under the circumstances, urge him to go
+farther, nor did he dare longer delay his own journey.  With Seņorita,
+all his belongings, including his undelivered despatches, and the money
+stolen when he was captured by del Concha, had been restored to him.
+So he now added to his outfit a grass-woven hammock that he purchased
+in the refugee camp, and was then ready to set forth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The new guide awaiting him was a coal-black negro named Dionysio, who
+was of such huge stature that the other Cubans seemed pygmies beside
+him.  He was armed only with a great machete, ground to exceeding
+sharpness, and he disdained to ride a horse, declaring that he could,
+on foot, cover a greater distance in less time than any horse on the
+island, which Ridge was able to credit after a short experience with
+his ebony guide.  Besides, being a big man and a very strong one,
+Dionysio was a silent man, as taciturn as an Indian, and never spoke
+except upon necessity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Ridge was introduced to him he was sitting in the shade of a
+corojo-palm, smoking a cigarette and lovingly fingering the razor-like
+edge of his machete.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is the Seņor Americano whom you are to guide to Jiguani, and
+afterwards, if he requires it, to Santiago," said del Concha,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dionysio looked keenly at Ridge, but uttered no word.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is ready to start."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The negro stood up, to signify that he was also ready.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will not let the Spaniards kill him," Dionysio tapped his machete
+significantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, my friend, adios," said del Concha, "and may you come safely to
+your journey's end!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accepting this farewell as a signal to move, the black giant set forth
+at a swinging pace, and, in order not to lose sight of him, Ridge was
+obliged instantly to follow.  In another minute, therefore, they had
+crossed the clearing, plunged again into the forest, and the refugee
+camp was as lost to their view as though it had not existed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The silent guide bore on his shoulders a burden of yams rolled in a
+hammock, but it in no way interfered with the freedom of his movements.
+For miles he maintained, up hill and down, the same speed with which he
+had set out, and which so taxed Seņorita's endurance that Ridge was
+finally forced to call a halt.  The heat of the sun was by this time
+intense, while the forest steamed from a succession of brief but
+drenching showers that had swept over it since they started.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Dionysio comprehended what was wanted he proceeded, without a word,
+to construct a small bower of branches and palm leaves, beneath which
+he slung Ridge's hammock.  The young trooper's eyes were so leaden with
+sleep that he had no sooner slipped into this than he was lost in a
+dreamless slumber.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he next awoke, greatly refreshed by his long nap, the great heat
+of the day was past, and the shadows of coming evening produced a
+pleasant coolness.  For a few minutes Ridge lay in a state of lazy
+content, gazing with languid interest at his surroundings.  The sky, so
+far as he could see it, was cloudless, the crisp leaves of a tall palm
+close at hand rustled in a light breeze like the patter of rain, gayly
+plumaged paroquets and nonpareils flitted across his line of vision,
+and the air was filled with the pleasant odor of burning wood, mingled
+with the fragrance of a cigarette that Dionysio smoked while squatted
+on his heels before a small fire.  A little beyond, Seņorita, tethered
+to a tree, cropped at a small patch of coarse grass, and--but Ridge
+could not credit his senses until he had rubbed his eyes vigorously to
+make sure that they were doing their duty--another horse was sharing
+the grass-plot with her.  As he assured himself of this, Ridge sat up,
+and was about to demand an explanation of the negro, when his question
+was checked by another sight still more amazing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A human figure staring fixedly at him with glaring eyes was rigidly
+bound to the trunk of a near-by tree.  It was that of a young man in
+the uniform of a Spanish officer.  His face was covered with blood,
+upon which a swarm of flies had settled, and he was so securely
+fastened that he could not move hand nor foot.  He was also gagged so
+that he could make no sound beyond an inarticulate groan, which he
+uttered when he saw that Ridge was awake and looking at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With an exclamation of dismay the young American leaped from his
+hammock.  At the same moment Dionysio rose to his feet with a broad
+grin on his black face, and spoke for the first time since Ridge had
+made his acquaintance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Him Holguin Spaniard," he said, pointing to the prisoner.  "Me catch
+him.  Keep him for Americano to kill.  Now you shoot him."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-122"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-122.jpg" ALT="&quot;'Him Holguin Spaniard.  Now you shoot him,' said the Cuban.&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="501" HEIGHT="367">
+<H5>
+[Illustration: "'Him Holguin Spaniard.  Now you shoot him,' said the Cuban."]
+</H5>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Thus saying, the negro handed Ridge a loaded pistol that he had taken
+from the Spaniard, and then stepped aside with an air of ferocious
+expectancy to note with what skill the latter would fire at the human
+target thus provided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mechanically Ridge accepted the weapon, and with blazing eyes strode
+towards the hapless Spaniard, who uttered a groan of agony, evidently
+believing that his last moment had arrived.  As the young trooper
+passed the place where Dionysio had squatted, he snatched the negro's
+big machete from the ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this the latter chuckled with delight, evidently believing that the
+blood-thirsty Americano was about to hew his victim in pieces, an
+operation that, to him, would be vastly more entertaining than a mere
+shooting.  Then he stared in bewilderment; for, instead of cutting the
+prisoner down, Ridge began to sever the lashings by which he was bound.
+As the keen-edged machete cut through the last of these, the released
+man fell forward in a faint, and the young American, catching him in
+his arms, laid him on the sward.  "Bring water!" he ordered, with a
+sharp tone of authority, and the negro obeyed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You no kill him?" he asked, as he watched Ridge bathe the blood from
+the unconscious man's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not now," was the evasive answer.  "Where did you get him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Little by little, one word at a time, he gained from the taciturn negro
+an idea of what had taken place while he slept.  It seemed that, while
+he had followed rough mountain trails in his roundabout course to and
+from the refugee camp, there was a much better road to which they had
+closely approached, when he was forced by exhaustion to call a halt.
+After he fell asleep, Dionysio, going for water to a spring that he
+knew of, had detected a sound of hoof-beats advancing along this road
+from the direction of Holguin.  Concealing himself near the spring, he
+waited until the horseman, a Spanish officer, rode up to it.  Then he
+leaped upon the man, dragged him to the ground, and had him secured
+almost before the astonished officer knew what was happening.  He was
+also dazed by a wound in the head received as he was hurled from his
+horse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dionysio was on the point of killing him, as he had many a Spaniard,
+but reflecting that the Americano whom he was guiding would doubtless
+enjoy that pleasure, he generously decided to yield it to him and
+reserve the victim until Ridge should finish his nap.  So, after
+gagging the Spaniard, that he might not disturb him who slept, Dionysio
+flung him across his shoulder and carried him to camp.  There he
+secured him to a tree so that Ridge might see him upon awakening, and
+then calmly resumed his duties as camp cook and sentry.  The
+unfortunate prisoner, wounded, bound, and powerless to move or speak,
+tormented by heat and insects, and parched by a burning thirst, had
+thus suffered for hours, while the young American who was to kill him
+slept close at hand, blissfully unaware of his presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge pityingly cleansed the face of this enemy whose present
+sufferings had been terminated by unconsciousness, he all at once
+recognized it as that of the officer who had conveyed him from General
+Pando's quarters to the guard-house in Holguin.  At the same time,
+noting a slight rustle of paper somewhere in the man's clothing, he
+began a search for it, and finally discovered a despatch in an official
+envelope.  Carefully opening this without breaking the seal, he found
+it to contain two papers.  One was a personal note from General Pando
+to the Spanish commander at Jiguani, calling his attention to the
+other, which was an order to set forth at once with his entire force
+for Santiago, where an American army was about to land, and where he
+would be joined by 5000 troops from Holguin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is interesting," commented Ridge, "and of course must not be
+allowed to reach its destination.  So I will just put in its place my
+Carranza despatch to this same gentleman, informing him that the
+Americans are to land at Cienfuegos.  It will have added weight if it
+appears to come from General Pando, and will surely start him off in a
+direction where he can do no harm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder, though, what I had best do with you," he continued,
+meditatively, addressing the unconscious form beside him.  "Of course
+you will recognize me as soon as you are able to sit up and take
+notice.  Of course, also, I can't kill you in cold blood; nor can I
+turn you over to the tender mercies of Dionysio, for that would amount
+to exactly the same thing.  I don't dare let you go, and I can't be
+bothered with you as a prisoner; so what on earth I am to do with you
+I'm sure I don't know.  I almost wish you wouldn't wake up at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here, owing to Ridge's kindly ministrations, the cause of his
+perplexity opened his eyes, looked the young American full in the face,
+and smiled a faint smile in which recognition and gratitude were
+equally blended.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Of course there was no further thought of continuing the journey that
+evening, for the Spanish officer was in no condition to travel, and our
+young trooper was not one to desert even an enemy who was helpless and
+in distress.  So he informed Dionysio that they would remain where they
+were until morning, and ordered him to make things as comfortable as
+possible for the night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You no kill him?" asked the negro, who had regarded his companion's
+actions of the past half hour with evident disfavor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not to-night," replied Ridge.  "I am going to save him until morning.
+He will be stronger then, and in a better condition to afford us
+entertainment.  Besides, I want time to think out the best way of doing
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-morrow you kill him?" persisted the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps.  That is, if I have hit upon a good plan.  Something novel
+and interesting, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You no kill him, me kill him," muttered Dionysio, as he sullenly began
+to make preparations for the night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The remark, though not intended for the young American, still reached
+his ears and caused him a feeling of uneasiness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe you would, you black devil," he said to himself, "but you
+sha'n't commit your cowardly murder if I can help it."  Then he again
+turned his attention to the prisoner, who was by this time sitting up
+and regarding his captors curiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, as Ridge rejoined him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, of course not.  What put such an idea into your head?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because it so often happens that undesirable prisoners are disposed of
+in that way.  You know I was ordered to have one shot only last night
+at just about this hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was it last night?" murmured Ridge.  "It seems a month ago."  Then he
+added, aloud, "Yes, I know, for I recognize you as Lieutenant Navarro,
+the officer who brought in the deserter, disposed of him according to
+General Pando's order, and then conducted me to prison."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For which reason I should think you would now want to kill me," said
+the other, with a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We Americans are not in the habit of killing persons merely for
+obedience to orders."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are an American, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," admitted Ridge, "and I thought you knew I was one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was not certain, nor was the General, though he was determined to be
+on the safe side, and have you placed beyond a chance of making
+mischief."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I understood," laughed Ridge, "and for that reason I came away
+without waiting to say good-bye."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your escape raised an awful row," said the other, "and the General is
+furious over it.  Swears he will hang every man, woman, or child
+connected with it if he discovers who aided you.  Do you care to tell
+me how it was effected?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," was the prompt reply, "I do not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I didn't suppose you would.  At the same time I am greatly interested
+in it, especially as it caused me to be sent on my present mission.
+General Pando feared that you might make the same attempt at Jiguani as
+at Holguin.  So I was ordered to get there first and have a reception
+prepared for you.  Now, having failed to carry out his instructions, I
+do not know that I should dare present myself before him again, even if
+you should set me free, which, of course, is something not to be hoped
+for.  What do you propose to do with me, anyway?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know," replied Ridge, "but we will consider the situation
+after supper, which I see is ready."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The simple meal of roasted yams, which in war time was the principal
+article of food known to Cuban campaigners, was quickly eaten, and the
+two young men, already regarding each other more as friends than
+enemies, renewed their conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not anxious to resume my connection with General Pando's army in
+any case," began Lieutenant Navarro, "since it is about to march
+against your countrymen, whom I esteem highly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why?" asked Ridge.  "Were you ever in my country?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, and quite recently.  You see, I have some distant cousins of my
+own name living in New Mexico, and only a year ago I paid them a visit.
+I was so charmed with the country, and so cordially welcomed, that I
+expressed a desire to remain with them and become a citizen of the
+United States, They encouraged the idea, and offered me an interest in
+a great ranch, where one of them, Maximilian by name, who is about my
+own age, proposed to become my partner.  I accepted the offer, declared
+my intention of becoming a citizen before the proper authorities, and
+then returned to Spain to settle up my home affairs and procure money
+for my new undertaking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unfortunately I had not served out my full military term, and before I
+could purchase exemption for the remaining time, there was a call for
+more troops to quell this miserable insurrection, and I was ordered
+with Blanco, the new Captain-General, to Cuba.  Of course I don't mind
+fighting Cubans, whom I detest; but I do object to fighting against
+those whom I already consider as my adopted countrymen, especially as I
+have recently learned that the cousin with whom I was to go into
+business has joined the American army."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Maximilian Navarro of New Mexico!" exclaimed Ridge.  "Why, I know him
+well.  He is a captain in my own regiment, the First Volunteer
+Cavalry--the Rough Riders, as we are called.  I saw him only five days
+ago, and hope soon to meet him again, before Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then are we friends rather than enemies!" cried the young Spaniard,
+grasping the other's hand, "and I will go with you to meet my cousin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you go as a deserter?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, but as a prisoner of war under your protection."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course," replied Ridge, who had just gained an inspiration.  "A
+prisoner of war on parole, for you will give me your promise not to
+serve against the United States unless exchanged, will you not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most willingly," replied the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But," continued Ridge, "if I take you to your cousin, I want you first
+to do me a favor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gladly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And before I give you my whole confidence you must earn it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If it lies within my power, I will do so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good," said Ridge.  "According to our laws, you are a citizen of
+the United States from having filed your intention to become one.
+Therefore, while not desiring you to fight against your native land, I
+am going to ask you to prove your loyalty to your adopted country by
+aiding my present mission."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How may I do so?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By continuing your journey to Jiguani, delivering your despatches,
+which, by-the-way, I have examined; procuring for me a Spanish uniform,
+and meeting me two days later at Enramada.  From there we will go
+together into Santiago, where you shall introduce me as your friend.
+Then will come my turn; for when the Americans land we will join them,
+and I shall take pleasure in presenting you to my friends as my friend.
+Will you undertake to do this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seņor Teniente, I will," answered the young Spaniard, "and there is my
+hand on it.  One thing, however, I must ask," he continued.  "How will
+you deliver me from the hate of yonder black devil by the fire?  But
+for you he would have taken my life long since, and when he discovers
+that you do not intend to kill me, he will assuredly make an attempt to
+do so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have no doubt he would if he had a chance," replied Ridge, "but we
+must take turns at watching, and see that he doesn't get one.  I will
+remain on guard the first half of the night, since you need sleep more
+than I, and will also show how fully I trust you by restoring your
+pistol."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your confidence will not be misplaced, seņor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With these arrangements perfected, the little camp sank into quiet, the
+only sounds being the chirping of insects, the harsh cries of night
+birds, and those made by the horses, which occasionally snorted at some
+fancied alarm.  The two white men lay in their respective hammocks
+under the rude thatch of palm leaves, while Dionysio occupied a similar
+but smaller shelter beyond the fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a long time Ridge watched the flicker of its flames, until they
+finally died down, and the darkness was only illumined by the fitful
+flashing of fire-flies.  As these were the most brilliant he had ever
+seen, his eyes followed their zig-zag dartings until they exercised a
+hypnotic influence, and his heavy breathing showed him to be fast
+asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes later the occupant of the other hammock lifted his head
+and listened.  Then he slipped noiselessly to the ground and
+disappeared in the profound darkness at the back of the hut.  For an
+hour longer the peace of the camp was unbroken.  At the end of that
+time one of the horses snorted more loudly than usual, while the other
+dropped heavily to the ground as though lying down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After awhile, if Ridge had been awake, he might have noted a slight
+rustling in the grass, as though some animal were making a cautious way
+through it towards the hut.  But his slumber was too profound to be
+easily broken, and no instinct warned him of approaching danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The rustling drew closer, until it sounded within a few feet of the
+unconscious sleeper.  Then a black bulk slowly lifted from the ground,
+and gradually assumed the proportions of a man standing motionless.  Of
+a sudden this figure, whose blurred outlines were barely discernible,
+made a quick movement, and the hammock of the young Spaniard was cut in
+twain by the sweeping blow of a machete.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the same moment a pistol-shot rang out, followed by another and
+another.  There was a smothered yell, a rush of feet, a brief struggle
+from the place where the horses were tethered, a crash, and directly
+afterwards Seņorita, trembling in every limb, made her way to where her
+young master stood, as he had leaped from his hammock, dazed, and
+uncertain what to do.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap17"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IN THE HANDS OP SPANISH GUERILLAS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In addition to his alarm, Ridge was overcome with a guilty knowledge of
+having fallen asleep while on guard.  Of course, he felt certain that
+he had only closed his eyes for a minute; but in that minute something
+dreadful, for which he was responsible, had happened.  He had no idea
+what it was, but imagined the worst, and was greatly relieved to hear
+the voice of his prisoner-comrade at his side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What on earth--" he began; but just then Seņorita dashed up to him in
+a state of terror, and for the moment demanded his attention.  As he
+soothed her he called loudly for Dionysio, but there was no response.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid he has escaped," said the young Spaniard, in rather a
+faint voice, from the ground, to which he had dropped exhausted by
+weakness and the intense strain of the past few hours.  "He tried to
+kill me, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tried to kill you!" exclaimed Ridge, incredulously.  "But wait a
+moment.  We must have a light.  This darkness is awful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus saying, he stepped to where a few coals of the camp-fire still
+smouldered, and began to throw on sticks, which, after a little
+coaxing, sprang into a bright blaze.  By its light he detected two dark
+forms lying motionless a short distance away, and, with pistol held
+ready for action, went to discover their nature.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Navarro must have been dreaming, or else greatly mistaken," he said to
+himself, "for here is Dionysio fast asleep.  Come, wake up!" he cried
+aloud, at the same time prodding the prostrate form with his toe.  As
+there was no response, he stooped to give the sleeper a vigorous
+shaking; but almost with the first touch he sprang back in horror.  The
+man lay on his back, but with his head so twisted about that only its
+rear portion was visible, and Ridge instinctively knew that he was
+dead.  The other motionless form was that of a dead horse, the one
+recently ridden by Lieutenant Navarro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having made this ghastly discovery, Ridge hastily returned to the hut
+to gain from his companion an explanation of what had happened,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I could not sleep," said the young Spaniard, in answer to his
+inquiries, "though I lay still and tried hard to do so, until, by your
+heavy breathing, I discovered that you were no longer awake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am awfully ashamed of myself," said Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not to be wondered at," rejoined the other, consolingly.  "You
+had not so much at stake as I, for only my life was threatened.
+Somehow, I felt certain that the black fiend who thirsted for my blood
+was also lying awake, and would make an attempt to kill me in my
+hammock before morning.  So, without disturbing you, I moved to the
+back of the hut and waited for him.  It must have been an hour before
+the horses began to give signs of great uneasiness, and then one of
+them fell.  I suppose he must have killed it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said Ridge, "I reckon he did, since it now lies dead, and
+bleeding from a stab behind the left fore-shoulder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I imagined something of the kind," continued the other, "but still
+thought it safer for both of us not to disturb you.  So I waited, more
+keenly alert than before, but heard nothing, until I saw him slowly
+rise and stand beside my hammock.  The blow that he dealt it would have
+cut me in two had I still occupied it; and, with this discovery of his
+design, I fired three shots, one of which, I think, must have hit him.
+At any rate, he uttered a great cry and staggered away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After that," said Ridge, "he must have tried to escape on my horse,
+which probably flung him over her head and broke his neck.  Didn't you,
+old girl?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Had Seņorita possessed the power of speech, she would certainly have
+answered "Yes," for that was exactly what had happened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At any rate," continued the young trooper, with a sigh of relief, "I
+am mighty glad my neglect of duty did not result more seriously.  At
+the same time we are left in an awkward shape for continuing our
+journey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How so?" asked the other.  "I am not afraid to walk."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I have lost my guide."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have lost one and gained another, who will serve you with equal
+skill, since I know very well the road to Jiguani."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course you must know it," replied Ridge.  "How stupid of me not to
+remember! and, as we can take turns at riding my horse, we shall
+doubtless get along all right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no more sleep for either of the young soldiers that night;
+and by earliest dawn, having already eaten their frugal breakfast of
+roasted yams--an article of diet of which Ridge was becoming heartily
+tired--they set forth on the road to Jiguani.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they were already on the southern slope of the mountains and
+descending into a broad valley, they made such rapid progress, by
+alternately riding and walking, that the sun had not passed its
+meridian when they reached the Cauto--the longest river in Cuba.  There
+was formerly a small settlement at the crossing, but it had long since
+been destroyed, and now only presented the sight, so common in Cuba, of
+charred ruins devoid of human presence.  There was neither bridge nor
+boat, but Lieutenant Navarro declared the river fordable at this point.
+Ridge regarded dubiously the chocolate-colored flood already swollen by
+the first of the summer rains, and wished that they had at least two
+horses with which to cross it.  As they had not, and as nothing was to
+be gained by delay, he took his companion up behind him, and Seņorita,
+thus doubly burdened, plunged bravely into the stream.  Until they were
+half-way across all went well, the mare cautiously feeling her way, and
+the water not reaching more than to her belly,  Then, without warning,
+she dropped into a hole so deep that the turbid current closed above
+the heads of her riders as well as her own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Reappearing on the surface, the mare struck out for shore, with Ridge
+swimming beside her, and the young Spaniard, who was a poor swimmer,
+clinging desperately to her tail.  Fortunately the channel into which
+they had plunged was so narrow that within two minutes they had reached
+its farther side in safety, and could once more touch bottom.  Wading
+up-stream to a point where the road left the river, they emerged from
+the water, soaked and dripping, but thankful to have met with no worse
+harm than a ducking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge turned to laugh at the forlorn appearance presented by his
+companion, the latter uttered an exclamation of dismay, and at the same
+moment they were surrounded by half a dozen as villainous-looking
+ruffians as our troopers had yet seen in Cuba.  His heart sank within
+him.  Again was he a prisoner with the prospect at least of having his
+journey seriously delayed.  In the confusion of the moment he did not
+note that those into whose hands he had fallen wore blouses and
+trousers of blue drilling traversed by narrow, vertical stripes of
+white, the campaign uniform of the Spanish army in Cuba; but his
+companion instantly recognized it, and demanded, with a tone of
+authority, "Who commands here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do," replied the most ill-favored of the crew, stepping forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a guerilla, are you not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A captain of irregular cavalry, seņor.  And you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I," replied the lieutenant, "am a major of regulars, attached to the
+staff of General Luis Pando, and on an urgent mission to Jiguani.  My
+horse was killed by insurgents this morning, and I had a narrow escape,
+leaving one of them dead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Which is the reason that two of you rode one horse in crossing the
+river, and so led me to mistake you for 'mamby?'" [1] said the guerilla
+captain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very likely, sir, though I can't be accountable for your mistakes.
+Now you may let your men make a fire by which we can dry ourselves, and
+you may also have food prepared, for we are hungry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But your friend, Major, who is he?" asked the other, scanning Ridge's
+brown canvas uniform doubtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"None of your business, sir.  Let it be sufficient that he is my
+friend, and do as I bid you without further words."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this Discipline, even though suspicious, yielded to the voice of
+Authority, and the guerilla made surly announcement that both fire and
+food were close at hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This proved true; for, on gaining the face of the bluff, our friends
+found themselves in the presence of some twenty more guerillas, who
+were gathered about fires, cooking and eating strips of meat from a
+recently butchered steer.  Their horses were picketed close at hand,
+and beyond them grazed a herd of small wild-looking Cuban cattle.  For
+these this detachment of "beef-riders" had scoured the country-side,
+and they were now returning with them to Jiguani.  A scout from this
+party, patrolling the river-bank, had notified the captain that
+strangers were about to cross from the other side, and he had thus been
+enabled to prepare for their reception.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was evidently disappointed that they and their belongings could not
+be seized as prizes of war, and manifested this by the envious glances
+that he cast at Seņorita as well as upon the weapons that Ridge was
+drying and cleaning.  Especially was the young trooper's rifle an
+object of longing admiration, and, after a critical examination, the
+captain even went so far as to offer to buy it; but Ridge refused to
+part with the gun, whereupon the man turned sulky, and declined to hold
+further intercourse with him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a while the whole party again took the road, Lieutenant Navarro
+riding a spare horse that he had "requisitioned" from the guerilla
+leader.  The latter rode with his guests at the head of the
+advance-guard, and Ridge noticed that, as two scouts were still in
+front of them, while others of the guerillas rode on either side, they
+were completely surrounded, and practically prisoners.  He suggested as
+much to his companion, but the latter only smiled, and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What matters it, so long as we are safely escorted to Jiguani?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I don't want to go there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True.  I had forgotten.  You wish to proceed to Enramada, where I am
+to join you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, on the second day from now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With only slight delay we might travel together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have reasons for preferring to go alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will be in danger from the Cubans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ask your guerilla captain if he thinks so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The latter said he did not believe there were any insurgents on the
+Enramada road just then, since their chief, General Garcia, had
+withdrawn from Bayamo, and was understood to be collecting his entire
+force near El Cobre, in the Sierra Maestra, or southern coast range.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, then," said Ridge.  "I desire to leave you as soon as we
+come to the Enramada road, and I wish that you would inform your
+guerilla friend that I propose to do so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will do better; for when we reach the forks, which will be shortly,
+I will order you to take the one to the left, while we keep to the
+right, and he will not dare attempt to detain you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the guerilla, who had determined to possess himself of Ridge's
+horse and rifle, did dare do that very thing.  Thus, when at the
+forking of the roads the order was given as proposed, and Ridge started
+to obey it, the captain whipped out a pistol, and declared that the
+stranger must accompany him into Jiguani for examination before the
+authorities.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this our young trooper clapped spurs to Seņorita, flung himself flat
+on her back, and dashed away on his chosen road, followed by a
+scattering volley of pistol-shots, and by four of the best mounted
+among the guerillas, who, at their captain's command, sprang after him
+in hot pursuit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+[1] Derisive term applied by Spaniards to Cuban insurgents.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap18"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVIII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DEATH OF SEŅORITA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+From the earliest days of Spanish rule in Cuba human life has been held
+very cheap.  Especially of late years, when thousands of men, women,
+and children have been wantonly murdered, has the killing of a man for
+any reason been lightly regarded.  So in the present instance the
+guerilla captain instructed those detailed to overtake the escaping
+prisoner to kill him and bring back all his property.  It seemed to him
+an easy task for his well-mounted beef-riders, familiar with every foot
+of that region, to overtake and overpower one who had already travelled
+far that day, and was evidently a stranger to the country.  When they
+had done so he would obtain that coveted rifle.  On the whole, he was
+glad that one of his prisoners had made a foolish dash for liberty, and
+rather wished the other would do the same thing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the other contented himself with denouncing the action of the
+guerilla captain in bitter terms, and promising to report it the moment
+they reached the Spanish lines.  At all of which the latter only smiled
+contemptuously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time Ridge, lying low on his horse's neck to offer as small
+a target as possible to the shots fired by his pursuers whenever they
+sighted him, was uttering words of encouragement in Seņorita's ear, and
+she was responding with such a burst of speed that the beef-riders were
+quickly left far behind.  At length nothing was to be seen or heard of
+them; and, believing that they had given over the chase as hopeless,
+the young trooper allowed the panting mare who had borne him so bravely
+to slacken her heading pace until it was reduced to a walk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was still in the broad Cauto valley, where the sabanetas, or open
+glades of tall grasses, were interspersed with wide tracts of
+impenetrable jungle and forests of palms.  By these his view was
+limited on every side, but he knew that the mountains among which he
+hoped to find the insurgent leader lay to the southward.  So he
+determined to leave the road by the first trail leading in that
+direction, and continue on it until he should meet some one willing to
+guide him to his destination.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having formed this crude plan, and believing that Seņorita had been
+allowed sufficient time to recover her breath, he began to urge her to
+a better speed, but, to his surprise, she failed to respond.  Neither
+words nor spur served to move her from the slow walk into which she had
+fallen.  Such a thing had not happened since the beginning of their
+acquaintance in far-away San Antonio, and the young trooper dismounted
+to discover what had gone wrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had not far to look, for, as he touched the ground, a red trickle of
+blood caught his eye.  The plucky little mare had been hit by one of
+the beef-riders' shots, but had given no sign until now, when her
+weakness could no longer be overcome.  So copious was the flow of blood
+that it was evident an artery had been severed, and already had the
+loss been very great.  In vain did Ridge strive to stanch the cruel
+outspurt.  He had no proper appliances, and the evil was too serious to
+be remedied by his simple skill.  Even as he made the attempt the
+gallant beast swayed, staggered, and then sank with a groan to the
+ground.  Almost sobbing with grief and dismay, Ridge flung himself
+beside her and threw an arm caressingly across her neck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor old girl!  Dear old girl!" he cried.  "To think that I should
+have brought you here just for this.  It is too bad! too bad!  And what
+shall I do without you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then with a sudden thought he sprang to his feet and began an eager
+search on both sides of the road for water, but found none.
+Disappointed and heavy-hearted, he returned to Seņorita.  She lay as he
+had left her, but motionless and with closed eyes.  Again he knelt at
+her side, and at the sound of his voice the loving eyes were once more
+opened.  At the same time, with a mighty effort, the proud head was
+uplifted, as though the mare were about to struggle to her feet.  Just
+then came a shot from behind them, and, with a bullet intended for her
+young master buried deep in her brain, the dear horse yielded up her
+life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The shot was so instantly followed by a clatter of hoofs, that Ridge
+had barely time to snatch his rifle and fling himself to the ground
+behind Seņorita's body before the beef-riders appeared charging up the
+road, yelling and firing, as they came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With his rifle resting across the mare's side, Ridge took quick aim and
+fired.  One of the advancing horsemen threw up his arms and fell over
+backward, but the young American did not see him; for, without waiting
+to note the effect of his shot, he dropped the rifle and seized his
+revolver.  It was a self-cocking weapon, and as rapidly as he could
+pull the trigger he delivered the contents of all six chambers at the
+guerillas.  Whether or not they fired in return he did not know, but as
+the smoke from his own fusillade cleared away he saw one man lying
+motionless in the road, and another dragging himself into the grass at
+one side.  From that direction also came the furious plunging of a
+horse.  Of the others who had pursued him nothing was to be seen.
+Hastily reloading his revolver, and throwing another cartridge into the
+chamber of his rifle, Ridge nervously awaited further developments.
+Would they again charge upon his front, or would they seek to outflank
+him by crawling through the dense growth on either side?  The latter
+would be the safer move, and could be easily made.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As our young soldier realized this, he decided to forestall the attempt
+by taking to the grass himself, and in another moment he was cautiously
+creeping on hands and knees amid the hot brown stalks that grew many
+feet above his head.  Fearing that his movement might attract
+attention, he did not go far; but, after making his way for a few rods
+parallel to the road, he again gained its edge and halted at a place
+where, peering between the grass stems, he could see his dead horse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here he lay motionless until he became convinced that his enemies had
+beaten a retreat and would trouble him no more.  Thus thinking,
+impatient of delay, and painfully cramped by his position, he was about
+to rise when the long silence was broken by a low cuckoo call close at
+hand.  Was it a signal or the note of some strange bird?  As Ridge
+hesitated, the call was answered from the other side of the road.
+Again it sounded from the side on which he lay; then, from the opposite
+side a man's head came slowly into view, low down among the grass
+stems.  After hasty glances both up and down the road it was withdrawn,
+and the cuckoo notes were again exchanged.  Then two of the baffled
+beef-riders rose boldly to their feet and stepped out in full view,
+close beside the dead horse.  The young trooper could not distinguish
+their words; but, from their angry gestures, they were discussing his
+disappearance and the advisability of a further attempt to capture him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the same moment his own thoughts were of a most conflicting nature.
+One of the men was covered by his rifle, and his finger was on its
+ready trigger, but he hesitated to pull it.  They had killed his horse
+and sought to take his life.  Even now they would shoot him down
+without mercy, and as a pastime, if the opportunity offered.  Knowing
+this, and realizing his danger if those men should discover him, the
+young American still hesitated to fire from ambush and take human life
+in cold blood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That others did not feel as he did about such things was shown while he
+hesitated, for the two beef-riders had been in sight but a few seconds
+when there came a flash and a roar of guns from the opposite side of
+the road, a little beyond where Ridge was hiding.  Both the guerillas
+fell as though struck by a thunder-bolt, and their blue-clad forms lay
+motionless across Seņorita's body.  Her death was amply avenged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this startling demonstration in his behalf, Ridge sprang to his feet
+in full view of half a dozen men, ragged and swarthy, who were running
+down the road with yells of delight.  They halted at sight of the
+stranger, and some raised their weapons; but he, recognizing them as
+Cubans, called out: "I am Americano, and those Spaniards whom you have
+so bravely killed sought my life.  Viva Cuba libre!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon this they again advanced with shouts and eager questions.  They
+belonged to a detachment of the Cuban army on its way to join General
+Garcia, and had been attracted by the sound of firing.  Coming to
+discover its cause, they had seen the dead horse, and were stealing
+cautiously towards it when halted by the familiar cuckoo call of their
+enemies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That Ridge had suffered at the hands of the Spaniards, and fought with
+them, was a sufficient passport to their favor.  Thus when he explained
+his desire to meet their general they consented to guide him to the
+Cuban rendezvous, which they said was high up in the mountains.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a heavy heart and tear-dimmed eyes the young American turned from
+a last look at his beloved horse, and set forth with these new
+acquaintances on their toilsome march.  He carried only his arms, but
+the Cubans had stripped the dead--both men and horses--of everything
+valuable, and were thus well laden with trophies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A short distance from the spot where Seņorita had given her own life in
+saving that of her master, they turned into a barely discernible trail
+that soon brought them to the foot-hills, where they camped for the
+night.  All the next day they pushed on, with infrequent halts, ever
+climbing higher over trails so rough and obscure that only experienced
+eyes could follow them.  Here and there they passed food-stations
+guarded by old men, poorly clad women, and naked children.  Each of
+these consisted of a thatched hut, an open fire, and a sweet-potato
+patch, and to the marching Cubans they supplied roasted potatoes,
+sugar-cane, and occasionally a few ripe mangoes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge and a guide, to whom he had promised money, outstripped the
+others, and shortly before sunset of the second day reached the summit
+of a pass lying between the great bulk of El Cobre on the east and Pico
+Turquino, the tallest mountain in Cuba.  From this point was outspread
+a superb view of densely wooded mountain slopes tumbling steeply down
+to the boundless blue of the Caribbean Sea.  Here the guide departed,
+promising shortly to return, leaving Ridge to gaze upon the wonderful
+panorama unfolded on all sides, and thrilled with the thought that he
+had crossed Cuba.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While he stood thus, forgetful of everything save the marvellous beauty
+of his surroundings, he was puzzled by a sound as of distant thunder
+coming from a direction in which no cloud was visible.  As he
+speculated concerning this phenomenon, he was startled by a voice close
+at hand saying, in English: "That is a welcome sound to Cuban ears,
+seņor, since it is the thunder of American war-ships bombarding the
+defences of Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap19"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIX
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"The thunder of American war-ships!"  Instantly, as Ridge learned its
+nature, the mighty sound took on a new significance, and seemed like
+the voice of his own glorious country demanding freedom for an
+oppressed people.  Filled with this thought, he turned to the man who
+had suggested it, and found himself in the presence of one wearing the
+uniform of a Cuban officer.  The latter had taken off his hat, and the
+young American noted a livid bullet scar in the centre of his broad
+white forehead.  The man was elderly, fine-looking, and smooth-shaven
+except for a heavy white mustache.  His picture had been published in
+every illustrated paper and magazine in the United States.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Promptly giving a military salute, Ridge said, "I believe I have the
+honor of addressing General Garcia."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I am Calixto Garcia.  But who are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An officer of the American army, come to you with a message from its
+commanding General."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you credentials or despatches by which you may be known?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only this, sir."  Here Ridge lowered his voice and gave, for the
+second time since landing in Cuba, the secret countersign of the Junta.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is sufficient," said the General, smiling and holding out his hand.
+"Now what is your message?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That the American army of invasion, having sailed from Tampa, is due
+within the next two days to arrive off Santiago; and General Shafter,
+who commands it, is desirous of an interview with you before landing
+his troops.  He asks you to name the place of meeting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, sir, for bringing me this great news, and gladly will I
+meet your General whenever he may choose to come.  Also I will fix the
+place of meeting down yonder at Aserraderos.  From this station I will
+watch day and night for his ships, and when they come will be ready to
+receive him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, sir.  I will so report to my General."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how do you expect to communicate with him?" asked Garcia,
+curiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I propose to go from here to Enramada, to which place I was about to
+ask you to favor me with a mount and a guide.  At that point I have
+arranged to meet a friend who will give me Spanish protection, and
+under whose escort I shall visit Santiago.  After that I shall be
+guided by circumstances.  But if I live I shall certainly be at
+Daiquiri in time to meet the American army."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have undertaken a difficult task, and I only hope it may be
+accomplished," replied the General, thoughtfully.  "Of course I will
+furnish you with a horse and an escort to Enramada, which place, as you
+are doubtless aware, is already occupied by my men."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the Cubans?" cried Ridge, in dismay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly.  We drove out the Spaniards several days ago, and have
+advanced our lines to within a few miles of Santiago.  At present that
+city is surrounded on three sides by the forces of Generals Castillo
+and Rabi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case, sir, I shall ask for protection to the extreme limit of
+the Cuban lines, both for myself and my friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is he a Spaniard?" asked Garcia, suspiciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is an American citizen," replied Ridge, "though at present
+appearing as a Spaniard, and wearing the uniform of a Spanish officer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is his name?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is travelling under the name of Ramon Navarro."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very Spanish indeed, and he could not have done a more reckless or
+foolish thing than attempt to pass himself off as a Spaniard in this
+part of the island.  If he is discovered near Enramada he will
+undoubtedly be killed without a chance to explain who he really is.
+But that is the way with you Americans.  Confident in your own
+ignorance, you are always pushing ahead without stopping to count the
+cost."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At the same time we generally get there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Get where?" asked the other, sharply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To the place we start for."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh yes, you get there, in some shape, though perhaps sorry that you
+have done so.  In the present campaign, for instance, I have no doubt
+that the very first Americans landed will make a dash for Santiago,
+without waiting for artillery or even provisions.  If they win a
+victory, it will be by the good fortune that often attends fools; but
+the chances are that when they enter Santiago it will be as prisoners
+of war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, "I am an American, and an officer in the American
+army."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pardon, seņor; I forgot," replied the General.  "I was allowing myself
+to utter aloud my thoughts, a thing extremely wrong and ill-advised.  I
+have really no doubt in the world that your gallant countrymen will
+conduct themselves most admirably.  Now if you will come to my poor
+camp I will make you as comfortable as possible for the night, and in
+the morning we will decide what is best for you to do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, sir," said our young trooper, "but with your permission I
+should prefer to make a start at once, with the hope of reaching
+Enramada before my comrade, and thus preventing a sad mistake on the
+part of your troops."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my young friend, you have already travelled far to-day and are
+exhausted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I still have some strength left."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Night is upon us, and the trails are very dangerous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a young moon, and you will furnish reliable guides," replied
+Ridge, smiling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I should not furnish them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I would set forth alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are determined, then, to proceed at once?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am, sir, unless detained by force."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, heavens!  These Americans!" cried the General, with an air of
+resignation.  "They will leave nothing for to-morrow that may be
+squeezed into to-day.  They know not the meaning of 'maņana.'  Ever
+impatient, ever careless of consequences, and yet they succeed.  Can it
+be that theirs is the way of wisdom?  But no, it is their good fortune,
+what they call 'luck.'  Yes, seņor, it shall be as you desire.  In an
+hour all shall be in readiness for your departure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Couldn't you make it half an hour, General?" asked Ridge, with an
+audacity that drew forth only a grunt from the Cuban leader.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So it happened that in something less than an hour from the time of
+this important interview our young American, well fed, and provided
+with a pass through the Cuban lines for himself and one friend, was
+retracing his steps down the northern slope of the Sierra Maestra.  He
+was mounted on a raw-backed but sure-footed Cuban pony, and escorted by
+half a dozen ragged cavalrymen.  They had barely started before he was
+thankful that he had not attempted to make the journey unguided; nor
+had they gone a mile before he knew that he could never have
+accomplished it alone.  Often he found himself traversing narrow trails
+on the brink of black space where a single misstep would have brought
+his career to a sudden termination.  Again he passed through gloomy
+tunnels of dense foliage, slid down precipitous banks, only to plunge
+into rushing, bowlder-strewn torrents at the bottom, and scramble up
+slopes of slippery clay on the farther side, All this was done by the
+feeble and ever-lessening light of a moon in its first quarter, and as
+it finally sank out of sight the leader of the escort called a halt,
+declaring that they could not move another rod before daybreak.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus Ridge was forced to take a few hours of rest, and so exhausted was
+he that his companions had difficulty in rousing him at dawn.  Again
+they pushed forward, shivering in the chill of early morning, and
+blistered by the sun's fervent heat a few hours later, until ten
+o'clock found them on the grass-grown highway leading from Santiago to
+Bayamo, and a few miles west of Enramada.  Here, as Ridge believed
+himself to be well in advance of his comrade, he decided to await his
+coming.  At the same time he sent one of his escort into Enramada to
+discover if Lieutenant Navarro had by any chance reached that place,
+and to arrange for fresh mounts.  Then he threw himself down in the
+scant shadow of a thorny bush for a nap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Apparently his companions, who had promised to keep a close watch of
+the highway, did the same thing, for when he next awoke it was with a
+start and the consciousness that a horseman was dashing past at full
+speed on the road to Enramada.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In less than a minute the shamefaced squad was in hot pursuit, but
+though they strove to atone for their neglect of duty by furious
+riding, they did not overtake the horseman until they discovered him
+halted by an outpost, who allowed him to pass as they came in sight.
+When they in turn were halted they learned that the man whom they had
+followed so briskly was a Cuban scout just in from a tour of
+observation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Ridge rode slowly into Enramada, reported to the officer in command,
+and remained in that wretched village until nightfall in a state of
+nervous impatience.  He was most anxious to push forward, since every
+minute was now of value, but could not desert the friend whom he had
+promised to meet at this place.  He feared that without his protection
+Navarro would come to grief among the Cubans, and also he was depending
+upon the young Spaniard for a safe entry into Santiago.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length dusk had fallen.  The impatient young trooper had eaten a
+supper of tough bull-beef and "those everlasting yams," as he called
+them, with his Cuban friends, and was pacing restlessly to and fro a
+short distance beyond a camp-fire, about which they smoked their
+cigarettes, when a ragged, slouch-hatted figure approached him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seņor Americano."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, what do you want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If Don José Remelios desires the company of Ramon Navarro into
+Santiago, I am ready."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good Heavens, man!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hush!  Tell them you can wait no longer.  Set forth alone, follow the
+railroad, and I will meet you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, before Ridge could reply, the figure darted away and was lost in
+the night shadows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fifteen minutes later the young American, despite the polite protests
+of his entertainers, had left Enramada, dismissed the escort who had
+passed him through the Cuban pickets, declined further guidance, on the
+plea that he could not get lost while following the railway, and was
+watching anxiously for the appearance of his friend.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly he was confronted by a motionless horseman dimly seen on the
+embankment ahead of him, and in another minute the comrades were
+exchanging greetings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How did you reach Enramada without my knowledge?" asked Ridge,
+finally.  "I have watched every moving creature in the place since
+noon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Slipped in, disguised by this horrible Cuban costume, after dark,"
+laughed Navarro.  "Shouldn't have come at all but for my promise, and a
+recollection that I was a prisoner of war on parole, since I learned at
+Jiguani that Enramada was occupied by the insurgents."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I have a pass for you from Garcia himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even had I known it I should not have ventured among those who might
+have recognized me; for where a Spaniard is concerned, any Cuban will
+kill him first and examine his pass afterwards."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose that is so," replied Ridge, with a memory of del Concha.
+"Anyhow, I am mighty glad everything is turning out so well.  Now,
+hurrah for Santiago, and the American army that is to capture it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you believe they can do it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I do," was the confident answer.  But a few hours later,
+when from a wooded hilltop he looked down, upon the widespread city in
+which were quartered 10,000 veteran troops, protected by strong
+intrenchments, formidable batteries, and by Admiral Cervera's powerful
+squadron, he wondered if, after all, his countrymen had not undertaken
+a task far more difficult than they imagined.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap20"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XX
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE TWO ADMIRALS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was a glorious morning, and a glorious sight was disclosed by the
+rising sun--a palm-shaded city of red-tiled roofs, dominated by a fine,
+double-towered cathedral, and a broad, land-locked bay set in a circle
+of rounded hills and rugged mountains.  On the placid bosom of the bay
+rode Cervera's proud squadron of war-ships--five mighty cruisers, four
+of which were of the latest model and most approved armament; two
+wicked-looking torpedo-boat destroyers, each claimed to be more than a
+match for any battle-ship afloat, and a few gunboats that had been used
+for coast patrol.  From the war-ships came the cherry notes of bugles,
+and from the Plaza de Armas, in which a regiment was passing in review,
+swelled the inspiring music of a full military band.  Beyond the city
+every near-by elevation was occupied by a stout block-house, each
+displaying the red and yellow flag of Spain, and forming the nucleus
+for radiating lines of rifle-pits.  Far down at the entrance to the bay
+rose the grim walls of Santiago's Morro Castle, and beyond it floated
+against the blue sky soft smoke clouds that Ridge felt sure must come
+from the American ships on blockade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This was Santiago.  This the peaceful scene that was soon to be
+transformed into a battle-field.  Here, within a few days, victory and
+defeat would meet face to face.  Which side would claim the former?
+Until this moment Ridge had never doubted.  He had often heard the
+boast that his own regiment could drive every Spaniard out of Cuba, and
+had believed it.  Now he knew that here alone was work cut out for an
+army.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These reflections of our young trooper were interrupted by his
+companion, who said, "It is a wonderful picture; but I am too hungry to
+gaze on it any longer; so let us hasten into the city, with the hope of
+finding a breakfast."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Both the young men wore Spanish uniforms that Navarro had brought with
+him, and, protected by these, they rode boldly down to the nearest
+outpost.  Here the lieutenant demanded that they be conducted to
+headquarters, to which they were accordingly sent under guard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Many of the narrow streets through which they passed were indescribably
+filthy, but these became cleaner as they neared the Casa Municipal.
+Here they were graciously received by General Linares, to whom they
+were presented by one of his staff, who recognized Navarro as a friend.
+The General complimented them on having eluded the Cubans, and was much
+gratified to learn that Pando's army was on its way from Holguin to
+reinforce him.  After a few minutes of conversation, during which he
+promised to give both of them details for field duty, he dismissed
+them, and they were at liberty to accept an invitation to breakfast at
+the San Carlos Club.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the cool club-house, which faces the Plaza de Armas, where the band
+plays in the evening and fountains plash softly amid blossoming
+shrubbery, Ridge and his companion were introduced to many officers, a
+number of whom were from the warships.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Santiago was very dull just then; its communication with the outside
+world was cut off.  No ships could enter its beautiful harbor, business
+was almost at a standstill, and there was little to talk about.  So the
+advent of two strangers into the club was hailed with joy, and they
+were plied with questions.  No one seemed to suspect that our young
+American was other than what he professed to be, though his answers to
+many of their questions were necessarily vague and unsatisfactory.  In
+order to entertain them, the resident officers proposed various trips
+to places of near-by interest, such as the fortifications, the barracks
+where Lieutenant Hobson of the American navy was confined, the Morro,
+from which a view of the blockading squadron could be had, or to the
+Spanish war-ships lying in the harbor, the last of which was accepted
+for that morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon, therefore, as breakfast was over, the new-comers were escorted
+to the water-front, where lay several steam-launches.  As they reached
+the landing-place a fine-looking man, white bearded, with twinkling
+eyes and kindly features, drove up in a carriage, and alighting with
+springy step, was instantly saluted by every officer present.  He
+acknowledged the courtesy by lifting his hat and speaking to several of
+them, whom he called by name.  Emboldened by his kindness, these
+ventured to present the new arrivals and mention their desire to visit
+the Spanish ships; whereupon Admiral Cervera, bravest and most
+chivalrous of Spain's commanders, promptly invited them to accompany
+him to the flag-ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they steamed down the bay in the superbly appointed launch flying an
+Admiral's flag and manned by a picked crew in snowy duck, Ridge sat
+silent, in a very confused frame of mind, and paying scant attention to
+the gay conversation carried on by the other members of the party.  He
+had been overcome by the courtesy of his reception in Santiago, and was
+feeling keenly the meanness of his position.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll be shot for disobedience of orders before I ever again undertake
+to act the low-down part of a spy," he reflected, bitterly.  At the
+same time he was wondering how he should manage to escape the kindly
+but embarrassing attentions of these new-found friends, and reach
+Daiquiri in time to communicate with General Shafter upon his arrival.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In spite of these thoughts, he did not fail to admire the beauty and
+massive symmetry of the ships they were approaching.  There lay the
+<I>Cristobal Colon</I>, latest product of Italian skill; the splendid
+<I>Vizcaya</I>, that had recently attracted the admiration of all who saw
+her in New York Harbor; the <I>Almirante Oquendo</I>, that had been received
+with such wild enthusiasm in Havana; the <I>Maria Teresa</I>, famed for the
+richness of her interior fittings; the <I>Reina Mercedes</I>, used as a
+hospital-ship; the <I>Pluton</I> and the <I>Furor</I>, low, black, and ugly to
+look upon, both holding records for enormous speed, and more dreaded as
+engines of destruction than all the others put together.  Stripped to
+fighting trim, these ships were the very embodiment of modern
+sea-power, and in his ignorance Ridge wondered if anything afloat could
+resist them.  From them his attention was at length attracted to the
+Admiral, who was saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am about to send this launch, under a flag of truce, out to the
+American flag-ship to procure some supplies for our prisoners, the
+Seņor Hobson and his men.  So if you have a desire to view the Yankee
+ships at close range I shall be pleased to have you accompany it.
+Possibly you speak the English, in which case you might prove of use as
+interpreter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not speak it so well as does my friend the Seņor Remelios,"
+replied Lieutenant Navarro, to whom this invitation had been extended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then it may be that he will do me the favor to accompany the launch,"
+suggested the Admiral, and of course Ridge gladly embraced the
+opportunity thus offered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I can stay on board the American ship," he said to himself,
+"and not be compelled to revisit Santiago until I can do so as an
+honest fighter, instead of as a contemptible spy.  And what a chance it
+will be for Navarro to escape from the Spaniards!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half an hour later the trim launch, now displaying a large white flag
+forward, had passed the masts of the sunken <I>Merrimac</I>, the frowning
+Morro on its lofty headland, and, standing out to sea, was drawing near
+the superb cruiser <I>New York</I>, flag-ship of Admiral Sampson's fleet.
+On either side of her, in imposing array, lay the great battle-ships
+<I>Iowa</I>, <I>Massachusetts</I>, <I>Texas</I>, and <I>Oregon</I>, the last of which had
+recently hurried to the scene of conflict from San Francisco, making a
+record voyage of 13,000 miles by way of Cape Horn.  Besides these there
+was the <I>Brooklyn</I>, swiftest of American cruisers, together with half a
+dozen more--cruisers, gunboats, yachts, and torpedo-boats--all in
+war-paint, all ready for instant action, and all flying the banner of
+stars and stripes.  At the wonderful sight Ridge's heart glowed with
+patriotism and a new courage.  How impregnable looked the huge
+battle-ships!--how terrible!  Nothing could withstand them!  He felt
+sure of that.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young Spaniard who sat beside him gazed on the outspread American
+fleet in silent amazement.  He had thought Cervera's ships formidable,
+but now it seemed to him they would be but playthings for these modern
+leviathans.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the Spanish launch ranged alongside the flagship, an object of
+curious attention to all on board, it was courteously received; but, to
+Ridge's disappointment, only the officer in charge was permitted to
+leave it.  A few minutes later, however, a cadet tripped lightly down
+the side ladder to say that the gentleman who spoke English was
+requested to report on deck.  As in obedience to this order our young
+trooper followed him up the ladder, he found opportunity to say in a
+low but earnest voice:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must see the Admiral, alone if possible.  Have important
+communication for him.  Try and arrange an interview."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cadet looked back in surprise, and then nodded his head.  The next
+moment they were on deck, when the "Seņor Remelios" could barely
+control his joyful emotions at finding himself once more among his
+countrymen and beneath his country's flag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a brief transaction of business the guests were invited into the
+ward-room, which they had scarcely entered when word was passed that
+the one speaking English was again wanted on deck.  Promptly obeying
+this summons, Ridge was conducted to a large after-cabin which he found
+occupied by two officers.  One, with stern features, iron-gray beard,
+deeply lined forehead, and piercing eyes, he instantly recognized as
+Admiral Sampson.  The other he guessed to be Captain Chadwick,
+commander of the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir," began the former, sharply, as the new-comer was left
+standing, cap in hand, before them, "I understand that you wish to make
+a private communication of importance.  What is it?  Are you desirous
+of deserting your countrymen and joining us?  If so, I would advise you
+to go elsewhere before declaring your intention, because on board this
+ship we have very little sympathy for deserters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seeing that I am an American soldier, sir, belonging to Colonel Wood's
+First Volunteer Cavalry, and am here by special order from General
+Miles, I don't think there is much danger that I shall desert," replied
+Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Both of his hearers uttered exclamations as he announced his
+nationality, and Captain Chadwick muttered, "I should never have
+suspected it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that moment Ridge caught sight of his own face in a mirror, the
+first he had seen in two weeks, and was startled to note how very
+Spanish he looked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a few minutes he had explained the situation, and given General
+Garcia's message appointing Aserraderos as a meeting-place to the
+American commander.  When his report was finished, he added: "Now, sir,
+can't I remain here until the army arrives?  I never realized until
+to-day how humiliating it is to be a spy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish I might say yes," replied Admiral Sampson, meditatively, "but
+fear I cannot.  According to your own account, you have not completed
+your mission by making a study of the condition and defences of
+Santiago, upon which you are to report to the commander of the first
+American force that lands.  Also, I could not detain one who comes as a
+Spanish officer under flag of truce, without making things very
+unpleasant for such of our men as are held prisoners by the enemy.  You
+must not think of your position as humiliating, but as one of great
+importance and responsibility, as well as of great danger.  You say,
+too, that you have a Spanish friend in the launch who wishes to remain
+here with you, and whom you cannot desert, but I certainly could not
+receive him under the circumstances.  Therefore, much as I regret to
+say so, it seems to me that both my duty and yours point to your return
+by the way you came."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge, admitting the justice of this decision, was about to take his
+leave, the executive officer of the ship entered hastily and reported:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A heavy smoke to the eastward, sir, believed to be that of the
+transports bringing General Shafter's army."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap21"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXI
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Both officers sprang to their feet at the startling announcement that
+the eagerly awaited but long delayed transports were in sight, and
+Admiral Sampson extended his hand to Ridge, saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go back to Santiago and your duty, my boy.  I will convey your report
+concerning the meeting with Garcia to General Shafter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then all hurried to the deck, and in another minute the great war-ship
+had started eastward to welcome the troops, while the Spanish launch,
+which had been hastily dismissed, was heading towards Santiago Bay with
+every member of the party she had brought out still on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is about to happen?" asked one of the Spanish officers, in
+bewilderment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The ships bringing the American army have been sighted," replied
+Ridge, who saw no reason for withholding information that must soon be
+known to every one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon this there was great excitement in the launch, which was pressed
+to its utmost speed, that the news might be carried to Admiral Cervera
+and General Linares as quickly as possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At his own request, Ridge, in company with Lieutenant Navarro, was
+permitted to carry it to the General, who said, quietly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, gentlemen; and now, since the time for action has arrived,
+I will assign you to the important duty of patrolling the coast, from
+which you will bring to me, at Sevilla, earliest word of any attempted
+landing by the enemy.  You will act independently, but in co-operation
+with Captain del Rey, who is already scouting in the neighborhood of
+Guantanamo with his company of cavalry.  It is supposed that the
+landing will be made there, but--as Heaven only knows what these
+Yankees may do--we must watch every possible point."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing could have suited Ridge better than this; and a few minutes
+later, with Santiago left behind, he and his companion were galloping
+in the direction of the Morro, from whose lofty walls they would be
+able to command a vast sweep of ocean and coast.  Already were its
+garrison crowding tower and battlement to gaze wonderingly at the
+American fleet coming from the eastward.  A double column eight miles
+long of ships, crowded to their utmost capacity with armed men, was
+advancing under low-trailing banners of black smoke, like a resistless
+fate.  As they neared the war-ships, that had for a month impatiently
+awaited them, these thundered forth a welcome from their big guns.
+Bands played, swift steam-launches darted to and fro, and a mighty
+volume of cheering from twice ten thousand throats was borne to those
+who listened on land like the roar of a breaking tempest.  The American
+army and navy had met at last, and were joined in a common cause.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For an hour our young trooper watched with swelling heart this
+wonderful meeting of his countrymen.  Then he had the satisfaction of
+seeing one of the transports steam away to the westward in the
+direction of Aserraderos.  While his companions asked one another the
+meaning of this manoeuvre, he believed it to indicate that the meeting
+between Generals Shafter and Garcia, for which he had arranged, was
+about to be effected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As it was evident that no landing was to be attempted that day, the
+young men so reported to General Linares at Sevilla, where they also
+spent the night.  Another day of suspense and anxious waiting was
+passed, with the American transports rolling idly in the offing, and
+making no effort to discharge their human freight.  At the same time
+the war-ships kept the Spaniards in a state of feverish excitement by
+shelling every place along twenty miles of coast where a landing might
+be made.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A swarm of Spanish scouts watched these operations from the hill-tops,
+and at short intervals during the day reported the enemy's movements to
+General Linares; but of them all none was so active as Ridge and his
+companion.  From earliest dawn until dark they scoured the country
+lying adjacent to the coast, gaining a complete knowledge of its
+so-called roads, which were but the roughest of trails, only intended
+for saddle or pack animals, and of its defences.  They also made such
+full reports to headquarters of everything that was going on as to
+completely win the confidence of the Spanish commander.  Consequently
+he was not prepared to accept, without further proof, the abrupt
+statement made by a major of his staff, that one of his favorite scouts
+was an American, and probably a spy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was the second day after the arrival of the transports.  The two
+officers were alone in the room occupied by General Linares as an
+office, and from it Ridge had just departed after making a report to
+the effect that he had not yet seen anything indicating the selection
+of a landing-place on the part of the enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What makes you think him an American?" asked the General.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because," replied the Major, "I have recognized him.  His face was
+familiar from the first, and when I saw him ride I knew that I had also
+seen him ride before, but could not tell where.  Only now has it come
+to me, and I know that in Yokohama I saw him within a year win the
+great hurdle-race of the English and American residents."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even that would not make him an American."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was everywhere proclaimed that he was such."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you certain that this is the same man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am certain.  I now also recall his name.  It was Norreese--the Seņor
+Norreese."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he was introduced by Lieutenant Navarro, who is known to every
+one, and whose loyalty is beyond question."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did Lieutenant Navarro know him in Spain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will ask him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So an orderly was despatched to request Lieutenant Navarro to report
+immediately at headquarters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two friends were eating a hasty lunch when this message reached
+them, and Ridge had just announced his intention to start for Daiquiri
+as soon as it was finished.  He alone knew that the American landing
+would be made there, and he wished to be on hand when it was effected.
+Navarro had arranged to go with him, and both were impatient of the
+delay promised by the General's order.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is too bad!" exclaimed Ridge; "for we ought to be there now, since
+they may already be landing.  I hope the General doesn't want to send
+us off in some other direction."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For fear that he may," said the other, "you had better start at once
+towards Daiquiri, and I will follow the moment I am at liberty to do
+so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's good advice," repeated Ridge, "and I will do as you suggest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this understanding, and having arranged a place of meeting, the
+young trooper set forth on his twelve-mile ride over the narrow trails
+of the broken and densely wooded hill country lying southeast from
+Sevilla, while Navarro hastened to obey the summons of the Spanish
+General.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How long have you known the Seņor Remelios?" was the first question
+asked of the young Lieutenant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only since meeting him in Holguin, where General Pando introduced us,
+and ordered me to accompany him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you noted anything suspicious in his actions--anything that would
+lead you to suspect him of being other than what he claims?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have not, sir," answered the Lieutenant, calmly, though with inward
+trepidation, since the question showed that a suspicion of some kind
+had been directed against his friend.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Neither have I," said the General; "for he has admirably performed the
+duties assigned to him.  At the same time I am desirous of asking him
+some questions, and so have sent for him.  I will request also that you
+remain during our interview, and carefully compare his answers with
+your own knowledge of his recent movements."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just here the Major who had recognized Ridge, and who had gone to bring
+him to headquarters, returned with the information that he whom they
+sought was not to be found.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know where he is?" asked the General, sharply, of Lieutenant
+Navarro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not, sir, though I think it likely that he has started for
+Siboney, where we had planned to go together to watch the American
+ships."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you will accompany Major Alvarez to that place, find the Seņor
+Remelios, and use your friendly influence to bring him back here.  If
+for any reason he should refuse to come, he must be compelled by force,
+for he is suspected of being an American spy.  I tell you this, because
+there is no question of Lieutenant Navarro's loyalty, and I assign you
+to this duty to show how entirely I trust you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will do my best, sir," replied the young Spaniard, acknowledging
+this compliment with a bow.  Then, wondering in which direction his
+duty really lay, he departed in company with the Major, who was
+impatient to make good his charges against the Seņor Remelios.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lieutenant Navarro had been moody and unhappy ever since the coming of
+the American transports.  He had not confided his trouble to his
+companion, but had performed his duties mechanically, and would not
+talk of anything else.  Ridge noticed this change in his friend, and
+had formed a shrewd guess as to its cause, but waited for the other to
+speak first concerning it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time, as the young trooper neared Daiquiri, he met scouts
+from Captain del Rey's detachment hastening towards headquarters with
+news that the Americans were landing.  At this he increased his speed,
+until he finally reached the hill agreed upon as a place of meeting
+with Navarro, and then his heart was thrilled with the sight out-spread
+before him.  Half a dozen transports and a few of the smaller war-ships
+lay in the little harbor.  Steam-launches towing strings of boats
+crowded with troops were plying between the ships and the one small
+pier that offered a landing-place.  The Spaniards had retreated,
+burning houses and bridges behind them, and already dark masses of
+American troops were forming on the narrow strip of level land
+separating the hills from the sea.  These were his own people, and
+Ridge longed to rush forward and join them, but was faced by two
+obstacles.  One was a strong Spanish force concealed in a ravine
+between him and the Americans as though to dispute their advance at
+that point, and the other was the memory that he had promised to await
+at this place the coming of Navarro, whom he expected to see with each
+minute.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly, as he impatiently wondered what he ought to do, there came a
+quick rush of feet, and the young Spaniard, breathless with haste,
+stood beside him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Amigo," he gasped, "you are in great danger.  By some mischance the
+General has discovered that you are an American, and Major Alvarez is
+charged with your capture.  You have been traced to this point, and
+even now the hill is being surrounded to prevent your escape.  Within
+two minutes soldiers will ascend from all sides, and, until they come,
+you are my prisoner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this Ridge started back and clapped a hand to his pistol.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I do not forget," continued the other, "that I am also your
+prisoner, on parole not to fight against your countrymen, or that to
+you I owe my life.  So I am come to save yours and aid your escape, or
+die beside you in making the attempt.  First, though, let us exchange
+prisoners, for, amigo, it has come to me within these two days that I
+cannot desert my own people in this time of their need.  Let me then
+remain with them until all is over, which must be shortly.  Then, if I
+still live, I will return to you and seek my cousin.  Oh, my friend,
+grant me this favor, and with every breath I will thank you!  May it be
+so?  Will you do as I ask?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I will," answered Ridge, heartily.  "I had already guessed
+your feelings, and made up my mind to give back your parole if you
+should ask for it.  So now you are free to act as seems to you best."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God bless you, amigo!" cried the young Spaniard, his face radiant with
+joy.  "Now they come!  Conceal yourself, while I do what may be done to
+save you."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap22"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ROLLO IN CUBA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The sound of voices and of men crashing through the underbrush as they
+advanced up the hill from all sides was distinctly heard, and Ridge
+realized, with dismay, how completely he was surrounded.  It did not
+seem possible that he could escape, but he mechanically obeyed his
+friend's instructions, and, diving into a dense thicket, lay flat on
+the ground beneath its leafy shelter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that same moment Navarro raised a great shout of "Here he is!  There
+he goes!  Look out for him!"  He also fired several shots in rapid
+succession; and one of these wounding the horse that Ridge had ridden,
+sent it crashing in terrified flight directly towards the Spanish
+troops in the ravine.  After the flying animal sprang the lieutenant,
+firing as he ran, and yelling to those on the hill to follow him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With savage cries, and as eagerly as hounds in sight of a fox, the
+Spaniards gave over their careful beating of every covert, and rushed
+from all sides towards the scene of disturbance.  Several of them
+passed so close to Ridge that he could have touched them, but in their
+blind haste they failed to notice him.  In another moment they had
+swept over the crest of the hill and were plunging down its farther
+side.  Before they reached the bottom, Ridge's wounded and terrified
+horse burst from cover directly among the ambushed troops in the
+ravine, by whom it was quickly killed.  Then came the pursuers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is he?  What have you done with him?" demanded Lieutenant
+Navarro, excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who, seņor?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The spy! The Americano!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have seen no one, only this brute of a horse."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he was mounted on it.  I saw him and fired.  He fled in this
+direction, and we pursued him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He must have been hit and fallen from the saddle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then he is still close at hand," panted Major Alvarez, who had just
+reached the scene, "and alive or dead we must find him.  Scatter, men,
+and search!" he added, fiercely, turning to the baffled soldiers of his
+command, who were crowding confusedly behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This command was never obeyed; for at that moment, with a shriek and a
+roar, a shell from one of the American war-ships dropped into the
+ravine, and burst among the startled Spaniards.  Their presence had
+been detected by the firing on the hillside, and with the range thus
+obtained the Yankee gunners sent shell after shell with deadly
+precision among the ambushed troops.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Completely demoralized by the awful effect of this fire, the Spaniards
+broke from cover and fled, leaving a score of dead behind, and bearing
+with them a desperately wounded officer.  They carried him as far as
+Sevilla, which place they did not reach until the following morning,
+and where General Linares bent pityingly over him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Loyal and brave even unto death," he murmured.  "For this last
+faithful service to Spain you shall rank as Captain."  Then, as the
+closed eyes of the wounded man were opened with a look of recognition,
+the General turned to those who had brought him, and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is too valuable to our cause, and too brave a Spaniard to die if we
+can save his life.  Therefore carry Captain Navarro to the hospital in
+Santiago, and deliver my orders that he receive the best of care."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the painful journey was resumed, but on the crest of San Juan
+Heights, overlooking the city, the litter-bearers found that they were
+carrying a dead man.  It was useless to convey him farther, and a
+little later they buried him, with full military honors, on the sunny
+slope that was shortly destined to become the scene of one of the
+world's decisive battles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time Ridge Norris, snatched from the very jaws of
+destruction by the prompt devotion of his prisoner-friend, had emerged
+from his concealment, and hastened down the hill in a direction
+opposite to that taken by those who sought his life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After awhile, believing that he had gained a safe distance from them,
+he paused to consider his situation.  A minute later, when he had just
+planned to make a great circuit that should outflank the Spaniards in
+the ravine, and bring him to where the Americans were landing, a rush
+of approaching feet and a medley of voices caused him to plunge into
+the dense growth bordering the trail.  Then catching a glimpse of the
+retreating Spaniards, whom he imagined to be searching for him, he
+forced his way still deeper into the tangle, until they were lost to
+hearing as well as to sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half an hour afterwards, reassured by the unbroken silence of his
+surroundings, our young American attempted to regain the trail he had
+left, but, to his dismay, had failed to do so when darkness overtook
+him.  The idea of spending a night in that Cuban jungle was decidedly
+unpleasant; but as there was nothing else to be done, Ridge quickly
+made such preparations for it as his limited resources would allow.
+His knowledge of Cuban woodcraft was much greater now than it had been
+two weeks earlier, and within fifteen minutes he had constructed a rude
+hammock of tough vines, over which was laid a great palm-leaf.  This
+would at least swing him clear of the ground, with its pestilent
+dampness and swarming land-crabs.  Although he knew that he should
+suffer from cold before morning, he dared not light a fire, for it
+would be almost certain to attract unwelcome attention.  So he lined
+his swinging-bed with such dried grasses as he could find, and nestling
+in it tried to sleep.  For hours this was impossible.  The forest about
+him was filled with strange rattlings, dashings, and other
+indescribable sounds.  He was also cold and hungry.  But at length he
+lost consciousness of his unhappy position, and drifted into troubled
+dreams.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When next he awoke the sun was shining, and there was a confusion of
+voices close at hand.  He could not catch the drift of conversation;
+but, as the tongue spoken was Spanish, he lay motionless and listened,
+expecting each moment to be discovered by some straggler.  For several
+hours his unseen neighbors cooked, ate, smoked cigarettes, laughed, and
+talked without suspecting his presence within a few yards of them;
+while he, desperately hungry, cramped, and filled with impatience at
+this aggravating detention, wondered if they were going to stay there
+forever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When, after what seemed an eternity of suspense, those who had
+unwittingly kept him prisoner took their departure, the sun had passed
+its meridian, and Ridge, parched with thirst, was suffering as much
+from the breathless heat as he had with cold a few hours earlier.  As
+he cautiously approached the scene of the recent bivouac he found it to
+be where a small stream crossed a narrow trail, and, after quenching
+his thirst, he followed the latter in what he believed to be the
+direction of Daiquiri.  At any rate, it was the opposite one from that
+taken by his recent unwelcome neighbors.  Up hill and down the dim
+trail led him, across streams and through dark ravines, but always
+buried in dense foliage, through which he could gain no outlook.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After our young trooper had followed the devious course of this rough
+pathway for several miles, he suddenly came to a halt, and stood
+spellbound.  From directly ahead of him came a burst of music swelling
+grandly through the solemn stillness of the forest.  A regimental band
+was playing "The Star-spangled Banner," and never before had such
+glorious notes been borne to his ears.  Tears started to his eyes; but
+without pausing to brush them away he dashed forward.  A minute later
+he stood on the brow of a declivity looking down upon the sea-coast
+village of Siboney, which he instantly recognized, though its
+transformation from what it was when he had last seen it was wonderful.
+Then it had been a stronghold of Spanish troops.  Now the
+fortifications crowning its encircling hills, abandoned by those who
+had erected them, stood empty and harmless; while in the village, and
+on the narrow plain surrounding it, an advance-guard of the American
+army was pitching its tents.  Over a building on a hill-side opposite
+to where Ridge stood, which he remembered as headquarters of the
+Spanish Commandant, floated an American flag, evidently just raised,
+and from that quarter also came the inspiring music that had so
+quickened his pulses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ten minutes later he stood before that very building, having passed
+through the American lines unquestioned, though stared at curiously by
+those who noticed him at all.  He wore the first Spanish uniform they
+had ever seen, and, not recognizing it, they took him for a Cuban
+officer, several of whom had already visited the camp.  So the young
+American, looking in vain for a familiar face among the thousand or so
+of his busy countrymen, made his way to headquarters, where, for the
+first time, a sentry halted him and demanded his business.  While he
+was thus detained an officer issued from the building, mounted a horse,
+and was about to ride away when Ridge sprang forward, calling:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"General!  General Lawton!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officer halted, looked keenly at the sun-browned young man in
+Spanish uniform, and, almost without hesitation, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders, I believe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir," replied Ridge, saluting, and overjoyed at being recognized.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I looked for you at Daiquiri," continued the General, "and hope you
+can give good reason for not reporting there as ordered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe I can, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then come in with me and give it to Major-General Wheeler, who is at
+present in command."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Within half an hour the young scout had been complimented by both
+Generals on the success of his recent undertaking, and had furnished
+them with information of the utmost value concerning the obstacles to
+be encountered between Siboney and Santiago.  The first of these he
+stated would be found at Las Guasimas, where the two trails from
+Siboney to Sevilla on the Santiago road formed a junction some three
+miles inland.  A little later he had the honor of guiding General
+Wheeler on a reconnoissance over one of these trails, and pointing out
+the location of a strongly intrenched Spanish force, posted to oppose
+the American advance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When they returned to Siboney the sun had set, and Ridge, faint for the
+want of food, was wondering where he should find a supper, when a
+mighty cheering, mingled with wild cowboy yells, rose from a point
+where the Daiquiri road entered the village.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It sounds as though your irrepressible comrades had arrived," said the
+little General, turning to his young guide with a quizzical smile,
+"though I did not expect them before to-morrow.  Perhaps you would like
+to go and welcome them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, sir.  Indeed I should," and in another moment Ridge was
+hastening in the direction of the familiar sounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How his heart swelled with loving pride, as he sighted the red and
+white guidons of the on-sweeping column; and when the one bearing the
+magical letter "K" came into view, he could have wept for very joy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But he didn't weep.  There wasn't any time, for in another minute he
+was among them, proclaiming his identity to incredulous ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the Riders of Troop K were finally forced to acknowledge that he
+was really their own sergeant whom they believed was left behind in
+Tampa, all military discipline was for the moment flung to the winds.
+They yelled and whooped and danced about him, slapping him on the back,
+wringing his hands, and acting so like madmen, that the rest of the
+command stared at them in blank amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As for Rollo Van Kyp, he first hugged his recovered tent-mate into
+breathlessness, and then invited the entire troop to take supper with
+him at the Waldorf in celebration of the prodigal Sergeant's return.
+To this invitation a hundred voices answered as one:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, we will!  Yes, we will!  Rollo in Cuba, yes, we will!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap23"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Couldn't you let me begin that supper with a hardtack right now?"
+pleaded our hungry young trooper, as soon as he could make himself
+heard.  "It's a day and a half since my last meal, which was only a
+small ration of boiled rice, and it seems as though a hardtack at this
+minute would do me more good than the promise of a hundred Waldorf
+suppers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hunger that demanded even a despised hard-tack was at that time so
+incredible to the well-fed Riders, that at first they could not believe
+his request to be made in earnest.  When, however, they saw the
+eagerness with which he began to devour one of the iron-clad biscuits,
+hesitatingly offered by Rollo Van Kyp, they were convinced that he was
+indeed on the verge of starvation.  They were also reminded of their
+own keen appetites, for, amid the excitement of that day's landing and
+their forced march from Daiquiri, they had eaten nothing since a
+daylight breakfast.  But each man carried three days' rations, and
+camp-fires were quickly ablaze in every direction.  From these
+delicious odors of boiling coffee and frizzling bacon so stimulated
+their hunger, that when, tin cup and plate in hand, they sat down to
+that first meal on Cuban soil, they pronounced it equal to any ever
+served in New York City.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While Ridge, sharing his chum's cup and plate, was striving between
+mouthfuls of this thoroughly enjoyable supper to answer a few of the
+innumerable questions showered upon him, he suddenly became aware of an
+officer standing on the edge of the fire-light and regarding him with
+interest.  As our young trooper sprang to his feet with a salute, he
+was covered with confusion to recognize in the motionless figure his
+own Lieutenant-Colonel, and to remember that in all this time he had
+neglected to report his return to the regiment.  He began a confused
+apology, but the other interrupted him, laughing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is all right, Sergeant," he said.  "We heard of you from General
+Wheeler, who, by-the-way, is much pleased with the results of your
+expedition.  So I came to find you, with a reprimand for not having
+reported at once to Colonel Wood, but when I saw you devouring
+hardtack, I was quite willing to accept starvation as your excuse.
+Now, however, the Colonel would be pleased to see you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After an hour spent at headquarters, where he was honored with an
+invitation to eat a second supper, during which his apparently
+unappeasable appetite for hardtack and bacon caused much amusement.
+Ridge was allowed to return to his comrades.  A throng of these
+gathered about the camp-fire of Rollo Van Kyp's mess, and, unmindful of
+the showers that fell at short intervals, listened for hours with
+breathless interest and undisguised envy to the story of his recent
+adventures.  They were happily reassured by his description of the
+strength of Santiago's fortifications, and his assertion that the
+Spaniards would put up a good fight before surrendering them; for they
+had been inclined to think and speak contemptuously of the enemy who
+they feared would yield without a struggle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the greater part of the night was passed.  They ought to have been
+asleep, storing up strength against the morrow; but who could sleep
+amid the uproar and excitement of that first night at Siboney?  Not the
+Rough Riders, at any rate.  Half a dozen transports had come into the
+little bay; and from them scores of boat-loads of troops and supplies
+were being landed through the roaring surf on the open beach.  A
+thousand naked figures, screaming, ducking, and splashing one another
+like so many schoolboys on a frolic, assisted and impeded the landing
+of their comrades, who, crowded into pontoons and small boats, were
+pitched, howling with delight, from the crest of each in-rolling
+breaker.  A half-moon and the powerful search-lights of two war-ships
+flooded the whole extraordinary scene with brightness.  On shore the
+dripping arrivals crowded about the red camp-fires drying their soaking
+uniforms, cooking, eating, singing, laughing, and filled with
+irrepressible happiness at having escaped from their "prison hulks" and
+reached Cuba at last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus, at dead of night, was an army landed on a hostile shore, and by
+two o'clock in the morning five thousand American troops were crowded
+in and about the village of Siboney.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Acting on the reports brought him by Ridge Norris and by certain Cubans
+whom the Spanish rear-guard had driven back the day before, as well as
+upon the knowledge gained by his own reconnoissance, General Wheeler
+had determined to attack the enemy, who were strongly posted at the
+forking of two roads leading from Siboney to Sevilla.  The broader of
+these roads bore to the right through a narrow valley, while the other,
+merely a rough trail, climbed the hill back of the village and followed
+the crest of a ridge to the place of intersection.  Both passed through
+an almost impenetrable growth of small trees and underbrush, thickly
+set with palms, bamboos, Spanish-bayonets, thorn bushes, and cactus,
+all bound together by a tangle of tough vines, and interspersed with
+little glades of rank grasses.  To the right-hand trail, miscalled the
+wagon-road, were assigned eight troops from two regiments of dismounted
+regular cavalry, the First and Tenth (colored), under General Young.
+With these Colonel Wood and his Rough Riders, advancing over the
+hill-trail, were to form a junction at the forks, locally known as Las
+Guasimas, three miles away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So at earliest dawn the troops detailed for this duty were astir, after
+but three hours of troubled sleep.  The regulars, having the longer
+route to traverse, were given a half-hour's start of the others, who,
+in the mean time, made coffee and bolted a few mouthfuls of food.  Then
+troops were formed, First Sergeants called the roll, the order,
+"Forward march!" was given, and the Riders, burdened with
+blanket-rolls, haversacks, canteens, tin cups, carbines, and
+cartridge-belts filled to their utmost capacity, began to scramble up
+the steep hill-side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sun was already red and hot, the steaming air was breathless, and
+by the time the top of the first hill was gained the panting troopers
+were bathed in perspiration that trickled from them in rivulets.  A
+short breathing-space was allowed, and then, with Ridge Norris and a
+Cuban scout to feel the way, the line of march was again taken up.
+Next behind the scouts came a "point" of five men, then Capron's troop
+strung out in single file and acting as advance-guard.  Behind these
+followed the main body of the little army, headed by Colonel Wood.  For
+an hour and a half they toiled forward in this fashion, laughing,
+joking, commenting on the tropical strangeness of their surroundings,
+and wondering if there was a Spaniard nearer to them than Santiago.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length a halt was called, and the wearied men, suffering greatly
+from the sweltering heat, gladly flung themselves to the ground.  At
+the same moment Ridge was reporting to Colonel Wood that he had located
+the Spaniards only a few hundred yards ahead, and behind strong
+intrenchments.  Upon this the Colonel moved cautiously forward to study
+the position, leaving his men to fan themselves with their hats and
+exchange laughing comments upon one another's appearance, utterly
+unconscious of the enemy's proximity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly word was passed back for silence in the ranks.  Then came
+"Attention!" and "Load carbines!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something must be up," whispered Rollo Van Kyp to Mark Gridley, and
+just then all eyes were directed inquiringly towards Ridge Norris, who
+was taking a place with his own troop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Spaniards are right in front of us," he whispered, and almost
+instantly the startling news was passed down the line.  There was no
+joking now, nor complaints of the heat, but each man stood with
+compressed lips, peering into the dense underbrush on either side, and
+wishing that the suspense was over.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now came the hurried forming of a line of battle.  One troop was sent
+straight to the front, two were deployed to the left, and two more, one
+of which was that of Ridge and Rollo, were ordered to force their way
+through the thickets on their right, down into the valley, where they
+were to make connection with the regulars.  While these movements were
+being executed, and with a suddenness that caused every man's nerves to
+tingle, a sharp firing began somewhere off in the right, and ran like a
+flash of powder along the whole line.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Blanket-rolls and haversacks had already been flung aside, and the
+sweating troopers, with their flannel shirts open at the throat and
+sleeves rolled up to the elbows, bore only their carbines, ammunition,
+and canteens of water.  At first Ridge had only his revolver, but
+within five minutes he had snatched up the carbine of a man who fell
+dead at his side, and was as well armed as the rest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For an hour the Riders fought blindly, seeing no enemy, but pouring
+their own volleys in the direction from which the steady streams of
+Mauser bullets seemed to come.  The smokeless powder used by the
+Spaniards gave no trace of their location, while the sulphurous cloud
+hanging over the Americans formed a perfect target for the Spanish fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Still the dark-blue line was steadily advanced, sometimes by quick
+rushes, and again by a crawling on hands and knees through the high,
+hot grass.  Always over the heads of the troopers and among them
+streamed a ceaseless hail of bullets from Mauser rifles and
+machine-guns.  Men fell with each minute, some not to rise again, some
+only wounded; but the others never paused to note their fate.  Those
+who could must push on and get at the Spaniards.  Those who were
+helpless to advance must, for the present, be left to care for
+themselves as best they might.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the ever-advancing line reached the edge of a grassy valley
+set here and there with clumps of palms.  To the left was a stone
+building, formerly a distillery, now a Spanish fort, and directly in
+front was an intrenched ridge.  To this the Spaniards had been slowly
+but surely driven, and now they occupied their strongest position.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At almost the same moment, and as though animated by a single thought,
+Roosevelt on the extreme left and Wood on the right gave the order to
+charge.  With a yell the panting, smoke-begrimed Riders broke from
+cover and sprang after their dauntless leaders.  They charged by
+rushes, running fifty feet, then dropping in the hot grass and firing;
+then reload, rise, and run forward.  On their right the regulars were
+doing the same thing in the same manner with the precision of machines,
+while the colored troops stormed the ridge with a steadiness and grim
+determination that won for them undying fame, and answered forever the
+question as to whether or not the negro is fitted to be a soldier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The assault was unsupported by artillery; those making it had no
+bayonets, and the Spanish fire, ripping, crackling, and blazing in
+vivid sheets from block-house and rifle-pit, was doubling and trebling
+in fury; but there was no hesitation on the part of the Americans, no
+backward step.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniards could not understand it.  This thin line of yelling men
+advancing with such confidence must have the whole American army close
+behind them.  In that case another minute would see an assault by
+overwhelming numbers.  Thus thinking, the Spaniards faltered, glanced
+uneasily behind them, and finally ran, panic-stricken, towards
+Santiago, while Rough Riders and regulars swarmed with exulting yells
+and howls of triumph into the abandoned trenches.  The first land
+battle of the war had been fought and won.  Wood, Roosevelt, Young,
+Rough Riders, and regulars had covered themselves with glory, and
+performed a deed of heroism that will never be forgotten so long as the
+story of the American soldier is told.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we only had our horses we could catch every one of those chaps,"
+said Rollo Van Kyp, as he sat in a window of the ruined building just
+captured by the Riders, happily swinging his legs and fanning himself
+with his hat.  The young millionaire's face was black with powder,
+covered with blood from the scratching of thorns, and streaked with
+trickling perspiration.  His shirt and trousers were in rags.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a beastly shame we weren't allowed to bring them," he continued,
+"for this fighting on foot in the tropics is disgustingly hot work.
+Now if I were in Teddy's place--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Private Van Kyp," interrupted Sergeant Norris, sternly, "instead of
+criticising your superiors you had better go and wash your face, for
+your personal appearance is a disgrace to the troop.  But oh, Rollo!"
+he added, unable longer to maintain the assumed dignity under which he
+had tried to hide his exultation, "wasn't it a bully fight? and aren't
+you glad we're here? and don't you wish the home folks could see us at
+this very minute?"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap24"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIV
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The fight of Las Guasimas, in which Rough Riders and colored regulars
+covered themselves with glory, was only a first brisk skirmish between
+the advanced outposts of opposing armies, but its influence on both
+sides was equal to that of a pitched battle.  It furnished a notable
+example of the steadiness and bull-dog tenacity of the American
+regular, as well as the absolute fearlessness and determination to win,
+at any cost, of the dudes and cowboys banded under the name of Rough
+Riders.  It afforded striking proof that it is not the guns, but the
+men behind them, who win battles, since an inferior force, unsupported
+by artillery, and unprovided with bayonets, had charged and driven from
+strong intrenchments nearly four times their own number of an enemy
+armed with vastly superior weapons.  It inspired the Americans with
+confidence in themselves and their leaders, while it weakened that of
+the Spaniards in both.  To the Rough Riders it was a glorious and
+splendidly won victory, and as they swarmed over the intrenchments,
+from which the fire of death had been so fiercely hurled at them that
+morning, they yelled themselves hoarse with jubilant cheers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then came the reaction.  They were exhausted with the strain of
+excitement and their tremendous exertions under the pitiless tropical
+sun.  Strong men who had fought with tireless energy all at once found
+themselves trembling with weakness, and the entire command welcomed the
+order to make camp on the grassy banks of a clear stream shaded by
+great trees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In their baptism of fire eight of the Riders had been killed outright,
+thirty-four more were seriously wounded, and fully half of the
+remainder could show the scars of grazing bullets or tiny clean-cut
+holes through their clothing, telling of escapes from death by the
+fraction of an inch.  Ridge Norris, for instance, found a livid welt
+across his chest, looking as though traced by a live coal, and marking
+the course of a bullet that, with a hair's deflection, would have ended
+his life, while Rollo Van Kyp's hat seemed to have been an especial
+target for Spanish rifles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After regaining their breath, and receiving assurance that the enemy
+had retreated beyond their present reach, these two, in company with
+many others, went back over the battle-field to look up the wounded,
+and bring forward the packs flung aside at the beginning of the fight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At sunset that evening the Riders buried their dead, in a long single
+grave lined with palm-leaves, on a breezy hill-side overlooking the
+scene of their victory.  The laying to rest of these comrades, who only
+a few hours before, had been so full of life with all its hopes and
+ambitions, was the most impressive ceremony in which any of the
+survivors had ever engaged.  It strengthened their loyalty and devotion
+to each other and to their cause as nothing else could have done, and
+as the entire command gathered close about the open grave to sing
+"Nearer my God to Thee," many a voice was choked with feelings too
+solemn for expression, and many a sun-tanned cheek was wet with tears.
+The camp of the Rough Riders was very quiet that night, and the events
+of the day just closed were discussed in low tones, as though in fear
+of awakening the sleepers on the near-by hill-side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the fight of Las Guasimas, its heroes rested and waited for six
+days, while the remainder of the army effected its landing and made its
+slow way to the position they had won over the narrow trails they had
+cleared.  These days of waiting were also days of vast discomfort, and
+the patient endurance of drenching tropical rains and steaming heat,
+the wearing of the same battle-soiled clothing day after day and night
+after night, and, above all, of an ever-present hunger, that sapped
+both strength and spirits.  They had started out with but three days'
+rations, and four days passed before a scanty supply of hard-tack,
+bacon, and coffee began to dribble into camp.  The road to Siboney,
+flooded by constant rains, bowlder-strewn, and inches deep in mud, was
+for a long time impassable to wagons; and during those six days such
+supplies of food and ammunition as reached the idle army were brought
+to it by three trains of pack-mules that toiled ceaselessly back and
+forth between the coast and the front, bringing the barest necessities
+of life, but nothing more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the American army suffered and prayed to be led forward, while the
+Spaniards between them and Santiago strengthened their own position
+with every hour, and confidently awaited their coming.  The invaders
+now occupied the Sevilla plateau, and were within five miles of the
+city they sought to capture.  In their front lay a broad wooded valley,
+to them an unknown region, and on its farther side rose a range of
+hills, that Ridge Norris told them were the San Juan Heights, strongly
+protected by block-houses, rifle-pits, and bewildering entanglements of
+barbed wire, a feature of modern warfare now appearing for the first
+time in history.  With their glasses, from the commanding eminence of
+El Poso Hill, crowned with the ruined buildings of an abandoned
+plantation, the American officers could distinctly see the Spaniards at
+work on their intrenchments a mile and a half away, and note the
+ever-lengthening lines of freshly excavated earth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But for six days the army waited, and its artillery, which was expected
+to seriously impair, if not utterly destroy the effectiveness of those
+ever-growing earthworks, still reposed peacefully on board the ships
+that had brought it to Cuba.  Only two light batteries had been landed,
+and on the sixth day after Las Guasimas these reached the front.  At
+the same time came word that General Pando with 5000 Spanish
+reinforcements was nearing the besieged city from the north.  In that
+direction, and only three miles from Santiago, lay the fortified
+village of Caney, held by a strong force of Spanish troops.  If it were
+captured, Pando's advance might be cut off.  So General Shafter, coming
+ashore for the first time a week after the landing of his troops,
+planned a forward movement with this object in view.  Lawton's division
+was to capture Caney, and then swing round so as to sever all outside
+communication with Santiago.  While he was doing this, demonstrations
+that should deter the Spaniards from sending an additional force in
+that direction were to be made against San Juan and Aguadores.  These
+movements were to occupy one day, and on the next the reunited army was
+to attack the entire line of the San Juan ridge.  In the mean time no
+one knew anything of the valley lying between this strongly protected
+ridge and those who proposed to capture it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the order was issued, and late in the afternoon of June 30th, in a
+pouring rain, the camps were broken, and the drenched army eagerly
+began its forward movement.  Lawton's division marching off to the
+right slipped and stumbled through the mud along a narrow, almost
+impassable, trail over the densely wooded hills until eight o'clock
+that evening, when, within a mile of Caney, it lay down for the night
+in the wet grass without tents or fire, and amid a silence strictly
+enjoined, for fear lest the Spaniards should discover its presence, and
+run away before morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the same time Wheeler's division of dismounted cavalry, including
+the Rough Riders and Kent's infantry division, advanced as best it
+could over the horrible Santiago road, ankle-deep in mud and water, to
+El Poso Hill, on and about which it passed a wretchedly uncomfortable
+night.  Seven thousand heavily equipped men, mingled with horses,
+artillery, pack-mules, and army wagons, all huddled into a narrow gully
+slippery with mud, advance so slowly, however eager they may be to push
+forward, that although the movement was begun at four o'clock, midnight
+found the rearmost regiment still plodding wearily forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the coming of daylight, on July 1st, the army lay beneath a dense
+blanket of mist that spread its wet folds over the entire region they
+were to traverse.  It was eight o'clock before Grimes's battery of four
+light field-pieces, posted on El Poso Hill, opened an ineffective fire
+upon the heights across the broad valley.  For twenty minutes the
+Spaniards paid no attention to the harmless barking of the little guns;
+then the smoke cloud hanging over them proved so admirable and
+attractive a target that they could no longer resist firing at it.  So
+shells began to fall about the battery with such startling accuracy
+that a score of Americans and Cubans gathered near it were killed or
+wounded before they could seek shelter.  Among these first victims of
+the San Juan fight were several of the Rough Riders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About this time General Sumner, temporarily in command of the cavalry,
+was ordered to advance his troops into the valley as far as the edge of
+the wooded belt, and within half a mile of the San Juan batteries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What shall I do when I get there?" asked General Sumner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Await further orders," was the curt reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were other changes in commands that morning; for
+Brigadier-General Young, being prostrated by a fever, the Colonel of
+the Rough Riders was assigned to his duties, and became "General" Wood
+from that hour.  At the same time his Lieutenant-Colonel stepped into
+the vacancy thus created, and as "Colonel" Roosevelt was destined to
+win for himself and his dashing command immortal fame before the
+setting of that day's sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the Rough Riders, together with five other regiments of dismounted
+cavalry, started down the deep-cut road, which in places was not over
+ten feet wide, and was everywhere sticky with mud, while an entire
+infantry division was crowded into it behind them.  Like all other
+roads in that country, this one, now densely packed with human beings
+advancing at a snail's pace along nearly three miles of its length, was
+bordered on both sides by an impenetrable tropical jungle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniards were advised of the forward movement, and though they
+could not see it, were already directing a hot fire at this road, of
+whose location they were, of course, well aware, and from the outset
+dead and wounded men marked the line of American progress.  After a
+mile of marching under these conditions, the foremost troops came to a
+place where the San Juan River crossed the road.  A short distance
+beyond it crossed again, thus forming the ox-bow to be known ever after
+that memorable day as the "Bloody Bend."  A little farther on was open
+country, and here General Sumner obeyed instructions by deploying his
+troopers to the right in a long skirmish line on the edge of the
+timber.  In this position they lay down, sheltering themselves as best
+they could behind bushes or in the tall hot grass, and anxiously
+awaited further orders from headquarters.  The Spanish fire, which they
+might not return, was ceaseless and pitiless, though because of absence
+of smoke none could see whence it came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already the loss in killed and wounded was assuming alarming
+proportions, and still on-coming troops were pouring into that Bloody
+Bend, where they must accept, with what fortitude they could command,
+their awful baptism of fire.  Fifty feet above their heads floated the
+observation balloon of the engineers, betraying their exact position
+and forming an admirable focus for the enemy's fire, which, after
+awhile, to the vast relief of every one, shot the balloon to pieces so
+that it dropped from sight among the trees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For hours the troops waited thus in the frightful tropical heat,
+monuments of patient endurance.  The dead and the living lay side by
+side, though such of the wounded as could be reached were dragged back
+to dressing-stations on the river-banks.  Even here they were not safe,
+for the dense foliage that afforded a grateful shade also concealed
+scores of Spanish sharp-shooters.  These maintained a cowardly and
+deadly fire, the source of which could rarely be discovered, upon all
+coming within range, regardless of whether they were wounded men,
+surgeons in discharge of their duties, hospital stewards, or Red Cross
+assistants, thus adding a fresh horror to warfare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a terrible position, and the American army was being cut to
+pieces without a chance to fire a gun in self-defence.  To advance
+appeared suicidal, to attempt a retreat meant utter destruction.  No
+orders could come over the blockaded road from the Commander-in-Chief,
+miles in the rear, nor could word of the awful situation be sent back
+to him in time.  The men thus trapped gazed at one another with the
+desperate look of hunted animals brought to bay.  Must they all die,
+and was there no salvation?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly a mounted officer dashed into the open, pointing with his
+sword to the nearest hill crowned by a block-house.  Then through a
+storm of bullets he spurred towards it, and, with a mighty yell ringing
+high above the crash of battle, his men sprang after him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap25"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXV
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes before this, while the Rough Riders lay in sullen
+despair, with death on all sides and filling the air above them, a
+staff-officer from headquarters, keenly anxious concerning the
+situation and for the honor of his chief, appeared among them.
+Whatever happened, he could not afford to betray uneasiness or fear.
+So he walked erect as calmly as though inspecting troops on parade,
+apparently unconscious of the bullets that buzzed like hornets about
+him.  He was studying the position of the several regiments, and his
+face lighted with a smile as he found himself among the men of the
+First Volunteer Cavalry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hello, Rough Riders!" he cried.  "Glad to see you taking things so
+cool and comfortable.  By-the-way, there is a promotion for one of you
+waiting at headquarters.  It came by cable last evening.  Sergeant
+Norris is promoted to a lieutenancy for distinguished service.  If any
+one knows where he is, let the word be passed.  It may be an
+encouragement for him to hear the good news."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Those men near enough to catch the officer's words raised a cheer, and
+Ridge, who lay among them, sprang to his feet with a flushed face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's him!" shouted Rollo Van Kyp, and the officer, stepping forward
+with extended hand, said, "I congratulate you, Lieutenant Norris, and
+am proud to make your acquaintance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that moment Colonel Roosevelt, on horseback, and so forming the most
+conspicuous target for Spanish bullets on the whole field, dashed to
+the front, pointed to the nearest block-house, and called upon his men
+to follow him.  With a yell they sprang forward, and Ridge, being
+already on his feet, raced with the front rank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In line with the Rough Riders were their fighting partners, the black
+riders of the Tenth United States Cavalry, and at the first intimation
+of an advance these leaped forward in eager rivalry of their white
+comrades.  Across the plain they charged, and then up the steep
+hill-side, while the Spanish fire doubled in fury, and the tall grass
+in front of them was cut as though by the scythe of a mower.
+Spectators in the rear gazed appalled at the thin line of troopers thus
+rushing to what seemed certain destruction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not war--it is suicide!" cried a foreign attache.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whatever it was, it afforded an example that others were quick to
+follow, and the moment the intention of the Rough Riders became
+evident, regiment after regiment on the left--dismounted cavalry and
+infantry, regulars and volunteers, Hawkins's men and Kent's--broke from
+the cover that had afforded them so little protection, and swept across
+the open towards the deadly intrenchments crowning the main ridge of
+San Juan Heights.  There was no order for this glorious charge.  The
+commanding generals had not even contemplated such a bit of splendid
+but reckless daring.  Even now, so hopeless did it seem, they would
+have stopped it if they could; but they might as well have tried to
+arrest the rush of an avalanche by wishing.  It was a voluntary
+movement of men goaded beyond further endurance by suffering and
+suspense.  As one of the foreign military spectators afterwards said,
+"It was a grand popular uprising, and, like most such, it proved
+successful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Rough Riders and the negro troopers who charged with them had no
+bayonets, and did but little firing until more than half-way up the
+hill they had undertaken to capture.  With carbines held across their
+breasts, they simply moved steadily forward without a halt or a
+backward glance.  Behind them the slope was dotted with their dead and.
+wounded, but the survivors took no heed of their depleted ranks.
+Roosevelt, with the silken cavalry banner fluttering beside him, led
+the way, and there was no man who would not follow him to the death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half-way up the hill-side Ridge Norris pitched headlong to the ground,
+and some one said: "Poor fellow!  News of his promotion came just in
+time."  As the young Lieutenant fell, another officer, cheering on his
+men immediately behind him, also dropped, pierced with bullets.  The
+sword that he had been waving was flung far in advance, and as Ridge,
+who had only stumbled over an unnoticed mound of earth, regained his
+feet unharmed, he saw it lying in front of him and picked it up.  He
+was entitled to carry a sword now, and here was one to his hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniards could not believe that these few men, frantically
+climbing that bullet-swept hill-side, would ever gain the crest.  So
+they doggedly held their position, firing with the regularity of
+machines, and expecting with each moment to see the American ranks melt
+away or break in precipitate night.  They did melt away in part, but
+not wholly, and their only flight was a very slow one that bore them
+steadily upward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just under the brow of the hill they paused for a long breath, and then
+leaped forward in a fierce final rush.  Over the rifle-pits they
+poured, tearing down the barbed-wire barricades with their bare hands,
+and making a dash for the block-house.  Already the dismayed Spaniards
+were streaming down the farther side of the hill.  A last withering
+volley crashed from the loop-holed building, and then its defenders
+also took to panic-stricken flight.  In another minute the flaunting
+banner of Spain had been torn down, and the stars and stripes of
+freedom waved proudly in its place.  At the same moment, from earthwork
+and rifle-pit fluttered the yellow silk flags of the cavalry and the
+troop guidons; while to distant ears the news of victory was borne by
+the cheer of exhausted but intensely happy men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Many of them were for the moment incapable of further effort, but as
+many more, inspired with fresh strength by success, dashed down the
+opposite side of the hill in pursuit of the flying Spaniards.  Among
+these was Ridge Norris, waving his newly acquired sword, and yelling
+that there were other hills yet to be captured.  A few minutes later
+these found themselves madly charging, for a second time, up a steep,
+bullet-swept slope in company with other cavalrymen and long lines of
+infantry.  Now they were assaulting San Juan Heights, defended by the
+strongest line of works outside of Santiago.  The Spaniards had deemed
+the position impregnable, and so it would have been to any troops on
+earth save Americans or British; but the men now swarming up its
+slippery front not only believed it could be taken, but that they could
+take it.  And they did take it, as the first hill had been taken, by
+sheer pluck and dauntless determination.  In vain did the Spaniards
+hurl forth their deadliest fire of machine-gun and rifle.  The grim
+American advance was as unchecked as that of an ocean tide.  Finally it
+surged with a roar like that of a storm-driven breaker over the crest,
+and dashed with resistless fury against the crowning fortifications.
+In another minute the Spaniards were in full flight, and from the
+hard-won heights of San Juan thousands of panting, cheering, jubilant
+Yankee soldiers were gazing for the first time upon the city of
+Santiago, which, only three miles away, lay at their feet, and
+apparently at their mercy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the troops who had thus stormed and carried San Juan were
+exulting over their almost incredible victory, word came that Lawton's
+men had performed a similar feat at Caney, and after hours of
+ineffective firing had finally won the forts by direct and unsupported
+assault.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus the entire line of Santiago's outer defences, many miles in
+length, had fallen to the Americans; but could they hold them until the
+arrival of their artillery?  This was the question anxiously discussed
+at headquarters, where several of the Generals declared immediate
+retreat to be the only present salvation of the American army.  The
+existing fortifications of San Juan Heights were unavailable for use
+against the Spaniards, and it did not seem possible that the tired
+troops could dig new ones in time.  The enemy had as yet suffered but
+slight losses, and still occupied his inner line of forts,
+block-houses, and rifle-pits, nearly, if not quite, as strong as those
+just won from him.  Beyond lay Santiago, with barricaded streets,
+loop-holed walls, and everywhere bewildering mazes of barbed wire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the commanding officers discussed the situation, arguing hotly
+for and against retreat, their men dug trenches along the farther crest
+of the San Juan hills.  All night long they worked by the light of a
+full moon, excavating the gravelly soil with bayonet and meat-tin,
+filling hundreds of bags with sand, and laying them in front of the
+shallow pits, with little spaces between them, through which
+rifle-barrels might be thrust.  At the same time they scooped out
+terraces on the slope up which they had charged, and there pitched
+their camps, a long way from drinking-water, but close to the
+firing-line.  Thus by daylight they were ready for any movement the
+enemy might make.  Nor were they prepared any too quickly, for with
+earliest dawn the Spaniards opened a heavy fire, both artillery and
+rifle, on the American position.  In places the opposing lines were not
+three hundred yards apart, and across this narrow space the Spanish
+fire was poured with unremitting fury for fourteen consecutive hours.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Americans only returned this fire by an occasional rifle-shot, to
+show that they were still on hand, and through the interminable hours
+of that blistering day they simply clung by sheer grit to the heights
+they had won.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the previous day the Americans had lost over a thousand men killed
+or wounded, and during the present one-sided fight one hundred and
+seven more fell victims to Spanish bullets; but the trenches had been
+held, and that day's work settled forever the question of their
+retention.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time Lieutenant Norris, who had miraculously escaped unhurt
+from the very front of two fierce charges, was curious to know whose
+sword he was carrying; and so, after San Juan Heights had been safely
+won, he strolled back over the battle-field to try and discover its
+owner.  After a long search he found the little mound of earth over
+which he had stumbled, and was startled to see it was a recently made
+grave.  Beside it lay an officer in Rough Rider uniform, face down, and
+wearing an empty scabbard.  His, then, was the sword; but who was he?
+A gentle turning of the still body revealed the placidly handsome
+features of the young New-Mexican, Arthur Navarro.  Near the grave,
+across which one of his arms had been flung, as though lovingly, lay a
+wooden cross bearing a rudely cut inscription in Spanish.  It had
+evidently been overthrown by the charging Americans.  Now Ridge picked
+it up, read the inscription, and stared incredulous.  "Captain Ramon
+Navarro, Royal Spanish Guards.  Died for his country, June 22, 1898."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend Ramon, killed the very day he saved me from capture!"
+murmured Ridge.  "But how marvellous that they should have buried him
+here, that his grave should have saved my life by giving me that fall,
+and that the bullets intended for me should have taken the life of the
+cousin who was to have been his partner!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the two, one from the New World and one from the Old, who loved each
+other, but had been separated during life by the calls of duty, were
+united in death; for they buried the young New-Mexican close beside his
+Spanish cousin, and the grasses of San Juan Hill wave above them both.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Wearing the sword thus intrusted to him, and which he would send to
+far-away New Mexico at the earliest opportunity, Lieutenant Norris bore
+his full share of the second day's fighting on San Juan Heights.  Late
+that night, as he was coming in from the trenches, he was called to
+General Sumner's tent to act as interpreter.  A deserter, apparently a
+Spanish sailor, had just been brought in, and was evidently trying to
+convey some important information that no one present could understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He says," exclaimed Ridge, after listening intently to the man, "that
+Admiral Cervera's ships--coaled, provisioned, and under full head of
+steam--are about to make a dash from the harbor.  He thinks they will
+start soon after sunrise, or when our ships have drawn off to their
+accustomed day-time distance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although the reliability of this startling news was very doubtful, it
+was deemed of sufficient importance to be immediately transmitted to
+Admiral Sampson.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is the best rider in your command?" asked the General, turning to
+Colonel Roosevelt, who had assisted at the examination of the Spanish
+deserter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lieutenant Norris," was the unhesitating answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then let Mr. Norris take my orderly's horse, make his way with all
+speed to Siboney, press into service the first steam craft he comes
+across, and carry this fellow's statement, with my compliments, to
+Admiral Sampson."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Five minutes later our young trooper, once more on horseback, and in a
+blaze of excitement, was galloping for dear life over the rugged road
+by which the army had come from the coast.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap26"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVI
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On the memorable morning of July 3d the sun had risen from the fog-bank
+that promised a hot day before our young trooper, wearied and
+mud-bespattered with his journey, and his face still powder-grimed with
+the smoke of the day's fighting, rode into the village of Siboney.  It
+no longer presented the scenes of excited bustle and eager enthusiasm
+that had marked it on the eve of Las Guasimas, for the army had
+departed long since, and only its shattered wrecks of humanity had
+drifted back.  Now Siboney was a place of suffering and death; for here
+had been established the hospitals to which wounded men limped
+painfully from the distant front, or were brought in heavily jolting
+army wagons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On this peaceful Sunday morning--for it was Sunday, though Ridge did
+not know it at the time--a great stillness brooded over Siboney, and
+almost the only persons visible were medical attendants, who moved
+quietly about the big hospital tents or the fever-infested buildings
+that had been pressed into the same service.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the little harbor lay but a single steam-vessel, a transport, though
+others could be dimly seen far out at sea, where they spent most of
+their time, which fact largely accounted for the woful lack of supplies
+at the front.  A boat from the single ship that had ventured into the
+harbor lay on the beach discharging freight.  To it Ridge hurried, and,
+addressing himself to the man who appeared to be in charge, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have an important communication for the Captain of your ship.  Will
+you take me off to her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a contemptuous glance at the disreputable-looking young trooper,
+the man answered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See about it when I get ready to go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please make haste, then, for my business is very important, and I am
+in a great hurry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, you be.  Reckon you'd better swim out, then, for I've been hurried
+by you landlubbers 'bout as much as I propose to be on this v'y'ge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge's face flushed, and he wanted to make an angry retort; but there
+was no other boat available, and he could not afford to throw away this
+chance.  So he bit his lips and silently watched the deliberate
+movements of the men, who seemed to find a pleasure in aggravating him
+by their slowness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boat could have been unloaded in five minutes, but the operation
+was made to consume a half-hour, during which time Ridge stood silent,
+though with finger-nails digging into the palms of his clinched hands.
+All at once, without a word of warning, the boat's crew began to shove
+their craft from the beach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge, springing forward.  "I am going with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why aren't you aboard, then?" asked the mate, with a grin, as his men
+gave another shove that launched the boat into deep water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaping into the sea, Ridge barely succeeded in clutching a gunwale and
+pulling himself aboard, amid chuckles of laughter from the crew.  His
+ducking had not improved his personal appearance, and as he now sat in
+the bow of the boat dripping water from every point, he formed an
+object for so much rude wit and coarse merriment, that upon reaching
+the transport he was furious with pent-up wrath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On gaining the deck of the ship he hurried forward, and found her
+Captain smoking an after-breakfast cigar in his comfortably appointed
+cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir, who are you? and what do you want?" demanded this
+individual, as Ridge presented himself at the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am an army officer bearing a message of the utmost importance from
+General Sumner to Admiral Sampson; and as this is the only steam-vessel
+in the harbor, I have come to ask that you will carry me to the
+flag-ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you haven't got cheek!" ejaculated the Captain.  "So you are an
+army officer, are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is what I said."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't look it.  Are you the Quartermaster-General?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thought not.  Didn't know but what you'd claim to be, though, since
+he's the only army officer that I take orders from."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I am not giving an order.  I am making a request that any American
+should be glad to grant, seeing that my message concerns the safety of
+the United States fleet, and may alter the whole course of the war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it?" demanded the Captain, bluntly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have no business to ask," replied Ridge.  "At the same time I will
+tell you, that you may be induced to get your ship under way the more
+quickly.  The Spanish squadron is about to make a dash from Santiago
+Harbor with the hope of taking our fleet by surprise and escaping."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is that to me?" asked the Captain, coolly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is that to you!" cried Ridge.  "Why, some of our ships may be
+destroyed if they are not warned in time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is their lookout, not mine.  Besides, Uncle Sam can afford to pay
+for them; while if this ship should be injured the loss would fall on
+the owners, and I should lose my job."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean that you refuse to take me out to the flag-ship?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I do," responded the Captain; "and not one foot nearer to
+it, or to any other warship, does my vessel move this day than she is
+at present."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, sir," said Ridge, still struggling to maintain his calmness, "I
+will thank you to set me ashore again, as speedily as possible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why should I set you ashore?" asked the Captain, with exasperating
+indifference.  "You came on board without an invitation, and now you
+may stay here until the next boat is ready to run in, which will be in
+the course of an hour or two."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By which time half the American fleet may have been destroyed for lack
+of warning," groaned Ridge.  Then he added, his face blazing with
+anger: "I hope you are not an American, and I don't believe you can be,
+for you are a traitor, a coward, and a contemptible cur.  I only hope I
+may meet you again some time when I am off duty, and can give you the
+thrashing you deserve."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right, my young mud-lark," replied the Captain.  "I'll give you a
+dose of medicine whenever you want it.  Now clear out of here, and
+don't let me catch sight of you again!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge did not hear these last words, for he was already walking rapidly
+aft, filled with a tumult of rage and perplexity.  What ought he to do?
+What could he do?  Was ever any one so utterly helpless in a crisis of
+such importance?  Not until he reached the extreme after part of the
+ship did a ray of light break upon the situation.  Then he caught sight
+of a yacht steaming swiftly into the harbor.  She might be a
+despatch-boat, or a destroyer, or any one of half a dozen things; but
+whatever she was, she could help him if she only would.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Close at hand was a jack-staff upholding an American ensign.  Acting
+upon the impulse of his despair.  Ridge hauled down this flag, and then
+half-masted it, union down, thus making a signal of distress that
+called for prompt aid from any vessel sighting it.  Then he gazed
+eagerly at the swiftly approaching yacht.  She must have noticed his
+signal, for she was now headed directly for the transport, and Ridge,
+clinging with one hand to an awning stanchion as he stood on the rail,
+frantically waved his hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly a bellow of rage close at hand caused him to look in-board.
+The Captain of the transport, his face purple with passion, was rushing
+towards the jack-staff.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How dare you hoist the signal of a mutiny?" he howled.  "I'll show--"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because there is one on board," shouted Ridge, springing in front of
+the infuriated man, and at the same moment whipping out his revolver.
+"Halt where you are!" he added, fiercely.  "For if you dare touch that
+flag before I am through with it I will blow out your traitorous
+brains!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain, cowed by the steadily levelled muzzle of that pistol,
+obeyed this order and stood still; but at the same time he yelled for
+any of the transport's crew who might be within hearing to tumble aft
+in a hurry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In another minute they came--mates, deck-hands, engineers, stewards,
+and stokers--blocking the narrow gangways on either side of the
+deck-house.  But beyond this they dared not go; for they too were
+confronted by that levelled pistol, and its holder's assurance that he
+would fire at the first man who advanced another step.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus the single figure with a cocked revolver and the unarmed mob that
+it held at bay faced each other for a full minute, during which time
+the purple-faced Captain raved, foamed at the mouth, and, with bitter
+curses, ordered his men to make a rush at the young pirate.  That they
+did not obey was because of the unflinching steadiness of the young
+pirate's gaze, which they realized would detect their slightest forward
+movement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All at once Ridge caught a glimpse of a man on the roof of the
+deck-house, just as he dodged from sight behind the life-raft.  He
+thought he had also seen a gun in the man's hand.  The next instant he
+sprang over the ship's rail into the sea, and as he did so a shot rang
+out behind him.  It was not repeated when he came to the surface, for
+the very good reason that an armed boat from the steam-yacht was so
+close at hand, that ere the young trooper had cleared his eyes of salt
+water, its occupants were hauling him aboard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sergeant Norris!" cried an amazed voice from the stern sheets.  "Can
+it be possible?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lieutenant Norris, if you please," answered our dripping hero, with
+what dignity he could command.  "But oh, Comly! get me aboard your ship
+as quick as you can.  It is a matter of life or death!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I am ordered to investigate the mutiny on that transport" replied
+the bewildered Ensign.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am the mutiny, and in capturing me you have got the whole of it,"
+declared Ridge.  "So, as you value your future prospects, get me aboard
+the <I>Speedy</I>, before it shall be too late."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right," answered the young naval officer.  "I'll risk it for your
+sake.  So here goes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once on board the despatch-boat our young trooper placed the whole
+situation in a few words before Captain Boldwood, who no sooner
+comprehended it than he ordered his little ship headed up the coast
+with all speed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be almighty rough on the Admiral," he said to Ridge, "if
+Cervera comes out while he is away, after all his careful planning and
+weeks of weary waiting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only that Admiral Sampson has chosen to-day, of all days, to come down
+here for an interview with General Shafter, and we were sent ahead to
+make things ready for him at Siboney.  He was to have followed us
+within half an hour; but perhaps we can turn him back in time.  At any
+rate, we'll do our best."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the little <I>Speedy</I> flew back over the way she had just come,
+displaying from her masthead as she went a string of gay bunting that
+read:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The enemy's ships are escaping."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap27"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As the <I>Speedy</I> rounded the first headland those on board saw the great
+war-ship they were to intercept coming leisurely down the coast, not
+more than a mile away.  The yacht fired a gun to call attention to her
+momentous signal, and within a few seconds an answer, showing that it
+was seen and understood, was displayed from the <I>New York</I>.  At the
+same time the latter began to turn, so as to retrace her course.  She
+had hardly begun the movement before the <I>Speedy</I> slipped up under her
+quarter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did you get your information?" called out Captain Chadwick
+through a megaphone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Messenger from the Commanding General," was the answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right.  Keep on, and warn the fleet, if you reach them before we
+do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, ay, sir!" and then the swift yacht had moved beyond range even of
+a megaphone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All at once the little group of officers gathered on the <I>Speedy's</I>
+bridge, of course including Lieutenant Ridge Norris, knew that they
+were not to have the honor of warning the fleet; for a line of smoke,
+evidently moving seaward, appeared above the hills from the direction
+of Santiago Bay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are coming out!" cried the <I>Speedy's</I> Captain; "and, if they have
+the pluck to keep on, we are about to witness one of the greatest
+sea-fights of the century."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If the entire American blockading fleet had been on hand the coming
+contest would have been too unequal to be interesting.  As it was, the
+<I>Massachusetts</I>, <I>New Orleans</I>, and <I>Newark</I> had gone to Guantanamo
+after coal, while the <I>New York</I> was too far away to take any active
+part in the fighting.  This left only the <I>Brooklyn</I>, <I>Oregon</I>, <I>Iowa</I>,
+<I>Indiana</I>, and <I>Texas</I> on guard, with the converted yachts <I>Gloucester</I>
+and <I>Vixen</I> acting as picket-boats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The American ships lay some three miles off shore under low steam, and
+their crews were preparing for Sunday morning inspection.  Two of the
+battle-ships were overhauling their forward turrets, and repairing
+damages received during a bombardment of the forts on the previous day.
+The <I>Brooklyn</I> lay farthest to the westward, and the <I>Indiana</I> at the
+eastern end of the line, with the <I>Texas</I>, <I>Iowa</I>, and <I>Oregon</I> between
+them.  Inshore of these were the two yachts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In Santiago Bay, about to rush out on these unsuspecting ships, were
+four of the finest cruisers in the world, possessed of greater speed
+than any of the Americans except the <I>Brooklyn</I>, and under a full head
+of steam: with them were two torpedo-boat destroyers, ranking among the
+most powerful and swiftest of their class.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At half-past nine o'clock of that peaceful Sunday morning, as the
+<I>Speedy</I> was still some five miles to the eastward of Santiago Bay,
+with the <I>New York</I> just completing her turn, two miles farther down
+the coast, a shot from the <I>Iowa</I> drew attention to her fluttering
+signal, "The enemy is escaping."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost at the same moment the same startling signal broke out from a
+masthead of the <I>Texas</I>, which opened the battle with the mighty roar
+of a twelve-inch shell.  The <I>Brooklyn</I> was also flying signal
+250--"The enemy is escaping"--and within three minutes from the
+discovery of that moving smoke behind the Morro her forward eight-inch
+battery was in full play against the <I>Maria Teresa</I>, first of the
+Spaniards to show her glistening hull around the point.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dashing at full speed from the harbor-mouth, outlined by the smokeless
+flames of her forward turret and port batteries, Admiral Cervera's
+flag-ship was quickly headed to the westward, and for the most open
+point of the blockade.  Behind her steamed the <I>Vizcaya</I>, <I>Colon</I>,
+<I>Oquendo</I>, and the torpedo-boats <I>Furor</I> and <I>Pluton</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the whole long blockade, the one standing order given by Admiral
+Sampson to cover an emergency like the present had been, "Should the
+enemy come out, close in and engage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now the ships that he had left on guard did close in with what speed
+they could command, while their sweating stokers toiled like demons in
+the hideous heat of the fire-rooms to produce still greater heat and
+more steam.  As the on-rushing Spaniards cleared the harbor's mouth,
+every American ship was moving towards them and delivering a fire so
+incredibly terrific and of such deadly accuracy that its like was never
+known in the whole history of naval warfare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the outset the little <I>Gloucester</I>, commanded by
+Lieutenant-Commander Richard Wainwright, who had been navigating
+officer of the <I>Maine</I> at the time of her destruction, made a dash for
+her legitimate opponents, the two torpedo-boats.  They in turn sought
+shelter behind the <I>Oquendo</I>, and for a minute it looked as though the
+yacht were about to attack the big cruiser.  Then the <I>Texas</I> began to
+pay particular attention to the <I>Oquendo</I>; and, seemingly content to
+leave her in such good hands, the Gloucester again started after the
+destroyers.  Suddenly a great shell from the <I>Indiana</I>, hurled over the
+yacht, struck one of them fairly amidships, and, with a roar heard high
+above the din of firing, the unfortunate boat plunged to the bottom,
+carrying with her all on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Gloucester</I> now directed her energies against the remaining
+destroyer, running well within range of the shore batteries to get at
+her, and within ten minutes had so riddled her with a storm of small
+projectiles that she lowered her colors, turned in towards the beach,
+struck on a reef, and in another moment was being helplessly pounded to
+pieces by the surf.  At the same time small boats from the plucky yacht
+that had placed her in this sad plight were busily engaged in rescuing
+such of her crew as could be reached.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time both the <I>Teresa</I> and <I>Oquendo</I> had received so
+frightful a fire from the <I>Indiana</I>, <I>Iowa</I>, and <I>Texas</I>, that within
+six miles of Santiago Harbor the former, enveloped in flames, and no
+longer capable of defending herself, was also headed for the beach,
+where the gallant little <I>Gloucester</I> soon afterwards came to her
+assistance and rescued hundreds of her perishing crew, including brave
+old Admiral Cervera.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes later the <I>Almirante Oquendo</I>, with colors lowered and
+flames pouring from her open ports, also turned slowly inshore, and was
+beached within half a mile of the Spanish flag-ship.  It was only forty
+minutes since the fight began; but in that short space four of the
+Spanish squadron had been destroyed, without loss of life to the
+Americans, and but slight damage to their ships.  With the burning
+<I>Teresa</I> and <I>Oquendo</I> stayed the battle-ship <I>Indiana</I>, her men
+working in eager emulation with those of the <I>Gloucester</I> to save the
+lives of their recent enemies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next victim to succumb beneath the terrible American fire was the
+superb <I>Vizcaya</I>, which, pounded to death by the <I>Brooklyn</I>, <I>Oregon</I>,
+and <I>Texas</I>, was run on the beach at Aserraderos, seventeen miles west
+of Santiago Bay, a few minutes after eleven o'clock.  Like her
+unfortunate consorts, she also was a mass of flame, and had no sooner
+struck than scores of her people leaped overboard to escape being
+roasted alive.  Among these swimmers a body of Cuban troops poured a
+cowardly fire from the beach; but Captain Evans of the <I>Iowa</I> quickly
+put a stop to that, and stood by the blazing wreck so long as there was
+a Spaniard left to be rescued from flame or flood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of all Cervera's powerful squadron only a single ship was now left, the
+swift <I>Cristobal Colon</I>, which, by keeping behind the others, had as
+yet come to little harm.  When the <I>Vizcaya</I> was run ashore, the
+<I>Colon</I> was more than four miles ahead of her leading pursuer, the
+<I>Brooklyn</I>.  Close on the heels of the latter came the wonderful
+battle-ship <I>Oregon</I>, which had unexpectedly developed such
+extraordinary speed that, although starting next to the last of the
+American ships, she now very nearly led the chase.  Next behind her
+came the <I>Texas</I>, while the superb <I>New York</I>, though still far in the
+rear, was overhauling all three, and had the race been long enough
+would eventually have exchanged broadsides with the <I>Colon</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But she was not to be granted that satisfaction; for shortly after one
+o'clock, when the chase had lasted two hours, the <I>Oregon</I> threw a
+couple of great thirteen-inch shells, at a range of five miles, so
+close to the flying Spaniard that they deluged her with tons of water.
+Upon this, to the surprise of every one, and without making any sort of
+a fight, the finest ship of the Spanish navy lowered her flag and was
+headed in for the beach.  After she had thus surrendered, and before
+the Americans could board, she was wrecked by her own crew, who opened
+sea-valves, smashed out dead lights, threw overboard the breech-blocks
+of their great guns, and in many other ways worked what destruction
+they could in the time allotted.  As a result of this vandalism, the
+fine ship rolled over on her side soon after striking, and would have
+slipped off into deep water had not the <I>New York</I> rammed her to a
+better position higher up the beach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus was destroyed the fine squadron that had been a menace to the
+Americans ever since the war began.  Spain's loss was 600 human lives,
+1200 prisoners, and six ships, valued at $12,000,000; while that of the
+Americans was one man killed and three wounded, all on the <I>Brooklyn</I>,
+together with a few trifling injuries to the <I>Brooklyn</I>, <I>Iowa</I>, and
+<I>Texas</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Ridge Norris, from the deck of the little <I>Speedy</I>, had been a
+spectator of the whole affair from beginning to end.  Thrilled with
+such excitement as he had never before known, he had seen ship after
+ship wearing the proud colors of Spain driven helplessly to the beach
+by the withering blasts of Yankee gunnery, until all were destroyed.
+Never before had our young American been so proud of his country and
+his countrymen.  Now his wonderful day was to be crowned with a great
+honor; for, no sooner was it certain that the <I>Colon</I> had surrendered,
+than a message from the flag-ship bade the <I>Speedy</I> return with all
+haste to Siboney and land the army officer whom she had brought out,
+that he might convey the glorious news to General Shafter and the men
+in the trenches before Santiago.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's you, old man!" cried Ensign Comly, "And I envy you your present
+job a heap more than I did the one you were undertaking the last time
+we set you ashore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So back past the blazing wrecks of Cervera's squadron and on to Siboney
+dashed the despatch-boat.  The transport from which Ridge had been
+rescued that morning still lay in the harbor, and her Captain, hailing
+the <I>Speedy</I>, eagerly asked for news; but none was given him, and he
+was treated to a contemptuous silence that caused him to grow more
+purple-faced than ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge was rowed ashore he directed Ensign Comly's attention to a
+large steam-yacht painted lead-color in imitation of the war-ships, but
+flying a Red Cross flag, that had evidently just arrived.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She looks a little like Rollo Van Kyp's <I>Royal Flush</I>," he said; "but
+what is her name?  G-r-a-y--Gray man?  Gray mare?  Oh no, <I>Gray Nun</I>.
+Queer name for a yacht, isn't it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; and those nurses on her deck don't look a bit like nuns," replied
+Ensign Comly.  "Believe I'll make a call if we lie here this evening,
+for I understand that some of the nicest girls in the country have
+enlisted under the Red Cross since you chaps were sent to Santiago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wish I could join you," sighed Ridge; "only I haven't spoken to a girl
+in so long that I shouldn't know what to say."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap28"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The American army occupying the muddy trenches before Santiago had been
+rendered very unhappy that morning by a rumor that Cervera's ships had
+made a dash from the harbor, evaded the blockade, and escaped almost
+unharmed.  How this rumor started no one knew, but it spread like
+wildfire, and was generally believed.  There was ample opportunity for
+discussing it, since all firing had ceased, while under a flag of truce
+an envoy from General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago.  So
+the men in the trenches were free to stand erect and stretch
+themselves, to wander about, leaving their rifles in position between
+the sand-bags, and even to make little fires, over which to boil cups
+of coffee, all without drawing the fire of a single Spanish
+sharp-shooter.  It was a very novel sensation, and they enjoyed it.  At
+the same time they were not happy, for Cervera's ships had escaped.
+What could the Yankee sailors have been about to let such a thing
+happen?  What a disgrace it was, and how the whole world would jeer!
+Even Santiago seemed hardly worth capturing now.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All at once a sound of shouting was borne faintly to their ears from
+the distant rear.  What had happened?  Had they been outflanked by the
+Spaniards and attacked from that direction?  No, for a band was playing
+on El Poso Hill, and the sound of shouting was advancing, like a roar
+of the sea.  No one looked towards Santiago now, but all eyes, turned
+to the rear, were fixed on the point where the Sevilla road left the
+timber.  At this place they gazed in eager but silent anticipation.
+Suddenly a horseman emerged from it and dashed at full speed across the
+valley, waving his hat and yelling as he came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Up the slope of San Juan Hill he charged and through the terraced
+camps, that broke into a jubilant roar as he reached them.  But he did
+not pause until he had gained the very trenches, where among the
+wondering Rough Riders he slipped wearily from his foam-flecked horse,
+shouting huskily but exultantly as he did so:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sampson has destroyed the Spanish fleet!  Not a ship escaped!  I know,
+for I saw the whole fight!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hurrah!"  "Hooray!"  "Whoop-ee!"  "Wow, wow, wow!" howled the Riders,
+as in their wild jubilation they danced, hugged each other, and flung
+things in the air.  Then they raised Ridge high on their shoulders and
+bore him as proudly aloft as though he alone had achieved the wonderful
+victory of which he brought the news.  Indeed, they seemed to believe
+that but for his presence with the American ships things might perhaps
+have gone differently, and Rollo Van Kyp only voiced the general
+sentiment when he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lucky thing for Sampson that he had at least one 'Terror' along to see
+that the scrap was conducted according to rules.  How I wish, though,
+that the <I>Nun</I> had got here in time to take part in that fight, for she
+can outfoot the old <I>Corsair</I>--<I>Gloucester</I>, I mean--almost two to one.
+If she had only been on hand I believe she would have captured one of
+these little fellows alive, before he had a chance to make the beach."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The who?" asked Ridge, in perplexity, for the latter part of this
+remark had been addressed to him alone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The <I>Nun</I>.  <I>Gray Nun</I> is her whole name.  My yacht--used to be the
+<I>Royal Flush</I>, you know.  I offered her to the government as a gift, to
+be converted into a war-ship.  But they wouldn't accept her.  So I
+changed her name, and turned her over to the Red Cross people, to use
+as long as they had need of her.  Don't know, though, as they took me
+up, for we left about that time, and I haven't heard since."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But they did!" exclaimed Ridge.  "And she reached Siboney to-day, for
+I saw her there not more than two hours ago, flying a Red Cross flag,
+and crowded with nurses."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good enough!" cried Rollo.  "That is almost as fine news as the other.
+The old <I>Flush</I> must feel funny, though, all cluttered up with nurses,
+for that isn't exactly the kind of a crowd she has been used to.  Same
+time, if my steward carried out the orders I wired him, she must be
+loaded to the muzzle with good things to eat and drink, for I told him
+to fill her up with the best to be had in New York City.  So if any of
+the fellows are hankering for a change of grub, all they've got to do
+is to catch a fever or a Mauser bullet, and apply for a berth on the
+Nun.  For my own part I prefer hardtack, bacon, and good health; but
+then tastes differ, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a splendid thing to do!" exclaimed Ridge; "and I don't believe
+there is another in the command would have thought of it.  The boys
+will be prouder than ever of the old regiment to know that it contains
+a fellow not only able but willing to do such a thing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, pshaw!" replied Rollo, flushing.  "There isn't one but would do as
+much and more, only some of them don't happen to have yachts lying
+idle.  And you mustn't tell them, old man.  I wouldn't for anything
+have it get out that the <I>Nun</I> is my boat.  That's the reason I changed
+her name.  Some of them might think I was putting on airs, you know, if
+it should get out that I kept my yacht here at Siboney."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you'll get leave to run down and see her, won't you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much, I won't.  The dear old skipper would be sure to give me
+away, though his orders are not to mention my name in connection with
+her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the bountiful supply of delicacies and comforts of every kind
+provided by Rollo Van Kyp were distributed among the sick and wounded
+in the Siboney hospitals, and many a fever-stricken patient owed his
+life to the devoted care of the "gray nuns," as the nurses brought by
+the yacht were generally called; but only Ridge Norris knew whose was
+the generous forethought that had provided all these things.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the mean time the truce, first declared on that memorable Sunday,
+was extended from day to day, for one reason or another, for a week.
+General Linares had been wounded early in the fighting, General Vara
+del Rey had been killed at Caney, and the command of Santiago had
+finally devolved upon General Toral.  To him, then, was sent the
+summons to surrender.  This he refused to do, but begged for time in
+which to remove women, children, and other non-combatants from the city
+before it should be bombarded.  This was allowed, and nearly 20,000 of
+these helpless ones, frightened, bewildered, and half famished, were
+driven from Santiago to seek such refuge as the surrounding country
+might afford.  War-wrecked and devastated as it was, its resources in
+the way of food and shelter were so slender that hundreds of them died
+from exposure, starvation, or disease, and but for the generosity of
+the Americans, who fed them to the full extent of their ability,
+thousands more must have perished.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And others came out from the beleaguered city; for an exchange of
+prisoners had been effected, and just before sunset on the third day of
+the truce three horsemen rode towards the American lines along the
+palm-shaded highway leading from Santiago.  Two of them were Spanish
+officers, but one wore the white duck uniform of the American navy, and
+behind him clattered an ambulance in which were seven of the proudest,
+happiest sailormen ever turned loose from an enemy's prison.  They were
+Hobson and his men, the heroes of the <I>Merrimac</I>, free at last to
+return to their own people.  And never did heroes receive a more royal
+welcome than that accorded this handful of blue-jackets by their
+comrades of the army.  From the outermost trenches all the way to
+Siboney, where a launch awaited them, their progress was an ovation of
+wildest enthusiasm.  Every soldier of the thousands whom they
+encountered first saluted and then cheered until he was hoarse, while
+one regimental band after another crashed forth its most inspiring
+music in their honor.  Out on the star-lit sea lay the great flag-ship
+from which these men had departed on their desperate mission more than
+a month before, and when, late that evening, they again reached it,
+they were once more safe at home with their work well done, and their
+fame established forever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a week the truce continued, and while the Spaniards strengthened
+their defences, the Americans lengthened their lines, built roads over
+which to bring up their artillery, provided their camps with bomb-proof
+shelters, and received reinforcements.  Knowing all this, General Toral
+still refused to surrender, and during the afternoon of Sunday, July
+10th, the white flags were taken down and a bombardment of the city was
+begun.  For two hours, or until the coming of darkness, a heavy
+cannonade with brisk rifle-fire was kept up by both sides, but with
+little damage to either.  With sunrise of the following morning it was
+resumed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder what it is all for?" asked Rollo Van Kyp, as he crouched in
+the hot trench, industriously firing his carbine at the flashes from
+the Spanish rifle-pits.  "We don't seem to hit them, and they certainly
+don't hit us.  Now if Teddy would only order a charge, it would be
+something sensible.  But this play-fighting is disgusting!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then a Spanish shell burst close above the heads of this
+particular group of Rough Riders, and a fragment from it cut the staff
+of the troop guidon, planted in the soft earth, so that the silken flag
+fell outward.  In an instant Rollo had leaped over the protecting
+embankment, picked up the fallen flag, and, amid yells of approbation
+from his comrades, restored it to its former position.  Then,
+half-turning and swinging his hat defiantly above his head, the daring
+young trooper sprang back to his place of safety.  As he did so,
+something seemed to go wrong, and instead of landing on his feet he
+pitched awkwardly, and then lay motionless in the bottom of the trench.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the same moment trumpet and bugle along the whole line sounded the
+order "cease firing," and once more the white flags of truce fluttered
+in the sunlight.  Santiago was again summoned to surrender; and this
+time the summons was so seriously considered that, two days later, it
+was obeyed.  Although no one knew it at the time, the last shot of the
+campaign had been fired and the war was virtually ended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the last shot had stricken down brave, generous, light-hearted
+Rollo Van Kyp just as he had covered himself with glory and was within
+a hair's-breadth of safety; for, as Lieutenant Norris knelt anxiously
+beside his friend, the gallant young trooper lay as though dead, with
+blood streaming over his face.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap29"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIX
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TWO INVALID HEROES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Rollo Van Kyp, carefully lifted from the bloody trench in which he had
+fought and suffered so cheerfully, was borne to the rear, and the
+assistant surgeon of his regiment accompanied him to the hospital at
+Siboney.  Ridge Norris wanted to do this, but his duties would not
+permit of his absence, for officers were becoming scarce, and as yet no
+one knew but that the fighting might be resumed at any moment.  So he
+watched the departure of the ambulance with a heavy heart, and the
+whole troop shared his sorrow at the loss of their well-loved comrade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next day the assistant surgeon returned and reported Rollo's wound
+apparently so serious that there was little hope for him.  "There was
+just one chance," he added, in answer to Lieutenant Norris's anxious
+inquiry for details, "and, by good luck, I secured it for him at the
+last moment.  He would surely have died in Siboney, but if he can get
+home and into a Northern hospital he may pull through.  By the greatest
+good fortune a Red Cross ship was about to start for the States with a
+number of the worst cases; and, just as she was sailing, I managed to
+get Van Kyp aboard.  She was so crowded that they weren't going to take
+him, until her skipper--as big-hearted a Yankee sailorman as ever trod
+a deck--said he would give up his own cabin rather than have a Rough
+Rider left behind to die."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was his name?" asked Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Haven't an idea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know the name of the ship?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, of course.  She is the <I>Gray Nun</I>, a converted yacht."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rollo Van Kyp's own boat!" cried Ridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't mean it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do."  And then Ridge told all that he knew of his friend's splendid
+contribution to the service that was doing more than the government
+itself towards alleviating the sufferings of the American troops before
+Santiago.  When he finished, he said, "Of course the skipper recognized
+Van Kyp?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, he didn't," replied the other--"at least, not then, for the poor
+chap's face was covered to protect it from the sun, and I didn't
+mention his name until after he had been taken aboard, when I gave it
+to the surgeon in charge.  At first I only described him as a Rough
+Rider wounded in recovering his troop flag, and the skipper said that
+was all he wanted to know about him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Besides his news of Rollo, the surgeon had brought from Siboney a
+number of letters recently arrived there for the Rough Riders, and one
+of these was handed to Ridge.  Opening it curiously, for he did not
+recognize the handwriting of its address, the latter read as follows:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"DEAR MR. NORRIS,--I have just been made very happy by learning from a
+friend of yours, a Mr. Comly, who is in the navy, that you are not only
+alive and well, but still with your regiment, and have done all sorts
+of splendid things.  This is news that will cause great rejoicing among
+all your friends, including your own family, who have been very anxious
+and unhappy concerning you.  Major Dodley reported in New Orleans that
+you had been placed under arrest for desertion--of course no one who
+knew you believed that for a moment--but had escaped and run away.
+Your father was so furious that he gave the Major a horse-whipping in
+front of the St. Charles, and made him take back every word.  Then he
+telegraphed and wrote to Tampa; but half of your regiment had left, and
+those who remained behind could tell nothing except that you had
+disappeared in a very mysterious manner.  You may imagine the distress
+of your father.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had returned to my own home, but Dulce wrote me all about it, and I
+received her letter when on the point of starting for New York to offer
+my services as a Red Cross nurse, for I didn't feel that I could let
+the war go on a day longer without having some share in it.  I was
+accepted, and immediately assigned to duty aboard the society's ship
+<I>Gray Nun</I>, to which I am still attached.  That is how I happen to be
+here, and I am so glad I came, for I don't believe even you can imagine
+how much we were needed.  I have also discovered you, and shall write
+to Dulce at once.  Hoping that we may meet before long, I remain,
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+"Very sincerely your friend,
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+"SPENCE CUTHBERT.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+"On board <I>Gray Nun</I>, off Siboney, <I>July</I> 8, 1898."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"Whew!" whistled Ridge, softly, as he finished reading this letter.
+"If that isn't a budget of news!  Spence Cuthbert here in Cuba nursing
+wounded soldiers!  But it is just like the dear girl to do such a
+thing.  If I had only known of it sooner, though, I might have found a
+chance to run down to Siboney and see her.  Now it is too late, for the
+<I>Nun</I> has gone again.  She will discover Rollo, though, and take care
+of him.  Lucky fellow!  Wish I was in his place!  And Comly, too!  He
+must have made that call and scraped an acquaintance.  What cheek those
+navy chaps have, anyway!  So Dodley reports me as a deserter, does he?
+And the dear old dad horsewhipped him.  Oh, if I had only been there!
+It is a shame that I haven't managed to write home, and I'll do so this
+very minute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In pursuance of this resolve, Ridge did write a long letter to his
+mother, in which he told of his great disappointment at not seeing
+Spence Cuthbert before she left Cuba, and sent it to Siboney to be
+forwarded at the first opportunity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After that, other exciting events in connection with his duty occupied
+our young Lieutenant's attention; for at a meeting of Generals Shafter
+and Toral, under a great tree midway between the American and Spanish
+lines, the latter finally agreed to surrender the entire province of
+Santiago, with all the troops within its limits.  On this occasion each
+General was accompanied by members of his staff, and to Ridge again
+fell the honor of acting as official interpreter.  Thus for days he was
+kept so continually busy that he hardly found time for sleep.  Then, on
+Sunday, the 17th of July, one week after the firing of the last shot,
+and two weeks after the destruction of Cervera's ships, at precisely
+noon, the red and yellow banner of Spain was lowered forever from over
+Santiago's municipal palace, and the glorious stars and stripes proudly
+flung to the breeze in its place.  The impressive ceremony was
+witnessed by the Ninth Regiment of United States Infantry, two mounted
+troops of the Second Regular Cavalry, and by the brilliant staff who
+surrounded General Shafter.  Besides these, Spanish officers and
+citizens of Santiago crowded every window, doorway, and portico of the
+cathedral, the San Carlos Club, the Venus restaurant, and other
+buildings facing the Plaza de Armas, and watched the proceedings in
+silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the starry flag of the United States ran slowly to the top of the
+tall staff the Ninth Regiment band crashed forth the inspiring strains
+of "The Star-spangled Banner," and every American present, excepting,
+of course, the troops on duty, bared his head.  At the same moment the
+thunder of distant artillery firing a national salute of twenty-one
+guns and exultant cheering from the trenches a mile beyond the city
+told that the glorious news had reached the waiting army.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the conclusion of the ceremony, General Leonard Wood, formerly
+Colonel of the Rough Riders, was installed as Military Governor of the
+conquered city, and one of the first to congratulate him upon this new
+honor was the young Lieutenant of his old command, who had been
+permitted to do so much towards bringing the Santiago campaign to its
+happy conclusion.  For Ridge Norris, in appreciation of his recent
+services, had been one of the very few guests invited to witness the
+change of flags.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shortly after it was all over, as Ridge was slowly making his way back
+to camp, no longer upheld by excitement and utterly weary from his
+recent labors, he encountered a forlorn little group of natives, who
+aroused his instant sympathy.  A young woman, gaunt and hollow-cheeked,
+with three children, trying to make her way back to the city, had sunk
+exhausted by the road-side.  One of the children was a babe held
+tightly pressed to her bosom.  Of the others, one was a small boy, who
+stood manfully by his mother's side; while a little girl, burning with
+fever, lay tossing and moaning on the ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Ridge reached this group the woman cried, imploringly, "Help, Seņor
+Americano!  For love of the good God help me reach the city before my
+little ones perish!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ridge could understand and could talk to her in her own tongue.  So in
+a few minutes he had learned her pitiful story.  It was that of many
+another--a tale of starvation, sickness, death of her husband, and of
+homeless wandering for days.  Now her one desire and hope was to return
+to her home in Santiago.  Even before she had concluded her sad
+narration our young trooper had picked up the fever-stricken child,
+and, with the others following him, was retracing his steps towards the
+city.  He did not leave them until they were safe in the wretched hovel
+they called home, and he had procured for them a supply of food.  Then,
+followed by fervent blessings, he again started for the American lines.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-242"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-242.jpg" ALT="Ridge escorts a Cuban family into Santiago" BORDER="2" WIDTH="346" HEIGHT="505">
+<H5>
+[Illustration: Ridge escorts a Cuban family into Santiago.]
+</H5>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+That evening he could not eat the coarse camp fare of his mess, and the
+next morning found him raving in the delirium of fever.  When, a little
+later, the Rough Riders were removed to a more healthful camp-ground, a
+few miles back in the hills, Lieutenant Norris, with several other
+fever-stricken members of the command, was taken to one of the Spanish
+hospitals in Santiago, where, three days later, Spence Cuthbert found
+him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap30"></A>
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXX
+</H2>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The month of August was drawing to its close when an expectant throng
+of people gathered about the wharf of the great military camp recently
+established for the home-returning American army at Montauk Point, on
+the extreme eastern end of Long Island.  Most of the throng were
+soldiers, but among them was a little group of civilians accompanied by
+a young trooper wearing a brand-new uniform, but looking very pale and
+weak, as though recovering from a severe illness.  He was Rollo Van
+Kyp, only just out from the New York hospital to which he had been
+taken more than a month before.  With him, and anticipating his every
+need, were Mr. and Mrs. Norris and Dulce.  Their Long Island summer
+home had not been sold, and now there was no need that it should be,
+since Mr. Norris's affairs had taken a decided turn for the better.  As
+soon, therefore, as they learned that the army was to be sent to
+Montauk, they went to this cottage and fitted it up as a convalescent
+hospital, for any of their boy's wounded comrades to whom he might
+desire to show particular attention.  Thus Dulce, though not enrolled
+in the Red Cross service, wore a nurse's costume, and Rollo Van Kyp,
+who had insisted on coming down to welcome his home-returning comrades,
+was one of her patients.  Now they were looking for Ridge, of whose
+illness they had not yet learned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Those Rough Riders left behind at Tampa had already been transferred to
+Montauk, together with all the horses of the regiment, and these hearty
+young troopers formed the greater part of the throng now assembled to
+greet the heroes of Las Guasimas, of San Juan, and of the Santiago
+trenches, for Colonel Roosevelt and his men were coming home, and the
+<I>Miami</I>, on which they were embarked, was nearing the wharf.  Her decks
+were crowded with men, worn and weary, clad in battle-stained uniforms,
+and filled with a great joy at once more breathing the air of their
+native land.  Already was Rollo recognizing familiar faces, and eagerly
+pointing them out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But where is my boy?" cried Mrs. Morris.  "I cannot see him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The others did not answer, for they too were greatly disappointed at
+not discovering the face they most longed to see.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the slow-moving ship was made fast, its gang-plank was run
+out, and the eager troopers began to swarm ashore.  Some were so weak
+that comrades were obliged to support their feeble steps; but all were
+radiant with the joy of home-coming.  Cheer after cheer greeted each
+troop, as with silken guidons fluttering above them they marched from
+the ship, and finally a perfect roar of welcome announced the
+appearance of their Colonel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's Teddy!" cried Rollo, with a feeble attempt at waving his hat.
+"Oh, how good it is to see him again!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But my boy!  Where is my boy?" cried the distracted mother, crowding
+her way to the very front rank of spectators.  As she did so, Colonel
+Roosevelt passed close to her, and she clutched his arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, sir, my boy!  Where is my boy?  Do not tell me he is dead!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Mrs. Norris, Colonel," explained Rollo Van Kyp, pressing
+forward, "and she is disappointed at not seeing the Lieutenant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank God, my dear fellow, that you are alive!" exclaimed the Colonel,
+grasping Van Kyp's hand.  Then, in a lower tone, he added, "We had to
+leave poor Norris behind.  He was too ill to be brought on a transport,
+but he may come at any time on a hospital-ship.  Here is a note for his
+family from one of the hospital nurses.  My dear madam," he added,
+turning to Mrs. Norris, "your son is alive, but detained for a time at
+Santiago.  If you will excuse me now, I will see you again very
+shortly, and tell you of all the fine things he has done."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With this the embarrassed Colonel passed on, thankful at having thus
+concluded one of the interviews with anxious parents that he so dreaded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a moment Mrs. Norris stared after him in speechless agony; for the
+mother's keen ear had overheard his low-spoken words to Rollo Van Kyp,
+and she knew that her boy had been left in Cuba too ill to be moved.
+Then she uttered a moan, and fainted in her husband's arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A little later, when the saddened group had been driven back to the
+cottage that had been so happily prepared for the reception of their
+soldier, they read Spence Cuthbert's note, hastily written as the Rough
+Riders were embarking at Santiago.  It told of the terrible suffering
+that had impelled her to remain behind when the <I>Gray Nun</I> went north,
+of her disappointment at not hearing anything from Ridge, and how she
+had at last discovered him in the Santiago hospital, to which she had
+been transferred immediately after the surrender.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did not dare write sooner," she continued, "for we had no hope that
+he could live; but now he is again conscious, and has recognized me.
+The doctors talk of sending him north as soon as he can be moved; but,
+remembering the horrors of the <I>Seneca</I> and the <I>Concho</I>, I dread the
+voyage for him even more than I do the pestilent air of this awful
+hospital.  In fact, I am in despair, and know not what is best to be
+done."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know!" exclaimed Rollo Van Kyp, as Dulce, with tear-filled eyes,
+finished reading this pitiful note.  "He must be brought back on the
+<I>Nun</I>.  Mr. Norris, she leaves New York to-morrow with a fresh lot of
+nurses for Santiago, and if you will only take the run down on her you
+can bring the dear old chap back in comfort."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Norris hesitated a moment.  "Do you realize," he asked, "that if
+your yacht brings back a single yellow-fever patient it may never be
+safe to use her again?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear sir!" cried Rollo, "if she were all that I had in the world
+she would still be at the service of my dearest friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Mr. Norris thankfully accepted the young millionaire's offer, and
+sailed the very next day for Santiago.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A week later a Red Cross nurse, worn and wearied almost to the point of
+exhaustion by her days and nights of caring for sick and dying
+soldiers, sat in a Santiago hospital beside one of her patients, gently
+fanning him.  His eyes were closed, and she hoped that he slept.  As
+she watched him her own eyes slowly filled with tears; for she did not
+believe he would ever gain sufficient strength to bear removal from
+that house of sorrow.  The air of the ward was hot, damp, and lifeless.
+Sickening odors rising from the streets of the filthy city drifted in
+through its open windows.  The whole atmosphere of the place was
+depressing, and suggestive of suffering that could only end with death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor Ridge!" she murmured bitterly to herself.  "After all your
+splendid work, it is cruel to leave you here to die, deserted and
+forgotten!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then the patient opened wide his eyes, and an expression of eager
+anticipation flitted across his white face.  "Dad is coming," he
+whispered.  "I hear his footstep.  Oh, Spence, he is here, and will
+take us home!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The nurse listened, but heard only the moans of other sufferers, and
+thinking that this one had dreamed of his father's coming, tried to
+soothe him with hopeful promises.  Then, all at once, she uttered a
+little cry of joy, for at the far end of the long white ward she saw
+one of the house surgeons escorting a familiar figure.  In another
+minute Mr. Norris, seeming to bring with him a breath of bracing
+northern air, stood beside his son's cot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank God and you, Spence Cuthbert, that my boy is still alive!" he
+cried.  "And now, how soon can we take him north?  I have Van Kyp's
+yacht waiting out here in the harbor, and we can start at a moment's
+notice."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe I could go this very minute, dad," said Ridge, his voice
+already strengthened with hope and happiness.  "But, father," he added,
+anxiously, "we must take Spence with us; for she has promised to stay
+with me as long as I need her, and I know I couldn't travel without
+her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course we will take her, son, and keep her, too, just as long as we
+can."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For three days longer Ridge lay on that cot, gaining strength with each
+moment of renewed hope and eager anticipation.  During this time Mr.
+Norris occupied the intervals of rest from watching beside his son with
+visiting the battle-fields near the city over which the young trooper
+had so bravely fought.  On these expeditions he was accompanied and
+guided by a Cuban named del Concha, recommended by General Wood, to
+whom he had rendered valuable service by the giving of intelligent and
+honestly patriotic advice.  When del Concha discovered that the
+American seņor whom he was asked to guide was father to his friend, the
+brave <I>teniente</I> Norris, he was overjoyed to be of assistance to him,
+and completely won the elder gentleman's heart by praise of his son and
+stories of the latter's exploits while executing his dangerous mission
+among the Spaniards of Cuba.  Del Concha also told of himself; and,
+among other things, that, on the very day he had learned of Santiago's
+surrender, he had married his sweetheart, the brave girl who had
+assisted Ridge to escape from the Holguin prison, and who was now very
+nearly recovered from her wound.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the joyous day came when Ridge could be moved, and he was
+carefully borne in a litter, by four of the stalwart negro troopers, in
+whose company he had charged up San Juan Heights, through the streets
+of Santiago to the waiting yacht.  Besides the young trooper and his
+proud father, the <I>Nun</I> carried northward a score more of convalescent
+soldiers, to whom Spence Cuthbert, and a group of her companion nurses,
+also returning home from their glorious service, gave devoted care.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the day that Montauk was to be reached, Ridge was strong enough to
+be carried on deck, where, from a pillowed steamer-chair, he gazed
+happily at the loved features of the nearing coast.  He was the very
+first to spy his mother, who again waited in trembling eagerness on the
+wharf, this time not to be disappointed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And there are Rollo," he said, to the girl who stood beside him, "and
+Dulce, and the Colonel.  And oh, Spence, to think that but for you I
+should certainly never have seen them again!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For many days after the home-coming of our young trooper the Norris
+cottage was strictly quarantined against a possible outbreak of
+yellow-fever; but, as Rollo Van Kyp said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who cares?  I'm sure I don't; for all of the world I want to see just
+now is held within these walls."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The very first time Ridge was allowed to go out, he was driven to the
+Rough-Rider camp to be mustered from service with his regiment.  On
+this occasion he wore a lieutenant's uniform, at which his mother,
+seated beside him in the carriage, gazed with such undisguised pride
+that he laughingly accused her of being more susceptible to the
+influence of brass buttons than any girl of his acquaintance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Only once after this did our young lieutenant wear his uniform, and
+that was when, two months later, he was married in a little Kentucky
+church to Spence Cuthbert, who, at his earnest request, wore as her
+wedding-dress the costume of a Red Cross nurse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dulce was, of course, maid of honor, while Rollo Van Kyp was best man.
+When the simple ceremony was over, and they were all gathered to wish
+the radiant couple God-speed on their wedding journey, Rollo unfolded
+the great news he had received that morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Teddy has been nominated for Governor of New York!" he cried.  "And I
+am to stump the State with him.  When he is elected he is going to make
+me a Colonel on his staff, so that Dulce won't have to marry a mere
+private after all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Dulce, blushing furiously, replied, "I would rather marry a private
+soldier who had charged up San Juan Hill than any staff-officer in the
+world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How about taking both?" asked Rollo.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, "Forward, March", by Kirk Munroe
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: "Forward, March"
+       A Tale of the Spanish-American War
+
+
+Author: Kirk Munroe
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 7, 2005  [eBook #16231]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "FORWARD, MARCH"***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 16231-h.htm or 16231-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/2/3/16231/16231-h/16231-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/2/3/16231/16231-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+"FORWARD, MARCH"
+
+A Tale of the Spanish-American War
+
+by
+
+KIRK MUNROE
+
+Author of "The Painted Desert," "Rick Dale," The "Mate Series," etc.
+
+Illustrated
+
+New York and London
+Harper & Brothers Publishers
+
+1899
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: The Rough Riders fought without seeing
+the enemy.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I.  A BOWL OF ROSES
+     II.  WAR IS DECLARED
+    III.  ROLLO THE TERROR
+     IV.  THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO
+      V.  RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER
+     VI.  OFF FOR THE WAR
+    VII.  THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE _MERRIMAC_
+   VIII.  CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
+     IX.  HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES
+      X.  ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE
+     XI.  A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY
+    XII.  DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND
+   XIII.  TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE
+    XIV.  REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS
+     XV.  DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD
+    XVI.  ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD
+   XVII.  IN THE HANDS OF SPANISH GUERILLAS
+  XVIII.  DEATH OF SENORITA
+    XIX.  CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN
+     XX.  THE TWO ADMIRALS
+    XXI.  A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY
+   XXII.  ROLLO IN CUBA
+  XXIII.  THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE
+   XXIV.  FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS
+    XXV.  RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD
+   XXVI.  MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT
+  XXVII.  DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS
+ XXVIII.  LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN
+   XXIX.  TWO INVALID HEROES
+    XXX.  ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   THE ROUGH RIDERS FOUGHT WITHOUT SEEING THE ENEMY . . . (Frontispiece)
+
+   "SILAS PINE GAZED ABOUT HIM WITH THE AIR OF ONE WHO IS DAZED"
+
+   "'HIM HOLGUIN SPANIARD.  NOW YOU SHOOT HIM,' SAID THE CUBAN"
+
+   RIDGE ESCORTS A CUBAN FAMILY INTO SANTIAGO
+
+
+
+
+"FORWARD, MARCH!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BOWL OF ROSES
+
+In the morning-room of a large, old-fashioned country-house, situated a
+few miles outside the city of New Orleans, sat a young man arranging a
+bowl of roses.  Beside him stood a pretty girl, in riding costume, whose
+face bore a trace of petulance.
+
+"Do make haste, Cousin Ridge, and finish with those stupid flowers.  You
+have wasted half an hour of this glorious morning over them already!" she
+exclaimed.
+
+"Wasted?" rejoined Ridge Norris, inquiringly, and looking up with a
+smile.  "I thought you were too fond of flowers to speak of time spent in
+showing them off to best advantage as 'wasted.'"
+
+"Yes, of course I'm fond of them," answered Spence Cuthbert, who was from
+Kentucky on a Mardi Gras visit to Dulce Norris, her school-chum and
+cousin by several removes, "but not fond enough to break an engagement on
+account of them."
+
+"An engagement?"
+
+"Certainly.  You promised to go riding with me this morning."
+
+"And so I will in a minute, when I have finished with these roses."
+
+"But I want you to come this instant."
+
+"And leave a duty unperformed?" inquired Ridge, teasingly.
+
+"Yes; now."
+
+"In a minute."
+
+"No.  I won't wait another second."
+
+With this the girl flung herself from the room, wearing a very determined
+expression on her flushed face.
+
+Ridge rose to follow her, and then resumed his occupation as a clatter of
+hoofs on the magnolia-bordered driveway announced the arrival of a
+horseman.
+
+"She won't go now that she has a caller to entertain," he said to himself.
+
+But in this he was mistaken; for within a minute another clatter of
+hoofs, mingled with the sound of laughing voices, gave notice of a
+departure, and, glancing from an open window, Ridge saw Spence Cuthbert
+ride gayly past in company with a young man whose face seemed familiar,
+but whose name he could not recall.
+
+As they swept by both looked up laughing, while the horseman lifted his
+hat in a bow that was almost too sweeping to be polite.
+
+"What did you say Ridge was doing?" he asked, as they passed beyond
+earshot.
+
+"Arranging a bowl of roses," answered Spence.
+
+"Nice occupation for a man," sneered the other.  "And he preferred doing
+that to riding with you?"
+
+"So it seems."
+
+"Well, I am not wholly surprised, for, as I remember him, he was a
+soft-hearted, Miss Nancy sort of a boy, who was always coddling sick
+kittens, or something of the kind, and never would go hunting because he
+couldn't bear to kill things.  He apparently hadn't a drop of sporting
+blood in him, and I recall having to thrash him on one occasion because
+he objected to my shooting a bird.  I thought of course, though, that he
+had outgrown all such nonsense by this time."
+
+"There is no nonsense about him!" flashed out Spence, warmly; and then,
+to her companion's amazement, the girl began a most spirited defence of
+her absent cousin, during which she denounced in such bitter terms the
+taking of innocent lives under the name of "sport" that the other was
+finally thankful to change the conversation to a more congenial topic.
+
+In the mean time Dulce Norris had entered the morning-room to find out
+why Spence had gone to ride with Herman Dodley instead of with Ridge, as
+had been arranged.
+
+"Was that Herman Dodley?" asked the latter, without answering his
+sister's question.
+
+"Yes, of course, but why do you ask with such a tragic air?"
+
+"Because," replied Ridge, "I have heard reports concerning him which, if
+confirmed, should bar the doors of this house against him forever."
+
+"What do you mean, Ridge Norris?  I'm sure Mr. Dodley bears as good a
+reputation as the majority of young men one meets in society.  Of course
+since he has got into politics his character has been assailed by the
+other party; but then no one ever believes what politicians say of one
+another."
+
+"No matter now what I mean," rejoined the young man.  "Perhaps I will
+tell you after I have spoken to father on the subject, which I mean to do
+at once."
+
+Ridge Norris, on his way to the library, where he hoped to find his
+father, was somewhat of a disappointment to his family.  Born of a mother
+in whose veins flowed French and Spanish blood, and who had taught him to
+speak both languages, and of a New England father, who had spent his
+entire business life in the far South, Ridge had been reared in an
+atmosphere of luxury.  He had been educated in the North, sent on a grand
+tour around the world, and had finally been given a position, secured
+through his father's influence, in a Japanese-American banking house.
+From Yokohama he had been transferred to the New York office, where, on
+account of a slight misunderstanding with one of his superiors, he had
+thrown up his position to return to his home only a few days before this
+story opens.
+
+Now his family did not know what to do with him.  He disliked business,
+and would not study for a profession.  He was a dear, lovable fellow,
+honest and manly in all his instincts; but indolent, fastidious in his
+tastes, and apparently without ambition.  He was devoted to music and
+flowers, extremely fond of horses, which he rode more than ordinarily
+well, and had a liking for good books.  He had, furthermore, returned
+from his travels filled with pride for his native land, and declaring
+that the United States was the only country in the world worth fighting
+and dying for.
+
+Taking the morning's mail from the hand of a servant who had just brought
+it, Ridge entered his father's presence.
+
+"Here are your letters, sir," he said, "but before you read them I should
+like a few moments' conversation with you."
+
+"Certainly, son.  What is it?"
+
+As Ridge told what he had heard concerning Herman Dodley, the elder man's
+brows darkened; and, when the recital was finished, he said:
+
+"I fear all this is true, and have little doubt that Dodley is no better
+than he should be; but, unfortunately, I am so situated at present that I
+cannot forbid him the house.  I will warn Dulce and her friend against
+him; but just now I am not in a position to offend him."
+
+"Why, father!" cried Ridge, amazed to hear his usually fearless and
+self-assertive parent adopt this tone.  "I thought that you were--"
+
+"Independent of all men," interrupted the other, finishing the sentence.
+"So I believed myself to be.  But I am suddenly confronted by business
+embarrassments that force me temporarily to adopt a different policy.
+Truly, Ridge, we are threatened with such serious losses that I am making
+every possible sacrifice to try and stem the tide.  I have even placed
+our summer home on the Long Island coast in an agent's hands, and am
+deeply grieved that you should have thrown up a position, promising at
+least self-support, upon such slight provocation."
+
+"But he ordered me about as though I were a servant, instead of
+requesting me to do things in a gentlemanly way."
+
+"And were you not a servant?"
+
+"No, sir, I was not--at least, not in the sense of being amenable to
+brutal commands.  I was not, nor will I ever be, anybody's slave."
+
+"Oh well, my boy!" replied the elder, with a deep sigh, "I fear you will
+live to discover by sad experience that pride is the most expensive of
+earthly luxuries, and that one must consent to obey orders long before he
+can hope to issue commands.  But we will discuss your affairs later, for
+now I must look over my letters."
+
+While Mr. Norris was thus engaged, Ridge opened the morning paper, and
+glanced carelessly at its headlines.  Suddenly he sprang to his feet with
+a shout, his dark face glowing and his eyes blazing with excitement.
+
+"By heavens, father!" he cried, "the United States battle-ship _Maine_
+has been blown up in Havana Harbor with a loss of two hundred and sixty
+of her crew.  If that doesn't mean war, then nothing in the world's
+history ever did.  You needn't worry about me any more, sir, for my duty
+is clearly outlined."
+
+"What do you propose to do?" asked the elder man, curiously.  "Will you
+try to blow up a Spanish battle-ship in revenge?"
+
+"No, sir.  But I shall enlist at the very first call to arms, and offer
+my life towards the thrashing of the cowards who have perpetrated this
+incredible crime."
+
+Thrilled to the core by the momentous news he had just read, Ridge
+hastened to impart it to his mother and sister.  At the same time he
+ordered a horse on which he might ride to the city for further details of
+the stupendous event.  As he was about to depart, Spence Cuthbert and her
+escort, returning from their ride, dashed up to the doorway.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" cried Ridge, barely nodding to Dodley.
+
+"Yes," replied Spence.  "Isn't it dreadful?  Mr. Dodley told me all about
+it, and after hearing it I couldn't bear to ride any farther, so we came
+back."
+
+"I wish he had told me before you started," said Ridge, "so that I might
+have been in the city long ago."
+
+"You were so busily and pleasantly engaged with your roses that I
+hesitated to interrupt you," murmured Herman Dodley.  "Now, however, if I
+can be of any assistance to you in the city, pray consider me at your
+service."
+
+"Can you assist me, sir, to obtain a commission in the army that will be
+summoned to visit a terrible punishment upon Spain for her black
+treachery?"
+
+"Undoubtedly I could, and of course I would do so with pleasure if the
+occasion should arise.  But there won't be any war.  The great Yankee
+nation is too busy accumulating dollars to fight over a thing of this
+kind.  We will demand a money indemnity, it will be promptly paid, and
+the whole affair will quickly be forgotten."
+
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, his face pale with passion.  "The man who utters such
+words is at heart a traitor to his country."
+
+"If it were not for the presence of ladies, I would call you to account
+for that remark," muttered Dodley.  "As it is, I shall not forget it.
+Ladies, I have the honor to wish you a very good-morning."
+
+With this the speaker, who had not dismounted, turned his horse's head
+and rode away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WAR IS DECLARED
+
+Never was the temper and patience of the American people more sorely
+tried than by the two months of waiting and suspense that followed the
+destruction of their splendid battle-ship.  The _Maine_ had entered
+Havana Harbor on a friendly visit, been assigned to a mooring, which
+was afterwards changed by the Spanish authorities, and three weeks
+later, without a suspicion of danger having been aroused or a note of
+warning sounded, she was destroyed as though by a thunder-bolt.  It was
+nearly ten o'clock on the night of Tuesday, February 15th.  Taps had
+sounded and the crew were asleep in their hammocks, when, by a terrific
+explosion, two hundred and fifty-eight men and two officers were hurled
+into eternity, sixty more were wounded, and the superb battle-ship was
+reduced to a mass of shapeless wreckage.
+
+It was firmly believed throughout the United States that this appalling
+disaster was caused by a submarine mine, deliberately placed near the
+mooring buoy to which the _Maine_ had been moved, to be exploded at a
+favorable opportunity by Spanish hands.
+
+The Spaniards, on the other side, claimed and strenuously maintained
+that the only explosion was that of the ship's own magazines, declaring
+in support of this theory that discipline on all American men-of-war
+was so lax as to invite such a catastrophe at any moment.
+
+To investigate, and settle if possible, this vital question, a Court of
+Inquiry, composed of four prominent naval officers, was appointed.
+They proceeded to Havana, took volumes of testimony, and, after six
+weeks of most searching investigation, made a report to the effect that
+the _Maine_ was destroyed by two distinct explosions, the first of
+which was that of a mine located beneath her, and causing a second
+explosion--of her own magazines--by concussion.
+
+During these six weeks the country was in a ferment.  For three years
+war had raged in Cuba, where the natives were striving to throw off the
+intolerable burden of Spanish oppression and cruelty.  In all that time
+the sympathies of America were with the struggling Cubans; and from
+every State of the Union demands for intervention in their behalf, even
+to the extent of going to war with Spain, had grown louder and more
+insistent, until it was evident that they must be heeded.  With the
+destruction of the _Maine_ affairs reached such a crisis that the
+people, through their representatives in Congress, demanded to have the
+Spanish flag swept forever from the Western hemisphere.
+
+In vain did President McKinley strive for a peaceful solution of the
+problem; but with both nations bent on war, he could not stem the tide
+of popular feeling.  So, on the 20th of April he was obliged to demand
+from Spain that she should, before noon of the 23d, relinquish forever
+her authority over Cuba, at the same time withdrawing her land and
+naval forces from that island.  The Spanish Cortes treated this
+proposition with contempt, and answered it by handing his passports to
+the American Minister at Madrid, thereby declaring war against the
+great American republic.
+
+At this time Spain believed her navy to be more than a match for that
+of the United States, and that, with nearly two hundred thousand
+veteran, acclimated troops on the island of Cuba, she was in a position
+to resist successfully what she termed the "insolent demands of the
+Yankee pigs."
+
+On this side of the Atlantic, Congress had appropriated fifty millions
+of dollars for national defence, the navy was being strengthened by the
+purchase of additional ships at home and abroad, fortifications were
+being erected along the entire coast, harbors were mined, and a
+powerful fleet of warships was gathered at Key West, the point of
+American territory lying nearest the island of Cuba.
+
+Then came the President's call for 125,000 volunteers, followed a few
+weeks later by a second call for 75,000 more.  This was the summons for
+which our young friend, Ridge Norris, had waited so impatiently ever
+since that February morning when he had arranged a bowl of roses and
+read the startling news of the _Maine's_ destruction.
+
+No one in all the country had been more impatient of the long delay
+than he; for it had seemed to him perfectly evident from the very first
+that war must be declared, and he was determined to take an active part
+in it at the earliest opportunity.  His father was willing that he
+should go, his mother was bitterly opposed; Dulce begged him to give up
+his design, and even Spence Cuthbert's laughing face became grave
+whenever the subject was mentioned, but the young man was not to be
+moved from his resolve.
+
+Mardi Gras came and passed, but Ridge, though escorting his sister and
+cousin to all the festivities, took only a slight interest in them.  He
+was always slipping away to buy the latest papers or to read the
+bulletins from Washington.
+
+"Would you go as a private, son?" asked his father one evening when the
+situation was being discussed in the family circle.
+
+"No, no!  If he goes at all--which Heaven forbid--it must be as an
+officer," interposed Mrs. Norris, who had overheard the question.
+
+"Of course a gentleman would not think of going as anything else,"
+remarked Dulce, conclusively.
+
+"I believe there were gentlemen privates on both sides during the Civil
+War," said Spence Cuthbert, quietly.
+
+"Of course," admitted Dulce, "but that was different.  Then men fought
+for principles, but now they are going to fight for--for--"
+
+"The love of it, perhaps," suggested the girl from Kentucky.
+
+"You know I don't mean that," cried Dulce.  "They are going to fight
+because--"
+
+"Because their country calls them," interrupted Ridge, with energy,
+"and because every true American endorses Decatur's immortal toast of
+'Our Country.  May she always be in the right; but, right or wrong, our
+country.'  Also because in the present instance we believe it is as
+much our right to save Cuba from further oppression at the hands of
+Spain as it always is for the strong to interpose in behalf of the weak
+and helpless.  For these reasons, and because I do not seem fit for
+anything else, I am going into the city to-morrow to enlist in whatever
+regiment I find forming."
+
+"Oh, my boy! my boy!" cried Mrs. Norris, flinging her arms around her
+son's neck, "do not go tomorrow.  Wait a little longer, but one week,
+until we can see what will happen.  After that I will not seek further
+to restrain you.  It is your mother who prays."
+
+"All right, mother dear, I will wait a few days to please you, though I
+cannot see what difference it will make."
+
+So the young man waited as patiently as might be a week longer, and
+before it was ended the whole country was ringing with the wonderful
+news of Admiral George Dewey's swift descent upon the Philippine
+Islands with the American Asiatic squadron.  With exulting heart every
+American listened to the thrilling story of how this modern Farragut
+stood on the bridge of the Olympia, and, with a fine contempt for the
+Spanish mines known to be thickly planted in the channel, led his ships
+into Manila Bay.  Almost before the startled Spaniards knew of his
+coming he had safely passed their outer line of defences, and was
+advancing upon their anchored fleet of iron-clad cruisers.  An hour
+later he had completely destroyed it, silenced the shore batteries, and
+held the proud city of Manila at his mercy.  All this he had done
+without the loss of a man or material damage to his ships, an exploit
+so incredible that at first the world refused to believe it.
+
+To Ridge Norris, who had spent a week in the Philippines less than a
+year before, the whole affair was of intense interest, and he bitterly
+regretted not having remained in the Far East that he might have
+participated in that glorious fight.
+
+"I would gladly have shipped as a sailor on the _Olympia_ if I had only
+known what was in store for her!" he exclaimed; "but a chance like
+that, once thrown away, never seems to be offered again."
+
+"But, my boy, it is better now," said Mrs. Norris, with a triumphant
+smile.  "Then you would have been only a common seaman; one week ago
+you would have enlisted as a common soldier.  Now you may go as an
+officer--what you will call a lieutenant--with the chance soon to
+become a captain, and perhaps a general.  Who can tell?"
+
+"Whatever do you mean, mother?"
+
+"What I say, and it is even so; for have I not the promise of the
+Governor himself?  But your father will tell you better, for he knows
+what has been done."
+
+So Ridge went to his father, who confirmed what he had just heard,
+saying:
+
+"Yes, son; your mother has exerted her influence in your behalf, and
+procured for you the promise of a second-lieutenant's commission,
+provided I am willing to pay for the honor."
+
+"How, father?"
+
+"By using my influence to send Herman Dodley to the Legislature as soon
+as he comes back from the war."
+
+"Is Dodley going into the army?"
+
+"Yes.  He is to be a major."
+
+"And would you help to send such a man to the Legislature?"
+
+"If you wanted to be a lieutenant badly enough to have me do so, I
+would."
+
+"Father, you know I wouldn't have you do such a thing even to make me
+President of the United States!"
+
+"Yes, son, I know it."
+
+And the two, gazing into each other's eyes, understood each other
+perfectly.
+
+"I would rather go as a private, father."
+
+"I would rather have you, son; though it would be a great
+disappointment to your mother."
+
+"She need not know, for I will go to some distant camp before
+enlisting.  I wouldn't serve in the same regiment with Herman Dodley,
+anyhow."
+
+"Of course not, son."
+
+"I suppose his appointment is political--as well as the one intended
+for me?"
+
+"Yes; and so it is with every other officer in the regiment."
+
+"That settles it.  I would sooner join the Cubans than fight under the
+leadership of mere politicians.  So, when I do enlist, it will be in
+some regiment where the word politics is unknown, even if I have to go
+into the regular army."
+
+"Son, I am prouder of you than I ever was before.  What will you want
+in the way of an outfit?"
+
+"One hundred dollars, if you can spare so much."
+
+"You shall have it, with my blessing."
+
+So it happened that, a few days later, Ridge Norris started for the
+war, though without an idea of where he should find it or in what
+capacity he should serve his country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ROLLO THE TERROR
+
+On the evening when Ridge decided to take his departure for the seat of
+war he was driven into the city by his father, who set him down near the
+armory of the regiment in which he had been offered a lieutenant's
+commission--for a consideration.
+
+"I don't want you to tell me where you are going, son," said Mr. Norris,
+"for I would rather be able to say, with a clear conscience, that I left
+you at headquarters, and beyond that know nothing of your movements."
+
+"All right, father," replied the young fellow.  "I won't tell you a thing
+about it, for I don't know where I am going any more than you do."
+
+"Then good-bye, my boy, and may Almighty God restore you to us safe and
+well when the war is over.  Here is the money you asked for, and I only
+wish I were able to give you ten times the sum.  Be careful of it, and
+don't spend it recklessly, for you must remember that we are poor folk
+now."
+
+Thus saying, the elder man slipped a roll of crisp bills into his son's
+hand, kissed him on the cheek, a thing he had not done before in a dozen
+years, and, without trusting his voice for another word, drove rapidly
+away.
+
+For a minute Ridge stood in the shadow of the massive building, listening
+with a full heart to the rattle of departing wheels.  Then he stooped to
+pick up the hand-bag, which was all the luggage he proposed to take with
+him.  As he did so, two men brushed past him, and he overheard one of
+them say:
+
+"Yes, old Norris was bought cheap.  A second-lieutenancy for his cub
+fixed him.  The berth'll soon be vacant again though, for the boy hasn't
+sand enough to--"
+
+Here the voice of the speaker was lost as the two turned into the armory.
+
+"Thanks for your opinion, Major Dodley," murmured Ridge; "that cheap
+berth will be vacant sooner than you think."
+
+Then, picking up his "grip," the young fellow walked rapidly away towards
+the railway station.  He was clad in a blue flannel shirt, brown canvas
+coat, trousers, and leggings, and wore a brown felt hat, the combination
+making up a costume almost identical with that decided upon as a Cuban
+campaign uniform for the United States army.  Ridge had provided himself
+with it in order to save the carrying of useless luggage.  In his "grip"
+he had an extra shirt, two changes of under-flannels, several pairs of
+socks, a pair of stout walking-shoes, and a few toilet articles, all of
+which could easily be stowed in an army haversack.
+
+Our hero's vaguely formed plan, as he neared the station, was to take the
+first east-bound train and make his way to one of the great camps of
+mobilization, either at Chickamauga, Georgia, or Tampa, Florida, where he
+hoped to find some regiment in which he could conscientiously enlist.  A
+train from the North had just reached the station as he entered it; but,
+to his disgust, he found that several hours must elapse before one would
+be ready to bear him eastward.
+
+He was too excited to wait patiently, but wandered restlessly up and down
+the long platform.  All at once there came to his ears the sound of a
+familiar voice, and, turning, he saw, advancing towards him, in the full
+glare of an electric light, three men, all young and evidently in high
+spirits.  One, thin, brown, and wiry, was dressed as a cowboy of the
+Western plains.  Another, who was a giant in stature, wore a golf suit of
+gray tweed; while the third, of boyish aspect, whom Ridge recognized as
+the son of a well-known New York millionaire, was clad in brown canvas
+much after his own style, though he also wore a prodigious revolver and a
+belt full of cartridges.
+
+He was Roland Van Kyp, called "Rollo" for short, one of the most
+persistent and luxurious of globe-trotters, who generally travelled in
+his own magnificent steam-yacht _Royal Flush_, on board of which he had
+entertained princes and the cream of foreign nobility without number.
+Everybody knew Van Kyp, and everybody liked him; he was such a genial
+soul, ever ready to bother himself over some other fellow's trouble, but
+never intimating that he had any of his own; reckless, generous,
+happy-go-lucky, always getting into scrapes and out of them with equal
+facility.  To his more intimate friends he had been variously known as
+"Rollo Abroad," "Rollo in Love," "Rollo in Search of a Wife," or "Rollo
+at Play," and when Ridge became acquainted with him in Yokohama he was
+"Rollo in Japan."
+
+He now recognized our hero at a glance, and sprang forward with
+outstretched hand.
+
+"Hello, Norris, my dear boy!" he cried.  "Whatever brings you here?
+Thought you were still far away in the misty Orient, doing the grand
+among the little brown Japs, while here you are in flannel and canvas as
+though you were a major-general in the regular army.  What does it mean?
+Are you one of us?  Have you too become a man of war, a fire-eater, a
+target for Mausers?  Have you enlisted under the banner of the screaming
+eagle?"
+
+"Not yet," laughed Ridge, "but I am on my way East to do so in the first
+regiment uncontaminated by politics that I can find."
+
+"Then, old man, you don't want to go East.  You want to come West with
+us.  There is but one regiment such as you have named, and it is mine;
+for, behold!  I am now Rollo in the Army, Rollo the Rough Rider, Rollo
+the Terror.  Perhaps it would be more becoming, though, to say 'Ours,'
+for we are all in it."
+
+"I should rather imagine that it would," growled he of the golf
+stockings, now joining in the conversation.  "And, 'Rollo in Disguise,'
+suppose you present us to your friend; for, if I am not mistaken, he is a
+gentleman of whom I have heard and would like much to meet."
+
+"Of course you would," responded Rollo, "and I beg your pardon for not
+having introduced you at once; but in times of war, you know, one is apt
+to neglect the amenities of a more peaceful existence.  Mr. Norris, allow
+me to present my friend and pupil in the art of football-playing--"
+
+"Oh, come off," laughed the big man.
+
+"Pupil, as I was saying when rudely interrupted," continued Rollo, "Mr.
+Mark Gridley."
+
+"Not Gridley, the famous quarter-back!" exclaimed Ridge, holding out his
+hand.
+
+"That's him," replied Van Kyp.
+
+"And aren't you Norris, the gentleman rider?" asked Gridley.
+
+"I have ridden," acknowledged Ridge.
+
+"So has this my other friend and fellow-soldier," cried Van Kyp.
+"Norris, I want you to know Mr. Silas Pine, of Medora, North Dakota, a
+bad man from the Bad Lands, a bronco-buster by profession, who has also
+consented to become a terror to Spaniards in my company."
+
+"Have you a company, then?" asked Ridge, after he had acknowledged this
+introduction.
+
+"I have--that is, I belong to one; but, in the sense you mean, you must
+not use the word company.  That is a term common to 'doughboys,' who, as
+you doubtless know, are merely uniformed pedestrians; but we of the
+cavalry always speak of our immediate fighting coterie as a 'troop.'
+Likewise the 'battalion' of the inconsequent doughboy has for our behoof
+been supplanted by the more formidable word 'squadron,' to show that we
+are _de jure_ as well as _de facto_ men of war.  Sabe?"
+
+"Then you are really in the cavalry?" asked Ridge, while laughing at this
+nonsense.
+
+"Yes, I really am, or rather I really shall be when I get there; for
+though enlisted and sworn in, we haven't yet joined or been sworn at."
+
+"What is your regiment?"
+
+"You mean our 'command.'  Why, didn't I tell you?  'Teddy's Terrors,'
+Roosevelt's Rough Riders.  First Volunteer Cavalry, U.S.A., Colonel
+Leonard Wood commanding."
+
+"The very one!" cried Ridge.  "Why didn't I think of it before?  How I
+wish I could join it."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"I thought there were so many applications that the ranks were more than
+full."
+
+"So there may be, but, like lots of other full things, there's always
+room for one more, if he's of the right sort."
+
+"Do you imagine I would stand the slightest chance of getting in?"
+
+"I should say you would.  With me ready to use my influence in your
+behalf, and me and Teddy the chums we are, besides you being the rider
+you are.  Why the first question Teddy asks of an applicant is 'Can you
+ride a horse?'  And when you answer, 'Sir, I am the man who wrote--I mean
+who won the silver hurdles at the last Yokohama gym.', he'll be so
+anxious to have you in the regiment that he'd resign in your favor rather
+than lose you.  Oh, if I only had your backing do you suppose I'd be a
+mere private Terror?  No, siree, I'd be corporal or colonel or something
+of that kind, sure as you're born.  But come on, let's get aboard, for
+there's the tinkle-bell a-tinkling."
+
+"I haven't bought my ticket yet," remonstrated Ridge.
+
+"You won't need one, son.  We're travelling in my private car
+'Terror'--used to be named 'Buster,' you know--and the lay-out is free to
+all my friends."
+
+Thus it happened that kindly Fate had interposed to guide our hero's
+footsteps, but it was not until he found himself seated in the luxurious
+smoking-room of Rollo Van Kyp's private railway carriage that it occurred
+to him to inquire whither they were bound.
+
+"To the plains of Texas, my boy, and the city of San Antonio de Bexar,
+where Teddy and his Terrors are impatiently awaiting our advent," replied
+Rollo.  At the same time he touched an electric bell and ordered a
+supper, which, when it appeared, proved to be one of the daintiest meals
+that Ridge Norris had ever eaten.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE ROUGH RIDERS AT SAN ANTONIO
+
+During the remainder of that night and all the following day the train
+to which the "Terror" was attached sped westward through the rich
+lowlands of southern Louisiana and across the prairies of Texas.  It
+crossed the tawny flood of the Mississippi on a huge railway ferry to
+Algiers, and at New Iberia it passed a side-tracked train filled with
+State troops bound for Baton Rouge.  Early the next morning at Houston,
+Texas, it drew up beside another train-load of soldiers on their way to
+Austin.  To the excited mind of our young would-be cavalryman it seemed
+as though the whole country was under arms and hurrying towards the
+scene of conflict.  Was he not going in the wrong direction, after all?
+And would not those other fellows get to Cuba ahead of him in such
+force that there would be no Spaniards left for the Riders to fight?
+This feeling was so increased upon reaching the end of the journey,
+where he saw two San Antonio companies starting for the East, that he
+gave expression to his fears, whereupon Van Kip responded, promptly:
+
+"Don't you fret, old man.  We'll get there in plenty of time.  Teddy's
+gone into this thing for blood, and he's got the inside track on
+information, too.  Fixed up a private ticker all of his own before he
+left Washington, and when he gets ready to start he'll go straight to
+the front without a side-track.  Oh, I know him and his ways! for, as
+I've said before, we're great chums, me and Teddy.  I shouldn't wonder
+if he'd be at the station to meet us."
+
+To Rollo's disappointment, neither Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt nor any
+one else was on hand to welcome the Riders' new recruits, but this was
+philosophically explained by the young New-Yorker on the ground that he
+had thoughtlessly neglected to telegraph their coming.  Being thus left
+to their own devices, and anxious to join their regiment as quickly as
+possible, the three who were already enlisted engaged a carriage to
+convey them to the fair-grounds, just beyond the city limits, where the
+Riders were encamped, leaving Ridge to occupy the car in solitary state
+until morning.
+
+"You just stay here and make yourself cozy," said Rollo, "while we go
+and get our bearings.  I'll see Teddy and fix things all right for you,
+so that you can come out and join us bright and early tomorrow.  So
+long.  Robert, take good care of Mr. Norris, and see that he has
+everything to make him comfortable."
+
+This order was delivered to the colored steward of the car, and in
+another minute the excited trio had rattled away, leaving Ridge to a
+night of luxurious loneliness.
+
+To occupy his time he took a brisk walk into the city, and reached the
+Alamo Plaza before he knew where he was.  Then, suddenly, he realized;
+for, half-hidden by a great ugly wooden building, used as a
+grocery-store, he discovered an antiquated, half-ruinous little
+structure of stone and stucco that he instantly recognized, from having
+seen it pictured over and over again.  It was the world-renowned Alamo,
+one of the most famous monuments to liberty in America; and, hastening
+across the plaza, Ridge stood reverently before it, thrilled with the
+memory of Crockett and Bowie, Travis and Bonham, who, more than half a
+century before, together with their immediate band of heroes, here
+yielded up their lives that Texas might be free.
+
+Ridge was well read in the history of the Lone Star State, and now he
+strove to picture to himself the glorious tragedy upon which those grim
+walls had looked.  As he thus stood, oblivious to his surroundings, he
+was recalled to them by a voice close at hand, saying, as though in
+soliloquy:
+
+"What a shame that so sacred a monument should be degraded by the
+vulgarity of its environment!"
+
+"Is it not?" replied Ridge, turning towards the speaker.  The latter
+was a squarely built man, about forty years of age, with a face
+expressive of intense determination, which at the moment was partially
+hidden by a slouch hat pulled down over the forehead, and a pair of
+spectacles.  He was clad in brown canvas, very much as was Ridge
+himself; but except for facings of blue on collar and sleeve be wore no
+distinctive mark of rank.  For a few minutes the two talked of the
+Alamo and all that it represented.  Then the stranger asked, abruptly,
+
+"Do you belong to the Rough Riders?"
+
+"No," replied Ridge, "but I hope to.  I am going to make application to
+join them to-morrow, or rather I believe a friend is making it for me
+this evening.  Are you one of them, sir?"
+
+"Yes, though I have not yet joined.  In fact, I have only just reached
+San Antonio."
+
+"So have I," said Ridge.  "I came in on the Eastern train less than an
+hour ago."
+
+"Strange that I did not see you," remarked the other.  "Were you in the
+Pullman?"
+
+"No, I was in a private car."
+
+"I noticed that there was one, though I did not know to whom it
+belonged.  Is it yours?"
+
+"Oh no!" laughed Ridge.  "I am far too poor to own anything so
+luxurious.  It belongs to my friend, Mr. Roland Van Kyp, of New York."
+
+"Sometimes called Rollo?"
+
+"Yes; do you know him?"
+
+"I have met him.  Is he the one who is to use his influence in your
+behalf?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Can you ride a horse?"
+
+"I have ridden," rejoined Ridge, modestly.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In many places.  The last was Japan, where I won the silver hurdles of
+the Yokohama gymkana."
+
+"Indeed!  And your name is--"
+
+"Ridge Norris," replied the young man.
+
+"I have heard the name, and am glad to know you, Mr. Norris.  Now I
+must bid you good-evening.  Hope we shall meet again, and trust you may
+be successful in joining our regiment."
+
+With this the stranger walked rapidly away, leaving Ridge somewhat
+puzzled by his manner, and wishing he had asked his name.
+
+About eight o'clock the next morning, as Ridge, waited on by the
+attentive Robert, was sitting down to the daintily appointed
+breakfast-table of Rollo Van Kyp's car, the young owner himself burst
+into the room.
+
+"Hello, Norris!" he cried.  "Just going to have lunch?  Don't care if I
+join you.  Had breakfast hours ago, you know, and a prime one it was.
+Scouse, slumgullion, hushpuppy, dope without milk, and all sorts of
+things.  I tell you life in camp is fine, and no mistake.  Slept in a
+dog-tent last night with a full-blooded Indian--Choctaw or something of
+that kind, one of the best fellows I ever met.  Couldn't catch on to
+his name, but it doesn't make any difference, for all the boys call him
+'Hully Gee'--'Hully' for short, you know.
+
+"But such fun and such a rum crowd you never saw!  Why, there are
+cowboys, ranchers, prospectors, coppers, ex-sheriffs, sailors,
+mine-owners, men from every college in the country, tennis champions,
+football-players, rowing-men, polo-players, planters, African
+explorers, big-game hunters, ex-revenue-officers, and Indian-fighters,
+besides any number of others who have led the wildest kinds of life,
+all chock-full of stories, and ready to fire 'em off at a touch of the
+trigger.  Teddy hasn't come yet, and so I haven't been able to do
+anything for you; but you must trot right out, all the same, and join
+our mess.  Besides, I want you to pick out a horse for me, something
+nice and quiet, 'cause I'm not a dead game rider, you know.  Same time
+he must be good to look at, sound, and fit in every respect.  I've
+already bought one this morning, a devilish pretty little mare, on Sile
+Pine's say-so that she was gentle, but after a slight though very
+trying experience, I'm afraid a bronco-buster's ideas of gentleness and
+mine don't exactly agree."
+
+"Why?  Did she throw you?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Well, she didn't exactly throw me.  I was merely projected about a
+thousand yards as though from a dynamite-gun, and then the brute tried
+to chew me up.  You see she's a Mexican--what Mark Twain would call a
+'genuine Mexican plug'--and doesn't seem to sabe United States; for
+when I began to reason with her she simply went wild.  I left her
+tearing through the camp like a steam-cyclone, and if we find anything
+at all to show where it was located, it is more than I hope for.  But
+there's a new lot of prime-looking cattle just arrived, and they are
+going like hot cakes; so come along quick and help me get something
+rideable."
+
+Half an hour later Ridge found himself in the first army camp he had
+ever visited, amid a body of men the most heterogeneous but typically
+American ever gathered together.  Millionaire dudes and clubmen from
+the great Eastern cities fraternized with the wildest representatives
+of far Western life.  Men of every calling and social position, all
+wearing blue flannel shirts and slouch hats, were here mingled on terms
+of perfect equality.  They were drilling, shooting, skylarking, playing
+cards, performing incredible feats on horseback, cooking, eating,
+singing, yelling, and behaving in every respect like a lot of
+irrepressible schoolboys out for a holiday.  Here a red-headed Irish
+corporal damned the awkwardness of a young Boston swell, fresh from
+Harvard, who had been detailed as cook in a company kitchen; while,
+close at hand, a New-Yorker of the bluest blood was washing dishes with
+the deftness gained from long experience on a New Mexican sheep-ranch.
+
+As Ridge and Rollo passed through one of the canvas-bordered streets of
+this unique camp, the former suddenly leaped aside with an exclamation
+of alarm.  An unknown beast, fortunately chained, had made a spring at
+him, with sharp claws barely missing his leg.
+
+"You mustn't mind a little thing like that," laughed Rollo, with the
+air of one to whom such incidents were of every-day occurrence.  "It's
+only 'Josephine,' a young mountain lion from Arizona, and our
+regimental mascot.  She's very playful."
+
+"So it seems," replied Ridge, "and I suppose I shall learn to like her
+if I join the regiment; but the introduction was a little startling."
+
+A short distance beyond the camp was gathered a confused group of
+officers, troopers, men in citizen's dress, some of whom were
+swart-faced Mexicans, and horses.  To this Rollo led the way; and, as
+the new-comers drew near they saw that for a moment all eyes were
+directed towards a man engaged in a fierce struggle with a horse.  The
+animal was a beautiful chestnut mare with slender limbs, glossy coat,
+and superb form.  Good as she was to look upon, she was just then
+exhibiting the spirit of a wild-cat or anything else that is most
+savage and untamable, and was attempting, with desperate struggles, to
+throw and kill the man who rode her.  He was our recent acquaintance,
+Silas Pine, bronco-buster from the Bad Lands, who, with clinched teeth
+and rigid features, was in full practice of his chosen profession.
+
+All at once, no one could tell how, but with a furious effort the mare
+shook off her hated burden, and, with a snort of triumph, dashed madly
+away.  The man was flung heavily to the ground, where he lay motionless.
+
+"That's my horse," remarked Rollo, quietly, "and Sile undertook to
+either break or kill her.  Nice, gentle beast, isn't she?  Hello,
+you're in luck, for there's Roosevelt now.  Oh, Teddy!  I say, Teddy!"
+
+Two officers on horseback were approaching the scene, and in one of
+them Ridge recognized his chance acquaintance of the evening before.
+Towards this individual Van Kyp was running.
+
+All at once the second officer, who proved to be Colonel Leonard Wood
+of the regular army, now commanding the Riders, turned to a sergeant
+who stood near by, and said, sharply:
+
+"Arrest that man and take him to the guard-house.  We have had enough
+of this 'Teddy' business, and I want it distinctly understood that
+hereafter Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt is to receive the title of his
+rank from every man in this command."
+
+In another moment Rollo Van Kyp had been seized by the brawny sergeant,
+lately a mounted policeman of New York city, and was being marched
+protestingly away, leaving Ridge bewildered, friendless, and uncertain
+what to do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+RIDGE BECOMES A TROOPER
+
+While our hero stood irresolute, he saw Silas Pine gain a sitting
+posture, and gaze about him with the air of one who is dazed.
+
+[Illustration: "Silas Pine gazed about him with the air of one who is
+dazed."]
+
+"Are you badly hurt?" inquired Ridge, as he reached the man's side.
+
+"I don't know," replied Silas, moving his limbs cautiously, and feeling
+of various portions of his body to ascertain if any bones were broken.
+"Reckon not.  But will you kindly tell me what happened?"
+
+"You were breaking in Mr. Van Kyp's horse, and got thrown," replied
+Ridge, as gravely as possible, but with an irrepressible smile lurking
+in the corners of his mouth.
+
+The bronco-buster, noting this, became instantly filled with wrath.
+
+"Got thrown, did I?  And you think it a thing to laugh at, do you?
+Well, you wouldn't if you'd been in my place.  I claim to know
+something about hosses, and I tell you that's not one at all.  She's a
+'hoss devil,' that's what she is, for all she looks quiet as a sheep.
+But I'll kill her yet or die trying to tame her; for such a brute's not
+fit to live."
+
+"Won't you let me try my hand at it first?" asked Ridge.
+
+"You? you?" exclaimed the man in contemptuous amazement.  "Yes, I will,
+for if you are fool enough to tackle her, you are only fit to be
+killed, and might as well die now as later.  Oh yes, young feller, you
+can try it; only leave us a lock of your hair to remember you by, and
+we'll give you a first-class funeral."
+
+By this time two Mexican riders, who had started in pursuit of the
+runaway animal, had cornered it in an angle of the high fence
+surrounding the camp-grounds, flung their ropes over its head, and were
+dragging it back, choking and gasping for breath, to the scene of its
+recent triumph.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge in Spanish, running towards them as he spoke,
+and shouting commands in their own language.
+
+Slipping the cruel ropes from the neck of the quivering mare, that
+stared at him with wild eyes, Ridge petted and soothed her, at the same
+time talking gently in Spanish, a tongue that she showed signs of
+understanding by pricking forward her shapely ears.  After a little
+Ridge led the animal to a watering-trough, where she drank greedily,
+and then into camp, where he begged a handful of sugar from one of the
+cooks.
+
+Some ten minutes later, without having yet attempted to gain the
+saddle, he led the mare back to the place from which they had started,
+all the while talking to her and stroking her glossy neck.
+
+"Why don't you ride?" growled Silas Pine, who still remained on the
+scene of his recent discomfiture, and had watched Ridge's movements
+curiously.  "Any fool can lead a hoss to water and back again."
+
+For answer Ridge gathered up the bridle reins, and placing his hands on
+pommel and cantle, sprang lightly into the saddle.
+
+The mare laid her ears flat back and began to tremble with rage, but
+her rider, bending low over the proud neck, talked to her as though she
+were a human being, and in another moment they were off like the wind.
+Twice they circled the entire grounds at a speed as yet unequalled in
+the camp, and then drew up sharply where Silas Pine still stood
+awaiting them.
+
+"Mr. Norris," said that individual, stepping forward, "I owe you an
+apology, and must say I never saw a finer--"
+
+Just here the mare snapped viciously at the bronco-buster, from whose
+spurs her flanks were still bleeding, and leaped sideways with so
+sudden a movement that any but a most practiced rider would have been
+flung to the ground.  Without appearing in the least disconcerted by
+this performance, Ridge began to reply to Silas Pine, but was
+interrupted by the approach of the two mounted officers, who had
+watched the recent lesson in bronco-breaking with deep interest.
+
+"Can you do that with any horse?" inquired Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, abruptly.
+
+"I believe I can, sir," replied Ridge, lifting his hand in salute.
+
+"I heard you talking in Spanish.  Do you speak it fluently?"
+
+"As well as I do English, sir."
+
+"I believe you wish to enlist in this regiment?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"You are a friend of Private Van Kyp?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"The one in whose behalf he was about to make application."
+
+Ridge again answered in the affirmative.
+
+"Colonel, I believe we want this young man."
+
+"I believe we do," replied Colonel Wood.  Then, to Ridge, he added: "If
+you can pass a satisfactory physical examination, I know of no reason
+why you should not be permitted to join this command.  I want you to
+understand, though, that every man admitted to it is chosen solely for
+personal merit, and not through friendship or any influence, political
+or otherwise, that he may possess.  Now you may take that horse to the
+picket-line, see that it is properly cared for, and report at my
+quarters in half an hour."
+
+Without uttering a word in reply, but again saluting, Ridge rode away
+happier than he had ever been in his life, and prouder even than when
+he had won the silver hurdles at Yokohama.
+
+An hour later he had successfully passed his physical examination, and
+was waiting, with a dozen other recruits, to be sworn into the military
+service of the United States.  To these men came Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt, who had just resigned the Assistant-Secretaryship of the
+Navy in order to join the front rank of those who were to fight his
+country's battles.  To them he said: "Gentlemen, you have reached the
+last point.  If any one of you does not mean business, let him say so
+now.  In a few minutes more it will be too late to back out.  Once in,
+you must see the thing through, performing without flinching whatever
+duty is assigned to you, regardless of its difficulty or danger.  If it
+be garrison duty, you must attend to it; if meeting the fever, you must
+be willing; if it is the hardest kind of fighting, you must be anxious
+for it.  You must know how to ride, how to shoot, and how to live in
+the open, lacking all the luxuries and often the necessities of life.
+No matter what comes, you must not squeal.  Remember, above everything,
+that absolute obedience to every command is your first lesson.  Now
+think it over, and if any man wishes to withdraw, he will be gladly
+excused, for hundreds stand ready to take his place."
+
+Did any of those young men accept this chance to escape the dangers and
+privations, the hardships and sufferings, awaiting them?  Not one, but
+all joined in an eager rivalry to first take the oath of allegiance and
+obedience, and sign the regimental roll.
+
+As it happened, this honor fell to Ridge Norris, and a few minutes
+later he passed out of the building an enlisted soldier of the United
+States, a private in its first regiment of volunteer cavalry, and
+ordered to report to the first sergeant of Troop "K"--Rollo Van Kyp's
+troop, he remembered with pleasure.  "Poor old boy! how I wish I could
+see him and tell him of my good luck!" he reflected.  "Wonder how long
+he will be kept in that beastly guard-house?"
+
+At the moment our young trooper was passing headquarters, and even as
+this thought came into his mind, he was bidden by Colonel Wood to
+deliver a written order to the corporal of the guard.  "It is for the
+release from arrest of your friend Van Kyp," explained the colonel,
+kindly, "and you may tell him that it was obtained through the
+intercession of Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt."
+
+With a light heart Ridge hastened to perform this first act of his
+military service; and not long afterwards he and Rollo were happily
+engaged, under the supervision of Sergeant Higgins, in erecting the
+little dog-tent that they were to occupy in company, and settling their
+scanty belongings within its narrow limits.  When this was finally
+accomplished to their satisfaction, they went to the picket-line to
+visit the pretty and high-spirited mare that had been the immediate
+cause of Ridge's good fortune.
+
+"Isn't she a beauty?" he exclaimed, walking directly up to the mare,
+and throwing an arm about her neck, a caress to which the animal
+submitted with evident pleasure.
+
+"Yes," admitted Rollo, hesitatingly, as he stepped nimbly aside to
+avoid a snap of white teeth.  "I suppose she is, but she seems awfully
+vicious, and I can't say that she is exactly the style of horse that I
+most admire.  Tell you what I'll do, Norris.  I'll give her to you,
+seeing that you and she seem to hit it off so well.  You've won her by
+rights, anyhow."
+
+Ridge's face flushed.  He already loved the mare, and longed to own
+her, but his pride forbade him to accept so valuable a gift from one
+who was but little more than a stranger.  So he said;
+
+"Oh no!  Thanks, awfully, old man, but I couldn't think of taking her
+in that way.  If you don't mind, though, I'll buy the mare of you,
+gladly paying whatever you gave for her."
+
+"Very good," replied Rollo, who imagined Ridge to be quite well off,
+and to whom any question of money was of slight consequence.  "I paid
+an even hundred dollars for her with saddle and bridle thrown in, and
+if you won't accept her as a gift, you may have her for that sum."
+
+"Done," said Ridge, "and here's your money."  With this he pulled from
+his pocket the roll of bills that his father, bidding him not to spend
+them recklessly, had thrust into his hand on parting, and which until
+now he had not found occasion to touch.
+
+Although this left our young soldier penniless, he did not for a moment
+regret the transaction by which he had gained possession of what he
+considered the very best mount in the whole regiment.  He at once named
+the beautiful mare "Senorita," and upon her he lavished a wealth of
+affection that seemed to be fully reciprocated.  While no one else
+could do anything with her, in Ridge's hands she gained a knowledge of
+cavalry tactics as readily as did her young master, and by her quick
+precision of movement when on drill or parade she was instrumental in
+raising him first to the grade of corporal, and then to that of
+sergeant, which was the rank he held three weeks later, on the eve of
+the Rough Riders' departure for Tampa.
+
+In the mean time the days spent at San Antonio were full of active
+interest and hard work from morning reveille until the mellow
+trumpet-notes of taps.  At the same time it was work mixed with a vast
+amount of harmless skylarking, in which both Ridge and Rollo took such
+active part as to win the liking of every member of their troop.
+
+Each day heard the same anxious inquiry from a thousand tongues: "When
+shall we go to the front?  Is the navy going to fight out this war
+without the army getting a show?"
+
+"Be patient," counselled the wiser men, "and our chance will come.  The
+powerful Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera must first be located and
+rendered harmless, while the army must be licked into effective shape
+before it is allowed to fight."
+
+They heard of the blockade by the navy of Havana and other Cuban ports,
+of the apparently fruitless bombardment of San Juan in Porto Rico, and
+of the great gathering of troops and transports at Tampa.  Finally came
+the welcome news that the dreaded Spanish fleet was safely bottled by
+Admiral Sampson in the narrow harbor of Santiago.
+
+Then on the 29th of May, only a little more than one month after the
+declaration of war, came the welcome order to move to Tampa and the
+front.  Instantly the camp presented a scene of wildest bustle and
+excitement.  One hundred railway cars, in six long trains, awaited the
+Riders.  The regiment was drawn up as if for parade.
+
+"Forward, march!" ordered Colonel Wood.
+
+"On to Cuba!" sang the trumpets.
+
+And the "Terrors" yelled themselves hoarse at the prospect of being let
+loose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OFF FOR THE WAR
+
+Of course Ridge had written home and informed his family of his
+whereabouts as soon as he found himself regularly enlisted with the
+Rough Riders.  The news afforded Mr. Norris immense satisfaction, while
+Spence Cuthbert declared that if Ridge were her brother she should be
+proud of him.
+
+"If that is said for my benefit," remarked Dulce, "you may rest assured
+that I am always proud of my brother.  I must confess, though, that I
+should like it better if he were an officer; for, as I have never known
+any private soldiers, I can't imagine what they are like.  It must be
+very unpleasant, though, to have to associate with them all the time.
+I wish Ridge had told us more about that Mr. Van Kyp who owns the car.
+Of course, though, one of his wealth and position must be an officer, a
+captain at the very least, and perhaps Ridge doesn't see much of him
+now."
+
+Mrs. Norris was greatly disappointed to find that all her efforts in
+her son's behalf had been wasted That he should have deliberately
+chosen to becoming a "common soldier," as she expressed it, instead of
+accepting the commission offered him, was beyond her comprehension.
+She mourned and puzzled over this until the arrival of Ridge's next
+letter, which conveyed the gratifying intelligence that, having been
+made a corporal, he was now an officer.  She did not know what a
+corporal was, but that Ridge had risen above the ranks of "common
+soldiers" was sufficient, and from that moment the fond mother began to
+speak with pride of her son, who was an officer in the cavalry.
+
+At length the quiet household was thrown into a flutter of excitement
+by the receipt of a telegram, which read:
+
+"Have again been promoted.  Regiment ordered to Tampa.  Leave to-day.
+Meet us at Algiers, if possible."
+
+Mr. Norris hurried into the city to consult railway officials
+concerning the movements of the regiment, and found that the train
+bearing his son's troop would pass through the city on the morrow.
+
+Early the next morning, therefore, he escorted his wife and the girls
+across the Mississippi, where, in the forlorn little town of Algiers,
+they awaited as patiently as might be the coming of their soldier boy.
+The mother's anxiety to meet her son was almost equalled by her desire
+to see how handsome he would look in an officer's uniform.  Concerning
+this she had formed a mental picture of epaulettes, gold lace, brass
+buttons, plumes, and a sword; for had she not seen army officers in
+Paris?
+
+The two girls discussed as to whether or not Ridge was now travelling
+in the same luxurious private car that had borne him to San Antonio.
+Spence thought not, but Dulce believed he would be.  "Of course if
+Ridge was still a private I don't suppose it would be good form for
+_Captain_ Van Kyp to invite him," she said; "but now that he is an
+officer, and perhaps even of equal rank, I can't imagine any reason why
+they should not travel together as they did before."
+
+There was no reason, and the joint proprietors of the little dog-tent,
+of which, when in marching order, each carried one-half, were
+travelling together on terms of perfect equality, as was discovered a
+little later, when the long train, thickly coated with dust and
+cinders, rumbled heavily into the station.  Heads protruded from every
+window of the crowded coaches, and hundreds of eyes gazed approvingly
+at the pretty girls who were anxiously looking for a private car, while
+trying not to blush at the very audible compliments by which they were
+greeted.
+
+Suddenly they heard the familiar voice.  "Mother!  Father!  Girls!" it
+called, and turning quickly in that direction, they discovered the
+object of their search.  Sun-browned and dust-begrimed, his face
+streaked by rivulets of perspiration, wearing a disreputable-looking
+felt hat and a coarse blue flannel shirt, open at the throat, their
+boy, beaming with delight, was eagerly beckoning to them.  Two other
+cinder-hued faces were attempting to share the window with him, but
+with only partial success.
+
+The car doors were guarded, and no one was allowed to pass either in or
+out until the train was safely on the great boat that was to transfer
+it across the river.  There the turbulent stream of humanity was
+permitted to burst forth, and in another moment a stalwart young
+soldier, who seemed to have broadened by inches since she last saw him,
+had flung his arms about Mrs. Norris's neck.  Then he shook hands with
+his father and kissed both the girls, at which Spence Cuthbert blushed
+more furiously than ever.
+
+A score of young fellows, all as grimy as Ridge, and all wearing the
+same uniform, watched this performance curiously, and now the latter
+began to present them.
+
+"This is First Sergeant Higgins, mother, of our troop, and Mr. Gridley,
+and Mr. Pine of North Dakota.  Dulce, allow me to introduce my
+tentmate, Mr. Van Kyp."
+
+So he rattled off name after name, until the poor girls were thoroughly
+bewildered, and could not tell which belonged to whom, especially, as
+Dulce said, when they all looked exactly alike in those absurd hats,
+horrid flannel shirts, and ridiculous leggings.
+
+Rollo Van Kyp was the only one of whose name and personality she felt
+certain, which is probably the reason she allowed that persuasive young
+trooper to escort her to the forward deck of the boat, where they
+remained until the river was almost crossed.  After a while Ridge and
+Spence also strolled off together, ostensibly to find Dulce and Rollo,
+though they did not succeed until the farther shore was nearly reached,
+when all four came back together.
+
+Rollo Van Kip had lost his hat, while Dulce held tightly in one
+daintily gloved hand a curious-looking package done up in newspaper.
+At the same time Spence Cuthbert blushed whenever something in the
+pocket of her gown gave forth a metallic jingle, and glanced furtively
+about to see if any one else had heard it.
+
+A few days later Dulce appeared in a new riding-hat, which at once
+attracted the admiration and envy of all her girl friends.  At the same
+time it was a very common affair, exactly like those worn by Uncle
+Sam's soldier boys, and on its front was rudely traced in lead pencil
+the words, "Troop K, Roosevelt's Rough Riders."  In fact, it was one of
+the very hats that Dulce herself had recently designated as "absurd."
+
+About the same time that Miss Norris appeared wearing a trooper's hat
+her friend Miss Cuthbert decorated the front of her riding-jacket with
+brass buttons.  When Sergeant Norris sharply reprimanded Private Van
+Kyp for losing his hat, Rollo answered that he considered himself
+perfectly excusable for so doing, since in a breeze strong enough to
+blow the buttons off a sergeant's blouse a hat stood no show to remain
+on its owner's head, whereupon the other abruptly changed the subject.
+
+In the mean time Mrs. Norris, who had recognized among the names of the
+young men presented to her those of some of the best-known families of
+the country, was surrounded by a group of Ridge's friends, who, as they
+all wore the same uniform that he did, she imagined must also be
+officers.  So she delighted their hearts and rose high in their
+estimation by treating them with great cordiality, and calling them
+indiscriminately major, captain, or whatever military title happened on
+the end of her tongue.  This she did until her husband appeared on the
+scene with Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, whom he had known in
+Washington.  The moment the fond mother discovered this gentleman to be
+her son's superior officer, she neglected every one else to ply him
+with questions.
+
+"Did he think her boy would make a fine soldier?  Was Ridge really an
+officer?  If so, what was his rank, and why did he not wear a more
+distinctive uniform?  Did _General_ Roosevelt believe there would be
+any fighting, and if there was, would he not order Ridge to remain in
+the safest places?"
+
+To all of these questions the Lieutenant-Colonel managed to return most
+satisfactory answers.  He thought Ridge was in a fair way to make a
+most excellent soldier, seeing that he had already gained the rank of
+sergeant, which was very rapid promotion, considering the short time
+the young man had been in the service.  As to his uniform, he now wore
+that especially designed for active campaigning, which Mrs. Norris must
+know was much less showy than one that would be donned for dress
+parades in time of peace.  Yes, he fancied there might be a little
+fighting, in which case he meditated giving Ridge a place behind
+Sergeant Borrowe's dynamite gun, where he would be as safe as in any
+other position on the whole firing line.
+
+Not only was Mrs. Norris greatly comforted by these kindly assurances,
+but she received further evidence that her boy was indeed an officer
+entitled to command and be obeyed when the troopers were ordered to
+re-enter the cars, for she heard him say:
+
+"Come, boys, tumble in lively!  Now, Rollo, get a move on."
+
+Certainly an officer to whom even _Captain_ Van Kyp yielded obedience
+must be of exalted rank.
+
+There was some delay in starting the train, which was taken advantage
+of by Mr. Norris to disappear, only to return a few minutes later,
+followed by a porter bearing a great basket of fruit.  This was given
+to Ridge for distribution among his friends.  Spence Cuthbert also
+shyly handed him a box of choice candies, which she had carried all
+this time; but Dulce, seeing her brother thus well provided, gave her
+box to Rollo Van Kyp--a proceeding that filled the young millionaire
+with delight, and caused him to be furiously envied by every other man
+in the car.
+
+Finally the heavy train began slowly to pull out, its occupants raised
+a mighty cheer, the trumpeters sounded their liveliest quickstep, and
+those left behind, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting words of
+farewell, felt their eyes fill with sudden tears.  Until this moment
+the war had been merely a subject for careless discussion, a thing
+remote from them and only affecting far-away people.  Now it was real
+and terrible.  Their nearest and dearest was concerned in it.  They had
+witnessed the going of those who might never return.  From that moment
+it was their war.
+
+On Thursday, June 2d, with their long, dusty journey ended, the last of
+the Rough Riders reached Tampa, hot and weary, but in good spirits, and
+eager to be sent at once to the front.  They found 25,000 troops,
+cavalry, infantry, and artillery, most of them regulars, already
+encamped in the sandy pine barrens surrounding the little city, and
+took their place among them.
+
+At Port Tampa, nine miles away, lay the fleet of transports provided to
+carry them to Cuba.  Here they had lain for many days.  Here the army
+had waited for weeks, sweltering in the pitiless heat, suffering the
+discomforts of a campaign without its stimulant of excitement,
+impatient of delay, and sick with repeated disappointments.  The
+regulars were ready for service; the volunteers thought they were, but
+knew better a few weeks later.  Time and again orders for embarkation
+were received, only to be revoked upon rumors of ghostly warships
+reported off some distant portion of the coast.  Spain was playing her
+old game of _manana_ at the expense of the Americans, and inducing her
+powerful enemy to refrain from striking a blow by means of terrifying
+rumors skilfully circulated through the so-called "yellow journals" of
+the great American cities, which readily published any falsehood that
+provided a sensation.  At length, however, the last bogie appeared to
+be laid, and one week after the Riders reached Tampa a rumor of an
+immediate departure, more definite than any that had preceded it,
+flashed through the great camp: "Everything is ready, and to-morrow we
+shall surely embark for Santiago."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE STORY OF HOBSON AND THE _MERRIMAC_
+
+Only half the regiment was to go, and no horses could be taken, except
+a few belonging to officers.  The capacity of the transports was
+limited, and though troops were packed into them like sardines into a
+can, there was only room for 15,000 men, together with a few horses, a
+pack-train of mules, four light batteries, and two of siege-guns.  So,
+thousands of soldiers, heartbroken by disappointment, and very many
+things important to the success of a campaign, were to be left behind.
+
+Two dismounted squadrons of the Rough Riders were chosen to accompany
+the expedition, which, with the exception of themselves and two
+regiments of volunteer infantry, was composed of regulars; and, to the
+great joy of Ridge and his immediate friends, their troop was among
+those thus selected.  But their joy was dimmed by being dismounted, and
+Ridge almost wept when obliged to part with his beloved mare.
+
+However, as Rollo philosophically remarked, "Everything goes in time of
+war, or rather most everything does, and what can't go must be left
+behind."
+
+So five hundred of the horseless riders were piled into a train of
+empty coal-cars, each man carrying on his person in blanket roll and
+haversack whatever baggage he was allowed to take, and they were
+rattled noisily away to Port Tampa, where, after much vexatious delay,
+they finally boarded the transport _Yucatan_, and felt that they were
+fairly off for Cuba.
+
+But not yet.  Again came a rumor of strange war-ships hovering off the
+coast, and with it a frightened but imperative order from Washington to
+wait.  So they waited in the broiling heat, crowded almost to
+suffocation in narrow spaces--men delicately reared and used to every
+luxury, men who had never before breathed any but the pure air of
+mountain or boundless plain--and their only growl was at the delay that
+kept them from going to where conditions would be even worse.  They ate
+their coarse food whenever and wherever they could get it, drank tepid
+water from tin cups that were equally available for soup or coffee, and
+laughed at their discomforts.  "But why don't they let us go?" was the
+constant cry heard on all sides at all hours.
+
+During this most tedious of all their waitings, only one thing of real
+interest happened.  They had heard of the daring exploit of Naval
+Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, who, on the night of June 3d, had
+sunk the big coal-steamer _Merrimac_ in the narrowest part of Santiago
+Harbor, in the hope of thus preventing the escape of Admiral Cervera's
+bottled fleet, and they had exulted over this latest example of
+dauntless American heroism, but none of the details had yet reached
+them.
+
+On one of their waiting days a swift steam-yacht, now an armed
+government despatch-boat, dashed into Tampa Bay, and dropped anchor
+near the _Yucatan_.  Rumor immediately had it that she was from the
+blockading fleet of Santiago, and every eye was turned upon her with
+interest.  A small boat carried her commanding officer ashore, and
+while he was gone another brought one of her juniors, Ensign Dick
+Comly, to visit his only brother, who was a Rough Rider.  The _Speedy_
+had just come from Santiago, and of course Ensign Comly knew all about
+Hobson.  Would he tell the story of the _Merrimac_?  Certainly he
+would, and so a few minutes after his arrival the naval man was
+relating the thrilling tale as follows:
+
+"I don't suppose many of you fellows ever heard of Hobson before this,
+but every one in the navy knew of him long ago.  He is from Alabama,
+was the youngest man in the Naval Academy class of '89, graduated
+number 2, was sent abroad to study naval architecture, and, upon
+returning to this country, was given the rank of Assistant Naval
+Constructor.  At the beginning of this war he was one of the
+instructors at Annapolis, but immediately applied for active duty, and
+was assigned to the _New York_.
+
+"When Victor Blue, of the _Suwanee_, had proved beyond a doubt by going
+ashore and counting them that all of Cervera's ships were in Santiago
+Harbor, Hobson conceived the plan of keeping them there by taking in a
+ship and sinking it across the channel.  Of course it was a perfectly
+useless thing to do, for Sampson's fleet is powerful enough to lick the
+stuffing out of the whole Spanish navy, if only it could get the
+chance.  However, the notion took with the Admiral, and Hobson was told
+to go ahead.
+
+"He selected the collier _Merrimac_, a big iron steamer 300 feet long,
+stripped her of all valuable movables, and fastened a lot of torpedoes
+to her bottom.  Each one of these was sufficiently powerful to sink the
+ship, and all were connected by wires with a button on the bridge.
+Hobson's plan was to steam into the channel at full speed, regardless
+of mines or batteries, and anchor his ship across the narrowest part of
+the channel.  There he proposed to blow her up and sink her.  What was
+to become of himself and the half dozen men who were to go with him I
+don't know, and don't suppose he cared.
+
+"At the same time there was some provision made for escape in case any
+of them survived the blowing up of their ship.  They carried one small
+dingy along, and an old life-raft was left on board.  A steam-launch
+from the _New York_ was to follow them close in under the batteries,
+and lie there so long as there was a chance of picking any of them up,
+or until driven off.  Cadets Palmer and Powell, each eager to go on
+this service, drew lots to see which should command the launch, and
+luck favored the latter.
+
+"When it was known that six men were wanted to accompany Hobson to
+almost certain death, four thousand volunteered, and three thousand
+nine hundred and ninety-four were mightily disappointed when the other
+six were chosen."
+
+"I should have felt just as they did if I had been left in camp," said
+Ridge, who was following this story with eager interest.
+
+"Me too," replied Rollo Van Kyp, to whom the remark was addressed.
+
+"The worst of it was," continued the Ensign, "that those fellows didn't
+get to go, after all, for when they had put in twenty-four hours of
+hard work on the _Merrimac_, with no sleep and but little to eat, only
+kept up by the keenest kind of excitement, it was decided to postpone
+the attempt until the following night.  At the same time the Admiral,
+fearing the nerve of the men would be shaken by so long a strain,
+ordered them back to their ships, with thanks for their devotion to the
+service, and selected six others to take their places.  The poor
+fellows were so broken up by this that some of them cried like babies."
+
+"It was as bad as though we should be ordered to remain behind now,"
+said Ridge.
+
+"Yes," answered Rollo.  "But that would be more than I could bear.  I'd
+mutiny and refuse to go ashore.  Wouldn't you?"
+
+"I should certainly feel like it," laughed the former.  "But orders are
+orders, and we have sworn to obey them, you know.  At the same time
+there's no cause for worry.  We are certain to go if any one does."
+
+"Yes, me and Teddy--" began Rollo, but Ridge silenced him that they
+might hear the continuation of the Ensign's story.
+
+"At three o'clock on Friday morning, the 3d," resumed Comly, "the
+_Merrimac_ left the fleet and steamed in towards Santiago entrance.  On
+board, besides Hobson and his six chosen men, was one other, a coxswain
+of the _New York_, who had helped prepare the collier for her fate, and
+at the last moment stowed himself away in her hold for the sake of
+sharing it.
+
+"With Hobson on the bridge, two men at the wheel, two in the
+engine-room, two stoking, and one forward ready to cut away the anchor,
+the doomed ship entered the narrow water-way and passed the outer line
+of mines in safety.  Then the Spaniards discovered her, and from the
+way they let loose they must have thought the whole American fleet was
+trying to force the passage.  In an instant she was the focus for a
+perfect cyclone of shot and shell from every gun that could be brought
+to bear, on both sides of the channel.
+
+"It was like rushing into the very jaws of hell, with mines exploding
+all about her, solid shot and bursting shells tearing at her vitals,
+and a cloud of Mauser bullets buzzing like hornets across her deck.
+How she lived to get where she was wanted is a mystery; but she did,
+and they sunk her just inside the Estrella battery.  At the last they
+could not steer her, because her rudder was knocked away.  So they
+anchored, waited as cool as cucumbers for the tide to swing her into
+position, opened all their sea-valves, touched off their torpedoes, and
+blew her up.
+
+"So far everything had worked to perfection.  The seven men, still
+unhurt, were well aft, where Hobson joined them the moment he had
+pressed the button; but now their troubles began.  The dingy in which
+they had hoped to escape had been shot to pieces, and they dared not
+try to get their raft overboard, for the growing light would have
+revealed their movements, and they would have been a target for every
+gunner and rifleman within range.  So they could only lie flat on deck
+and wait for something to happen.  A little after daybreak the ship
+sank so low and with such a list that the raft slipped into the water
+and floated of its own accord.  On this all of them, including two had
+been wounded by flying splinters, rolled overboard after it, caught
+hold of the clumsy old float, and tried to swim it out to where Powell
+could pick them up.  They had only gained a few yards when a
+steam-launch coming from the harbor bore down on them.  Some marines in
+the bow were about to open fire, when Hobson sang out, 'Is there any
+officer on board that launch entitled to receive the surrender of
+prisoners of war?'
+
+"'Yes, senor, there is,' answered a voice, which also ordered the
+marines not to fire, and I'll be blowed if Admiral Cervera himself
+didn't stick his head out from under the awning.  The old fellow was as
+nice as pie to Hobson and his men, told them they had done a fine
+thing, took them back to his ship, fed them, fitted them out with dry
+clothing, and then sent Captain Oviedo, his chief of staff, out to the
+_New York_, under a flag of truce, to report that the _Merrimac's_
+crew, though prisoners, were alive and well.  He also offered to carry
+back any message or supplies the American Admiral might choose to send
+them.  Didn't every soul in that fleet yell when the signal of Hobson's
+safety was made?  Well, I should rather say we did.  I only hope old
+Cervera will fall into our hands some day, so that we can show him how
+we appreciate his decency."
+
+"Three cheers for the Spanish Admiral right now!" shouted Ridge, and
+the yell that instantly rose from the deck of the _Yucatan_ in reply
+was heard on shore for a mile inland.
+
+The noise had barely subsided when a voice called for Sergeant Norris.
+
+"Here I am.  Who wants me?" replied Ridge, inquiringly.
+
+"Take your belongings ashore, sir, and report back at camp
+immediately," was the startling response, delivered in the form of an
+order by Major Herman Dodley, who was now on the staff of the
+commanding general.  "I have a boat in waiting.  If you are ready
+within two minutes I will set you ashore.  Otherwise you will suffer
+the consequences of your own delay," added the Major, who, while on
+duty at Port Tampa, had received by telegraph the orders he was now
+carrying out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
+
+Having ascertained from the captain of his troop that the order brought
+by Major Dodley was one that must be obeyed, Ridge went below with a
+very heavy heart to collect his scanty possessions.  As he did so his
+thoughts were full of bitterness.  Why should any one be sent back to
+that hateful camp, and for what reason had he been singled out from all
+his fellows?  It looked as though he were being disgraced, or at least
+chosen for some duty that would keep him from going to Cuba, which
+would be almost as bad.  At the same time he could not imagine what he
+had done to incur the displeasure of his superiors.  It was all a
+mystery, and a decidedly unpleasant one.  That the order should come
+through Dodley, too, whom he particularly disliked, was adding insult
+to injury.
+
+"I'd rather swim ashore than go with that man!" he exclaimed to Rollo
+Van Kyp, who, full of sympathy, and genuinely distressed at the
+prospect of their separation, had gone below with him.  Ridge had told
+his chum all about Dodley, whom they had discovered lounging on a
+breezy veranda of the great Tampa Bay hotel a few days before, so that
+now the latter fully comprehended his feelings.
+
+"It's a beastly shame!" cried Rollo; "or rather it's two beastly
+shames, and if you say so, old man, we'll just quietly chuck that Major
+fellow overboard, so that you can have his boat all to yourself.  Then,
+instead of going ashore, you head down the bay for some place where you
+can hide until we come along and pick you up."
+
+"That's a great scheme," replied Ridge, with a sorrowful little smile,
+"but I am afraid it wouldn't work, and so there is nothing left for me
+but submission to the inevitable.  I do hate to go with Dodley, though."
+
+Just here Ensign Comly appeared on the scene with his brother, whom he
+was bidding farewell.
+
+"I say, Comly!" cried Rollo, who knew him, "why can't you set my friend
+Norris here ashore?  It wouldn't be much out of your way, would it?"
+
+"Not at all," answered the ensign, courteously.  "And I should be
+pleased to accommodate any friend of yours.  I must go at once, though;
+so, if Mr. Norris will come on deck--"
+
+"Oh, but that won't do," interrupted Van Kyp.  "He must get off the
+ship without any one on deck seeing him."  With this he explained the
+situation to the ensign, who readily grasped it, and said:
+
+"All right.  I'll run my boat in under this sideport, and he can drop
+out of it if the sentry will let him pass."
+
+Of course the guard at the wide freight port left open for a better
+circulation of air between decks would allow Ridge to pass, for he was
+one of their own troop, and knew that the sergeant had been ordered
+ashore.  To give him further assurance that everything was all right,
+Ridge said:
+
+"It is my duty, you know, to go in the first boat that offers, since
+Major Dodley undoubtedly left some time since.  He said he would only
+wait two minutes, and as that was fully five minutes ago, he ought to
+be ashore by now."
+
+Thus it happened that while the messenger who had been ordered to fetch
+Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders was still fuming over the
+unpardonable delay of the trooper, and threatening all sorts of
+unpleasant things for him when he did appear, Ridge gained the railroad
+wharf without being observed from the deck of the transport.  There,
+finding an empty train just starting for Tampa, he was able to present
+himself in camp half an hour later.  From it he was sent to
+headquarters, with orders to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt,
+who had come ashore early that morning.  This Ridge hastened to do,
+without waiting to answer any of the eager questions showered upon him
+by his recent comrades of the camp.
+
+At the hotel occupied as headquarters an orderly conducted him to the
+office of the commanding general, where, upon admittance, he found
+himself not only in the presence of his own superior officer, but of a
+group of distinguished looking men in uniform, who, as he afterwards
+discovered, were Generals Miles, Shafter, Lee, and Lawton, and
+Lieutenant Boldwood of the navy, now in command of the despatch boat
+_Speedy_, recently arrived.
+
+"General," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, addressing the
+commander-in-chief, "this is Sergeant Norris of my regiment, the man
+whom I recommended for your purpose, and for whom you sent less than an
+hour ago."
+
+"Where were you when ordered to report here?" asked General Miles,
+turning abruptly to Ridge.
+
+"On board the transport _Yucatan_, lying off Port Tampa, sir."
+
+"Then you are one of the few men whom I have discovered among our
+volunteers who have learned the lesson of _prompt_ obedience," remarked
+the general, with a slight scowl on his still handsome though deeply
+lined face.
+
+"Umph!" snorted General Shafter, who was a big man, weighing about
+three hundred pounds, and whose hair was sadly rumpled, as though by
+much perplexity.
+
+General Lee, also a large, fine-looking man, smiled approvingly at the
+prompt young trooper, while General "Iron" Lawton, spare of figure and
+with a reputation as a fighter, gave him a penetrating glance, that
+Ridge knew had indelibly fixed his face upon the soldier's memory.  The
+naval man also regarded him with interest, and our hero, greatly
+confused at being thus observed, was relieved to have General Miles
+proceed, to question him further.
+
+"I understand that you speak Spanish like a native."
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"Have you ever been in Cuba?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Or travelled in Spain?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Acquainted with its principal cities?"
+
+"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
+were tending.
+
+"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
+in your country's service?"
+
+"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
+for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
+required of him than simply remaining in camp.
+
+"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
+country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death.  It is
+deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
+immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba.  If his identity
+is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
+be that of a spy.  Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"
+
+"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.
+
+"Good!  A commissioned officer was selected for this duty, but he is
+prevented by illness from performing it.  You have been chosen to take
+his place on the recommendation of Colonel Roosevelt because of your
+knowledge of Spanish, your military record, and because you are a
+native-born American.  I could have found plenty of Cubans to undertake
+the mission, and possibly one of them would have carried it to a
+satisfactory ending, but I wanted an American."
+
+"Plain North American Yankee," growled General Shafter.
+
+"As you know," continued General Miles, "a powerful expedition is about
+to leave this place for Cuba.  Very few persons have any idea where it
+is to land; but you must know that in about ten days from now it will
+appear off Daiquiri, some twelve miles east of Santiago, in which city
+I want you to be at that time.  You will sail to-night in the
+despatch-boat _Speedy_, of which this gentleman, Lieutenant Boldwood,
+is the commander.  Within three days he will land you on the northern
+coast of the province of Santiago.  During the following week I want
+you to visit the Spanish commanders at Holguin, Jiguani, and Santiago,
+to all of whom you will bear what purport to be important despatches
+from Senor Carranza, chief of the Spanish secret service in North
+America, whose headquarters are in Montreal.
+
+"You will represent yourself to be Jose Remelio, one of the clerks
+attached to the recent Spanish Legation at Washington.  You will
+estimate the strength and condition of the Spanish forces in the
+province.  Also, you will meet as many of the insurgent leaders as
+possible, inform them of the coming of our expedition, and impress upon
+them the necessity of intercepting supplies or re-inforcements for
+Santiago.  For the sake of appearances, I authorize you to assume any
+military rank up to that of Captain you may deem advisable.  You will
+also be given the secret countersign of the Cuban Junta, which will
+secure for you good treatment among all Cubans of intelligence."
+
+"His best safeguard among Cubans should be that he is an American
+soldier," suggested General Lawton.
+
+"You will perceive," continued General Miles, "that I have laid out a
+vast amount of work for you to perform in a very short time; but you
+will be provided with plenty of money, and by procuring a good horse as
+soon as possible after landing I believe you can accomplish it.  I hope
+you will be able to reach Santiago and gain a knowledge of its
+defences; but no matter where you are, when you hear that our army has
+landed, make your way to it with all speed, and report immediately to
+the commanding general.  Is all this clear? and have you anything to
+suggest?"
+
+"Your instructions are perfectly clear, sir," replied Ridge, his voice
+trembling with excitement, "and I only want to suggest that instead of
+depending upon Cuban horses for transportation across the island, I be
+allowed to take my own from here."
+
+"Are you sure that your horse is enough better than those of the island
+to warrant carrying it to such a distance?"
+
+"I can vouch for that, General," interposed Lieutenant-Colonel
+Roosevelt.  "Sergeant Norris has one of the very best horses in our
+regiment, and one that has developed almost human intelligence under
+his training."
+
+"No one realizes the value of a reliable horse in times of danger
+better than I," rejoined General Miles.  "I wonder, though, if it will
+be possible to carry one on the _Speedy_?"
+
+"I believe we can manage it, General," said Lieutenant Boldwood.
+
+"Very, well, then, you may take your own horse.  How will you get it to
+the port?"
+
+"I think the simplest and probably the quickest way will be to ride
+her, sir."
+
+"Then do so with all haste, for I want the _Speedy_ to sail this very
+evening, and within two hours, if possible.  You will receive your
+despatches, funds, and promised countersign after you get on board.
+Good-bye.  Good luck to you, and remember that your proposed movements
+must be kept absolutely secret outside of this room."
+
+Ridge had barely taken his departure after shaking hands with the
+several generals, who rose to bid him farewell, when a telegraph
+message was handed to General Shafter.  He read it with perplexity,
+studied it for a few moments, and then burst into a roar of laughter.
+It was from his aide, Major Dodley, had been sent from Port Tampa, and
+read as follows:
+
+"I charge Sergeant Norris of Rough Riders with contempt, disobedience
+of orders, and desertion.  Saw him aboard transport, and delivered your
+order, whereupon he disappeared.  Have searched ship without
+discovering trace of him.  He has undoubtedly deserted."
+
+"Some persons are fools occasionally," remarked the big General, "while
+others are never anything else.  I don't think Dodley belongs to the
+former class."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+HERMAN DODLEY INTERPOSES DIFFICULTIES
+
+After leaving headquarters, and while making his way back to camp, our
+hero was in a state of hardly-to-be-repressed excitement.  Was one of
+his age and limited experience ever intrusted with so important a
+mission?  He did not believe it possible, and was so filled with pride
+that it seemed as though every person he passed ought to regard him
+with respectful interest.  As one after another only glanced at him
+carelessly or failed to notice him at all, he wondered at their
+stupidity, and felt like compelling their attention by proclaiming his
+great secret.
+
+At camp the situation was even more aggravating, for every one was so
+intent on his own affairs or so unhappy at being left behind that Ridge
+found himself barely noticed.  Several questioned him concerning his
+return, and one asked if the whole regiment was ordered back.
+
+"Not that I know of," answered Ridge.  "I believe I am the only one
+thus far."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you have been sent to the rear, and only wish all the
+others were as well, for it's a beastly outrage that some should be
+taken and others left.  Just as if we weren't as good as any of them!"
+was the bitter comment.
+
+"Without reply, Ridge turned towards the place where he had left his
+blanket roll, only to encounter another shock to his recent pride.  An
+officer met him.
+
+"Hello!  What troop do you belong to?" he asked, suspiciously.
+
+"Troop K, sir," answered Ridge, saluting.
+
+"I thought so.  What are you doing here?"
+
+"I was ordered ashore."
+
+"Humph!  Without any reason at all, I suppose."
+
+Ridge remained silent.
+
+"Oh, well, if you don't choose to tell why you are in disgrace you
+needn't, but you may report to the cook of the officers' mess, who is
+in need of an assistant."
+
+Here was a dilemma.  Ridge could not, of course, obey this order, since
+every moment was precious.  To disobey would cause his arrest and
+detention in the guard-house.  Nor could he inform even this officer of
+the secret mission on which he was engaged.  At that moment evening
+stable-call was sounded, and a happy inspiration came to his relief.
+
+"Very well, sir," he answered, turning as if to obey the order.  Then
+he added, "May I look after my horse first?"
+
+"I suppose so," replied the officer.  "Only be quick about it, for the
+cook is badly in need of some one to help him."
+
+So, without making a further attempt to recover his personal
+belongings, Ridge hastened to the picket-line, where Senorita
+manifested most extravagant joy at again seeing her young master.
+
+"Is that your horse?" inquired the non-commissioned officer in charge
+of the stable guard.
+
+Upon Ridge acknowledging that the mare was his, the other continued;
+
+"Well, I'm mighty glad you've come to look after her, for she has
+nearly killed two men already, and we were just wondering whether we
+should kill her or turn her loose.  Now you'd better take her to water."
+
+"May I put on a saddle and bridle?" inquired Ridge.
+
+"Of course not.  Who ever heard of riding a cavalry horse to water any
+way but bareback?"
+
+So the young trooper was obliged to set forth on| his great undertaking
+without equipment of any kind.  In his joy at finding himself once more
+in possession of his beloved "Rita," this did not trouble him; and
+untying the mare's halter, he leaped to her back.  In an instant they
+were dashing off at full speed, followed by jeers from all who
+witnessed the proceeding, and who imagined the mare to be running away
+with her present rider, as she had with every other who had attempted
+to take her to water during her master's absence.
+
+The camp was quickly left behind, and knowing his general direction,
+Ridge soon found himself on the road to Port Tampa.  It was a hard ride
+to make without saddle or bridle, and long before the welcome lights
+marking the mile-long pier of the port came into view the young soldier
+was aching in every bone.  The dim road through the solemn pines was so
+heavy with sand that it took even fleet-footed Rita more than an hour
+to cover the distance, and night had closed in before their destination
+was reached.
+
+It was with many misgivings that Ridge rode out on the long pier,
+which, never intended for the use of horses or wagons, carried only a
+sidewalk for pedestrians beside its railway-track, for Rita regarded
+locomotives with the utmost terror.  Still, he believed he must go to
+the extreme outer end, where the big steamers lay, and where he hoped
+to find either the _Speedy_ herself or some one from her to direct his
+movements.  Half-way out he discovered a train coming directly towards
+them, and, to avoid it, turned his mare on to the platform that served
+as front yard to the pretty little inn that was here built over the
+water.
+
+At this moment a figure in white duck approached him.  It was Ensign
+Comly of the _Speedy_.
+
+"You are the very man I was sent to look for!" he cried.  "I thought
+you might be coming out here, and so was on my way to head you off and
+turn you back.  You see, the end of the pier is so crowded that our
+craft can't lie alongside.  So Captain Boldwood got hold of a small
+scow, which he has sent in to shore, towed by one of our boats, to take
+you off.  We'll just about meet it if we hurry."
+
+By this time the unusual sight of a horse in that place had aroused
+much curiosity among the guests of the inn, who came out to see what
+was going on.  Among them was an army officer, who uttered an
+exclamation the moment his eyes rested on Ridge standing in the glow of
+an electric light.  Stepping quickly up to him, he placed a heavy hand
+on the young trooper's shoulder, and said, in a harsh voice:
+
+"I arrest you, sir, and order you to come at once with me to my camp on
+shore, where a guard-house awaits you."
+
+"On what charge am I arrested?" asked Ridge, calmly, turning, and
+looking Major Herman Dodley full in the face.
+
+"On the several charges of contempt for an officer, disobedience of
+orders, and desertion," was the startling reply.
+
+"Very well, sir, I'll go with you," said Ridge, "seeing that I was
+going in that direction anyhow."
+
+"But--" remonstrated Ensign Comly.
+
+"Who are you, sir?  And what have you to say regarding this business?"
+demanded the Major, fiercely, at the same time drawing and cocking his
+revolver.
+
+"Only a United States officer."
+
+"Then, in the name of the United States, I call upon you to assist me
+in carrying this deserter to a place of security," shouted the Major,
+in theatrical tones.
+
+"Pretend to agree," said Ridge, in a low voice, heard only by Comly.
+
+"All right, Major, I'll see the thing through," agreed the navy man;
+"though I must protest that it is wholly out of my line of business."
+
+With this the three set forth, Ridge leading Rita, and the officers
+walking on either side of him.  For some distance they proceeded in a
+silence that was finally broken by the sound of oars, apparently close
+to the pier, which touched land but a short distance ahead.  At the
+same time a train of cars came thundering over the hollow structure
+behind them, causing the mare to plunge violently in a terrified effort
+to escape.
+
+"Now is your chance!" whispered Comly.
+
+Quick to take the hint, Ridge flung himself on the animal's back and
+dashed away, followed by a harmless bullet from Herman Dodley's
+revolver.
+
+Ere he could fire another shot the naval man snatched away the weapon,
+flung it into the sea, and started on a run after the disappearing
+horseman.  As he ran he shouted: "Look out for that horse, you in the
+boat, and get it aboard lively!  Do you understand?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," came a cheery answer from out of the darkness.
+
+Behind the Ensign ran Major Dodley, swearing, and also shouting:
+
+"Corporal of the guard!  Turn out the guard!  Quick!  This way!"
+
+Then all other sounds were drowned in the roar of the passing train.
+When it subsided a confused struggle between a dark mass and a number
+of dimly seen white forms was going on in the shallow water.  Several
+sailors were lifting Senorita bodily into a little flat-bottomed boat,
+and two young men in soaked uniforms were aiding them.  Then, as two
+boats, one in tow of the other, began to move away, a squad of soldiers
+with muskets in their hands came running down to the beach.
+
+"Fire!" commanded Herman Dodley, beside himself with rage.  "Fire at
+that boat.  A deserter is escaping in it."
+
+"Don't you dare fire!" came back in a stern tone from the darkness.
+"This is a boat from a United States man-of-war, commanded by an
+officer in the discharge of his duty."
+
+The bewildered soldiers hesitated, and then, in compliance with
+repeated orders, coupled with threats, from their Major, fired a few
+harmless shots in the air, after which they returned to camp.  There
+Herman Dodley prepared another telegraphic report for General Shafter,
+that aroused that irascible warrior to profanity, and resulted in the
+speedy transference of his offending aide to New Orleans on recruiting
+service.
+
+So our hero was at length fairly started on his momentous mission, with
+its secret yet undivulged.  As the _Speedy_, with the bewildered
+Senorita and her young master safely on board, slipped swiftly past the
+great transport _Yucatan_, Ridge, shivering in his wet clothing, said
+to Ensign Comly, who also shivered, "How I wish I could call out and
+tell Rollo all about it!"
+
+"Yes, wouldn't it make him open his eyes?  But you can't, so let's go
+below for something dry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE CUBAN BLOCKADE
+
+Twelve hours after leaving Tampa Bay the swift despatch-boat on which
+Ridge Norris was a passenger entered the northwest passage of Key West
+Harbor, and was headed towards the quaint island city that had been
+brought into such sudden prominence by the war.  The port was filled
+with United States cruisers, gun-boats, yachts converted into
+torpedo-boat destroyers, Government hospital-ships, and others flying
+the flag of the Red Cross Society, transports, colliers, supply-ships,
+water-boats, and a huddle of prizes--steamers and sailing-vessels
+captured off the Cuban coast.  Amid these the _Speedy_ slowly threaded
+her devious way to the Government dock.
+
+The hot tropical-looking city, with palm-trees towering above its
+low-roofed houses, was filled to overflowing with soldiers, sailors,
+newspaper correspondents, refugees from Cuba, and a multitude of other
+persons, all attracted by its proximity to the seat of war.  From every
+mast-head and prominent building the stars and stripes were flung to
+the breeze that swept in from the sea; while from more humble
+positions, but in even greater numbers, fluttered the flag of free
+Cuba.  On every point commanding the harbor mouth batteries were being
+erected and great guns mounted.  Bands played national airs, and one
+man-of-war enveloped in a cloud of white smoke was engaged in
+target-practice with her secondary battery.  Every Government vessel in
+the harbor had on war paint of invisible lead color, not pretty, but
+most business-like in appearance.  All were also in fighting-trim, with
+topmasts lowered and every superfluity removed from their decks.  The
+whole scene was of exciting interest, and Ridge gazed eagerly upon it
+as Ensign Comly pointed out its various features, with explanatory
+remarks.
+
+There were several reasons why the _Speedy_ should stop at Key West.
+One was that she might receive mail and despatches for the blockading
+fleet.  Another was to procure a bale of hay and some corn for
+Senorita, since, in their hurried departure from Tampa, these had been
+forgotten, and thus far she had been fed on sea-biscuit.  A third
+reason was that Ridge might procure a saddle and bridle, besides a few
+other necessary articles of outfit for his proposed trip.
+
+He had already been furnished with his bogus despatches to Spanish
+commanders, every word of which he had carefully read, to see that they
+contained no compromising errors, and with a supply of money.  Now he
+provided himself with a repeating-rifle in a water-proof case, a
+revolver, fifty rounds of ammunition for each, an India-rubber poncho,
+a small quantity of quinine, a phial of powerful cholera mixture, a
+stout sheath-knife, and a tin cup.
+
+Within an hour the _Speedy_ was again off, running out of the south
+channel, past the grim walls of old Fort Taylor, and a few miles
+farther on passing Sand Key light, which rises from a bit of coral reef
+barely lifted above the wash of a tranquil sea.  At that time this was
+the most southerly point of United States territory.  In the deep water
+just beyond Sand Key lay a great battle-ship, tugging sullenly at her
+pondrous anchors, and looking like some vast sea monster, uncouth and
+relentless.
+
+From here it was eighty-five miles in a straight line to Havana, and
+within five hours Ridge was thrilled by the sight of a cloud-like speck
+that he knew marked the highlands of Cuba.  Gradually the coast was
+revealed, then came the low-trailing smoke of ships on blockade as they
+patrolled wearily before the entrance to Havana Harbor, and after
+awhile the outlined cathedral spires of the city itself.  There lay the
+wreck of the _Maine_, and there waited the Spanish army that
+Captain-General Blanco had sworn should yield its last drop of blood in
+resisting an invasion by the hated Yankees.  There also the guns of
+time-blackened Morro sullenly faced the floating fortresses that only
+awaited a signal to engage them in deadly conflict.
+
+Running close to Commodore Watson's flag-ship, the _San Francisco_, the
+_Speedy_ broke the tedious monotony of blockade by delivering an
+eagerly welcomed mail, with its wealth of news from the outside world.
+Then the saucy craft was off again, headed to the eastward.  Matanzas
+and Cardenas, both under blockade, were passed during the night, and
+while off the latter place Dick Comly told Ridge the story of his
+classmate, Ensign Worth Bagley, who lost his life on board the
+torpedo-boat _Winslow_, in Cardenas Bay, on May 11th, or less than one
+month before, and who was the first American officer killed in the war.
+
+"They only went in to find out who was there," began Comly, "the
+_Wilmington_, _Hudson_, and _Winslow_.  The last, being of least
+draught, ran ahead, and got within range of some hidden batteries
+before she discovered them.  She was turning to go out when they opened
+fire.  In a minute the little ship was riddled by shot and shell.  Her
+commander was wounded, her steering-gear had gone wrong, her engines
+were crippled, and she lay helpless.  The _Hudson_ ran up to tow her
+out of range, and poor old Bagley had just sung out for them to heave
+him a line, as the situation was getting rather too warm for comfort,
+when a bursting shell instantly killed him, together with four of the
+crew.  In spite of the hot fire, the _Hudson_ ran a line and brought
+out what was left of the _Winslow_ and her company; but you'd better
+believe the little craft was a mighty sad-looking wreck.  Hello!
+What's that?"
+
+A string of colored signal-lights had flashed out for a moment directly
+ahead of the _Speedy_, and then disappeared.  The strangest thing about
+them was that they had been shown just above the surface of the water,
+instead of from a masthead, as would usually be the case on a war-ship.
+The _Speedy_ had been slipping quietly along, showing her regular side
+lights, which, as she was of low freeboard, must also have appeared
+close to the water from a short distance, and might have been mistaken
+for a signal.  Now she quickly displayed the night-signal of the
+American blockading fleet, as well as her own private number, but no
+answer came to either.  By the time the _Speedy's_ crew were at
+quarters it was evident, from muffled sounds borne down the wind, that
+the stranger was a steamer in full retreat.
+
+"Give her a blank shot," ordered Captain Boldwood, and the words had
+barely left his mouth before the forward six-pounder gun had roared out
+its summons to halt; but the stranger paid no heed.
+
+A solid shot, well elevated, had as little effect.  By this time the
+despatch-boat was rushing ahead at full speed in the direction the
+unknown steamer was supposed to have taken.  Suddenly her search-light,
+sweeping the black waters with a broad arc of silver, disclosed a
+shadowy bulk moving swiftly at right angles to the course they were
+taking, and heading for a beacon blaze that had sprung up on the
+starboard or in-shore hand.
+
+"Port your helm!" cried Captain Boldwood.  "Mr. Comly, try to disable
+her.  Make every shot tell if possible."
+
+Again and again the six-pounder hurled its messenger of destruction,
+but apparently without effect.
+
+"Looks as though I couldn't hit the side of a barn at a hundred feet,"
+muttered the Ensign to Ridge, who stood beside him, thrilled by the
+novel experience.  Then he sighted his gun for a third shot, sprang
+back, and jerked the lanyard.  A flash, a roar, a choking cloud of
+smoke, and then a yell from the _Speedy's_ crew.  In the glare of the
+search-light the fugitive steamer was seen to take a sudden sheer, that
+a minute later was followed by a crash, and then she remained
+motionless.
+
+Instantly the _Speedy_ was slowed down and moved cautiously towards the
+wreck, with busy lead marking soundings every few seconds.  The beacon
+for which the chase had steered no longer blazed; but in a few minutes
+the search-light disclosed a wooded shore.
+
+"Have a boat ready, Mr. Comly, and prepare to go on board with half a
+dozen men."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"May I go with you?" asked Ridge, eagerly.
+
+"Certainly, if the Captain says so."
+
+But, to the young trooper's disappointment, Captain Boldwood refused
+permission.  "Your business is of too important a nature for you to
+assume any needless risks outside of it," he said.
+
+So Ridge could only watch enviously the departure of the boat with its
+crew of armed men.  It had not been gone two minutes when a bright
+flame shot from the steamer's deck.
+
+"They have set her on fire and abandoned her!" exclaimed the Captain.
+"I pray to God, Comly may be cautious.  Quartermaster, show the recall."
+
+The words were hardly spoken when there came a great blinding flash, an
+awful roar, and the _Speedy_ listed to her beam ends.  A vast pillar of
+flame leaped a hundred feet into the air, a huge foam-crested wave
+rolled out to sea, and then all space seemed full of flying fragments.
+The wreck had been destroyed by an explosion of her own cargo.
+
+"Lower away the yawl!  Quick, men!  There may be some left to pick up.
+Yes, Mr. Norris, you may go now."
+
+They rescued Comly, bleeding from a wound in the head, and three of his
+crew, all more or less injured, but the others had gone down with their
+boat, crushed beneath a hurtling deck beam.
+
+The _Speedy_ stood off and on until daylight enabled her commander to
+locate the scene of catastrophe and examine what was left of the
+shattered steamer.  He found that she had been run ashore on one of the
+small outlying cays that are numerous off Cardenas Bay, and with other
+floating wreckage he picked up a life-preserver on which was painted,
+"_Manuel Ros_, Barcelona."
+
+"How strangely and unexpectedly things turn out," he said to Ridge as
+he turned from examining this telltale relic.  "Our Government learned
+some time ago that the _Manuel Ros_ was taking on board at Cadiz a
+cargo of improved mines, submarine torpedoes, and high explosives for
+use in Puerto-Rican harbors.  It was positively stated that she would
+not attempt to run the Cuban blockade.  Nevertheless, we were all
+notified to keep a sharp lookout for her, especially around Santiago
+and Cienfuegos.  She was reported to be very fast, and I can well
+credit it, for there are few ships in these waters can show their heels
+as she did to the _Speedy_.  As it is, I am afraid she would have
+gained Cardenas Harbor in safety if it had not been for Mr. Comly's
+last lucky shot, which must have crippled her steering-gear.  And to
+think that a ship which would have been considered a handsome prize by
+any cruiser should be destroyed by the little _Speedy_.  I wonder,
+though, where the _Wilmington_ that generally patrols this vicinity
+could have been?"
+
+This mystery was explained a little later when the cruiser in question
+hove in sight, having been lured from her station by a small Spanish
+gunboat the evening before.
+
+After making his report of what happened, the commander of the _Speedy_
+again headed his craft to the eastward, and ran all that day, together
+with most of the following night, within sight of the Cuban coast.
+
+It wanted but an hour of daylight, when Ridge, who was sleeping on
+deck, was aroused and told that the place of his landing was at hand.
+A pot of coffee together with a substantial lunch had been prepared for
+him, and Ensign Comly, whose wound had proved to be slight, was waiting
+in a boat manned by four sailors.
+
+Senorita was hoisted in a sling and dropped overboard to swim ashore in
+tow of the boat, and at the very last the _Speedy's_ commander
+whispered the countersign of the Junta that was to open a way through
+the Cuban lines.
+
+Then the boat was noiselessly shoved off, and slipped away through the
+chill darkness towards the denser shadow of the land that waited with
+manifold perils to test the courage of our young trooper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LIVELY EXPERIENCE OF CUBAN HOSPITALITY
+
+"Good-bye, old man!  Good luck, and hope we shall meet again soon."
+
+With these words, accompanied by a warm hand-clasp, Ensign Dick Comly
+stepped into his boat, and it was shoved off from the bit of Cuban
+beach on which Ridge Norris had just been landed.  For a couple of
+minutes the young trooper stood motionless, listening with strained
+ears to the lessening sound of muffled oars.  It was the last link
+connecting him with home, country, and safety.  For a moment he was
+possessed of such a panic that he was on the point of shouting for
+Comly to come back and take him away.  It did not seem as though he
+could be left there alone in the dark, and amid all the crowding
+terrors of that unknown land.
+
+Just then Senorita, who stood dripping and shivering beside him, rubbed
+her wet nose softly against his cheek, as though begging for sympathy,
+and in an instant his courage was restored.  It was enough that another
+creature more helpless than he was dependent upon him for guidance and
+protection.
+
+"It's all right, girl," he whispered, throwing an arm about the mare's
+neck.  "We'll stick to each other and pull through somehow."  Then
+plucking a handful of dried grass, he gave the animal a brisk rubbing
+that warmed them both.  By the time it was finished, birds were
+twittering in the dense growth behind them, and the eastern sky was
+suffused with the glow of coming day.
+
+Knowing nothing of his surroundings, nor what eyes might in a few
+minutes more discover these new features of the beach, Ridge now
+removed his slender belongings to a hiding-place behind some bushes,
+where he also fastened Senorita.  Then he set forth to explore the
+shore with the hope of finding a path into the interior; for to force a
+way through the tangled chaparral that everywhere approached close to
+the water's edge seemed hopeless.
+
+He had not gone a dozen paces when Senorita uttered a shrill neigh of
+distress at being thus deserted, and began a noisy struggle to break
+loose.  With a muttered exclamation of dismay Ridge ran back.  It was
+evident that the mare would not consent to be left.
+
+"Very well," said the young man.  "If you can't be reasonable and
+remain quietly behind for a few minutes, we must make our exploration
+in company.  Perhaps it is better so, after all, for when I do discover
+a trail we shall be ready to take instant advantage of it, and get the
+more quickly away from this unpleasantly conspicuous place."
+
+While thus talking in a low tone to the mare, Ridge was also equipping
+her for the road.  He had just finished tightening the saddle-girth and
+was about to mount, when Senorita uttered a snort indicative of some
+strange presence.  Turning quickly, her master was confronted by a
+sight that caused his heart to sink like lead.  Only a few paces away
+stood a young man of dark but handsome features, clad in a well-worn
+suit of linen and a broad-brimmed palmetto hat.  A military belt filled
+with cartridges encircled his waist, and from it hung an empty scabbard
+of untanned cowhide, designed to carry a machete.  With that weapon
+held in one hand and a cocked pistol levelled full at Ridge in the
+other, he presented the appearance of a first-class brigand.
+
+The young trooper made a movement towards his own revolver, but it was
+instantly checked by the stranger, who said, sternly, in Spanish:
+
+"Hold there!  If you but touch a weapon I shall shoot you dead!  You
+are my prisoner, and will obey my commands.  That I am prepared to
+enforce them I will show you."
+
+With this he sounded a low whistle that was answered by a rustle in the
+bushes, from which half a dozen armed ragamuffins of all shades of
+swarthiness, from jet black to light chocolate, appeared as though by
+magic.  All were provided with machetes, some carried rifles, and each
+looked as though it would afford him the greatest pleasure to cut into
+small pieces the stranger who had invaded their territory.
+
+"You see," said their leader, with a smile, "that you are hopelessly
+surrounded, and that with a nod I can have you killed."
+
+"Yes, I see," replied Ridge, "and I should be pleased to know into
+whose hands I have fallen.  Are you Cubano or a Spaniard?"
+
+"And I will ask if you are American or Spaniard?"
+
+"But my question came first," insisted Ridge.
+
+"While I am in a position to have mine answered," replied the other,
+again smiling.  "But I will not press it at this moment.  We will first
+seek a place better suited to conversation, since here we are liable to
+be interrupted.  The American gunboats have an unpleasant habit of
+dropping shells among any party whom they may discover on the beach.
+Then, too, many Cubanos have been seen about here lately, and they
+might molest us, while it is also nearly time for the Spanish _lancha_
+that patrols this coast at sunrise and sunset.  So you see--  Disarm
+him!"
+
+This last was an order to two men who had moved noiselessly up behind
+Ridge while his attention was diverted by their leader.  Now they
+seized our young trooper, took his weapons, and marched him away,
+though allowing him to retain his hold on Senorita's bridle.  For a few
+paces they crashed through the underbrush, hacking a rude path for the
+mare with their machetes as they went.  Then they struck a dim trail
+that ended at a grass-grown and little-used road.  Crossing this, they
+entered the grounds of what had evidently been a fine plantation,
+though a young forest growth was now rapidly spreading over its once
+well-cultivated fields.  A weedy approach between rows of noble trees
+led to the blackened ruins of a large house and outlying buildings.
+The stone walls were already over-run with a tangle of vines from which
+flamed blood-red blossoms.  Several horses cropped the rank grass about
+these ruins, and into one of them, which had been given a temporary
+thatch of palm leaves, the prisoner was led.
+
+"Here we had begun to break our fast when your mare notified us of your
+proximity," said the leader, who had already motioned to his men to
+loose their hold on the young American.  "Now if you will honor us with
+your company, we will resume that interrupted pleasure.  Manuel, we
+wait to be served."
+
+Upon this a grinning negro brought in a basketful of yams that had
+evidently been roasted among the ashes of an open fire, and set it on a
+rude table.  Beside it he placed a calabash containing a drink mixed of
+water, lime-juice, and brown sugar.  "Let us eat," said the host,
+reaching for one of the ash-encoated yams.  "But hold," he added, as
+though with a sudden thought.  "Excuse me for a moment."  Thus saying,
+he stepped outside, only to return with Ridge's saddle-bags, which he
+coolly opened.  "Coffee, as I live!" he cried, "and hard biscuit, the
+first bread I have seen in many a month!  Senor, we are under
+obligations to you for these welcome additions to our _menu_.  Manuel,
+hast thou forgotten how to make coffee, strong, and black as thine own
+ebony face?  Waste thou not one precious grain, or, by holy St. Jago, I
+will blow out thy meagre brains."
+
+Provoked as Ridge was at seeing his entire stock of provisions thus
+appropriated to be expended on a single meal, he was not in a position
+to remonstrate.  So, a little later, when a revised edition of
+breakfast was pronounced ready, he sat down with the host whom he did
+not yet know whether to consider as friend or foe, and ate heartily of
+the food thus provided.
+
+The furnishing of that rude table was unique, for, mingled with shells
+from the beach and those of cocoanuts, both of which were used in place
+of cups, gourds, plantain-leaves, and wooden trays, appeared several
+dishes of cut glass and dainty china, generally cracked or chipped, and
+looking wofully out of place.
+
+Seeing that Ridge noticed these, the host said, carelessly:
+
+"Ah yes, senor, we have seen better days!"  Then, lighting a cigarette,
+he continued, more sternly, "Now, sir, can you give any reason why I
+should not have you led out and shot as a spy?"
+
+"You would not dare do such a thing!" replied Ridge, indignantly.
+
+"Oh! wouldn't I?  My friend, you do not realize into whose hands you
+have fallen.  Now, merely to prove that I have both the inclination and
+power to carry out my threat, I will have you shot.  Lope!  Garzo!"
+
+Two of the ragged bandits immediately appeared.
+
+"Bind me the arms of this man and blindfold him."
+
+The order was deftly obeyed.
+
+"Now take him from my sight and shoot him."
+
+Seizing Ridge by the shoulders, the men began to drag him away.
+
+Until this moment he had not known whether to acknowledge himself an
+American or claim to be a Spaniard, nor had he believed that the
+extremely courteous leader of bandits with whom he had just
+breakfasted, and who might be either a Cuban patriot or a Spanish
+guerilla, would do him serious injury.  Now, moved by an agony of
+terror, he shouted out the word whispered to him a few hours before by
+the commander of the _Speedy_, the secret countersign of the Cuban
+Junta.
+
+Its effect was magical.  The men who were dragging him to a summary
+execution loosed their hold and stared at him in amazement, while the
+young leader sprang to where Ridge stood, tore the bandages from his
+eyes, severed his bonds, and embraced him.
+
+"Why, my brother, did you not disclose your identity long ago?" he said.
+
+"Because," replied Ridge, in a voice that still trembled from his
+recent fright, "I knew not to which side you belonged."
+
+"What!  Did you for a moment think that I might be a vile Spaniard?  I,
+Enrico del Concha, a Cuban of the Cubans?  Alas! that such a suspicion
+should fall upon one of my name."
+
+"And what," inquired Ridge, "did you take me for?"
+
+"A Spanish spy, of course.  Do you not speak the language without even
+a Cuban accent?  Did you not decline to tell me how or what you were?
+Above all, did you not carry on your person despatches addressed to
+certain Spanish generals?"
+
+Ridge clapped a hand to his breast pocket.
+
+"Yes, senor, they are gone," laughed the other.
+
+"My rogues are clever thieves, and took them from you when we first
+met, together with your money, for which they were searching.
+Hereafter you must provide for your private papers a place of greater
+safety.  Now let us have one more cup of that delicious coffee while
+you confide to me who you are and why you are here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+DENOUNCED BY A FRIEND
+
+Under the circumstances, Ridge felt that a frank avowal of his
+personality and present plans would be wiser than any attempt at
+deception, and this he proceeded to make.  To all that he had to tell
+the bandit leader paid closest attention, and listened without a word
+of interruption until the narrative was finished.  Then he said:
+
+"It is indeed great news that the Americans are about to invade Cuba.
+Until now they have promised much and done worse than nothing, since,
+by their blockade of Cuban ports, they have only starved to death
+thousands of miserable reconcentrados.  Now if they will proceed with
+judgment and are not swept off by fevers, something may be
+accomplished.  At the same time, from the ignorance displayed in
+sending on so important a mission as yours one so ill equipped for it,
+I cannot hope for much from them."
+
+Ridge flushed hotly.  "What do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"I mean," replied the other, coolly rolling a cigarette as he spoke,
+"that you have shown yourself to be about as fit for the duty you have
+undertaken as a babe in arms.  Did you not, upon landing, waste a whole
+hour of precious darkness during which you might have gained a safe
+distance from the always-guarded coast?  Did you not allow yourself to
+be betrayed by your horse, and captured without resistance?  Did you
+not lose your despatches at the outset, and almost your life as well?
+Are you not at this moment densely ignorant of the route you are to
+travel, and of how to meet the enemies you will encounter on every hand?
+
+"Yes, my friend, brave and resolute as you may be, you are also but a
+babe in your undertaking.  Your only forethought lay in securing the
+countersign of the Junta, which has for the moment saved your life,
+since I should certainly have caused you to be shot but for it.  Also,
+if I had not discovered you, the Spanish hawks who patrol the coast
+would have had you in their clutches a few minutes later.  Nor do you
+at this moment know how to find your way to Holguin, much less to
+Santiago."
+
+"But," argued Ridge, whose self-conceit and confidence in his own
+ability to carry out the mission he had so bravely undertaken were
+rapidly oozing away, "I have a good map of the country, a good horse,
+plenty of money with which to hire guides, am well armed, and could
+make a good fight if necessary.  I speak Spanish perfectly, am dark of
+complexion, possess the countersign of the Junta for Cubans, and
+letters from the chief of the Spanish secret service for Spaniards.
+Why, then, may I not succeed as well as another?"
+
+"You _had_ those things; but, with the exception of your ability to
+speak Spanish, your darkness of skin, and the countersign, all of them
+have been taken from you."
+
+"But you will restore them?"
+
+"And if I should, would they serve you?  Do you imagine that any true
+Cuban would disclose to an utter stranger the military secrets of his
+country for money?  If you do, you are sadly mistaken.  Could you fight
+an enemy who would lie in ambush and shoot you in the back, reserving
+the examination of your despatches until you were dead?  Even should
+you succeed in presenting those same despatches to a Spanish general,
+do you not know that he would hold you prisoner, or at least delay your
+departure until he had transmitted them to Havana for verification?
+Yet you hope to gain a complete knowledge of the military situation in
+this great province, and rejoin your friends more than a hundred miles
+away within a week.  Amigo, you are very ignorant."
+
+"Possibly I am," admitted Ridge, "but I have learned much from you
+within a short time; and if you will let me go, I will still undertake
+to accomplish my task within the time allotted to me."
+
+"I admire your spirit," replied del Concha, "and will gladly release
+you, with all your property restored; but before so doing I wish to
+make some suggestions.  In the first place, your people should have
+chosen an intelligent Cuban for this work--a man like myself, for
+instance."
+
+Ridge was on the point of saying that his superior officers had feared
+to trust a Cuban, but prudently refrained from so doing.
+
+"As they did not have the sense for that," continued the speaker, "it
+is most fortunate that you have met me, for I can give you, in a few
+words, the position and strength of every Spanish force in the
+province, as well as the location and condition of the Cuban armies, to
+which I will also gladly forward news of the anticipated American
+landing.  Thus you will be free to make your way, directed by guides
+whom I will furnish, straight to Santiago without encountering any
+dangers other than those incident to travel through a rough country."
+
+"While thanking you for your kind offer," replied Ridge, "I must still
+decline it.  My orders are to communicate directly with the Spanish
+commanders at Holguin and Jiguani, and I shall certainly attempt to
+carry them out, since the first lesson taught every American soldier is
+that of absolute and unquestioning obedience to orders."
+
+"My dear Lieutenant!" exclaimed del Concha--for this was the rank that
+Ridge had seen fit to assume--"I begin to perceive why you were chosen
+for this hopeless task, and though I utterly disapprove your proposed
+course of action, I cannot but admire your resolution.  Also I cannot
+find it in my heart to leave you to your own helpless devices.
+Therefore I shall accompany you to the vicinity of Holguin.  Then I
+shall at least be on hand to learn your fate as soon as it is decided."
+
+Willing as he would have been to set forth alone, Ridge was glad to
+have the company of one so familiar with the country as del Concha
+appeared, and one also whom he believed he might trust.  His confidence
+in the acquaintance thus strangely made was strengthened a little later
+as they rode together, and the latter, in answer to his questions,
+disclosed a portion of his own history.
+
+"I came to this place last evening," he said, "in the hope of getting a
+few shots at the Spanish lancha, which, as I told you, patrols the
+coast twice daily; for Spaniards have become so scarce of late, and
+confine themselves so closely to the larger towns, that it is sometimes
+difficult to maintain my record of one for each day."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ridge.
+
+"I mean that during the past year I have personally killed, or caused
+to be killed, a Spanish soldier for each day that has passed."
+
+The young American regarded his companion with horror.
+
+"Moreover," continued the other, coolly, "I have sworn to maintain that
+average so long as I live and the present war continues.  When I found
+you this morning I thought my duty for the day was accomplished, but
+now it is with pleasure that I shall look elsewhere for my dead
+Spaniard of this date."
+
+"Are all Cubans animated by your spirit?" asked Ridge, whose soul
+revolted at this calm discussion of what seemed to him cold-blooded
+murder.
+
+"All who have suffered what I have are, or should be, filled with my
+longing for vengeance," answered del Concha.  "Listen.  The ruined
+plantation we have just left was my home.  There I was born.  There in
+the care of a loving father and a devoted mother, in company with a
+brother who was older than I, and a younger sister, I grew up.  In
+spite of cruel taxation, we were wealthy; in spite of unrighteous laws,
+we were happy.  Finally Spain's oppression of Cuba became unbearable,
+and the war to throw it off was begun.  My father refused to take part
+in the rebellion, but my brother joined the insurgents and was killed
+in battle.  I took his place; and, because his sons aided the
+insurrection, my noble father, still loyal to Spain, was seized by the
+Spaniards and thrown into prison.  Two days later, without trial or
+previous warning, he was shot to death in the prison-yard.
+
+"For giving bread to starving women and children whose husbands and
+fathers fought in the Cuban army, my mother and sister were driven from
+their home to the nearest city, where the former, always delicate,
+died, literally of starvation, and from which my sister disappeared, so
+that I do not know her fate.  At that time, also, our house was
+stripped by the soldiers of everything that could be carried away, and
+then burned.  It is for this record of crime that I determined to spare
+no Spaniard who should come within my reach."
+
+"I am afraid," said Ridge, slowly, with a clear vision of his own dear
+home and its loved inmates in his mind, "that in your place I should
+act as you have acted."
+
+Although the city of Holguin lies only about twenty miles from the
+place where Ridge landed on the coast, the way to it was so obstructed,
+first by swamps and dense forests, and later by wooded hills and
+swollen streams, that evening shadows were closing in when Ridge and
+his ragged escort came within sight of its low roofs.  On the still air
+were borne to their ears at the same moment the clear notes of Spanish
+bugles sounding the "Retreat."
+
+Ridge had speculated much that day concerning his reception by the
+Spaniards, and as to how he should enter their lines.  Now del Concha
+proposed a plan that seemed feasible.
+
+"Ride in at full speed," he said, "while I with my men will follow as
+though in hot pursuit close up to the lines.  Of course we will
+exchange shots, though both must carefully fire too high to do any
+damage.  Is it well?  Then adios, my friend, until we meet again."
+
+A few minutes later the newly posted Spanish guard was startled by the
+sound of shots, and then by the sight of a fugitive horseman speeding
+towards them, followed closely by a party of mounted insurgents who
+were firing at him.  Drums were beat and trumpets sounded.  A small
+body of troops hastily advanced from the city, opening their ranks to
+receive the panting horse and its apparently exhausted rider, but
+closing them to give an ineffective volley against his pursuers, who
+were now flying in consternation.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, Ridge, addressed as Senor Remelios, stood in
+the presence of General Pando, the Spanish commander of the eastern
+diocese of the island, and second only to the Captain-General, who was
+carefully reading a despatch just handed him by the young trooper.
+
+"You say, senor, that you have just come from Gibara, where you were
+secretly landed last night?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Also from this note, signed by Lieutenant Carranza, I learn that the
+Americans are about to land in force at Cienfuegos."
+
+"Such are Senor Carranza's latest advices."
+
+"Um!  They conflict, however, with news just brought from the south
+that a landing has already been effected at Guantanamo."
+
+Here the old soldier peered keenly at our hero, who experienced a
+thrill of uneasiness.
+
+At this moment there came a challenge from the sentry stationed at the
+door.  It was satisfactorily answered, and another individual hurriedly
+entered the room.
+
+"Your Excellency," said this person, making a profound salute, "pardon
+my intrusion; but I am come to denounce the man now standing before you
+as a Yankee spy.  His despatch is a forgery and utterly false, since
+the American army is not to land at Cienfuegos, but at Santiago."
+
+Just here Ridge obtained his first view of the speaker's face, and was
+overwhelmed with dismay to recognize in it the features of the man who
+had ridden with him all that day under the guise of a Cuban patriot.
+It was that of Enrico del Concha.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE
+
+Never in his life had our hero experienced a feeling of such utter
+helplessness as he did upon recognizing del Concha.  The treachery
+unfolded by the man's words was beyond his comprehension, and he knew
+not how to combat it.  For a moment he stared speechless at the
+traitor, then he turned to the General, who was gazing at him with
+stern inquiry.
+
+"Your Excellency," said Ridge, "the man who thus seeks to gain your
+favor, and, as I suppose, a reward, by denouncing me, is doubly a
+traitor.  He kills Spaniards at every opportunity, and now seeks my
+life at your hands because he knows that I am one.  It is true that I
+was captured by him and his band of Cuban ruffians.  To save my life, I
+told him the story that he now brings to you.  After thus allaying his
+suspicions, I seized a favorable opportunity to escape.  By the
+superior swiftness of my horse I finally reached this place in safety,
+though pursued by him to your very lines and hotly fired upon, as can
+be proved by many witnesses.  Now, therefore, I, Jose Remelios, bearer
+of despatches from the Senor Carranza, denounce this man as a doubly
+dyed traitor, and demand that he be arrested on a charge of being a
+Cuban spy."
+
+"Have you ever seen him kill a Spaniard?" asked General Pando.
+
+Ridge was obliged to admit that he had not.
+
+"Then how do you know that he has done so?"
+
+"From his own boastful confession.  He claims to have taken the life of
+a Spanish soldier for every day of the last year."
+
+The General smiled.  "That is certainly a very boastful claim," he
+said, "but one not to be believed for a moment.  Think you, sir, that
+such a number of Spaniards could be killed without my knowledge? or
+that, in any case, one man could thus overcome the brave, experienced,
+and well-armed soldiers of Spain?  Your credulity, senor, is
+refreshing.  Also I have no hesitation in telling you that ever since I
+took command of the eastern diocese, this man, recommended to me by my
+predecessor in office, has been the most faithful and valuable of my
+secret agents among the Cubans.  Time and again he has furnished early
+information of important events which has subsequently proved correct
+in every detail.  With such a record in his favor, am I now to doubt
+him upon the mere word of a stranger?  No, senor, the honor of a
+Spaniard forbids.  I am obliged, therefore--"
+
+Just here came an interruption of voices at the door.  Hearing them,
+del Concha, who had remained silent during the foregoing conversation
+and apparently careless of what was said concerning him, uttered a few
+hurried words to the General in a low tone, and disappeared behind a
+screen that stood close at hand.  Directly afterwards a lieutenant and
+two soldiers entered with a prisoner, whom Ridge recognized as one of
+the ragged Cubans who had escorted him to Holguin.
+
+"General," said the officer, saluting, "I bring a Cuban deserter who
+claims to have information of pressing importance that he will impart
+to no one but yourself, so I have ventured to intrude; but if it is
+your pleasure, I will remove him and seek to extort his secret."
+
+"Oh no," replied the commander; "it is not worth the trouble.  Let him
+speak, and quickly, for I am pressed with business."
+
+"I come, Excellenza," began the deserter, in a trembling voice, "with
+the hope of clemency and a reward, to notify your Excellency that this
+senor"--here he pointed to Ridge--"is not what he pretends.  I was of a
+band who captured him on the coast, and I overheard his confession to
+our leader.  From his own mouth, therefore, I learned that he is a spy,
+and--"
+
+"An American bearing false despatches," interrupted the General,
+irritably.  "You see I already know all that you would say.  Remove
+your prisoner, soldados."  Then, in a lower tone to the officer, he
+added: "Take him away and dispose of him.  Such _canaille_ are as
+troublesome as fleas.  Immediately upon completing the job you may
+return, as I have other business for you."
+
+With a salute, the officer hurried after his men.  At the same time del
+Concha emerged from his place of concealment, and the General, turning
+to Ridge, said:
+
+"You have doubtless noted, senor, how quickly the information
+concerning yourself brought by this gentleman is confirmed.  Therefore
+you will not be surprised to have me order you into confinement until
+your case can be reported to Havana"--at this moment came the startling
+sound of a volley of musketry, evidently fired close at hand--"and a
+decision concerning it received from the Captain-General," concluded
+the speaker, paying no heed to the firing.
+
+As Ridge was about to utter a protest, the officer who had left the
+room a minute before, re-entered it, saluted with stiff precision, and
+stood awaiting orders.
+
+"Lieutenant Navarro," said the General, "you will remove this
+gentleman, who is charged with being an American spy, and bid the
+officer in charge of the guard-house hold him in closest custody until
+he receives further instructions.  Adios, Senor Remelios.  May your
+night's rest be peaceful."
+
+Perceiving that resistance or protest would be useless, Ridge passively
+allowed himself to be led away.  A file of soldiers stood outside, and,
+surrounded by these, he was marched to the guardhouse, where, after
+being searched and relieved of everything contained by his pockets, he
+was led into a bare, cell-like room.
+
+A wooden stool and a heap of filthy straw in one corner constituted its
+sole furnishing.  Through a grating in the door came the flickering
+light of a lamp burning in the corridor, while outer air was admitted
+by a small iron-barred opening in one of the side walls some six feet
+above the floor.  The place reeked with dampness, and, in spite of
+these openings, its air was foul and stifling.  A few minutes after
+Ridge entered it, and as he sat in dumb despair, vainly striving to
+realize his unhappy situation, a soldier brought him a bowl of bean
+porridge and a jug of water.  Without a word, he set these down and
+departed.
+
+A little later other soldiers came and gazed curiously at him through
+the grated door, always speaking of him as "el Yanko," and making merry
+at his expense.  Thus several hours passed, and he still sat
+motionless, trying to think; but his brain was in a whirl, and he
+seemed as powerless to concentrate his thoughts as he was friendless.
+He realized dimly that at regular intervals a guard, pacing the outer
+corridor, paused before the door of his cell to peer in at him, and so
+make sure of his presence; but he paid slight attention to this
+official scrutiny.
+
+Suddenly his ear caught a sound strange to that place--a girlish voice
+laughing merrily and evidently exchanging brisk repartee with the
+soldiers in the guard-room.  It was a pleasanter sound than any he had
+heard, and he listened to it eagerly.  After a little the voice seemed
+to draw nearer, and he could distinguish the words, "el Yanko."  He,
+then, was the subject of that gay conversation.  A moment later, from
+the same source, came an expression that numbed him with the awfulness
+of its possible meaning.  "To be shot at sunrise?  Poor fellow!"  Could
+he be the "poor fellow" meant?  Of course not; but then he might be.
+Such a summary disposition of prisoners was not unknown to Spanish
+jailers.
+
+While his mind was busy with this startling question the laughing
+voice, now lowered almost to a whisper, approached his door, and he
+became conscious of a scrutiny through the grating.  Also a discussion
+was going on outside, and he heard:
+
+"No, no, not a smile, not a word, unless you open the door so that I
+may see el Yanko.  I have never seen one in all my life--never."
+
+A short pause, then a key turned, and the door was gently opened.  Two
+figures entered.  A soldier and a slender girl, who clung fearfully to
+his arm.  They stood and looked at Ridge as he sat on his wooden stool,
+and he stared back.  For a moment the three gazed at one another in
+silence.
+
+Then the girl exclaimed, pettishly:
+
+"If that is all your famous Yanko amounts to, I have already seen
+enough, since he looks exactly like other men, only more ugly than
+some.  Come, let us go."
+
+With this she playfully turned her companion about and pushed him from
+the cell.  As she did so she made a quick backward movement with her
+right hand, and something fell on the straw pallet as though flung
+there.  A second later the door was relocked, and, with merry laughter
+again echoing through the dim corridor, they were gone.
+
+Curiously Ridge fumbled in the musty bedding until he found a small
+packet enveloped in brown paper.  He opened it eagerly.  Inside were
+two tiny steel saws, made from a watch spring, and a little tube of
+oil.  There was also a bit of white paper on which was writing.  By
+holding this close to the lamp-lighted grating.  Ridge read:
+
+"You have only till daylight.  Saw out a bar and squeeze through.
+Friends will await you outside.  Destroy this."  There was no signature.
+
+"What friends can I have in this place?" thought the young trooper, as
+he nervously chewed the bit of paper to a pulp.  At the same time he
+was tremulous with a new hope.  "Perhaps I can do it," he said, "and
+anything will be better than sitting in idleness, with a prospect of
+being shot at sunrise."
+
+Standing on his wooden stool he could easily reach the lower end of the
+iron bars closing the cell window, and he at once began work on them.
+At first he seemed to produce about as much effect as would the gnawing
+of a mouse, but after a while his tiny saw was buried in the tough
+iron.  Then footsteps approached, and Ridge had barely time to fling
+himself on the vile-smelling pallet before a sentry was peering in at
+the grating.  A ray of light fell where he lay, but fortunately failed
+to reach the side on which the barred aperture was located.  So the
+prisoner made a long bunch of the straw, covered it with his coat, and
+placed his water-jug at one end, thus causing the whole to bear a rude
+resemblance to a human figure.
+
+After that he worked steadily, only pausing at the sound of footsteps,
+but not leaving the scene of his operations.  He found that he must cut
+two bars instead of only one, and a saw snapped in twain when the first
+was but half severed.  After that he handled the other with intense
+caution, and his heart throbbed painfully with anxiety as the work
+neared completion.
+
+For hours he toiled, and he knew that daylight could not be far off
+when the second bar was finally cut.  To bend it aside took all his
+strength, and so occupied was he in doing this that for the first time
+that night he heeded not a sound of footsteps in the corridor.
+
+"What goes on here?" questioned a harsh voice, and Ridge's heart leaped
+into his mouth.  With desperate energy he wrenched the bars to one
+side, hearing as he did so a fumbling at the lock of his door.
+Utilizing his strength to the utmost, he pulled himself up, forced his
+body through the narrow opening, and pitched headlong to the ground
+outside.  At the same time came fierce shouts, a pistol-shot, and a
+great clamor from the place he had left,
+
+But strong hands were helping him to his feet, and a voice was saying
+in his ears: "You have done well, amigo.  Now we must fly for our
+lives."
+
+Of course it could not be; but to Ridge's senses, confused by the shock
+of his fall, it seemed as though the voice was that of the false friend
+who had betrayed him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+REFUGEES IN THE MOUNTAINS
+
+Without a knowledge of direction or purpose, Ridge suffered himself to
+be guided by his unknown friend through several narrow streets.  They
+ran at top speed and in silence, but behind them came a clamor of
+soldiers from the guard-house.  By their shouts that a prisoner was
+escaping, these aroused that portion of the town, and frightened
+occupants of squalid houses caught shadowy glimpses of the fugitives as
+they sped past.  To the pursuers these same spectators pointed eagerly
+the course taken by those who fled, so that the scent of the chase was
+kept hot.
+
+A sudden turn disclosed three horses, one bearing a rider, and all
+standing motionless.  A glad whinny of recognition came from one as
+Ridge Norris gained its side, and in another moment his own Senorita
+was speeding him away from the scene of his recent danger.
+
+As the three swept through the outer picket-line unharmed by its thick
+flying bullets, they were startled by a clatter of hoofs at right
+angles to their course, and coming swiftly towards them.  A cavalry
+patrol warned by the uproar, and catching sight of the fugitives in the
+growing dawn, was striving to intercept them.  They also fired as they
+rode, and two of those who fled bent low over their horses' necks that
+they might offer as small a mark as possible.  Not so the young
+American, who now found himself under fire for the first time in his
+life.  He had found his rifle still attached to the saddle; and now,
+with every drop of blood in his body at fighting heat, he sat erect,
+half turned, and fired back until every shot in his magazine was
+exhausted.  As a result, several of the pursuers dropped from the
+chase; but it was hotly maintained by the others, who also kept up a
+desultory shooting.
+
+They had gained a good mile from town when suddenly one of Ridge's
+companions uttered a sharp cry, in a voice distinctly feminine, and
+reeled in her saddle.  The other, whom Ridge now knew to be del Concha,
+leaped from his horse and caught her in his arms as she fell.
+
+"We must make a stand and fight!" he cried, as Ridge reined Senorita to
+a sudden halt beside him.  "Drive the beasts ahead and conceal yourself
+on the other side.  I will remain here."
+
+They were already among the foothills of the Almiqui Mountains, and had
+just passed a low crest which, for the moment, hid them from their
+pursuers.  The ambush was so quickly arranged that, two minutes later
+when these appeared, they saw nothing of it and heard only a rush of
+horses' hoofs in the ravine below.
+
+With a yell the Spanish cavalrymen put spurs to their steeds and dashed
+down the declivity.  The first two were allowed to pass.  Then came a
+double flash of flame from the bushes and one of the riders fell, while
+another uttered the cry of a wounded man.  Two more were killed before
+the panic-stricken horsemen were borne beyond range.  Those who
+remained unhurt left the road and fled for their lives down the bed of
+a little stream that crossed it at the foot of the hill.  The wounded
+man was despatched by del Concha where he lay, before Ridge could
+interpose a word in his behalf.
+
+"And why not?" asked the Cuban, as he coolly wiped his machete on the
+grass.  "Can the blood-debt that I owe them ever be paid?  Are they not
+adding to it every day?  Even now, does not she who is dearest of all
+the world to me lie wounded at their hands?"
+
+"But, I thought you were in their service, and that they trusted you."
+
+"So they do trust me, and to their sorrow," replied del Concha, with a
+bitter laugh.  "But there is no time for explanations.  A precious life
+hangs in the balance, and only instant action may save it.  If you can
+recover the horses, or even one of them, all may go well.  If not,
+there is little room for hope."
+
+Without reply Ridge whistled a shrill note that echoed sharply among
+the hills.  The distant neigh of a horse came in answer, and he started
+on a run down the road.  At the foot of the slope he encountered
+Senorita coming back to meet him; and springing to her back he went in
+pursuit of her companions whom he soon discovered grazing by the
+wayside.  At sight of him they fled at full speed; but they might as
+well have raced with the wind as with the fleet-footed mare; and,
+within ten minutes from the time of leaving del Concha, Ridge returned,
+leading the horse the Cuban had ridden.  The other was left, tied to a
+tree where he had captured it.
+
+Del Concha was holding in his arms their wounded comrade, apparently a
+slender youth, whose face was now disclosed to Ridge for the first time
+by the light of the newly risen sun.  Although it was of deathly
+pallor, and the eyes were closed, he instantly recognized it as
+belonging to the girl of the laughing voice who had so cleverly
+contrived to aid him the evening before.
+
+"Yes," said del Concha, noting the look of recognition, "it was she who
+carried you the saws and message.  She is the bravest girl in all Cuba,
+and the sweetest.  It was for my sake and that of her country that she
+aided you; for she is a devoted patriot, and my _fiancee_.  We were to
+be married as soon as an American army landed.  She would have it so.
+Now if she dies, I cannot bear it."
+
+While he spoke, the grief-stricken man, in whom there was slight
+resemblance to the debonair bandit of the day before, laid his burden
+gently down, and mounted the horse that Ridge had recovered.
+
+"Now give her to me," he said; and, tenderly lifting the light form,
+Ridge placed it once more in his arms.  The girl had been shot in the
+back, and the cruel Mauser bullet, long but slender as a lead-pencil,
+had passed through her body.
+
+"My only hope is to get her to the nearest camp of refugees, and that
+is still five miles away," said del Concha.
+
+After that they rode in silence, the sorrowing lover, with his precious
+burden leading the way, and the young American oppressed by the sadness
+of the incident for which he felt wholly, though unwittingly to blame,
+following with the spare horse.  Mingled with our hero's self-reproach
+was also a decided curiosity as to how del Concha would explain the
+double part he had played the evening before.
+
+As they advanced into the heart of the mountains, ever climbing, their
+road grew rougher and narrower, until finally it was a mere trail.
+Although they passed occasional ruins of huts, they did not see one
+that was inhabited or habitable.  Neither did they encounter a human
+being until their destination was reached, though for the last mile of
+their progress they were constantly watched by wild-looking figures
+that peered at them from behind rocks or bushes.  Often, after a single
+glance at the horsemen, these ragged scouts would dart away, scurrying
+through the brush with the noiseless speed of rabbits, and one able to
+see them would have observed that all took the same direction.  It was
+towards a camp of Cuban refugees, snugly hidden in one of the most
+inaccessible recesses of the mountains, and to it they bore the news of
+approaching visitors.
+
+Therefore the camp was in a state of expectancy even before the
+new-comers were challenged by its outpost, and as del Concha had long
+since been recognized, they received a cordial greeting.  The wounded
+girl was at once taken to a commodious hut, where she could be cared
+for by nurses of her own sex, while a substantial breakfast, roughly
+cooked and of the simplest character, was made ready for the two men.
+It was served on the ground just outside the hut of the Cuban General
+commanding the camp and its few hundreds of ragged soldiers.  This
+officer expressed great joy upon learning from Ridge that an American
+army was about to land in Cuba, and promised to harass any expedition
+sent against it from Holguin.
+
+After breakfast, while del Concha was gone to inquire concerning his
+sweetheart, the General took Ridge to his private observatory, a superb
+palm, occupying an eminence, and towering above the surrounding forest.
+From its leafy crown one could look directly down on Holguin and, with
+a good glass, clearly discern the movements of its garrison.
+
+While thus alone with the General our young trooper asked questions
+about del Concha.
+
+"He is one of the bravest and most patriotic of Cubans," declared the
+other, warmly.  "No one has done more than he to advance our cause."
+
+"Has he ever been suspected of being a Spanish spy?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Certainly not, senor.  Such a question is almost an insult."
+
+"Yet the lieutenant has good cause for his inquiry," said del Concha
+himself, who joined them at that moment.  "Moreover, he is entitled to
+an explanation from me, which I will hasten to give before he shall
+demand it."
+
+"It will afford me great pleasure to hear it," said Ridge, "for some of
+your recent actions have been, to say the least, very puzzling."
+
+"As, for instance, when I denounced you to General Pando.  Certainly
+you must have thought badly of me at that time.  I did it, however, to
+save both you and myself, since shortly after you left us I learned
+that one of my troop had deserted for the purpose of betraying you to
+the Spanish General, who, he hoped and believed, would give him a
+liberal reward for so doing.  As Pando supposes me to be one of his
+agents--in which capacity, by-the-way, I have been able to render
+valuable service to Cuba--"
+
+"Indeed, yes," muttered the General.
+
+"--I saw at once," continued del Concha, "that in order to save us both
+I must forestall the deserter and do the denouncing myself.  You
+witnessed the result in the reception accorded the man when he appeared
+with his stale news, and are aware of his fate."
+
+"No, I am not," said Ridge.
+
+"Did you not hear the volley by which he was shot within one minute
+after being led from Pando's presence?"
+
+"Was that it?" asked the young American, in an awe-stricken tone.
+
+"Certainly; and served him exactly right, too.  Also saved me the job
+of punishing him.  After that, and after you had been removed, Pando
+confided to me that, as yours was a perfectly clear case, he should not
+bother Blanco with it, but should promptly dispose of it by having you
+shot at sunrise.  He also honored me with a mission to Santiago, on
+which he desired that I should set forth immediately.  I of course
+accepted, only with a mental resolve to take you along, and this, with
+Eva's help, I was in a fair way to accomplish when the dear girl
+received her terrible wound."
+
+"Bless her!" exclaimed Ridge, fervently, now fully realizing for the
+first time all that had been done for him.  "I hope, with all my heart,
+that her wound is not serious."
+
+"I fear it is, though for the present she seems quite comfortable."
+
+"And you are going to Santiago?"
+
+"Not one step beyond this point until she is out of danger."
+
+"But I must go," said Ridge, decidedly.
+
+"Certainly; and I have a competent guide ready to start at any moment,
+and conduct you on the next stage of your journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DIONYSIO CAPTURES A SPANIARD
+
+While Ridge was greatly disappointed at losing the guidance and
+companionship of the young Cuban, in whom his confidence was now wholly
+restored, he could not, under the circumstances, urge him to go
+farther, nor did he dare longer delay his own journey.  With Senorita,
+all his belongings, including his undelivered despatches, and the money
+stolen when he was captured by del Concha, had been restored to him.
+So he now added to his outfit a grass-woven hammock that he purchased
+in the refugee camp, and was then ready to set forth.
+
+The new guide awaiting him was a coal-black negro named Dionysio, who
+was of such huge stature that the other Cubans seemed pygmies beside
+him.  He was armed only with a great machete, ground to exceeding
+sharpness, and he disdained to ride a horse, declaring that he could,
+on foot, cover a greater distance in less time than any horse on the
+island, which Ridge was able to credit after a short experience with
+his ebony guide.  Besides, being a big man and a very strong one,
+Dionysio was a silent man, as taciturn as an Indian, and never spoke
+except upon necessity.
+
+When Ridge was introduced to him he was sitting in the shade of a
+corojo-palm, smoking a cigarette and lovingly fingering the razor-like
+edge of his machete.
+
+"This is the Senor Americano whom you are to guide to Jiguani, and
+afterwards, if he requires it, to Santiago," said del Concha,
+
+Dionysio looked keenly at Ridge, but uttered no word.
+
+"He is ready to start."
+
+The negro stood up, to signify that he was also ready.
+
+"You will not let the Spaniards kill him," Dionysio tapped his machete
+significantly.
+
+"Well, my friend, adios," said del Concha, "and may you come safely to
+your journey's end!"
+
+Accepting this farewell as a signal to move, the black giant set forth
+at a swinging pace, and, in order not to lose sight of him, Ridge was
+obliged instantly to follow.  In another minute, therefore, they had
+crossed the clearing, plunged again into the forest, and the refugee
+camp was as lost to their view as though it had not existed.
+
+The silent guide bore on his shoulders a burden of yams rolled in a
+hammock, but it in no way interfered with the freedom of his movements.
+For miles he maintained, up hill and down, the same speed with which he
+had set out, and which so taxed Senorita's endurance that Ridge was
+finally forced to call a halt.  The heat of the sun was by this time
+intense, while the forest steamed from a succession of brief but
+drenching showers that had swept over it since they started.
+
+As Dionysio comprehended what was wanted he proceeded, without a word,
+to construct a small bower of branches and palm leaves, beneath which
+he slung Ridge's hammock.  The young trooper's eyes were so leaden with
+sleep that he had no sooner slipped into this than he was lost in a
+dreamless slumber.
+
+When he next awoke, greatly refreshed by his long nap, the great heat
+of the day was past, and the shadows of coming evening produced a
+pleasant coolness.  For a few minutes Ridge lay in a state of lazy
+content, gazing with languid interest at his surroundings.  The sky, so
+far as he could see it, was cloudless, the crisp leaves of a tall palm
+close at hand rustled in a light breeze like the patter of rain, gayly
+plumaged paroquets and nonpareils flitted across his line of vision,
+and the air was filled with the pleasant odor of burning wood, mingled
+with the fragrance of a cigarette that Dionysio smoked while squatted
+on his heels before a small fire.  A little beyond, Senorita, tethered
+to a tree, cropped at a small patch of coarse grass, and--but Ridge
+could not credit his senses until he had rubbed his eyes vigorously to
+make sure that they were doing their duty--another horse was sharing
+the grass-plot with her.  As he assured himself of this, Ridge sat up,
+and was about to demand an explanation of the negro, when his question
+was checked by another sight still more amazing.
+
+A human figure staring fixedly at him with glaring eyes was rigidly
+bound to the trunk of a near-by tree.  It was that of a young man in
+the uniform of a Spanish officer.  His face was covered with blood,
+upon which a swarm of flies had settled, and he was so securely
+fastened that he could not move hand nor foot.  He was also gagged so
+that he could make no sound beyond an inarticulate groan, which he
+uttered when he saw that Ridge was awake and looking at him.
+
+With an exclamation of dismay the young American leaped from his
+hammock.  At the same moment Dionysio rose to his feet with a broad
+grin on his black face, and spoke for the first time since Ridge had
+made his acquaintance.
+
+"Him Holguin Spaniard," he said, pointing to the prisoner.  "Me catch
+him.  Keep him for Americano to kill.  Now you shoot him."
+
+[Illustration: "'Him Holguin Spaniard.  Now you shoot him,' said the
+Cuban."]
+
+Thus saying, the negro handed Ridge a loaded pistol that he had taken
+from the Spaniard, and then stepped aside with an air of ferocious
+expectancy to note with what skill the latter would fire at the human
+target thus provided.
+
+Mechanically Ridge accepted the weapon, and with blazing eyes strode
+towards the hapless Spaniard, who uttered a groan of agony, evidently
+believing that his last moment had arrived.  As the young trooper
+passed the place where Dionysio had squatted, he snatched the negro's
+big machete from the ground.
+
+At this the latter chuckled with delight, evidently believing that the
+blood-thirsty Americano was about to hew his victim in pieces, an
+operation that, to him, would be vastly more entertaining than a mere
+shooting.  Then he stared in bewilderment; for, instead of cutting the
+prisoner down, Ridge began to sever the lashings by which he was bound.
+As the keen-edged machete cut through the last of these, the released
+man fell forward in a faint, and the young American, catching him in
+his arms, laid him on the sward.  "Bring water!" he ordered, with a
+sharp tone of authority, and the negro obeyed.
+
+"You no kill him?" he asked, as he watched Ridge bathe the blood from
+the unconscious man's face.
+
+"Not now," was the evasive answer.  "Where did you get him?"
+
+Little by little, one word at a time, he gained from the taciturn negro
+an idea of what had taken place while he slept.  It seemed that, while
+he had followed rough mountain trails in his roundabout course to and
+from the refugee camp, there was a much better road to which they had
+closely approached, when he was forced by exhaustion to call a halt.
+After he fell asleep, Dionysio, going for water to a spring that he
+knew of, had detected a sound of hoof-beats advancing along this road
+from the direction of Holguin.  Concealing himself near the spring, he
+waited until the horseman, a Spanish officer, rode up to it.  Then he
+leaped upon the man, dragged him to the ground, and had him secured
+almost before the astonished officer knew what was happening.  He was
+also dazed by a wound in the head received as he was hurled from his
+horse.
+
+Dionysio was on the point of killing him, as he had many a Spaniard,
+but reflecting that the Americano whom he was guiding would doubtless
+enjoy that pleasure, he generously decided to yield it to him and
+reserve the victim until Ridge should finish his nap.  So, after
+gagging the Spaniard, that he might not disturb him who slept, Dionysio
+flung him across his shoulder and carried him to camp.  There he
+secured him to a tree so that Ridge might see him upon awakening, and
+then calmly resumed his duties as camp cook and sentry.  The
+unfortunate prisoner, wounded, bound, and powerless to move or speak,
+tormented by heat and insects, and parched by a burning thirst, had
+thus suffered for hours, while the young American who was to kill him
+slept close at hand, blissfully unaware of his presence.
+
+As Ridge pityingly cleansed the face of this enemy whose present
+sufferings had been terminated by unconsciousness, he all at once
+recognized it as that of the officer who had conveyed him from General
+Pando's quarters to the guard-house in Holguin.  At the same time,
+noting a slight rustle of paper somewhere in the man's clothing, he
+began a search for it, and finally discovered a despatch in an official
+envelope.  Carefully opening this without breaking the seal, he found
+it to contain two papers.  One was a personal note from General Pando
+to the Spanish commander at Jiguani, calling his attention to the
+other, which was an order to set forth at once with his entire force
+for Santiago, where an American army was about to land, and where he
+would be joined by 5000 troops from Holguin.
+
+"This is interesting," commented Ridge, "and of course must not be
+allowed to reach its destination.  So I will just put in its place my
+Carranza despatch to this same gentleman, informing him that the
+Americans are to land at Cienfuegos.  It will have added weight if it
+appears to come from General Pando, and will surely start him off in a
+direction where he can do no harm.
+
+"I wonder, though, what I had best do with you," he continued,
+meditatively, addressing the unconscious form beside him.  "Of course
+you will recognize me as soon as you are able to sit up and take
+notice.  Of course, also, I can't kill you in cold blood; nor can I
+turn you over to the tender mercies of Dionysio, for that would amount
+to exactly the same thing.  I don't dare let you go, and I can't be
+bothered with you as a prisoner; so what on earth I am to do with you
+I'm sure I don't know.  I almost wish you wouldn't wake up at all."
+
+Just here, owing to Ridge's kindly ministrations, the cause of his
+perplexity opened his eyes, looked the young American full in the face,
+and smiled a faint smile in which recognition and gratitude were
+equally blended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ASLEEP WHILE ON GUARD
+
+Of course there was no further thought of continuing the journey that
+evening, for the Spanish officer was in no condition to travel, and our
+young trooper was not one to desert even an enemy who was helpless and
+in distress.  So he informed Dionysio that they would remain where they
+were until morning, and ordered him to make things as comfortable as
+possible for the night.
+
+"You no kill him?" asked the negro, who had regarded his companion's
+actions of the past half hour with evident disfavor.
+
+"Not to-night," replied Ridge.  "I am going to save him until morning.
+He will be stronger then, and in a better condition to afford us
+entertainment.  Besides, I want time to think out the best way of doing
+it."
+
+"To-morrow you kill him?" persisted the other.
+
+"Perhaps.  That is, if I have hit upon a good plan.  Something novel
+and interesting, you know."
+
+"You no kill him, me kill him," muttered Dionysio, as he sullenly began
+to make preparations for the night.
+
+The remark, though not intended for the young American, still reached
+his ears and caused him a feeling of uneasiness.
+
+"I believe you would, you black devil," he said to himself, "but you
+sha'n't commit your cowardly murder if I can help it."  Then he again
+turned his attention to the prisoner, who was by this time sitting up
+and regarding his captors curiously.
+
+"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, as Ridge rejoined him.
+
+"No, of course not.  What put such an idea into your head?"
+
+"Because it so often happens that undesirable prisoners are disposed of
+in that way.  You know I was ordered to have one shot only last night
+at just about this hour."
+
+"Was it last night?" murmured Ridge.  "It seems a month ago."  Then he
+added, aloud, "Yes, I know, for I recognize you as Lieutenant Navarro,
+the officer who brought in the deserter, disposed of him according to
+General Pando's order, and then conducted me to prison."
+
+"For which reason I should think you would now want to kill me," said
+the other, with a smile.
+
+"We Americans are not in the habit of killing persons merely for
+obedience to orders."
+
+"You are an American, then?"
+
+"Yes," admitted Ridge, "and I thought you knew I was one."
+
+"I was not certain, nor was the General, though he was determined to be
+on the safe side, and have you placed beyond a chance of making
+mischief."
+
+"So I understood," laughed Ridge, "and for that reason I came away
+without waiting to say good-bye."
+
+"Your escape raised an awful row," said the other, "and the General is
+furious over it.  Swears he will hang every man, woman, or child
+connected with it if he discovers who aided you.  Do you care to tell
+me how it was effected?"
+
+"No," was the prompt reply, "I do not."
+
+"I didn't suppose you would.  At the same time I am greatly interested
+in it, especially as it caused me to be sent on my present mission.
+General Pando feared that you might make the same attempt at Jiguani as
+at Holguin.  So I was ordered to get there first and have a reception
+prepared for you.  Now, having failed to carry out his instructions, I
+do not know that I should dare present myself before him again, even if
+you should set me free, which, of course, is something not to be hoped
+for.  What do you propose to do with me, anyway?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Ridge, "but we will consider the situation
+after supper, which I see is ready."
+
+The simple meal of roasted yams, which in war time was the principal
+article of food known to Cuban campaigners, was quickly eaten, and the
+two young men, already regarding each other more as friends than
+enemies, renewed their conversation.
+
+"I am not anxious to resume my connection with General Pando's army in
+any case," began Lieutenant Navarro, "since it is about to march
+against your countrymen, whom I esteem highly."
+
+"Why?" asked Ridge.  "Were you ever in my country?"
+
+"Yes, and quite recently.  You see, I have some distant cousins of my
+own name living in New Mexico, and only a year ago I paid them a visit.
+I was so charmed with the country, and so cordially welcomed, that I
+expressed a desire to remain with them and become a citizen of the
+United States, They encouraged the idea, and offered me an interest in
+a great ranch, where one of them, Maximilian by name, who is about my
+own age, proposed to become my partner.  I accepted the offer, declared
+my intention of becoming a citizen before the proper authorities, and
+then returned to Spain to settle up my home affairs and procure money
+for my new undertaking.
+
+"Unfortunately I had not served out my full military term, and before I
+could purchase exemption for the remaining time, there was a call for
+more troops to quell this miserable insurrection, and I was ordered
+with Blanco, the new Captain-General, to Cuba.  Of course I don't mind
+fighting Cubans, whom I detest; but I do object to fighting against
+those whom I already consider as my adopted countrymen, especially as I
+have recently learned that the cousin with whom I was to go into
+business has joined the American army."
+
+"Maximilian Navarro of New Mexico!" exclaimed Ridge.  "Why, I know him
+well.  He is a captain in my own regiment, the First Volunteer
+Cavalry--the Rough Riders, as we are called.  I saw him only five days
+ago, and hope soon to meet him again, before Santiago."
+
+"Then are we friends rather than enemies!" cried the young Spaniard,
+grasping the other's hand, "and I will go with you to meet my cousin."
+
+"Would you go as a deserter?"
+
+"No, but as a prisoner of war under your protection."
+
+"Of course," replied Ridge, who had just gained an inspiration.  "A
+prisoner of war on parole, for you will give me your promise not to
+serve against the United States unless exchanged, will you not?"
+
+"Most willingly," replied the other.
+
+"But," continued Ridge, "if I take you to your cousin, I want you first
+to do me a favor."
+
+"Gladly."
+
+"And before I give you my whole confidence you must earn it."
+
+"If it lies within my power, I will do so."
+
+"Very good," said Ridge.  "According to our laws, you are a citizen of
+the United States from having filed your intention to become one.
+Therefore, while not desiring you to fight against your native land, I
+am going to ask you to prove your loyalty to your adopted country by
+aiding my present mission."
+
+"How may I do so?"
+
+"By continuing your journey to Jiguani, delivering your despatches,
+which, by-the-way, I have examined; procuring for me a Spanish uniform,
+and meeting me two days later at Enramada.  From there we will go
+together into Santiago, where you shall introduce me as your friend.
+Then will come my turn; for when the Americans land we will join them,
+and I shall take pleasure in presenting you to my friends as my friend.
+Will you undertake to do this?"
+
+"Senor Teniente, I will," answered the young Spaniard, "and there is my
+hand on it.  One thing, however, I must ask," he continued.  "How will
+you deliver me from the hate of yonder black devil by the fire?  But
+for you he would have taken my life long since, and when he discovers
+that you do not intend to kill me, he will assuredly make an attempt to
+do so."
+
+"I have no doubt he would if he had a chance," replied Ridge, "but we
+must take turns at watching, and see that he doesn't get one.  I will
+remain on guard the first half of the night, since you need sleep more
+than I, and will also show how fully I trust you by restoring your
+pistol."
+
+"Your confidence will not be misplaced, senor."
+
+With these arrangements perfected, the little camp sank into quiet, the
+only sounds being the chirping of insects, the harsh cries of night
+birds, and those made by the horses, which occasionally snorted at some
+fancied alarm.  The two white men lay in their respective hammocks
+under the rude thatch of palm leaves, while Dionysio occupied a similar
+but smaller shelter beyond the fire.
+
+For a long time Ridge watched the flicker of its flames, until they
+finally died down, and the darkness was only illumined by the fitful
+flashing of fire-flies.  As these were the most brilliant he had ever
+seen, his eyes followed their zig-zag dartings until they exercised a
+hypnotic influence, and his heavy breathing showed him to be fast
+asleep.
+
+A few minutes later the occupant of the other hammock lifted his head
+and listened.  Then he slipped noiselessly to the ground and
+disappeared in the profound darkness at the back of the hut.  For an
+hour longer the peace of the camp was unbroken.  At the end of that
+time one of the horses snorted more loudly than usual, while the other
+dropped heavily to the ground as though lying down.
+
+After awhile, if Ridge had been awake, he might have noted a slight
+rustling in the grass, as though some animal were making a cautious way
+through it towards the hut.  But his slumber was too profound to be
+easily broken, and no instinct warned him of approaching danger.
+
+The rustling drew closer, until it sounded within a few feet of the
+unconscious sleeper.  Then a black bulk slowly lifted from the ground,
+and gradually assumed the proportions of a man standing motionless.  Of
+a sudden this figure, whose blurred outlines were barely discernible,
+made a quick movement, and the hammock of the young Spaniard was cut in
+twain by the sweeping blow of a machete.
+
+At the same moment a pistol-shot rang out, followed by another and
+another.  There was a smothered yell, a rush of feet, a brief struggle
+from the place where the horses were tethered, a crash, and directly
+afterwards Senorita, trembling in every limb, made her way to where her
+young master stood, as he had leaped from his hammock, dazed, and
+uncertain what to do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+IN THE HANDS OP SPANISH GUERILLAS
+
+In addition to his alarm, Ridge was overcome with a guilty knowledge of
+having fallen asleep while on guard.  Of course, he felt certain that
+he had only closed his eyes for a minute; but in that minute something
+dreadful, for which he was responsible, had happened.  He had no idea
+what it was, but imagined the worst, and was greatly relieved to hear
+the voice of his prisoner-comrade at his side.
+
+"What on earth--" he began; but just then Senorita dashed up to him in
+a state of terror, and for the moment demanded his attention.  As he
+soothed her he called loudly for Dionysio, but there was no response.
+
+"I am afraid he has escaped," said the young Spaniard, in rather a
+faint voice, from the ground, to which he had dropped exhausted by
+weakness and the intense strain of the past few hours.  "He tried to
+kill me, you know."
+
+"Tried to kill you!" exclaimed Ridge, incredulously.  "But wait a
+moment.  We must have a light.  This darkness is awful."
+
+Thus saying, he stepped to where a few coals of the camp-fire still
+smouldered, and began to throw on sticks, which, after a little
+coaxing, sprang into a bright blaze.  By its light he detected two dark
+forms lying motionless a short distance away, and, with pistol held
+ready for action, went to discover their nature.
+
+"Navarro must have been dreaming, or else greatly mistaken," he said to
+himself, "for here is Dionysio fast asleep.  Come, wake up!" he cried
+aloud, at the same time prodding the prostrate form with his toe.  As
+there was no response, he stooped to give the sleeper a vigorous
+shaking; but almost with the first touch he sprang back in horror.  The
+man lay on his back, but with his head so twisted about that only its
+rear portion was visible, and Ridge instinctively knew that he was
+dead.  The other motionless form was that of a dead horse, the one
+recently ridden by Lieutenant Navarro.
+
+Having made this ghastly discovery, Ridge hastily returned to the hut
+to gain from his companion an explanation of what had happened,
+
+"I could not sleep," said the young Spaniard, in answer to his
+inquiries, "though I lay still and tried hard to do so, until, by your
+heavy breathing, I discovered that you were no longer awake."
+
+"I am awfully ashamed of myself," said Ridge.
+
+"It is not to be wondered at," rejoined the other, consolingly.  "You
+had not so much at stake as I, for only my life was threatened.
+Somehow, I felt certain that the black fiend who thirsted for my blood
+was also lying awake, and would make an attempt to kill me in my
+hammock before morning.  So, without disturbing you, I moved to the
+back of the hut and waited for him.  It must have been an hour before
+the horses began to give signs of great uneasiness, and then one of
+them fell.  I suppose he must have killed it."
+
+"Yes," said Ridge, "I reckon he did, since it now lies dead, and
+bleeding from a stab behind the left fore-shoulder."
+
+"I imagined something of the kind," continued the other, "but still
+thought it safer for both of us not to disturb you.  So I waited, more
+keenly alert than before, but heard nothing, until I saw him slowly
+rise and stand beside my hammock.  The blow that he dealt it would have
+cut me in two had I still occupied it; and, with this discovery of his
+design, I fired three shots, one of which, I think, must have hit him.
+At any rate, he uttered a great cry and staggered away."
+
+"After that," said Ridge, "he must have tried to escape on my horse,
+which probably flung him over her head and broke his neck.  Didn't you,
+old girl?"
+
+Had Senorita possessed the power of speech, she would certainly have
+answered "Yes," for that was exactly what had happened.
+
+"At any rate," continued the young trooper, with a sigh of relief, "I
+am mighty glad my neglect of duty did not result more seriously.  At
+the same time we are left in an awkward shape for continuing our
+journey."
+
+"How so?" asked the other.  "I am not afraid to walk."
+
+"But I have lost my guide."
+
+"You have lost one and gained another, who will serve you with equal
+skill, since I know very well the road to Jiguani."
+
+"Of course you must know it," replied Ridge.  "How stupid of me not to
+remember! and, as we can take turns at riding my horse, we shall
+doubtless get along all right."
+
+There was no more sleep for either of the young soldiers that night;
+and by earliest dawn, having already eaten their frugal breakfast of
+roasted yams--an article of diet of which Ridge was becoming heartily
+tired--they set forth on the road to Jiguani.
+
+As they were already on the southern slope of the mountains and
+descending into a broad valley, they made such rapid progress, by
+alternately riding and walking, that the sun had not passed its
+meridian when they reached the Cauto--the longest river in Cuba.  There
+was formerly a small settlement at the crossing, but it had long since
+been destroyed, and now only presented the sight, so common in Cuba, of
+charred ruins devoid of human presence.  There was neither bridge nor
+boat, but Lieutenant Navarro declared the river fordable at this point.
+Ridge regarded dubiously the chocolate-colored flood already swollen by
+the first of the summer rains, and wished that they had at least two
+horses with which to cross it.  As they had not, and as nothing was to
+be gained by delay, he took his companion up behind him, and Senorita,
+thus doubly burdened, plunged bravely into the stream.  Until they were
+half-way across all went well, the mare cautiously feeling her way, and
+the water not reaching more than to her belly,  Then, without warning,
+she dropped into a hole so deep that the turbid current closed above
+the heads of her riders as well as her own.
+
+Reappearing on the surface, the mare struck out for shore, with Ridge
+swimming beside her, and the young Spaniard, who was a poor swimmer,
+clinging desperately to her tail.  Fortunately the channel into which
+they had plunged was so narrow that within two minutes they had reached
+its farther side in safety, and could once more touch bottom.  Wading
+up-stream to a point where the road left the river, they emerged from
+the water, soaked and dripping, but thankful to have met with no worse
+harm than a ducking.
+
+As Ridge turned to laugh at the forlorn appearance presented by his
+companion, the latter uttered an exclamation of dismay, and at the same
+moment they were surrounded by half a dozen as villainous-looking
+ruffians as our troopers had yet seen in Cuba.  His heart sank within
+him.  Again was he a prisoner with the prospect at least of having his
+journey seriously delayed.  In the confusion of the moment he did not
+note that those into whose hands he had fallen wore blouses and
+trousers of blue drilling traversed by narrow, vertical stripes of
+white, the campaign uniform of the Spanish army in Cuba; but his
+companion instantly recognized it, and demanded, with a tone of
+authority, "Who commands here?"
+
+"I do," replied the most ill-favored of the crew, stepping forward.
+
+"You are a guerilla, are you not?"
+
+"A captain of irregular cavalry, senor.  And you?"
+
+"I," replied the lieutenant, "am a major of regulars, attached to the
+staff of General Luis Pando, and on an urgent mission to Jiguani.  My
+horse was killed by insurgents this morning, and I had a narrow escape,
+leaving one of them dead."
+
+"Which is the reason that two of you rode one horse in crossing the
+river, and so led me to mistake you for 'mamby?'" [1] said the guerilla
+captain.
+
+"Very likely, sir, though I can't be accountable for your mistakes.
+Now you may let your men make a fire by which we can dry ourselves, and
+you may also have food prepared, for we are hungry."
+
+"But your friend, Major, who is he?" asked the other, scanning Ridge's
+brown canvas uniform doubtfully.
+
+"None of your business, sir.  Let it be sufficient that he is my
+friend, and do as I bid you without further words."
+
+At this Discipline, even though suspicious, yielded to the voice of
+Authority, and the guerilla made surly announcement that both fire and
+food were close at hand.
+
+This proved true; for, on gaining the face of the bluff, our friends
+found themselves in the presence of some twenty more guerillas, who
+were gathered about fires, cooking and eating strips of meat from a
+recently butchered steer.  Their horses were picketed close at hand,
+and beyond them grazed a herd of small wild-looking Cuban cattle.  For
+these this detachment of "beef-riders" had scoured the country-side,
+and they were now returning with them to Jiguani.  A scout from this
+party, patrolling the river-bank, had notified the captain that
+strangers were about to cross from the other side, and he had thus been
+enabled to prepare for their reception.
+
+He was evidently disappointed that they and their belongings could not
+be seized as prizes of war, and manifested this by the envious glances
+that he cast at Senorita as well as upon the weapons that Ridge was
+drying and cleaning.  Especially was the young trooper's rifle an
+object of longing admiration, and, after a critical examination, the
+captain even went so far as to offer to buy it; but Ridge refused to
+part with the gun, whereupon the man turned sulky, and declined to hold
+further intercourse with him.
+
+After a while the whole party again took the road, Lieutenant Navarro
+riding a spare horse that he had "requisitioned" from the guerilla
+leader.  The latter rode with his guests at the head of the
+advance-guard, and Ridge noticed that, as two scouts were still in
+front of them, while others of the guerillas rode on either side, they
+were completely surrounded, and practically prisoners.  He suggested as
+much to his companion, but the latter only smiled, and said:
+
+"What matters it, so long as we are safely escorted to Jiguani?"
+
+"But I don't want to go there."
+
+"True.  I had forgotten.  You wish to proceed to Enramada, where I am
+to join you."
+
+"Yes, on the second day from now."
+
+"With only slight delay we might travel together."
+
+"I have reasons for preferring to go alone."
+
+"You will be in danger from the Cubans."
+
+"Ask your guerilla captain if he thinks so."
+
+The latter said he did not believe there were any insurgents on the
+Enramada road just then, since their chief, General Garcia, had
+withdrawn from Bayamo, and was understood to be collecting his entire
+force near El Cobre, in the Sierra Maestra, or southern coast range.
+
+"Very well, then," said Ridge.  "I desire to leave you as soon as we
+come to the Enramada road, and I wish that you would inform your
+guerilla friend that I propose to do so."
+
+"I will do better; for when we reach the forks, which will be shortly,
+I will order you to take the one to the left, while we keep to the
+right, and he will not dare attempt to detain you."
+
+But the guerilla, who had determined to possess himself of Ridge's
+horse and rifle, did dare do that very thing.  Thus, when at the
+forking of the roads the order was given as proposed, and Ridge started
+to obey it, the captain whipped out a pistol, and declared that the
+stranger must accompany him into Jiguani for examination before the
+authorities.
+
+At this our young trooper clapped spurs to Senorita, flung himself flat
+on her back, and dashed away on his chosen road, followed by a
+scattering volley of pistol-shots, and by four of the best mounted
+among the guerillas, who, at their captain's command, sprang after him
+in hot pursuit.
+
+
+[1] Derisive term applied by Spaniards to Cuban insurgents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+DEATH OF SENORITA
+
+From the earliest days of Spanish rule in Cuba human life has been held
+very cheap.  Especially of late years, when thousands of men, women,
+and children have been wantonly murdered, has the killing of a man for
+any reason been lightly regarded.  So in the present instance the
+guerilla captain instructed those detailed to overtake the escaping
+prisoner to kill him and bring back all his property.  It seemed to him
+an easy task for his well-mounted beef-riders, familiar with every foot
+of that region, to overtake and overpower one who had already travelled
+far that day, and was evidently a stranger to the country.  When they
+had done so he would obtain that coveted rifle.  On the whole, he was
+glad that one of his prisoners had made a foolish dash for liberty, and
+rather wished the other would do the same thing.
+
+But the other contented himself with denouncing the action of the
+guerilla captain in bitter terms, and promising to report it the moment
+they reached the Spanish lines.  At all of which the latter only smiled
+contemptuously.
+
+In the mean time Ridge, lying low on his horse's neck to offer as small
+a target as possible to the shots fired by his pursuers whenever they
+sighted him, was uttering words of encouragement in Senorita's ear, and
+she was responding with such a burst of speed that the beef-riders were
+quickly left far behind.  At length nothing was to be seen or heard of
+them; and, believing that they had given over the chase as hopeless,
+the young trooper allowed the panting mare who had borne him so bravely
+to slacken her heading pace until it was reduced to a walk.
+
+He was still in the broad Cauto valley, where the sabanetas, or open
+glades of tall grasses, were interspersed with wide tracts of
+impenetrable jungle and forests of palms.  By these his view was
+limited on every side, but he knew that the mountains among which he
+hoped to find the insurgent leader lay to the southward.  So he
+determined to leave the road by the first trail leading in that
+direction, and continue on it until he should meet some one willing to
+guide him to his destination.
+
+Having formed this crude plan, and believing that Senorita had been
+allowed sufficient time to recover her breath, he began to urge her to
+a better speed, but, to his surprise, she failed to respond.  Neither
+words nor spur served to move her from the slow walk into which she had
+fallen.  Such a thing had not happened since the beginning of their
+acquaintance in far-away San Antonio, and the young trooper dismounted
+to discover what had gone wrong.
+
+He had not far to look, for, as he touched the ground, a red trickle of
+blood caught his eye.  The plucky little mare had been hit by one of
+the beef-riders' shots, but had given no sign until now, when her
+weakness could no longer be overcome.  So copious was the flow of blood
+that it was evident an artery had been severed, and already had the
+loss been very great.  In vain did Ridge strive to stanch the cruel
+outspurt.  He had no proper appliances, and the evil was too serious to
+be remedied by his simple skill.  Even as he made the attempt the
+gallant beast swayed, staggered, and then sank with a groan to the
+ground.  Almost sobbing with grief and dismay, Ridge flung himself
+beside her and threw an arm caressingly across her neck.
+
+"Poor old girl!  Dear old girl!" he cried.  "To think that I should
+have brought you here just for this.  It is too bad! too bad!  And what
+shall I do without you?"
+
+Then with a sudden thought he sprang to his feet and began an eager
+search on both sides of the road for water, but found none.
+Disappointed and heavy-hearted, he returned to Senorita.  She lay as he
+had left her, but motionless and with closed eyes.  Again he knelt at
+her side, and at the sound of his voice the loving eyes were once more
+opened.  At the same time, with a mighty effort, the proud head was
+uplifted, as though the mare were about to struggle to her feet.  Just
+then came a shot from behind them, and, with a bullet intended for her
+young master buried deep in her brain, the dear horse yielded up her
+life.
+
+The shot was so instantly followed by a clatter of hoofs, that Ridge
+had barely time to snatch his rifle and fling himself to the ground
+behind Senorita's body before the beef-riders appeared charging up the
+road, yelling and firing, as they came.
+
+With his rifle resting across the mare's side, Ridge took quick aim and
+fired.  One of the advancing horsemen threw up his arms and fell over
+backward, but the young American did not see him; for, without waiting
+to note the effect of his shot, he dropped the rifle and seized his
+revolver.  It was a self-cocking weapon, and as rapidly as he could
+pull the trigger he delivered the contents of all six chambers at the
+guerillas.  Whether or not they fired in return he did not know, but as
+the smoke from his own fusillade cleared away he saw one man lying
+motionless in the road, and another dragging himself into the grass at
+one side.  From that direction also came the furious plunging of a
+horse.  Of the others who had pursued him nothing was to be seen.
+Hastily reloading his revolver, and throwing another cartridge into the
+chamber of his rifle, Ridge nervously awaited further developments.
+Would they again charge upon his front, or would they seek to outflank
+him by crawling through the dense growth on either side?  The latter
+would be the safer move, and could be easily made.
+
+As our young soldier realized this, he decided to forestall the attempt
+by taking to the grass himself, and in another moment he was cautiously
+creeping on hands and knees amid the hot brown stalks that grew many
+feet above his head.  Fearing that his movement might attract
+attention, he did not go far; but, after making his way for a few rods
+parallel to the road, he again gained its edge and halted at a place
+where, peering between the grass stems, he could see his dead horse.
+
+Here he lay motionless until he became convinced that his enemies had
+beaten a retreat and would trouble him no more.  Thus thinking,
+impatient of delay, and painfully cramped by his position, he was about
+to rise when the long silence was broken by a low cuckoo call close at
+hand.  Was it a signal or the note of some strange bird?  As Ridge
+hesitated, the call was answered from the other side of the road.
+Again it sounded from the side on which he lay; then, from the opposite
+side a man's head came slowly into view, low down among the grass
+stems.  After hasty glances both up and down the road it was withdrawn,
+and the cuckoo notes were again exchanged.  Then two of the baffled
+beef-riders rose boldly to their feet and stepped out in full view,
+close beside the dead horse.  The young trooper could not distinguish
+their words; but, from their angry gestures, they were discussing his
+disappearance and the advisability of a further attempt to capture him.
+
+At the same moment his own thoughts were of a most conflicting nature.
+One of the men was covered by his rifle, and his finger was on its
+ready trigger, but he hesitated to pull it.  They had killed his horse
+and sought to take his life.  Even now they would shoot him down
+without mercy, and as a pastime, if the opportunity offered.  Knowing
+this, and realizing his danger if those men should discover him, the
+young American still hesitated to fire from ambush and take human life
+in cold blood.
+
+That others did not feel as he did about such things was shown while he
+hesitated, for the two beef-riders had been in sight but a few seconds
+when there came a flash and a roar of guns from the opposite side of
+the road, a little beyond where Ridge was hiding.  Both the guerillas
+fell as though struck by a thunder-bolt, and their blue-clad forms lay
+motionless across Senorita's body.  Her death was amply avenged.
+
+At this startling demonstration in his behalf, Ridge sprang to his feet
+in full view of half a dozen men, ragged and swarthy, who were running
+down the road with yells of delight.  They halted at sight of the
+stranger, and some raised their weapons; but he, recognizing them as
+Cubans, called out: "I am Americano, and those Spaniards whom you have
+so bravely killed sought my life.  Viva Cuba libre!"
+
+Upon this they again advanced with shouts and eager questions.  They
+belonged to a detachment of the Cuban army on its way to join General
+Garcia, and had been attracted by the sound of firing.  Coming to
+discover its cause, they had seen the dead horse, and were stealing
+cautiously towards it when halted by the familiar cuckoo call of their
+enemies.
+
+That Ridge had suffered at the hands of the Spaniards, and fought with
+them, was a sufficient passport to their favor.  Thus when he explained
+his desire to meet their general they consented to guide him to the
+Cuban rendezvous, which they said was high up in the mountains.
+
+With a heavy heart and tear-dimmed eyes the young American turned from
+a last look at his beloved horse, and set forth with these new
+acquaintances on their toilsome march.  He carried only his arms, but
+the Cubans had stripped the dead--both men and horses--of everything
+valuable, and were thus well laden with trophies.
+
+A short distance from the spot where Senorita had given her own life in
+saving that of her master, they turned into a barely discernible trail
+that soon brought them to the foot-hills, where they camped for the
+night.  All the next day they pushed on, with infrequent halts, ever
+climbing higher over trails so rough and obscure that only experienced
+eyes could follow them.  Here and there they passed food-stations
+guarded by old men, poorly clad women, and naked children.  Each of
+these consisted of a thatched hut, an open fire, and a sweet-potato
+patch, and to the marching Cubans they supplied roasted potatoes,
+sugar-cane, and occasionally a few ripe mangoes.
+
+Ridge and a guide, to whom he had promised money, outstripped the
+others, and shortly before sunset of the second day reached the summit
+of a pass lying between the great bulk of El Cobre on the east and Pico
+Turquino, the tallest mountain in Cuba.  From this point was outspread
+a superb view of densely wooded mountain slopes tumbling steeply down
+to the boundless blue of the Caribbean Sea.  Here the guide departed,
+promising shortly to return, leaving Ridge to gaze upon the wonderful
+panorama unfolded on all sides, and thrilled with the thought that he
+had crossed Cuba.
+
+While he stood thus, forgetful of everything save the marvellous beauty
+of his surroundings, he was puzzled by a sound as of distant thunder
+coming from a direction in which no cloud was visible.  As he
+speculated concerning this phenomenon, he was startled by a voice close
+at hand saying, in English: "That is a welcome sound to Cuban ears,
+senor, since it is the thunder of American war-ships bombarding the
+defences of Santiago."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+CALIXTO GARCIA THE CUBAN
+
+"The thunder of American war-ships!"  Instantly, as Ridge learned its
+nature, the mighty sound took on a new significance, and seemed like
+the voice of his own glorious country demanding freedom for an
+oppressed people.  Filled with this thought, he turned to the man who
+had suggested it, and found himself in the presence of one wearing the
+uniform of a Cuban officer.  The latter had taken off his hat, and the
+young American noted a livid bullet scar in the centre of his broad
+white forehead.  The man was elderly, fine-looking, and smooth-shaven
+except for a heavy white mustache.  His picture had been published in
+every illustrated paper and magazine in the United States.
+
+Promptly giving a military salute, Ridge said, "I believe I have the
+honor of addressing General Garcia."
+
+"Yes, I am Calixto Garcia.  But who are you?"
+
+"An officer of the American army, come to you with a message from its
+commanding General."
+
+"Have you credentials or despatches by which you may be known?"
+
+"Only this, sir."  Here Ridge lowered his voice and gave, for the
+second time since landing in Cuba, the secret countersign of the Junta.
+
+"It is sufficient," said the General, smiling and holding out his hand.
+"Now what is your message?"
+
+"That the American army of invasion, having sailed from Tampa, is due
+within the next two days to arrive off Santiago; and General Shafter,
+who commands it, is desirous of an interview with you before landing
+his troops.  He asks you to name the place of meeting."
+
+"Thank you, sir, for bringing me this great news, and gladly will I
+meet your General whenever he may choose to come.  Also I will fix the
+place of meeting down yonder at Aserraderos.  From this station I will
+watch day and night for his ships, and when they come will be ready to
+receive him."
+
+"Very good, sir.  I will so report to my General."
+
+"But how do you expect to communicate with him?" asked Garcia,
+curiously.
+
+"I propose to go from here to Enramada, to which place I was about to
+ask you to favor me with a mount and a guide.  At that point I have
+arranged to meet a friend who will give me Spanish protection, and
+under whose escort I shall visit Santiago.  After that I shall be
+guided by circumstances.  But if I live I shall certainly be at
+Daiquiri in time to meet the American army."
+
+"You have undertaken a difficult task, and I only hope it may be
+accomplished," replied the General, thoughtfully.  "Of course I will
+furnish you with a horse and an escort to Enramada, which place, as you
+are doubtless aware, is already occupied by my men."
+
+"By the Cubans?" cried Ridge, in dismay.
+
+"Certainly.  We drove out the Spaniards several days ago, and have
+advanced our lines to within a few miles of Santiago.  At present that
+city is surrounded on three sides by the forces of Generals Castillo
+and Rabi."
+
+"In that case, sir, I shall ask for protection to the extreme limit of
+the Cuban lines, both for myself and my friend."
+
+"Is he a Spaniard?" asked Garcia, suspiciously.
+
+"He is an American citizen," replied Ridge, "though at present
+appearing as a Spaniard, and wearing the uniform of a Spanish officer."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+"He is travelling under the name of Ramon Navarro."
+
+"Very Spanish indeed, and he could not have done a more reckless or
+foolish thing than attempt to pass himself off as a Spaniard in this
+part of the island.  If he is discovered near Enramada he will
+undoubtedly be killed without a chance to explain who he really is.
+But that is the way with you Americans.  Confident in your own
+ignorance, you are always pushing ahead without stopping to count the
+cost."
+
+"At the same time we generally get there."
+
+"Get where?" asked the other, sharply.
+
+"To the place we start for."
+
+"Oh yes, you get there, in some shape, though perhaps sorry that you
+have done so.  In the present campaign, for instance, I have no doubt
+that the very first Americans landed will make a dash for Santiago,
+without waiting for artillery or even provisions.  If they win a
+victory, it will be by the good fortune that often attends fools; but
+the chances are that when they enter Santiago it will be as prisoners
+of war."
+
+"Sir!" cried Ridge, "I am an American, and an officer in the American
+army."
+
+"Pardon, senor; I forgot," replied the General.  "I was allowing myself
+to utter aloud my thoughts, a thing extremely wrong and ill-advised.  I
+have really no doubt in the world that your gallant countrymen will
+conduct themselves most admirably.  Now if you will come to my poor
+camp I will make you as comfortable as possible for the night, and in
+the morning we will decide what is best for you to do."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said our young trooper, "but with your permission I
+should prefer to make a start at once, with the hope of reaching
+Enramada before my comrade, and thus preventing a sad mistake on the
+part of your troops."
+
+"But, my young friend, you have already travelled far to-day and are
+exhausted."
+
+"I still have some strength left."
+
+"Night is upon us, and the trails are very dangerous."
+
+"There is a young moon, and you will furnish reliable guides," replied
+Ridge, smiling.
+
+"If I should not furnish them?"
+
+"Then I would set forth alone."
+
+"You are determined, then, to proceed at once?"
+
+"I am, sir, unless detained by force."
+
+"Ah, heavens!  These Americans!" cried the General, with an air of
+resignation.  "They will leave nothing for to-morrow that may be
+squeezed into to-day.  They know not the meaning of 'manana.'  Ever
+impatient, ever careless of consequences, and yet they succeed.  Can it
+be that theirs is the way of wisdom?  But no, it is their good fortune,
+what they call 'luck.'  Yes, senor, it shall be as you desire.  In an
+hour all shall be in readiness for your departure."
+
+"Couldn't you make it half an hour, General?" asked Ridge, with an
+audacity that drew forth only a grunt from the Cuban leader.
+
+So it happened that in something less than an hour from the time of
+this important interview our young American, well fed, and provided
+with a pass through the Cuban lines for himself and one friend, was
+retracing his steps down the northern slope of the Sierra Maestra.  He
+was mounted on a raw-backed but sure-footed Cuban pony, and escorted by
+half a dozen ragged cavalrymen.  They had barely started before he was
+thankful that he had not attempted to make the journey unguided; nor
+had they gone a mile before he knew that he could never have
+accomplished it alone.  Often he found himself traversing narrow trails
+on the brink of black space where a single misstep would have brought
+his career to a sudden termination.  Again he passed through gloomy
+tunnels of dense foliage, slid down precipitous banks, only to plunge
+into rushing, bowlder-strewn torrents at the bottom, and scramble up
+slopes of slippery clay on the farther side, All this was done by the
+feeble and ever-lessening light of a moon in its first quarter, and as
+it finally sank out of sight the leader of the escort called a halt,
+declaring that they could not move another rod before daybreak.
+
+Thus Ridge was forced to take a few hours of rest, and so exhausted was
+he that his companions had difficulty in rousing him at dawn.  Again
+they pushed forward, shivering in the chill of early morning, and
+blistered by the sun's fervent heat a few hours later, until ten
+o'clock found them on the grass-grown highway leading from Santiago to
+Bayamo, and a few miles west of Enramada.  Here, as Ridge believed
+himself to be well in advance of his comrade, he decided to await his
+coming.  At the same time he sent one of his escort into Enramada to
+discover if Lieutenant Navarro had by any chance reached that place,
+and to arrange for fresh mounts.  Then he threw himself down in the
+scant shadow of a thorny bush for a nap.
+
+Apparently his companions, who had promised to keep a close watch of
+the highway, did the same thing, for when he next awoke it was with a
+start and the consciousness that a horseman was dashing past at full
+speed on the road to Enramada.
+
+In less than a minute the shamefaced squad was in hot pursuit, but
+though they strove to atone for their neglect of duty by furious
+riding, they did not overtake the horseman until they discovered him
+halted by an outpost, who allowed him to pass as they came in sight.
+When they in turn were halted they learned that the man whom they had
+followed so briskly was a Cuban scout just in from a tour of
+observation.
+
+So Ridge rode slowly into Enramada, reported to the officer in command,
+and remained in that wretched village until nightfall in a state of
+nervous impatience.  He was most anxious to push forward, since every
+minute was now of value, but could not desert the friend whom he had
+promised to meet at this place.  He feared that without his protection
+Navarro would come to grief among the Cubans, and also he was depending
+upon the young Spaniard for a safe entry into Santiago.
+
+At length dusk had fallen.  The impatient young trooper had eaten a
+supper of tough bull-beef and "those everlasting yams," as he called
+them, with his Cuban friends, and was pacing restlessly to and fro a
+short distance beyond a camp-fire, about which they smoked their
+cigarettes, when a ragged, slouch-hatted figure approached him.
+
+"Senor Americano."
+
+"Well, what do you want?"
+
+"If Don Jose Remelios desires the company of Ramon Navarro into
+Santiago, I am ready."
+
+"Good Heavens, man!"
+
+"Hush!  Tell them you can wait no longer.  Set forth alone, follow the
+railroad, and I will meet you."
+
+Then, before Ridge could reply, the figure darted away and was lost in
+the night shadows.
+
+Fifteen minutes later the young American, despite the polite protests
+of his entertainers, had left Enramada, dismissed the escort who had
+passed him through the Cuban pickets, declined further guidance, on the
+plea that he could not get lost while following the railway, and was
+watching anxiously for the appearance of his friend.
+
+Suddenly he was confronted by a motionless horseman dimly seen on the
+embankment ahead of him, and in another minute the comrades were
+exchanging greetings.
+
+"How did you reach Enramada without my knowledge?" asked Ridge,
+finally.  "I have watched every moving creature in the place since
+noon."
+
+"Slipped in, disguised by this horrible Cuban costume, after dark,"
+laughed Navarro.  "Shouldn't have come at all but for my promise, and a
+recollection that I was a prisoner of war on parole, since I learned at
+Jiguani that Enramada was occupied by the insurgents."
+
+"But I have a pass for you from Garcia himself."
+
+"Even had I known it I should not have ventured among those who might
+have recognized me; for where a Spaniard is concerned, any Cuban will
+kill him first and examine his pass afterwards."
+
+"I suppose that is so," replied Ridge, with a memory of del Concha.
+"Anyhow, I am mighty glad everything is turning out so well.  Now,
+hurrah for Santiago, and the American army that is to capture it!"
+
+"Do you believe they can do it?"
+
+"Of course I do," was the confident answer.  But a few hours later,
+when from a wooded hilltop he looked down, upon the widespread city in
+which were quartered 10,000 veteran troops, protected by strong
+intrenchments, formidable batteries, and by Admiral Cervera's powerful
+squadron, he wondered if, after all, his countrymen had not undertaken
+a task far more difficult than they imagined.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE TWO ADMIRALS
+
+It was a glorious morning, and a glorious sight was disclosed by the
+rising sun--a palm-shaded city of red-tiled roofs, dominated by a fine,
+double-towered cathedral, and a broad, land-locked bay set in a circle
+of rounded hills and rugged mountains.  On the placid bosom of the bay
+rode Cervera's proud squadron of war-ships--five mighty cruisers, four
+of which were of the latest model and most approved armament; two
+wicked-looking torpedo-boat destroyers, each claimed to be more than a
+match for any battle-ship afloat, and a few gunboats that had been used
+for coast patrol.  From the war-ships came the cherry notes of bugles,
+and from the Plaza de Armas, in which a regiment was passing in review,
+swelled the inspiring music of a full military band.  Beyond the city
+every near-by elevation was occupied by a stout block-house, each
+displaying the red and yellow flag of Spain, and forming the nucleus
+for radiating lines of rifle-pits.  Far down at the entrance to the bay
+rose the grim walls of Santiago's Morro Castle, and beyond it floated
+against the blue sky soft smoke clouds that Ridge felt sure must come
+from the American ships on blockade.
+
+This was Santiago.  This the peaceful scene that was soon to be
+transformed into a battle-field.  Here, within a few days, victory and
+defeat would meet face to face.  Which side would claim the former?
+Until this moment Ridge had never doubted.  He had often heard the
+boast that his own regiment could drive every Spaniard out of Cuba, and
+had believed it.  Now he knew that here alone was work cut out for an
+army.
+
+These reflections of our young trooper were interrupted by his
+companion, who said, "It is a wonderful picture; but I am too hungry to
+gaze on it any longer; so let us hasten into the city, with the hope of
+finding a breakfast."
+
+Both the young men wore Spanish uniforms that Navarro had brought with
+him, and, protected by these, they rode boldly down to the nearest
+outpost.  Here the lieutenant demanded that they be conducted to
+headquarters, to which they were accordingly sent under guard.
+
+Many of the narrow streets through which they passed were indescribably
+filthy, but these became cleaner as they neared the Casa Municipal.
+Here they were graciously received by General Linares, to whom they
+were presented by one of his staff, who recognized Navarro as a friend.
+The General complimented them on having eluded the Cubans, and was much
+gratified to learn that Pando's army was on its way from Holguin to
+reinforce him.  After a few minutes of conversation, during which he
+promised to give both of them details for field duty, he dismissed
+them, and they were at liberty to accept an invitation to breakfast at
+the San Carlos Club.
+
+In the cool club-house, which faces the Plaza de Armas, where the band
+plays in the evening and fountains plash softly amid blossoming
+shrubbery, Ridge and his companion were introduced to many officers, a
+number of whom were from the warships.
+
+Santiago was very dull just then; its communication with the outside
+world was cut off.  No ships could enter its beautiful harbor, business
+was almost at a standstill, and there was little to talk about.  So the
+advent of two strangers into the club was hailed with joy, and they
+were plied with questions.  No one seemed to suspect that our young
+American was other than what he professed to be, though his answers to
+many of their questions were necessarily vague and unsatisfactory.  In
+order to entertain them, the resident officers proposed various trips
+to places of near-by interest, such as the fortifications, the barracks
+where Lieutenant Hobson of the American navy was confined, the Morro,
+from which a view of the blockading squadron could be had, or to the
+Spanish war-ships lying in the harbor, the last of which was accepted
+for that morning.
+
+As soon, therefore, as breakfast was over, the new-comers were escorted
+to the water-front, where lay several steam-launches.  As they reached
+the landing-place a fine-looking man, white bearded, with twinkling
+eyes and kindly features, drove up in a carriage, and alighting with
+springy step, was instantly saluted by every officer present.  He
+acknowledged the courtesy by lifting his hat and speaking to several of
+them, whom he called by name.  Emboldened by his kindness, these
+ventured to present the new arrivals and mention their desire to visit
+the Spanish ships; whereupon Admiral Cervera, bravest and most
+chivalrous of Spain's commanders, promptly invited them to accompany
+him to the flag-ship.
+
+As they steamed down the bay in the superbly appointed launch flying an
+Admiral's flag and manned by a picked crew in snowy duck, Ridge sat
+silent, in a very confused frame of mind, and paying scant attention to
+the gay conversation carried on by the other members of the party.  He
+had been overcome by the courtesy of his reception in Santiago, and was
+feeling keenly the meanness of his position.
+
+"I'll be shot for disobedience of orders before I ever again undertake
+to act the low-down part of a spy," he reflected, bitterly.  At the
+same time he was wondering how he should manage to escape the kindly
+but embarrassing attentions of these new-found friends, and reach
+Daiquiri in time to communicate with General Shafter upon his arrival.
+
+In spite of these thoughts, he did not fail to admire the beauty and
+massive symmetry of the ships they were approaching.  There lay the
+_Cristobal Colon_, latest product of Italian skill; the splendid
+_Vizcaya_, that had recently attracted the admiration of all who saw
+her in New York Harbor; the _Almirante Oquendo_, that had been received
+with such wild enthusiasm in Havana; the _Maria Teresa_, famed for the
+richness of her interior fittings; the _Reina Mercedes_, used as a
+hospital-ship; the _Pluton_ and the _Furor_, low, black, and ugly to
+look upon, both holding records for enormous speed, and more dreaded as
+engines of destruction than all the others put together.  Stripped to
+fighting trim, these ships were the very embodiment of modern
+sea-power, and in his ignorance Ridge wondered if anything afloat could
+resist them.  From them his attention was at length attracted to the
+Admiral, who was saying:
+
+"I am about to send this launch, under a flag of truce, out to the
+American flag-ship to procure some supplies for our prisoners, the
+Senor Hobson and his men.  So if you have a desire to view the Yankee
+ships at close range I shall be pleased to have you accompany it.
+Possibly you speak the English, in which case you might prove of use as
+interpreter."
+
+"I do not speak it so well as does my friend the Senor Remelios,"
+replied Lieutenant Navarro, to whom this invitation had been extended.
+
+"Then it may be that he will do me the favor to accompany the launch,"
+suggested the Admiral, and of course Ridge gladly embraced the
+opportunity thus offered.
+
+"Perhaps I can stay on board the American ship," he said to himself,
+"and not be compelled to revisit Santiago until I can do so as an
+honest fighter, instead of as a contemptible spy.  And what a chance it
+will be for Navarro to escape from the Spaniards!"
+
+Half an hour later the trim launch, now displaying a large white flag
+forward, had passed the masts of the sunken _Merrimac_, the frowning
+Morro on its lofty headland, and, standing out to sea, was drawing near
+the superb cruiser _New York_, flag-ship of Admiral Sampson's fleet.
+On either side of her, in imposing array, lay the great battle-ships
+_Iowa_, _Massachusetts_, _Texas_, and _Oregon_, the last of which had
+recently hurried to the scene of conflict from San Francisco, making a
+record voyage of 13,000 miles by way of Cape Horn.  Besides these there
+was the _Brooklyn_, swiftest of American cruisers, together with half a
+dozen more--cruisers, gunboats, yachts, and torpedo-boats--all in
+war-paint, all ready for instant action, and all flying the banner of
+stars and stripes.  At the wonderful sight Ridge's heart glowed with
+patriotism and a new courage.  How impregnable looked the huge
+battle-ships!--how terrible!  Nothing could withstand them!  He felt
+sure of that.
+
+The young Spaniard who sat beside him gazed on the outspread American
+fleet in silent amazement.  He had thought Cervera's ships formidable,
+but now it seemed to him they would be but playthings for these modern
+leviathans.
+
+As the Spanish launch ranged alongside the flagship, an object of
+curious attention to all on board, it was courteously received; but, to
+Ridge's disappointment, only the officer in charge was permitted to
+leave it.  A few minutes later, however, a cadet tripped lightly down
+the side ladder to say that the gentleman who spoke English was
+requested to report on deck.  As in obedience to this order our young
+trooper followed him up the ladder, he found opportunity to say in a
+low but earnest voice:
+
+"I must see the Admiral, alone if possible.  Have important
+communication for him.  Try and arrange an interview."
+
+The cadet looked back in surprise, and then nodded his head.  The next
+moment they were on deck, when the "Senor Remelios" could barely
+control his joyful emotions at finding himself once more among his
+countrymen and beneath his country's flag.
+
+After a brief transaction of business the guests were invited into the
+ward-room, which they had scarcely entered when word was passed that
+the one speaking English was again wanted on deck.  Promptly obeying
+this summons, Ridge was conducted to a large after-cabin which he found
+occupied by two officers.  One, with stern features, iron-gray beard,
+deeply lined forehead, and piercing eyes, he instantly recognized as
+Admiral Sampson.  The other he guessed to be Captain Chadwick,
+commander of the ship.
+
+"Well, sir," began the former, sharply, as the new-comer was left
+standing, cap in hand, before them, "I understand that you wish to make
+a private communication of importance.  What is it?  Are you desirous
+of deserting your countrymen and joining us?  If so, I would advise you
+to go elsewhere before declaring your intention, because on board this
+ship we have very little sympathy for deserters."
+
+"Seeing that I am an American soldier, sir, belonging to Colonel Wood's
+First Volunteer Cavalry, and am here by special order from General
+Miles, I don't think there is much danger that I shall desert," replied
+Ridge.
+
+Both of his hearers uttered exclamations as he announced his
+nationality, and Captain Chadwick muttered, "I should never have
+suspected it."
+
+At that moment Ridge caught sight of his own face in a mirror, the
+first he had seen in two weeks, and was startled to note how very
+Spanish he looked.
+
+In a few minutes he had explained the situation, and given General
+Garcia's message appointing Aserraderos as a meeting-place to the
+American commander.  When his report was finished, he added: "Now, sir,
+can't I remain here until the army arrives?  I never realized until
+to-day how humiliating it is to be a spy."
+
+"I wish I might say yes," replied Admiral Sampson, meditatively, "but
+fear I cannot.  According to your own account, you have not completed
+your mission by making a study of the condition and defences of
+Santiago, upon which you are to report to the commander of the first
+American force that lands.  Also, I could not detain one who comes as a
+Spanish officer under flag of truce, without making things very
+unpleasant for such of our men as are held prisoners by the enemy.  You
+must not think of your position as humiliating, but as one of great
+importance and responsibility, as well as of great danger.  You say,
+too, that you have a Spanish friend in the launch who wishes to remain
+here with you, and whom you cannot desert, but I certainly could not
+receive him under the circumstances.  Therefore, much as I regret to
+say so, it seems to me that both my duty and yours point to your return
+by the way you came."
+
+As Ridge, admitting the justice of this decision, was about to take his
+leave, the executive officer of the ship entered hastily and reported:
+
+"A heavy smoke to the eastward, sir, believed to be that of the
+transports bringing General Shafter's army."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A SPANIARD'S LOYALTY
+
+Both officers sprang to their feet at the startling announcement that
+the eagerly awaited but long delayed transports were in sight, and
+Admiral Sampson extended his hand to Ridge, saying:
+
+"Go back to Santiago and your duty, my boy.  I will convey your report
+concerning the meeting with Garcia to General Shafter."
+
+Then all hurried to the deck, and in another minute the great war-ship
+had started eastward to welcome the troops, while the Spanish launch,
+which had been hastily dismissed, was heading towards Santiago Bay with
+every member of the party she had brought out still on board.
+
+"What is about to happen?" asked one of the Spanish officers, in
+bewilderment.
+
+"The ships bringing the American army have been sighted," replied
+Ridge, who saw no reason for withholding information that must soon be
+known to every one.
+
+Upon this there was great excitement in the launch, which was pressed
+to its utmost speed, that the news might be carried to Admiral Cervera
+and General Linares as quickly as possible.
+
+At his own request, Ridge, in company with Lieutenant Navarro, was
+permitted to carry it to the General, who said, quietly:
+
+"Very good, gentlemen; and now, since the time for action has arrived,
+I will assign you to the important duty of patrolling the coast, from
+which you will bring to me, at Sevilla, earliest word of any attempted
+landing by the enemy.  You will act independently, but in co-operation
+with Captain del Rey, who is already scouting in the neighborhood of
+Guantanamo with his company of cavalry.  It is supposed that the
+landing will be made there, but--as Heaven only knows what these
+Yankees may do--we must watch every possible point."
+
+Nothing could have suited Ridge better than this; and a few minutes
+later, with Santiago left behind, he and his companion were galloping
+in the direction of the Morro, from whose lofty walls they would be
+able to command a vast sweep of ocean and coast.  Already were its
+garrison crowding tower and battlement to gaze wonderingly at the
+American fleet coming from the eastward.  A double column eight miles
+long of ships, crowded to their utmost capacity with armed men, was
+advancing under low-trailing banners of black smoke, like a resistless
+fate.  As they neared the war-ships, that had for a month impatiently
+awaited them, these thundered forth a welcome from their big guns.
+Bands played, swift steam-launches darted to and fro, and a mighty
+volume of cheering from twice ten thousand throats was borne to those
+who listened on land like the roar of a breaking tempest.  The American
+army and navy had met at last, and were joined in a common cause.
+
+For an hour our young trooper watched with swelling heart this
+wonderful meeting of his countrymen.  Then he had the satisfaction of
+seeing one of the transports steam away to the westward in the
+direction of Aserraderos.  While his companions asked one another the
+meaning of this manoeuvre, he believed it to indicate that the meeting
+between Generals Shafter and Garcia, for which he had arranged, was
+about to be effected.
+
+As it was evident that no landing was to be attempted that day, the
+young men so reported to General Linares at Sevilla, where they also
+spent the night.  Another day of suspense and anxious waiting was
+passed, with the American transports rolling idly in the offing, and
+making no effort to discharge their human freight.  At the same time
+the war-ships kept the Spaniards in a state of feverish excitement by
+shelling every place along twenty miles of coast where a landing might
+be made.
+
+A swarm of Spanish scouts watched these operations from the hill-tops,
+and at short intervals during the day reported the enemy's movements to
+General Linares; but of them all none was so active as Ridge and his
+companion.  From earliest dawn until dark they scoured the country
+lying adjacent to the coast, gaining a complete knowledge of its
+so-called roads, which were but the roughest of trails, only intended
+for saddle or pack animals, and of its defences.  They also made such
+full reports to headquarters of everything that was going on as to
+completely win the confidence of the Spanish commander.  Consequently
+he was not prepared to accept, without further proof, the abrupt
+statement made by a major of his staff, that one of his favorite scouts
+was an American, and probably a spy.
+
+It was the second day after the arrival of the transports.  The two
+officers were alone in the room occupied by General Linares as an
+office, and from it Ridge had just departed after making a report to
+the effect that he had not yet seen anything indicating the selection
+of a landing-place on the part of the enemy.
+
+"What makes you think him an American?" asked the General.
+
+"Because," replied the Major, "I have recognized him.  His face was
+familiar from the first, and when I saw him ride I knew that I had also
+seen him ride before, but could not tell where.  Only now has it come
+to me, and I know that in Yokohama I saw him within a year win the
+great hurdle-race of the English and American residents."
+
+"Even that would not make him an American."
+
+"It was everywhere proclaimed that he was such."
+
+"Are you certain that this is the same man?"
+
+"I am certain.  I now also recall his name.  It was Norreese--the Senor
+Norreese."
+
+"But he was introduced by Lieutenant Navarro, who is known to every
+one, and whose loyalty is beyond question."
+
+"Did Lieutenant Navarro know him in Spain?"
+
+"I will ask him."
+
+So an orderly was despatched to request Lieutenant Navarro to report
+immediately at headquarters.
+
+The two friends were eating a hasty lunch when this message reached
+them, and Ridge had just announced his intention to start for Daiquiri
+as soon as it was finished.  He alone knew that the American landing
+would be made there, and he wished to be on hand when it was effected.
+Navarro had arranged to go with him, and both were impatient of the
+delay promised by the General's order.
+
+"It is too bad!" exclaimed Ridge; "for we ought to be there now, since
+they may already be landing.  I hope the General doesn't want to send
+us off in some other direction."
+
+"For fear that he may," said the other, "you had better start at once
+towards Daiquiri, and I will follow the moment I am at liberty to do
+so."
+
+"That's good advice," repeated Ridge, "and I will do as you suggest."
+
+With this understanding, and having arranged a place of meeting, the
+young trooper set forth on his twelve-mile ride over the narrow trails
+of the broken and densely wooded hill country lying southeast from
+Sevilla, while Navarro hastened to obey the summons of the Spanish
+General.
+
+"How long have you known the Senor Remelios?" was the first question
+asked of the young Lieutenant.
+
+"Only since meeting him in Holguin, where General Pando introduced us,
+and ordered me to accompany him."
+
+"Have you noted anything suspicious in his actions--anything that would
+lead you to suspect him of being other than what he claims?"
+
+"I have not, sir," answered the Lieutenant, calmly, though with inward
+trepidation, since the question showed that a suspicion of some kind
+had been directed against his friend.
+
+"Neither have I," said the General; "for he has admirably performed the
+duties assigned to him.  At the same time I am desirous of asking him
+some questions, and so have sent for him.  I will request also that you
+remain during our interview, and carefully compare his answers with
+your own knowledge of his recent movements."
+
+Just here the Major who had recognized Ridge, and who had gone to bring
+him to headquarters, returned with the information that he whom they
+sought was not to be found.
+
+"Do you know where he is?" asked the General, sharply, of Lieutenant
+Navarro.
+
+"I do not, sir, though I think it likely that he has started for
+Siboney, where we had planned to go together to watch the American
+ships."
+
+"Then you will accompany Major Alvarez to that place, find the Senor
+Remelios, and use your friendly influence to bring him back here.  If
+for any reason he should refuse to come, he must be compelled by force,
+for he is suspected of being an American spy.  I tell you this, because
+there is no question of Lieutenant Navarro's loyalty, and I assign you
+to this duty to show how entirely I trust you."
+
+"I will do my best, sir," replied the young Spaniard, acknowledging
+this compliment with a bow.  Then, wondering in which direction his
+duty really lay, he departed in company with the Major, who was
+impatient to make good his charges against the Senor Remelios.
+
+Lieutenant Navarro had been moody and unhappy ever since the coming of
+the American transports.  He had not confided his trouble to his
+companion, but had performed his duties mechanically, and would not
+talk of anything else.  Ridge noticed this change in his friend, and
+had formed a shrewd guess as to its cause, but waited for the other to
+speak first concerning it.
+
+In the mean time, as the young trooper neared Daiquiri, he met scouts
+from Captain del Rey's detachment hastening towards headquarters with
+news that the Americans were landing.  At this he increased his speed,
+until he finally reached the hill agreed upon as a place of meeting
+with Navarro, and then his heart was thrilled with the sight out-spread
+before him.  Half a dozen transports and a few of the smaller war-ships
+lay in the little harbor.  Steam-launches towing strings of boats
+crowded with troops were plying between the ships and the one small
+pier that offered a landing-place.  The Spaniards had retreated,
+burning houses and bridges behind them, and already dark masses of
+American troops were forming on the narrow strip of level land
+separating the hills from the sea.  These were his own people, and
+Ridge longed to rush forward and join them, but was faced by two
+obstacles.  One was a strong Spanish force concealed in a ravine
+between him and the Americans as though to dispute their advance at
+that point, and the other was the memory that he had promised to await
+at this place the coming of Navarro, whom he expected to see with each
+minute.
+
+Suddenly, as he impatiently wondered what he ought to do, there came a
+quick rush of feet, and the young Spaniard, breathless with haste,
+stood beside him.
+
+"Amigo," he gasped, "you are in great danger.  By some mischance the
+General has discovered that you are an American, and Major Alvarez is
+charged with your capture.  You have been traced to this point, and
+even now the hill is being surrounded to prevent your escape.  Within
+two minutes soldiers will ascend from all sides, and, until they come,
+you are my prisoner."
+
+At this Ridge started back and clapped a hand to his pistol.
+
+"But I do not forget," continued the other, "that I am also your
+prisoner, on parole not to fight against your countrymen, or that to
+you I owe my life.  So I am come to save yours and aid your escape, or
+die beside you in making the attempt.  First, though, let us exchange
+prisoners, for, amigo, it has come to me within these two days that I
+cannot desert my own people in this time of their need.  Let me then
+remain with them until all is over, which must be shortly.  Then, if I
+still live, I will return to you and seek my cousin.  Oh, my friend,
+grant me this favor, and with every breath I will thank you!  May it be
+so?  Will you do as I ask?"
+
+"Of course I will," answered Ridge, heartily.  "I had already guessed
+your feelings, and made up my mind to give back your parole if you
+should ask for it.  So now you are free to act as seems to you best."
+
+"God bless you, amigo!" cried the young Spaniard, his face radiant with
+joy.  "Now they come!  Conceal yourself, while I do what may be done to
+save you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ROLLO IN CUBA
+
+The sound of voices and of men crashing through the underbrush as they
+advanced up the hill from all sides was distinctly heard, and Ridge
+realized, with dismay, how completely he was surrounded.  It did not
+seem possible that he could escape, but he mechanically obeyed his
+friend's instructions, and, diving into a dense thicket, lay flat on
+the ground beneath its leafy shelter.
+
+At that same moment Navarro raised a great shout of "Here he is!  There
+he goes!  Look out for him!"  He also fired several shots in rapid
+succession; and one of these wounding the horse that Ridge had ridden,
+sent it crashing in terrified flight directly towards the Spanish
+troops in the ravine.  After the flying animal sprang the lieutenant,
+firing as he ran, and yelling to those on the hill to follow him.
+
+With savage cries, and as eagerly as hounds in sight of a fox, the
+Spaniards gave over their careful beating of every covert, and rushed
+from all sides towards the scene of disturbance.  Several of them
+passed so close to Ridge that he could have touched them, but in their
+blind haste they failed to notice him.  In another moment they had
+swept over the crest of the hill and were plunging down its farther
+side.  Before they reached the bottom, Ridge's wounded and terrified
+horse burst from cover directly among the ambushed troops in the
+ravine, by whom it was quickly killed.  Then came the pursuers.
+
+"Where is he?  What have you done with him?" demanded Lieutenant
+Navarro, excitedly.
+
+"Who, senor?"
+
+"The spy! The Americano!"
+
+"We have seen no one, only this brute of a horse."
+
+"But he was mounted on it.  I saw him and fired.  He fled in this
+direction, and we pursued him."
+
+"He must have been hit and fallen from the saddle."
+
+"Then he is still close at hand," panted Major Alvarez, who had just
+reached the scene, "and alive or dead we must find him.  Scatter, men,
+and search!" he added, fiercely, turning to the baffled soldiers of his
+command, who were crowding confusedly behind him.
+
+This command was never obeyed; for at that moment, with a shriek and a
+roar, a shell from one of the American war-ships dropped into the
+ravine, and burst among the startled Spaniards.  Their presence had
+been detected by the firing on the hillside, and with the range thus
+obtained the Yankee gunners sent shell after shell with deadly
+precision among the ambushed troops.
+
+Completely demoralized by the awful effect of this fire, the Spaniards
+broke from cover and fled, leaving a score of dead behind, and bearing
+with them a desperately wounded officer.  They carried him as far as
+Sevilla, which place they did not reach until the following morning,
+and where General Linares bent pityingly over him.
+
+"Loyal and brave even unto death," he murmured.  "For this last
+faithful service to Spain you shall rank as Captain."  Then, as the
+closed eyes of the wounded man were opened with a look of recognition,
+the General turned to those who had brought him, and said:
+
+"He is too valuable to our cause, and too brave a Spaniard to die if we
+can save his life.  Therefore carry Captain Navarro to the hospital in
+Santiago, and deliver my orders that he receive the best of care."
+
+So the painful journey was resumed, but on the crest of San Juan
+Heights, overlooking the city, the litter-bearers found that they were
+carrying a dead man.  It was useless to convey him farther, and a
+little later they buried him, with full military honors, on the sunny
+slope that was shortly destined to become the scene of one of the
+world's decisive battles.
+
+In the mean time Ridge Norris, snatched from the very jaws of
+destruction by the prompt devotion of his prisoner-friend, had emerged
+from his concealment, and hastened down the hill in a direction
+opposite to that taken by those who sought his life.
+
+After awhile, believing that he had gained a safe distance from them,
+he paused to consider his situation.  A minute later, when he had just
+planned to make a great circuit that should outflank the Spaniards in
+the ravine, and bring him to where the Americans were landing, a rush
+of approaching feet and a medley of voices caused him to plunge into
+the dense growth bordering the trail.  Then catching a glimpse of the
+retreating Spaniards, whom he imagined to be searching for him, he
+forced his way still deeper into the tangle, until they were lost to
+hearing as well as to sight.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, reassured by the unbroken silence of his
+surroundings, our young American attempted to regain the trail he had
+left, but, to his dismay, had failed to do so when darkness overtook
+him.  The idea of spending a night in that Cuban jungle was decidedly
+unpleasant; but as there was nothing else to be done, Ridge quickly
+made such preparations for it as his limited resources would allow.
+His knowledge of Cuban woodcraft was much greater now than it had been
+two weeks earlier, and within fifteen minutes he had constructed a rude
+hammock of tough vines, over which was laid a great palm-leaf.  This
+would at least swing him clear of the ground, with its pestilent
+dampness and swarming land-crabs.  Although he knew that he should
+suffer from cold before morning, he dared not light a fire, for it
+would be almost certain to attract unwelcome attention.  So he lined
+his swinging-bed with such dried grasses as he could find, and nestling
+in it tried to sleep.  For hours this was impossible.  The forest about
+him was filled with strange rattlings, dashings, and other
+indescribable sounds.  He was also cold and hungry.  But at length he
+lost consciousness of his unhappy position, and drifted into troubled
+dreams.
+
+When next he awoke the sun was shining, and there was a confusion of
+voices close at hand.  He could not catch the drift of conversation;
+but, as the tongue spoken was Spanish, he lay motionless and listened,
+expecting each moment to be discovered by some straggler.  For several
+hours his unseen neighbors cooked, ate, smoked cigarettes, laughed, and
+talked without suspecting his presence within a few yards of them;
+while he, desperately hungry, cramped, and filled with impatience at
+this aggravating detention, wondered if they were going to stay there
+forever.
+
+When, after what seemed an eternity of suspense, those who had
+unwittingly kept him prisoner took their departure, the sun had passed
+its meridian, and Ridge, parched with thirst, was suffering as much
+from the breathless heat as he had with cold a few hours earlier.  As
+he cautiously approached the scene of the recent bivouac he found it to
+be where a small stream crossed a narrow trail, and, after quenching
+his thirst, he followed the latter in what he believed to be the
+direction of Daiquiri.  At any rate, it was the opposite one from that
+taken by his recent unwelcome neighbors.  Up hill and down the dim
+trail led him, across streams and through dark ravines, but always
+buried in dense foliage, through which he could gain no outlook.
+
+After our young trooper had followed the devious course of this rough
+pathway for several miles, he suddenly came to a halt, and stood
+spellbound.  From directly ahead of him came a burst of music swelling
+grandly through the solemn stillness of the forest.  A regimental band
+was playing "The Star-spangled Banner," and never before had such
+glorious notes been borne to his ears.  Tears started to his eyes; but
+without pausing to brush them away he dashed forward.  A minute later
+he stood on the brow of a declivity looking down upon the sea-coast
+village of Siboney, which he instantly recognized, though its
+transformation from what it was when he had last seen it was wonderful.
+Then it had been a stronghold of Spanish troops.  Now the
+fortifications crowning its encircling hills, abandoned by those who
+had erected them, stood empty and harmless; while in the village, and
+on the narrow plain surrounding it, an advance-guard of the American
+army was pitching its tents.  Over a building on a hill-side opposite
+to where Ridge stood, which he remembered as headquarters of the
+Spanish Commandant, floated an American flag, evidently just raised,
+and from that quarter also came the inspiring music that had so
+quickened his pulses.
+
+Ten minutes later he stood before that very building, having passed
+through the American lines unquestioned, though stared at curiously by
+those who noticed him at all.  He wore the first Spanish uniform they
+had ever seen, and, not recognizing it, they took him for a Cuban
+officer, several of whom had already visited the camp.  So the young
+American, looking in vain for a familiar face among the thousand or so
+of his busy countrymen, made his way to headquarters, where, for the
+first time, a sentry halted him and demanded his business.  While he
+was thus detained an officer issued from the building, mounted a horse,
+and was about to ride away when Ridge sprang forward, calling:
+
+"General!  General Lawton!"
+
+The officer halted, looked keenly at the sun-browned young man in
+Spanish uniform, and, almost without hesitation, said:
+
+"You are Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders, I believe?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Ridge, saluting, and overjoyed at being recognized.
+
+"I looked for you at Daiquiri," continued the General, "and hope you
+can give good reason for not reporting there as ordered."
+
+"I believe I can, sir."
+
+"Then come in with me and give it to Major-General Wheeler, who is at
+present in command."
+
+Within half an hour the young scout had been complimented by both
+Generals on the success of his recent undertaking, and had furnished
+them with information of the utmost value concerning the obstacles to
+be encountered between Siboney and Santiago.  The first of these he
+stated would be found at Las Guasimas, where the two trails from
+Siboney to Sevilla on the Santiago road formed a junction some three
+miles inland.  A little later he had the honor of guiding General
+Wheeler on a reconnoissance over one of these trails, and pointing out
+the location of a strongly intrenched Spanish force, posted to oppose
+the American advance.
+
+When they returned to Siboney the sun had set, and Ridge, faint for the
+want of food, was wondering where he should find a supper, when a
+mighty cheering, mingled with wild cowboy yells, rose from a point
+where the Daiquiri road entered the village.
+
+"It sounds as though your irrepressible comrades had arrived," said the
+little General, turning to his young guide with a quizzical smile,
+"though I did not expect them before to-morrow.  Perhaps you would like
+to go and welcome them."
+
+"Thank you, sir.  Indeed I should," and in another moment Ridge was
+hastening in the direction of the familiar sounds.
+
+How his heart swelled with loving pride, as he sighted the red and
+white guidons of the on-sweeping column; and when the one bearing the
+magical letter "K" came into view, he could have wept for very joy.
+
+But he didn't weep.  There wasn't any time, for in another minute he
+was among them, proclaiming his identity to incredulous ears.
+
+When the Riders of Troop K were finally forced to acknowledge that he
+was really their own sergeant whom they believed was left behind in
+Tampa, all military discipline was for the moment flung to the winds.
+They yelled and whooped and danced about him, slapping him on the back,
+wringing his hands, and acting so like madmen, that the rest of the
+command stared at them in blank amazement.
+
+As for Rollo Van Kyp, he first hugged his recovered tent-mate into
+breathlessness, and then invited the entire troop to take supper with
+him at the Waldorf in celebration of the prodigal Sergeant's return.
+To this invitation a hundred voices answered as one:
+
+"Yes, we will!  Yes, we will!  Rollo in Cuba, yes, we will!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE "TERRORS" IN BATTLE
+
+"Couldn't you let me begin that supper with a hardtack right now?"
+pleaded our hungry young trooper, as soon as he could make himself
+heard.  "It's a day and a half since my last meal, which was only a
+small ration of boiled rice, and it seems as though a hardtack at this
+minute would do me more good than the promise of a hundred Waldorf
+suppers."
+
+The hunger that demanded even a despised hard-tack was at that time so
+incredible to the well-fed Riders, that at first they could not believe
+his request to be made in earnest.  When, however, they saw the
+eagerness with which he began to devour one of the iron-clad biscuits,
+hesitatingly offered by Rollo Van Kyp, they were convinced that he was
+indeed on the verge of starvation.  They were also reminded of their
+own keen appetites, for, amid the excitement of that day's landing and
+their forced march from Daiquiri, they had eaten nothing since a
+daylight breakfast.  But each man carried three days' rations, and
+camp-fires were quickly ablaze in every direction.  From these
+delicious odors of boiling coffee and frizzling bacon so stimulated
+their hunger, that when, tin cup and plate in hand, they sat down to
+that first meal on Cuban soil, they pronounced it equal to any ever
+served in New York City.
+
+While Ridge, sharing his chum's cup and plate, was striving between
+mouthfuls of this thoroughly enjoyable supper to answer a few of the
+innumerable questions showered upon him, he suddenly became aware of an
+officer standing on the edge of the fire-light and regarding him with
+interest.  As our young trooper sprang to his feet with a salute, he
+was covered with confusion to recognize in the motionless figure his
+own Lieutenant-Colonel, and to remember that in all this time he had
+neglected to report his return to the regiment.  He began a confused
+apology, but the other interrupted him, laughing.
+
+"It is all right, Sergeant," he said.  "We heard of you from General
+Wheeler, who, by-the-way, is much pleased with the results of your
+expedition.  So I came to find you, with a reprimand for not having
+reported at once to Colonel Wood, but when I saw you devouring
+hardtack, I was quite willing to accept starvation as your excuse.
+Now, however, the Colonel would be pleased to see you."
+
+After an hour spent at headquarters, where he was honored with an
+invitation to eat a second supper, during which his apparently
+unappeasable appetite for hardtack and bacon caused much amusement.
+Ridge was allowed to return to his comrades.  A throng of these
+gathered about the camp-fire of Rollo Van Kyp's mess, and, unmindful of
+the showers that fell at short intervals, listened for hours with
+breathless interest and undisguised envy to the story of his recent
+adventures.  They were happily reassured by his description of the
+strength of Santiago's fortifications, and his assertion that the
+Spaniards would put up a good fight before surrendering them; for they
+had been inclined to think and speak contemptuously of the enemy who
+they feared would yield without a struggle.
+
+So the greater part of the night was passed.  They ought to have been
+asleep, storing up strength against the morrow; but who could sleep
+amid the uproar and excitement of that first night at Siboney?  Not the
+Rough Riders, at any rate.  Half a dozen transports had come into the
+little bay; and from them scores of boat-loads of troops and supplies
+were being landed through the roaring surf on the open beach.  A
+thousand naked figures, screaming, ducking, and splashing one another
+like so many schoolboys on a frolic, assisted and impeded the landing
+of their comrades, who, crowded into pontoons and small boats, were
+pitched, howling with delight, from the crest of each in-rolling
+breaker.  A half-moon and the powerful search-lights of two war-ships
+flooded the whole extraordinary scene with brightness.  On shore the
+dripping arrivals crowded about the red camp-fires drying their soaking
+uniforms, cooking, eating, singing, laughing, and filled with
+irrepressible happiness at having escaped from their "prison hulks" and
+reached Cuba at last.
+
+Thus, at dead of night, was an army landed on a hostile shore, and by
+two o'clock in the morning five thousand American troops were crowded
+in and about the village of Siboney.
+
+Acting on the reports brought him by Ridge Norris and by certain Cubans
+whom the Spanish rear-guard had driven back the day before, as well as
+upon the knowledge gained by his own reconnoissance, General Wheeler
+had determined to attack the enemy, who were strongly posted at the
+forking of two roads leading from Siboney to Sevilla.  The broader of
+these roads bore to the right through a narrow valley, while the other,
+merely a rough trail, climbed the hill back of the village and followed
+the crest of a ridge to the place of intersection.  Both passed through
+an almost impenetrable growth of small trees and underbrush, thickly
+set with palms, bamboos, Spanish-bayonets, thorn bushes, and cactus,
+all bound together by a tangle of tough vines, and interspersed with
+little glades of rank grasses.  To the right-hand trail, miscalled the
+wagon-road, were assigned eight troops from two regiments of dismounted
+regular cavalry, the First and Tenth (colored), under General Young.
+With these Colonel Wood and his Rough Riders, advancing over the
+hill-trail, were to form a junction at the forks, locally known as Las
+Guasimas, three miles away.
+
+So at earliest dawn the troops detailed for this duty were astir, after
+but three hours of troubled sleep.  The regulars, having the longer
+route to traverse, were given a half-hour's start of the others, who,
+in the mean time, made coffee and bolted a few mouthfuls of food.  Then
+troops were formed, First Sergeants called the roll, the order,
+"Forward march!" was given, and the Riders, burdened with
+blanket-rolls, haversacks, canteens, tin cups, carbines, and
+cartridge-belts filled to their utmost capacity, began to scramble up
+the steep hill-side.
+
+The sun was already red and hot, the steaming air was breathless, and
+by the time the top of the first hill was gained the panting troopers
+were bathed in perspiration that trickled from them in rivulets.  A
+short breathing-space was allowed, and then, with Ridge Norris and a
+Cuban scout to feel the way, the line of march was again taken up.
+Next behind the scouts came a "point" of five men, then Capron's troop
+strung out in single file and acting as advance-guard.  Behind these
+followed the main body of the little army, headed by Colonel Wood.  For
+an hour and a half they toiled forward in this fashion, laughing,
+joking, commenting on the tropical strangeness of their surroundings,
+and wondering if there was a Spaniard nearer to them than Santiago.
+
+At length a halt was called, and the wearied men, suffering greatly
+from the sweltering heat, gladly flung themselves to the ground.  At
+the same moment Ridge was reporting to Colonel Wood that he had located
+the Spaniards only a few hundred yards ahead, and behind strong
+intrenchments.  Upon this the Colonel moved cautiously forward to study
+the position, leaving his men to fan themselves with their hats and
+exchange laughing comments upon one another's appearance, utterly
+unconscious of the enemy's proximity.
+
+Suddenly word was passed back for silence in the ranks.  Then came
+"Attention!" and "Load carbines!"
+
+"Something must be up," whispered Rollo Van Kyp to Mark Gridley, and
+just then all eyes were directed inquiringly towards Ridge Norris, who
+was taking a place with his own troop.
+
+"The Spaniards are right in front of us," he whispered, and almost
+instantly the startling news was passed down the line.  There was no
+joking now, nor complaints of the heat, but each man stood with
+compressed lips, peering into the dense underbrush on either side, and
+wishing that the suspense was over.
+
+Now came the hurried forming of a line of battle.  One troop was sent
+straight to the front, two were deployed to the left, and two more, one
+of which was that of Ridge and Rollo, were ordered to force their way
+through the thickets on their right, down into the valley, where they
+were to make connection with the regulars.  While these movements were
+being executed, and with a suddenness that caused every man's nerves to
+tingle, a sharp firing began somewhere off in the right, and ran like a
+flash of powder along the whole line.
+
+Blanket-rolls and haversacks had already been flung aside, and the
+sweating troopers, with their flannel shirts open at the throat and
+sleeves rolled up to the elbows, bore only their carbines, ammunition,
+and canteens of water.  At first Ridge had only his revolver, but
+within five minutes he had snatched up the carbine of a man who fell
+dead at his side, and was as well armed as the rest.
+
+For an hour the Riders fought blindly, seeing no enemy, but pouring
+their own volleys in the direction from which the steady streams of
+Mauser bullets seemed to come.  The smokeless powder used by the
+Spaniards gave no trace of their location, while the sulphurous cloud
+hanging over the Americans formed a perfect target for the Spanish fire.
+
+Still the dark-blue line was steadily advanced, sometimes by quick
+rushes, and again by a crawling on hands and knees through the high,
+hot grass.  Always over the heads of the troopers and among them
+streamed a ceaseless hail of bullets from Mauser rifles and
+machine-guns.  Men fell with each minute, some not to rise again, some
+only wounded; but the others never paused to note their fate.  Those
+who could must push on and get at the Spaniards.  Those who were
+helpless to advance must, for the present, be left to care for
+themselves as best they might.
+
+At length the ever-advancing line reached the edge of a grassy valley
+set here and there with clumps of palms.  To the left was a stone
+building, formerly a distillery, now a Spanish fort, and directly in
+front was an intrenched ridge.  To this the Spaniards had been slowly
+but surely driven, and now they occupied their strongest position.
+
+At almost the same moment, and as though animated by a single thought,
+Roosevelt on the extreme left and Wood on the right gave the order to
+charge.  With a yell the panting, smoke-begrimed Riders broke from
+cover and sprang after their dauntless leaders.  They charged by
+rushes, running fifty feet, then dropping in the hot grass and firing;
+then reload, rise, and run forward.  On their right the regulars were
+doing the same thing in the same manner with the precision of machines,
+while the colored troops stormed the ridge with a steadiness and grim
+determination that won for them undying fame, and answered forever the
+question as to whether or not the negro is fitted to be a soldier.
+
+The assault was unsupported by artillery; those making it had no
+bayonets, and the Spanish fire, ripping, crackling, and blazing in
+vivid sheets from block-house and rifle-pit, was doubling and trebling
+in fury; but there was no hesitation on the part of the Americans, no
+backward step.
+
+The Spaniards could not understand it.  This thin line of yelling men
+advancing with such confidence must have the whole American army close
+behind them.  In that case another minute would see an assault by
+overwhelming numbers.  Thus thinking, the Spaniards faltered, glanced
+uneasily behind them, and finally ran, panic-stricken, towards
+Santiago, while Rough Riders and regulars swarmed with exulting yells
+and howls of triumph into the abandoned trenches.  The first land
+battle of the war had been fought and won.  Wood, Roosevelt, Young,
+Rough Riders, and regulars had covered themselves with glory, and
+performed a deed of heroism that will never be forgotten so long as the
+story of the American soldier is told.
+
+"If we only had our horses we could catch every one of those chaps,"
+said Rollo Van Kyp, as he sat in a window of the ruined building just
+captured by the Riders, happily swinging his legs and fanning himself
+with his hat.  The young millionaire's face was black with powder,
+covered with blood from the scratching of thorns, and streaked with
+trickling perspiration.  His shirt and trousers were in rags.
+
+"It's a beastly shame we weren't allowed to bring them," he continued,
+"for this fighting on foot in the tropics is disgustingly hot work.
+Now if I were in Teddy's place--"
+
+"Private Van Kyp," interrupted Sergeant Norris, sternly, "instead of
+criticising your superiors you had better go and wash your face, for
+your personal appearance is a disgrace to the troop.  But oh, Rollo!"
+he added, unable longer to maintain the assumed dignity under which he
+had tried to hide his exultation, "wasn't it a bully fight? and aren't
+you glad we're here? and don't you wish the home folks could see us at
+this very minute?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+FACING SAN JUAN HEIGHTS
+
+The fight of Las Guasimas, in which Rough Riders and colored regulars
+covered themselves with glory, was only a first brisk skirmish between
+the advanced outposts of opposing armies, but its influence on both
+sides was equal to that of a pitched battle.  It furnished a notable
+example of the steadiness and bull-dog tenacity of the American
+regular, as well as the absolute fearlessness and determination to win,
+at any cost, of the dudes and cowboys banded under the name of Rough
+Riders.  It afforded striking proof that it is not the guns, but the
+men behind them, who win battles, since an inferior force, unsupported
+by artillery, and unprovided with bayonets, had charged and driven from
+strong intrenchments nearly four times their own number of an enemy
+armed with vastly superior weapons.  It inspired the Americans with
+confidence in themselves and their leaders, while it weakened that of
+the Spaniards in both.  To the Rough Riders it was a glorious and
+splendidly won victory, and as they swarmed over the intrenchments,
+from which the fire of death had been so fiercely hurled at them that
+morning, they yelled themselves hoarse with jubilant cheers.
+
+Then came the reaction.  They were exhausted with the strain of
+excitement and their tremendous exertions under the pitiless tropical
+sun.  Strong men who had fought with tireless energy all at once found
+themselves trembling with weakness, and the entire command welcomed the
+order to make camp on the grassy banks of a clear stream shaded by
+great trees.
+
+In their baptism of fire eight of the Riders had been killed outright,
+thirty-four more were seriously wounded, and fully half of the
+remainder could show the scars of grazing bullets or tiny clean-cut
+holes through their clothing, telling of escapes from death by the
+fraction of an inch.  Ridge Norris, for instance, found a livid welt
+across his chest, looking as though traced by a live coal, and marking
+the course of a bullet that, with a hair's deflection, would have ended
+his life, while Rollo Van Kyp's hat seemed to have been an especial
+target for Spanish rifles.
+
+After regaining their breath, and receiving assurance that the enemy
+had retreated beyond their present reach, these two, in company with
+many others, went back over the battle-field to look up the wounded,
+and bring forward the packs flung aside at the beginning of the fight.
+
+At sunset that evening the Riders buried their dead, in a long single
+grave lined with palm-leaves, on a breezy hill-side overlooking the
+scene of their victory.  The laying to rest of these comrades, who only
+a few hours before, had been so full of life with all its hopes and
+ambitions, was the most impressive ceremony in which any of the
+survivors had ever engaged.  It strengthened their loyalty and devotion
+to each other and to their cause as nothing else could have done, and
+as the entire command gathered close about the open grave to sing
+"Nearer my God to Thee," many a voice was choked with feelings too
+solemn for expression, and many a sun-tanned cheek was wet with tears.
+The camp of the Rough Riders was very quiet that night, and the events
+of the day just closed were discussed in low tones, as though in fear
+of awakening the sleepers on the near-by hill-side.
+
+After the fight of Las Guasimas, its heroes rested and waited for six
+days, while the remainder of the army effected its landing and made its
+slow way to the position they had won over the narrow trails they had
+cleared.  These days of waiting were also days of vast discomfort, and
+the patient endurance of drenching tropical rains and steaming heat,
+the wearing of the same battle-soiled clothing day after day and night
+after night, and, above all, of an ever-present hunger, that sapped
+both strength and spirits.  They had started out with but three days'
+rations, and four days passed before a scanty supply of hard-tack,
+bacon, and coffee began to dribble into camp.  The road to Siboney,
+flooded by constant rains, bowlder-strewn, and inches deep in mud, was
+for a long time impassable to wagons; and during those six days such
+supplies of food and ammunition as reached the idle army were brought
+to it by three trains of pack-mules that toiled ceaselessly back and
+forth between the coast and the front, bringing the barest necessities
+of life, but nothing more.
+
+So the American army suffered and prayed to be led forward, while the
+Spaniards between them and Santiago strengthened their own position
+with every hour, and confidently awaited their coming.  The invaders
+now occupied the Sevilla plateau, and were within five miles of the
+city they sought to capture.  In their front lay a broad wooded valley,
+to them an unknown region, and on its farther side rose a range of
+hills, that Ridge Norris told them were the San Juan Heights, strongly
+protected by block-houses, rifle-pits, and bewildering entanglements of
+barbed wire, a feature of modern warfare now appearing for the first
+time in history.  With their glasses, from the commanding eminence of
+El Poso Hill, crowned with the ruined buildings of an abandoned
+plantation, the American officers could distinctly see the Spaniards at
+work on their intrenchments a mile and a half away, and note the
+ever-lengthening lines of freshly excavated earth.
+
+But for six days the army waited, and its artillery, which was expected
+to seriously impair, if not utterly destroy the effectiveness of those
+ever-growing earthworks, still reposed peacefully on board the ships
+that had brought it to Cuba.  Only two light batteries had been landed,
+and on the sixth day after Las Guasimas these reached the front.  At
+the same time came word that General Pando with 5000 Spanish
+reinforcements was nearing the besieged city from the north.  In that
+direction, and only three miles from Santiago, lay the fortified
+village of Caney, held by a strong force of Spanish troops.  If it were
+captured, Pando's advance might be cut off.  So General Shafter, coming
+ashore for the first time a week after the landing of his troops,
+planned a forward movement with this object in view.  Lawton's division
+was to capture Caney, and then swing round so as to sever all outside
+communication with Santiago.  While he was doing this, demonstrations
+that should deter the Spaniards from sending an additional force in
+that direction were to be made against San Juan and Aguadores.  These
+movements were to occupy one day, and on the next the reunited army was
+to attack the entire line of the San Juan ridge.  In the mean time no
+one knew anything of the valley lying between this strongly protected
+ridge and those who proposed to capture it.
+
+So the order was issued, and late in the afternoon of June 30th, in a
+pouring rain, the camps were broken, and the drenched army eagerly
+began its forward movement.  Lawton's division marching off to the
+right slipped and stumbled through the mud along a narrow, almost
+impassable, trail over the densely wooded hills until eight o'clock
+that evening, when, within a mile of Caney, it lay down for the night
+in the wet grass without tents or fire, and amid a silence strictly
+enjoined, for fear lest the Spaniards should discover its presence, and
+run away before morning.
+
+At the same time Wheeler's division of dismounted cavalry, including
+the Rough Riders and Kent's infantry division, advanced as best it
+could over the horrible Santiago road, ankle-deep in mud and water, to
+El Poso Hill, on and about which it passed a wretchedly uncomfortable
+night.  Seven thousand heavily equipped men, mingled with horses,
+artillery, pack-mules, and army wagons, all huddled into a narrow gully
+slippery with mud, advance so slowly, however eager they may be to push
+forward, that although the movement was begun at four o'clock, midnight
+found the rearmost regiment still plodding wearily forward.
+
+With the coming of daylight, on July 1st, the army lay beneath a dense
+blanket of mist that spread its wet folds over the entire region they
+were to traverse.  It was eight o'clock before Grimes's battery of four
+light field-pieces, posted on El Poso Hill, opened an ineffective fire
+upon the heights across the broad valley.  For twenty minutes the
+Spaniards paid no attention to the harmless barking of the little guns;
+then the smoke cloud hanging over them proved so admirable and
+attractive a target that they could no longer resist firing at it.  So
+shells began to fall about the battery with such startling accuracy
+that a score of Americans and Cubans gathered near it were killed or
+wounded before they could seek shelter.  Among these first victims of
+the San Juan fight were several of the Rough Riders.
+
+About this time General Sumner, temporarily in command of the cavalry,
+was ordered to advance his troops into the valley as far as the edge of
+the wooded belt, and within half a mile of the San Juan batteries.
+
+"What shall I do when I get there?" asked General Sumner.
+
+"Await further orders," was the curt reply.
+
+There were other changes in commands that morning; for
+Brigadier-General Young, being prostrated by a fever, the Colonel of
+the Rough Riders was assigned to his duties, and became "General" Wood
+from that hour.  At the same time his Lieutenant-Colonel stepped into
+the vacancy thus created, and as "Colonel" Roosevelt was destined to
+win for himself and his dashing command immortal fame before the
+setting of that day's sun.
+
+So the Rough Riders, together with five other regiments of dismounted
+cavalry, started down the deep-cut road, which in places was not over
+ten feet wide, and was everywhere sticky with mud, while an entire
+infantry division was crowded into it behind them.  Like all other
+roads in that country, this one, now densely packed with human beings
+advancing at a snail's pace along nearly three miles of its length, was
+bordered on both sides by an impenetrable tropical jungle.
+
+The Spaniards were advised of the forward movement, and though they
+could not see it, were already directing a hot fire at this road, of
+whose location they were, of course, well aware, and from the outset
+dead and wounded men marked the line of American progress.  After a
+mile of marching under these conditions, the foremost troops came to a
+place where the San Juan River crossed the road.  A short distance
+beyond it crossed again, thus forming the ox-bow to be known ever after
+that memorable day as the "Bloody Bend."  A little farther on was open
+country, and here General Sumner obeyed instructions by deploying his
+troopers to the right in a long skirmish line on the edge of the
+timber.  In this position they lay down, sheltering themselves as best
+they could behind bushes or in the tall hot grass, and anxiously
+awaited further orders from headquarters.  The Spanish fire, which they
+might not return, was ceaseless and pitiless, though because of absence
+of smoke none could see whence it came.
+
+Already the loss in killed and wounded was assuming alarming
+proportions, and still on-coming troops were pouring into that Bloody
+Bend, where they must accept, with what fortitude they could command,
+their awful baptism of fire.  Fifty feet above their heads floated the
+observation balloon of the engineers, betraying their exact position
+and forming an admirable focus for the enemy's fire, which, after
+awhile, to the vast relief of every one, shot the balloon to pieces so
+that it dropped from sight among the trees.
+
+For hours the troops waited thus in the frightful tropical heat,
+monuments of patient endurance.  The dead and the living lay side by
+side, though such of the wounded as could be reached were dragged back
+to dressing-stations on the river-banks.  Even here they were not safe,
+for the dense foliage that afforded a grateful shade also concealed
+scores of Spanish sharp-shooters.  These maintained a cowardly and
+deadly fire, the source of which could rarely be discovered, upon all
+coming within range, regardless of whether they were wounded men,
+surgeons in discharge of their duties, hospital stewards, or Red Cross
+assistants, thus adding a fresh horror to warfare.
+
+It was a terrible position, and the American army was being cut to
+pieces without a chance to fire a gun in self-defence.  To advance
+appeared suicidal, to attempt a retreat meant utter destruction.  No
+orders could come over the blockaded road from the Commander-in-Chief,
+miles in the rear, nor could word of the awful situation be sent back
+to him in time.  The men thus trapped gazed at one another with the
+desperate look of hunted animals brought to bay.  Must they all die,
+and was there no salvation?
+
+Suddenly a mounted officer dashed into the open, pointing with his
+sword to the nearest hill crowned by a block-house.  Then through a
+storm of bullets he spurred towards it, and, with a mighty yell ringing
+high above the crash of battle, his men sprang after him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+RIDGE WINS HIS SWORD
+
+A few minutes before this, while the Rough Riders lay in sullen
+despair, with death on all sides and filling the air above them, a
+staff-officer from headquarters, keenly anxious concerning the
+situation and for the honor of his chief, appeared among them.
+Whatever happened, he could not afford to betray uneasiness or fear.
+So he walked erect as calmly as though inspecting troops on parade,
+apparently unconscious of the bullets that buzzed like hornets about
+him.  He was studying the position of the several regiments, and his
+face lighted with a smile as he found himself among the men of the
+First Volunteer Cavalry.
+
+"Hello, Rough Riders!" he cried.  "Glad to see you taking things so
+cool and comfortable.  By-the-way, there is a promotion for one of you
+waiting at headquarters.  It came by cable last evening.  Sergeant
+Norris is promoted to a lieutenancy for distinguished service.  If any
+one knows where he is, let the word be passed.  It may be an
+encouragement for him to hear the good news."
+
+Those men near enough to catch the officer's words raised a cheer, and
+Ridge, who lay among them, sprang to his feet with a flushed face.
+
+"That's him!" shouted Rollo Van Kyp, and the officer, stepping forward
+with extended hand, said, "I congratulate you, Lieutenant Norris, and
+am proud to make your acquaintance."
+
+At that moment Colonel Roosevelt, on horseback, and so forming the most
+conspicuous target for Spanish bullets on the whole field, dashed to
+the front, pointed to the nearest block-house, and called upon his men
+to follow him.  With a yell they sprang forward, and Ridge, being
+already on his feet, raced with the front rank.
+
+In line with the Rough Riders were their fighting partners, the black
+riders of the Tenth United States Cavalry, and at the first intimation
+of an advance these leaped forward in eager rivalry of their white
+comrades.  Across the plain they charged, and then up the steep
+hill-side, while the Spanish fire doubled in fury, and the tall grass
+in front of them was cut as though by the scythe of a mower.
+Spectators in the rear gazed appalled at the thin line of troopers thus
+rushing to what seemed certain destruction.
+
+"It is not war--it is suicide!" cried a foreign attache.
+
+Whatever it was, it afforded an example that others were quick to
+follow, and the moment the intention of the Rough Riders became
+evident, regiment after regiment on the left--dismounted cavalry and
+infantry, regulars and volunteers, Hawkins's men and Kent's--broke from
+the cover that had afforded them so little protection, and swept across
+the open towards the deadly intrenchments crowning the main ridge of
+San Juan Heights.  There was no order for this glorious charge.  The
+commanding generals had not even contemplated such a bit of splendid
+but reckless daring.  Even now, so hopeless did it seem, they would
+have stopped it if they could; but they might as well have tried to
+arrest the rush of an avalanche by wishing.  It was a voluntary
+movement of men goaded beyond further endurance by suffering and
+suspense.  As one of the foreign military spectators afterwards said,
+"It was a grand popular uprising, and, like most such, it proved
+successful."
+
+The Rough Riders and the negro troopers who charged with them had no
+bayonets, and did but little firing until more than half-way up the
+hill they had undertaken to capture.  With carbines held across their
+breasts, they simply moved steadily forward without a halt or a
+backward glance.  Behind them the slope was dotted with their dead and.
+wounded, but the survivors took no heed of their depleted ranks.
+Roosevelt, with the silken cavalry banner fluttering beside him, led
+the way, and there was no man who would not follow him to the death.
+
+Half-way up the hill-side Ridge Norris pitched headlong to the ground,
+and some one said: "Poor fellow!  News of his promotion came just in
+time."  As the young Lieutenant fell, another officer, cheering on his
+men immediately behind him, also dropped, pierced with bullets.  The
+sword that he had been waving was flung far in advance, and as Ridge,
+who had only stumbled over an unnoticed mound of earth, regained his
+feet unharmed, he saw it lying in front of him and picked it up.  He
+was entitled to carry a sword now, and here was one to his hand.
+
+The Spaniards could not believe that these few men, frantically
+climbing that bullet-swept hill-side, would ever gain the crest.  So
+they doggedly held their position, firing with the regularity of
+machines, and expecting with each moment to see the American ranks melt
+away or break in precipitate night.  They did melt away in part, but
+not wholly, and their only flight was a very slow one that bore them
+steadily upward.
+
+Just under the brow of the hill they paused for a long breath, and then
+leaped forward in a fierce final rush.  Over the rifle-pits they
+poured, tearing down the barbed-wire barricades with their bare hands,
+and making a dash for the block-house.  Already the dismayed Spaniards
+were streaming down the farther side of the hill.  A last withering
+volley crashed from the loop-holed building, and then its defenders
+also took to panic-stricken flight.  In another minute the flaunting
+banner of Spain had been torn down, and the stars and stripes of
+freedom waved proudly in its place.  At the same moment, from earthwork
+and rifle-pit fluttered the yellow silk flags of the cavalry and the
+troop guidons; while to distant ears the news of victory was borne by
+the cheer of exhausted but intensely happy men.
+
+Many of them were for the moment incapable of further effort, but as
+many more, inspired with fresh strength by success, dashed down the
+opposite side of the hill in pursuit of the flying Spaniards.  Among
+these was Ridge Norris, waving his newly acquired sword, and yelling
+that there were other hills yet to be captured.  A few minutes later
+these found themselves madly charging, for a second time, up a steep,
+bullet-swept slope in company with other cavalrymen and long lines of
+infantry.  Now they were assaulting San Juan Heights, defended by the
+strongest line of works outside of Santiago.  The Spaniards had deemed
+the position impregnable, and so it would have been to any troops on
+earth save Americans or British; but the men now swarming up its
+slippery front not only believed it could be taken, but that they could
+take it.  And they did take it, as the first hill had been taken, by
+sheer pluck and dauntless determination.  In vain did the Spaniards
+hurl forth their deadliest fire of machine-gun and rifle.  The grim
+American advance was as unchecked as that of an ocean tide.  Finally it
+surged with a roar like that of a storm-driven breaker over the crest,
+and dashed with resistless fury against the crowning fortifications.
+In another minute the Spaniards were in full flight, and from the
+hard-won heights of San Juan thousands of panting, cheering, jubilant
+Yankee soldiers were gazing for the first time upon the city of
+Santiago, which, only three miles away, lay at their feet, and
+apparently at their mercy.
+
+While the troops who had thus stormed and carried San Juan were
+exulting over their almost incredible victory, word came that Lawton's
+men had performed a similar feat at Caney, and after hours of
+ineffective firing had finally won the forts by direct and unsupported
+assault.
+
+Thus the entire line of Santiago's outer defences, many miles in
+length, had fallen to the Americans; but could they hold them until the
+arrival of their artillery?  This was the question anxiously discussed
+at headquarters, where several of the Generals declared immediate
+retreat to be the only present salvation of the American army.  The
+existing fortifications of San Juan Heights were unavailable for use
+against the Spaniards, and it did not seem possible that the tired
+troops could dig new ones in time.  The enemy had as yet suffered but
+slight losses, and still occupied his inner line of forts,
+block-houses, and rifle-pits, nearly, if not quite, as strong as those
+just won from him.  Beyond lay Santiago, with barricaded streets,
+loop-holed walls, and everywhere bewildering mazes of barbed wire.
+
+While the commanding officers discussed the situation, arguing hotly
+for and against retreat, their men dug trenches along the farther crest
+of the San Juan hills.  All night long they worked by the light of a
+full moon, excavating the gravelly soil with bayonet and meat-tin,
+filling hundreds of bags with sand, and laying them in front of the
+shallow pits, with little spaces between them, through which
+rifle-barrels might be thrust.  At the same time they scooped out
+terraces on the slope up which they had charged, and there pitched
+their camps, a long way from drinking-water, but close to the
+firing-line.  Thus by daylight they were ready for any movement the
+enemy might make.  Nor were they prepared any too quickly, for with
+earliest dawn the Spaniards opened a heavy fire, both artillery and
+rifle, on the American position.  In places the opposing lines were not
+three hundred yards apart, and across this narrow space the Spanish
+fire was poured with unremitting fury for fourteen consecutive hours.
+
+The Americans only returned this fire by an occasional rifle-shot, to
+show that they were still on hand, and through the interminable hours
+of that blistering day they simply clung by sheer grit to the heights
+they had won.
+
+On the previous day the Americans had lost over a thousand men killed
+or wounded, and during the present one-sided fight one hundred and
+seven more fell victims to Spanish bullets; but the trenches had been
+held, and that day's work settled forever the question of their
+retention.
+
+In the mean time Lieutenant Norris, who had miraculously escaped unhurt
+from the very front of two fierce charges, was curious to know whose
+sword he was carrying; and so, after San Juan Heights had been safely
+won, he strolled back over the battle-field to try and discover its
+owner.  After a long search he found the little mound of earth over
+which he had stumbled, and was startled to see it was a recently made
+grave.  Beside it lay an officer in Rough Rider uniform, face down, and
+wearing an empty scabbard.  His, then, was the sword; but who was he?
+A gentle turning of the still body revealed the placidly handsome
+features of the young New-Mexican, Arthur Navarro.  Near the grave,
+across which one of his arms had been flung, as though lovingly, lay a
+wooden cross bearing a rudely cut inscription in Spanish.  It had
+evidently been overthrown by the charging Americans.  Now Ridge picked
+it up, read the inscription, and stared incredulous.  "Captain Ramon
+Navarro, Royal Spanish Guards.  Died for his country, June 22, 1898."
+
+"My friend Ramon, killed the very day he saved me from capture!"
+murmured Ridge.  "But how marvellous that they should have buried him
+here, that his grave should have saved my life by giving me that fall,
+and that the bullets intended for me should have taken the life of the
+cousin who was to have been his partner!"
+
+So the two, one from the New World and one from the Old, who loved each
+other, but had been separated during life by the calls of duty, were
+united in death; for they buried the young New-Mexican close beside his
+Spanish cousin, and the grasses of San Juan Hill wave above them both.
+
+Wearing the sword thus intrusted to him, and which he would send to
+far-away New Mexico at the earliest opportunity, Lieutenant Norris bore
+his full share of the second day's fighting on San Juan Heights.  Late
+that night, as he was coming in from the trenches, he was called to
+General Sumner's tent to act as interpreter.  A deserter, apparently a
+Spanish sailor, had just been brought in, and was evidently trying to
+convey some important information that no one present could understand.
+
+"He says," exclaimed Ridge, after listening intently to the man, "that
+Admiral Cervera's ships--coaled, provisioned, and under full head of
+steam--are about to make a dash from the harbor.  He thinks they will
+start soon after sunrise, or when our ships have drawn off to their
+accustomed day-time distance."
+
+Although the reliability of this startling news was very doubtful, it
+was deemed of sufficient importance to be immediately transmitted to
+Admiral Sampson.
+
+"Who is the best rider in your command?" asked the General, turning to
+Colonel Roosevelt, who had assisted at the examination of the Spanish
+deserter.
+
+"Lieutenant Norris," was the unhesitating answer.
+
+"Then let Mr. Norris take my orderly's horse, make his way with all
+speed to Siboney, press into service the first steam craft he comes
+across, and carry this fellow's statement, with my compliments, to
+Admiral Sampson."
+
+Five minutes later our young trooper, once more on horseback, and in a
+blaze of excitement, was galloping for dear life over the rugged road
+by which the army had come from the coast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+MUTINY ON A TRANSPORT
+
+On the memorable morning of July 3d the sun had risen from the fog-bank
+that promised a hot day before our young trooper, wearied and
+mud-bespattered with his journey, and his face still powder-grimed with
+the smoke of the day's fighting, rode into the village of Siboney.  It
+no longer presented the scenes of excited bustle and eager enthusiasm
+that had marked it on the eve of Las Guasimas, for the army had
+departed long since, and only its shattered wrecks of humanity had
+drifted back.  Now Siboney was a place of suffering and death; for here
+had been established the hospitals to which wounded men limped
+painfully from the distant front, or were brought in heavily jolting
+army wagons.
+
+On this peaceful Sunday morning--for it was Sunday, though Ridge did
+not know it at the time--a great stillness brooded over Siboney, and
+almost the only persons visible were medical attendants, who moved
+quietly about the big hospital tents or the fever-infested buildings
+that had been pressed into the same service.
+
+In the little harbor lay but a single steam-vessel, a transport, though
+others could be dimly seen far out at sea, where they spent most of
+their time, which fact largely accounted for the woful lack of supplies
+at the front.  A boat from the single ship that had ventured into the
+harbor lay on the beach discharging freight.  To it Ridge hurried, and,
+addressing himself to the man who appeared to be in charge, said:
+
+"I have an important communication for the Captain of your ship.  Will
+you take me off to her?"
+
+With a contemptuous glance at the disreputable-looking young trooper,
+the man answered:
+
+"See about it when I get ready to go."
+
+"Please make haste, then, for my business is very important, and I am
+in a great hurry."
+
+"Oh, you be.  Reckon you'd better swim out, then, for I've been hurried
+by you landlubbers 'bout as much as I propose to be on this v'y'ge."
+
+Ridge's face flushed, and he wanted to make an angry retort; but there
+was no other boat available, and he could not afford to throw away this
+chance.  So he bit his lips and silently watched the deliberate
+movements of the men, who seemed to find a pleasure in aggravating him
+by their slowness.
+
+The boat could have been unloaded in five minutes, but the operation
+was made to consume a half-hour, during which time Ridge stood silent,
+though with finger-nails digging into the palms of his clinched hands.
+All at once, without a word of warning, the boat's crew began to shove
+their craft from the beach.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Ridge, springing forward.  "I am going with you."
+
+"Why aren't you aboard, then?" asked the mate, with a grin, as his men
+gave another shove that launched the boat into deep water.
+
+Leaping into the sea, Ridge barely succeeded in clutching a gunwale and
+pulling himself aboard, amid chuckles of laughter from the crew.  His
+ducking had not improved his personal appearance, and as he now sat in
+the bow of the boat dripping water from every point, he formed an
+object for so much rude wit and coarse merriment, that upon reaching
+the transport he was furious with pent-up wrath.
+
+On gaining the deck of the ship he hurried forward, and found her
+Captain smoking an after-breakfast cigar in his comfortably appointed
+cabin.
+
+"Well, sir, who are you? and what do you want?" demanded this
+individual, as Ridge presented himself at the door.
+
+"I am an army officer bearing a message of the utmost importance from
+General Sumner to Admiral Sampson; and as this is the only steam-vessel
+in the harbor, I have come to ask that you will carry me to the
+flag-ship."
+
+"If you haven't got cheek!" ejaculated the Captain.  "So you are an
+army officer, are you?"
+
+"That is what I said."
+
+"You don't look it.  Are you the Quartermaster-General?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Thought not.  Didn't know but what you'd claim to be, though, since
+he's the only army officer that I take orders from."
+
+"But I am not giving an order.  I am making a request that any American
+should be glad to grant, seeing that my message concerns the safety of
+the United States fleet, and may alter the whole course of the war."
+
+"What is it?" demanded the Captain, bluntly.
+
+"You have no business to ask," replied Ridge.  "At the same time I will
+tell you, that you may be induced to get your ship under way the more
+quickly.  The Spanish squadron is about to make a dash from Santiago
+Harbor with the hope of taking our fleet by surprise and escaping."
+
+"What is that to me?" asked the Captain, coolly.
+
+"What is that to you!" cried Ridge.  "Why, some of our ships may be
+destroyed if they are not warned in time."
+
+"That is their lookout, not mine.  Besides, Uncle Sam can afford to pay
+for them; while if this ship should be injured the loss would fall on
+the owners, and I should lose my job."
+
+"Do you mean that you refuse to take me out to the flag-ship?"
+
+"Of course I do," responded the Captain; "and not one foot nearer to
+it, or to any other warship, does my vessel move this day than she is
+at present."
+
+"Then, sir," said Ridge, still struggling to maintain his calmness, "I
+will thank you to set me ashore again, as speedily as possible."
+
+"Why should I set you ashore?" asked the Captain, with exasperating
+indifference.  "You came on board without an invitation, and now you
+may stay here until the next boat is ready to run in, which will be in
+the course of an hour or two."
+
+"By which time half the American fleet may have been destroyed for lack
+of warning," groaned Ridge.  Then he added, his face blazing with
+anger: "I hope you are not an American, and I don't believe you can be,
+for you are a traitor, a coward, and a contemptible cur.  I only hope I
+may meet you again some time when I am off duty, and can give you the
+thrashing you deserve."
+
+"All right, my young mud-lark," replied the Captain.  "I'll give you a
+dose of medicine whenever you want it.  Now clear out of here, and
+don't let me catch sight of you again!"
+
+Ridge did not hear these last words, for he was already walking rapidly
+aft, filled with a tumult of rage and perplexity.  What ought he to do?
+What could he do?  Was ever any one so utterly helpless in a crisis of
+such importance?  Not until he reached the extreme after part of the
+ship did a ray of light break upon the situation.  Then he caught sight
+of a yacht steaming swiftly into the harbor.  She might be a
+despatch-boat, or a destroyer, or any one of half a dozen things; but
+whatever she was, she could help him if she only would.
+
+Close at hand was a jack-staff upholding an American ensign.  Acting
+upon the impulse of his despair.  Ridge hauled down this flag, and then
+half-masted it, union down, thus making a signal of distress that
+called for prompt aid from any vessel sighting it.  Then he gazed
+eagerly at the swiftly approaching yacht.  She must have noticed his
+signal, for she was now headed directly for the transport, and Ridge,
+clinging with one hand to an awning stanchion as he stood on the rail,
+frantically waved his hat.
+
+Suddenly a bellow of rage close at hand caused him to look in-board.
+The Captain of the transport, his face purple with passion, was rushing
+towards the jack-staff.
+
+"How dare you hoist the signal of a mutiny?" he howled.  "I'll show--"
+
+"Because there is one on board," shouted Ridge, springing in front of
+the infuriated man, and at the same moment whipping out his revolver.
+"Halt where you are!" he added, fiercely.  "For if you dare touch that
+flag before I am through with it I will blow out your traitorous
+brains!"
+
+The Captain, cowed by the steadily levelled muzzle of that pistol,
+obeyed this order and stood still; but at the same time he yelled for
+any of the transport's crew who might be within hearing to tumble aft
+in a hurry.
+
+In another minute they came--mates, deck-hands, engineers, stewards,
+and stokers--blocking the narrow gangways on either side of the
+deck-house.  But beyond this they dared not go; for they too were
+confronted by that levelled pistol, and its holder's assurance that he
+would fire at the first man who advanced another step.
+
+Thus the single figure with a cocked revolver and the unarmed mob that
+it held at bay faced each other for a full minute, during which time
+the purple-faced Captain raved, foamed at the mouth, and, with bitter
+curses, ordered his men to make a rush at the young pirate.  That they
+did not obey was because of the unflinching steadiness of the young
+pirate's gaze, which they realized would detect their slightest forward
+movement.
+
+All at once Ridge caught a glimpse of a man on the roof of the
+deck-house, just as he dodged from sight behind the life-raft.  He
+thought he had also seen a gun in the man's hand.  The next instant he
+sprang over the ship's rail into the sea, and as he did so a shot rang
+out behind him.  It was not repeated when he came to the surface, for
+the very good reason that an armed boat from the steam-yacht was so
+close at hand, that ere the young trooper had cleared his eyes of salt
+water, its occupants were hauling him aboard.
+
+"Sergeant Norris!" cried an amazed voice from the stern sheets.  "Can
+it be possible?"
+
+"Lieutenant Norris, if you please," answered our dripping hero, with
+what dignity he could command.  "But oh, Comly! get me aboard your ship
+as quick as you can.  It is a matter of life or death!"
+
+"But I am ordered to investigate the mutiny on that transport" replied
+the bewildered Ensign.
+
+"I am the mutiny, and in capturing me you have got the whole of it,"
+declared Ridge.  "So, as you value your future prospects, get me aboard
+the _Speedy_, before it shall be too late."
+
+"All right," answered the young naval officer.  "I'll risk it for your
+sake.  So here goes."
+
+Once on board the despatch-boat our young trooper placed the whole
+situation in a few words before Captain Boldwood, who no sooner
+comprehended it than he ordered his little ship headed up the coast
+with all speed.
+
+"It will be almighty rough on the Admiral," he said to Ridge, "if
+Cervera comes out while he is away, after all his careful planning and
+weeks of weary waiting."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Only that Admiral Sampson has chosen to-day, of all days, to come down
+here for an interview with General Shafter, and we were sent ahead to
+make things ready for him at Siboney.  He was to have followed us
+within half an hour; but perhaps we can turn him back in time.  At any
+rate, we'll do our best."
+
+So the little _Speedy_ flew back over the way she had just come,
+displaying from her masthead as she went a string of gay bunting that
+read:
+
+"The enemy's ships are escaping."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH SHIPS
+
+As the _Speedy_ rounded the first headland those on board saw the great
+war-ship they were to intercept coming leisurely down the coast, not
+more than a mile away.  The yacht fired a gun to call attention to her
+momentous signal, and within a few seconds an answer, showing that it
+was seen and understood, was displayed from the _New York_.  At the
+same time the latter began to turn, so as to retrace her course.  She
+had hardly begun the movement before the _Speedy_ slipped up under her
+quarter.
+
+"Where did you get your information?" called out Captain Chadwick
+through a megaphone.
+
+"Messenger from the Commanding General," was the answer.
+
+"All right.  Keep on, and warn the fleet, if you reach them before we
+do."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" and then the swift yacht had moved beyond range even of
+a megaphone.
+
+All at once the little group of officers gathered on the _Speedy's_
+bridge, of course including Lieutenant Ridge Norris, knew that they
+were not to have the honor of warning the fleet; for a line of smoke,
+evidently moving seaward, appeared above the hills from the direction
+of Santiago Bay.
+
+"They are coming out!" cried the _Speedy's_ Captain; "and, if they have
+the pluck to keep on, we are about to witness one of the greatest
+sea-fights of the century."
+
+If the entire American blockading fleet had been on hand the coming
+contest would have been too unequal to be interesting.  As it was, the
+_Massachusetts_, _New Orleans_, and _Newark_ had gone to Guantanamo
+after coal, while the _New York_ was too far away to take any active
+part in the fighting.  This left only the _Brooklyn_, _Oregon_, _Iowa_,
+_Indiana_, and _Texas_ on guard, with the converted yachts _Gloucester_
+and _Vixen_ acting as picket-boats.
+
+The American ships lay some three miles off shore under low steam, and
+their crews were preparing for Sunday morning inspection.  Two of the
+battle-ships were overhauling their forward turrets, and repairing
+damages received during a bombardment of the forts on the previous day.
+The _Brooklyn_ lay farthest to the westward, and the _Indiana_ at the
+eastern end of the line, with the _Texas_, _Iowa_, and _Oregon_ between
+them.  Inshore of these were the two yachts.
+
+In Santiago Bay, about to rush out on these unsuspecting ships, were
+four of the finest cruisers in the world, possessed of greater speed
+than any of the Americans except the _Brooklyn_, and under a full head
+of steam: with them were two torpedo-boat destroyers, ranking among the
+most powerful and swiftest of their class.
+
+At half-past nine o'clock of that peaceful Sunday morning, as the
+_Speedy_ was still some five miles to the eastward of Santiago Bay,
+with the _New York_ just completing her turn, two miles farther down
+the coast, a shot from the _Iowa_ drew attention to her fluttering
+signal, "The enemy is escaping."
+
+Almost at the same moment the same startling signal broke out from a
+masthead of the _Texas_, which opened the battle with the mighty roar
+of a twelve-inch shell.  The _Brooklyn_ was also flying signal
+250--"The enemy is escaping"--and within three minutes from the
+discovery of that moving smoke behind the Morro her forward eight-inch
+battery was in full play against the _Maria Teresa_, first of the
+Spaniards to show her glistening hull around the point.
+
+Dashing at full speed from the harbor-mouth, outlined by the smokeless
+flames of her forward turret and port batteries, Admiral Cervera's
+flag-ship was quickly headed to the westward, and for the most open
+point of the blockade.  Behind her steamed the _Vizcaya_, _Colon_,
+_Oquendo_, and the torpedo-boats _Furor_ and _Pluton_.
+
+During the whole long blockade, the one standing order given by Admiral
+Sampson to cover an emergency like the present had been, "Should the
+enemy come out, close in and engage."
+
+Now the ships that he had left on guard did close in with what speed
+they could command, while their sweating stokers toiled like demons in
+the hideous heat of the fire-rooms to produce still greater heat and
+more steam.  As the on-rushing Spaniards cleared the harbor's mouth,
+every American ship was moving towards them and delivering a fire so
+incredibly terrific and of such deadly accuracy that its like was never
+known in the whole history of naval warfare.
+
+At the outset the little _Gloucester_, commanded by
+Lieutenant-Commander Richard Wainwright, who had been navigating
+officer of the _Maine_ at the time of her destruction, made a dash for
+her legitimate opponents, the two torpedo-boats.  They in turn sought
+shelter behind the _Oquendo_, and for a minute it looked as though the
+yacht were about to attack the big cruiser.  Then the _Texas_ began to
+pay particular attention to the _Oquendo_; and, seemingly content to
+leave her in such good hands, the Gloucester again started after the
+destroyers.  Suddenly a great shell from the _Indiana_, hurled over the
+yacht, struck one of them fairly amidships, and, with a roar heard high
+above the din of firing, the unfortunate boat plunged to the bottom,
+carrying with her all on board.
+
+The _Gloucester_ now directed her energies against the remaining
+destroyer, running well within range of the shore batteries to get at
+her, and within ten minutes had so riddled her with a storm of small
+projectiles that she lowered her colors, turned in towards the beach,
+struck on a reef, and in another moment was being helplessly pounded to
+pieces by the surf.  At the same time small boats from the plucky yacht
+that had placed her in this sad plight were busily engaged in rescuing
+such of her crew as could be reached.
+
+In the mean time both the _Teresa_ and _Oquendo_ had received so
+frightful a fire from the _Indiana_, _Iowa_, and _Texas_, that within
+six miles of Santiago Harbor the former, enveloped in flames, and no
+longer capable of defending herself, was also headed for the beach,
+where the gallant little _Gloucester_ soon afterwards came to her
+assistance and rescued hundreds of her perishing crew, including brave
+old Admiral Cervera.
+
+A few minutes later the _Almirante Oquendo_, with colors lowered and
+flames pouring from her open ports, also turned slowly inshore, and was
+beached within half a mile of the Spanish flag-ship.  It was only forty
+minutes since the fight began; but in that short space four of the
+Spanish squadron had been destroyed, without loss of life to the
+Americans, and but slight damage to their ships.  With the burning
+_Teresa_ and _Oquendo_ stayed the battle-ship _Indiana_, her men
+working in eager emulation with those of the _Gloucester_ to save the
+lives of their recent enemies.
+
+The next victim to succumb beneath the terrible American fire was the
+superb _Vizcaya_, which, pounded to death by the _Brooklyn_, _Oregon_,
+and _Texas_, was run on the beach at Aserraderos, seventeen miles west
+of Santiago Bay, a few minutes after eleven o'clock.  Like her
+unfortunate consorts, she also was a mass of flame, and had no sooner
+struck than scores of her people leaped overboard to escape being
+roasted alive.  Among these swimmers a body of Cuban troops poured a
+cowardly fire from the beach; but Captain Evans of the _Iowa_ quickly
+put a stop to that, and stood by the blazing wreck so long as there was
+a Spaniard left to be rescued from flame or flood.
+
+Of all Cervera's powerful squadron only a single ship was now left, the
+swift _Cristobal Colon_, which, by keeping behind the others, had as
+yet come to little harm.  When the _Vizcaya_ was run ashore, the
+_Colon_ was more than four miles ahead of her leading pursuer, the
+_Brooklyn_.  Close on the heels of the latter came the wonderful
+battle-ship _Oregon_, which had unexpectedly developed such
+extraordinary speed that, although starting next to the last of the
+American ships, she now very nearly led the chase.  Next behind her
+came the _Texas_, while the superb _New York_, though still far in the
+rear, was overhauling all three, and had the race been long enough
+would eventually have exchanged broadsides with the _Colon_.
+
+But she was not to be granted that satisfaction; for shortly after one
+o'clock, when the chase had lasted two hours, the _Oregon_ threw a
+couple of great thirteen-inch shells, at a range of five miles, so
+close to the flying Spaniard that they deluged her with tons of water.
+Upon this, to the surprise of every one, and without making any sort of
+a fight, the finest ship of the Spanish navy lowered her flag and was
+headed in for the beach.  After she had thus surrendered, and before
+the Americans could board, she was wrecked by her own crew, who opened
+sea-valves, smashed out dead lights, threw overboard the breech-blocks
+of their great guns, and in many other ways worked what destruction
+they could in the time allotted.  As a result of this vandalism, the
+fine ship rolled over on her side soon after striking, and would have
+slipped off into deep water had not the _New York_ rammed her to a
+better position higher up the beach.
+
+Thus was destroyed the fine squadron that had been a menace to the
+Americans ever since the war began.  Spain's loss was 600 human lives,
+1200 prisoners, and six ships, valued at $12,000,000; while that of the
+Americans was one man killed and three wounded, all on the _Brooklyn_,
+together with a few trifling injuries to the _Brooklyn_, _Iowa_, and
+_Texas_.
+
+And Ridge Norris, from the deck of the little _Speedy_, had been a
+spectator of the whole affair from beginning to end.  Thrilled with
+such excitement as he had never before known, he had seen ship after
+ship wearing the proud colors of Spain driven helplessly to the beach
+by the withering blasts of Yankee gunnery, until all were destroyed.
+Never before had our young American been so proud of his country and
+his countrymen.  Now his wonderful day was to be crowned with a great
+honor; for, no sooner was it certain that the _Colon_ had surrendered,
+than a message from the flag-ship bade the _Speedy_ return with all
+haste to Siboney and land the army officer whom she had brought out,
+that he might convey the glorious news to General Shafter and the men
+in the trenches before Santiago.
+
+"That's you, old man!" cried Ensign Comly, "And I envy you your present
+job a heap more than I did the one you were undertaking the last time
+we set you ashore."
+
+So back past the blazing wrecks of Cervera's squadron and on to Siboney
+dashed the despatch-boat.  The transport from which Ridge had been
+rescued that morning still lay in the harbor, and her Captain, hailing
+the _Speedy_, eagerly asked for news; but none was given him, and he
+was treated to a contemptuous silence that caused him to grow more
+purple-faced than ever.
+
+As Ridge was rowed ashore he directed Ensign Comly's attention to a
+large steam-yacht painted lead-color in imitation of the war-ships, but
+flying a Red Cross flag, that had evidently just arrived.
+
+"She looks a little like Rollo Van Kyp's _Royal Flush_," he said; "but
+what is her name?  G-r-a-y--Gray man?  Gray mare?  Oh no, _Gray Nun_.
+Queer name for a yacht, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes; and those nurses on her deck don't look a bit like nuns," replied
+Ensign Comly.  "Believe I'll make a call if we lie here this evening,
+for I understand that some of the nicest girls in the country have
+enlisted under the Red Cross since you chaps were sent to Santiago."
+
+"Wish I could join you," sighed Ridge; "only I haven't spoken to a girl
+in so long that I shouldn't know what to say."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+LAST SHOT OF THE CAMPAIGN
+
+The American army occupying the muddy trenches before Santiago had been
+rendered very unhappy that morning by a rumor that Cervera's ships had
+made a dash from the harbor, evaded the blockade, and escaped almost
+unharmed.  How this rumor started no one knew, but it spread like
+wildfire, and was generally believed.  There was ample opportunity for
+discussing it, since all firing had ceased, while under a flag of truce
+an envoy from General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago.  So
+the men in the trenches were free to stand erect and stretch
+themselves, to wander about, leaving their rifles in position between
+the sand-bags, and even to make little fires, over which to boil cups
+of coffee, all without drawing the fire of a single Spanish
+sharp-shooter.  It was a very novel sensation, and they enjoyed it.  At
+the same time they were not happy, for Cervera's ships had escaped.
+What could the Yankee sailors have been about to let such a thing
+happen?  What a disgrace it was, and how the whole world would jeer!
+Even Santiago seemed hardly worth capturing now.
+
+All at once a sound of shouting was borne faintly to their ears from
+the distant rear.  What had happened?  Had they been outflanked by the
+Spaniards and attacked from that direction?  No, for a band was playing
+on El Poso Hill, and the sound of shouting was advancing, like a roar
+of the sea.  No one looked towards Santiago now, but all eyes, turned
+to the rear, were fixed on the point where the Sevilla road left the
+timber.  At this place they gazed in eager but silent anticipation.
+Suddenly a horseman emerged from it and dashed at full speed across the
+valley, waving his hat and yelling as he came.
+
+Up the slope of San Juan Hill he charged and through the terraced
+camps, that broke into a jubilant roar as he reached them.  But he did
+not pause until he had gained the very trenches, where among the
+wondering Rough Riders he slipped wearily from his foam-flecked horse,
+shouting huskily but exultantly as he did so:
+
+"Sampson has destroyed the Spanish fleet!  Not a ship escaped!  I know,
+for I saw the whole fight!"
+
+"Hurrah!"  "Hooray!"  "Whoop-ee!"  "Wow, wow, wow!" howled the Riders,
+as in their wild jubilation they danced, hugged each other, and flung
+things in the air.  Then they raised Ridge high on their shoulders and
+bore him as proudly aloft as though he alone had achieved the wonderful
+victory of which he brought the news.  Indeed, they seemed to believe
+that but for his presence with the American ships things might perhaps
+have gone differently, and Rollo Van Kyp only voiced the general
+sentiment when he said:
+
+"Lucky thing for Sampson that he had at least one 'Terror' along to see
+that the scrap was conducted according to rules.  How I wish, though,
+that the _Nun_ had got here in time to take part in that fight, for she
+can outfoot the old _Corsair_--_Gloucester_, I mean--almost two to one.
+If she had only been on hand I believe she would have captured one of
+these little fellows alive, before he had a chance to make the beach."
+
+"The who?" asked Ridge, in perplexity, for the latter part of this
+remark had been addressed to him alone.
+
+"The _Nun_.  _Gray Nun_ is her whole name.  My yacht--used to be the
+_Royal Flush_, you know.  I offered her to the government as a gift, to
+be converted into a war-ship.  But they wouldn't accept her.  So I
+changed her name, and turned her over to the Red Cross people, to use
+as long as they had need of her.  Don't know, though, as they took me
+up, for we left about that time, and I haven't heard since."
+
+"But they did!" exclaimed Ridge.  "And she reached Siboney to-day, for
+I saw her there not more than two hours ago, flying a Red Cross flag,
+and crowded with nurses."
+
+"Good enough!" cried Rollo.  "That is almost as fine news as the other.
+The old _Flush_ must feel funny, though, all cluttered up with nurses,
+for that isn't exactly the kind of a crowd she has been used to.  Same
+time, if my steward carried out the orders I wired him, she must be
+loaded to the muzzle with good things to eat and drink, for I told him
+to fill her up with the best to be had in New York City.  So if any of
+the fellows are hankering for a change of grub, all they've got to do
+is to catch a fever or a Mauser bullet, and apply for a berth on the
+Nun.  For my own part I prefer hardtack, bacon, and good health; but
+then tastes differ, you know."
+
+"It was a splendid thing to do!" exclaimed Ridge; "and I don't believe
+there is another in the command would have thought of it.  The boys
+will be prouder than ever of the old regiment to know that it contains
+a fellow not only able but willing to do such a thing."
+
+"Oh, pshaw!" replied Rollo, flushing.  "There isn't one but would do as
+much and more, only some of them don't happen to have yachts lying
+idle.  And you mustn't tell them, old man.  I wouldn't for anything
+have it get out that the _Nun_ is my boat.  That's the reason I changed
+her name.  Some of them might think I was putting on airs, you know, if
+it should get out that I kept my yacht here at Siboney."
+
+"But you'll get leave to run down and see her, won't you?"
+
+"Not much, I won't.  The dear old skipper would be sure to give me
+away, though his orders are not to mention my name in connection with
+her."
+
+So the bountiful supply of delicacies and comforts of every kind
+provided by Rollo Van Kyp were distributed among the sick and wounded
+in the Siboney hospitals, and many a fever-stricken patient owed his
+life to the devoted care of the "gray nuns," as the nurses brought by
+the yacht were generally called; but only Ridge Norris knew whose was
+the generous forethought that had provided all these things.
+
+In the mean time the truce, first declared on that memorable Sunday,
+was extended from day to day, for one reason or another, for a week.
+General Linares had been wounded early in the fighting, General Vara
+del Rey had been killed at Caney, and the command of Santiago had
+finally devolved upon General Toral.  To him, then, was sent the
+summons to surrender.  This he refused to do, but begged for time in
+which to remove women, children, and other non-combatants from the city
+before it should be bombarded.  This was allowed, and nearly 20,000 of
+these helpless ones, frightened, bewildered, and half famished, were
+driven from Santiago to seek such refuge as the surrounding country
+might afford.  War-wrecked and devastated as it was, its resources in
+the way of food and shelter were so slender that hundreds of them died
+from exposure, starvation, or disease, and but for the generosity of
+the Americans, who fed them to the full extent of their ability,
+thousands more must have perished.
+
+And others came out from the beleaguered city; for an exchange of
+prisoners had been effected, and just before sunset on the third day of
+the truce three horsemen rode towards the American lines along the
+palm-shaded highway leading from Santiago.  Two of them were Spanish
+officers, but one wore the white duck uniform of the American navy, and
+behind him clattered an ambulance in which were seven of the proudest,
+happiest sailormen ever turned loose from an enemy's prison.  They were
+Hobson and his men, the heroes of the _Merrimac_, free at last to
+return to their own people.  And never did heroes receive a more royal
+welcome than that accorded this handful of blue-jackets by their
+comrades of the army.  From the outermost trenches all the way to
+Siboney, where a launch awaited them, their progress was an ovation of
+wildest enthusiasm.  Every soldier of the thousands whom they
+encountered first saluted and then cheered until he was hoarse, while
+one regimental band after another crashed forth its most inspiring
+music in their honor.  Out on the star-lit sea lay the great flag-ship
+from which these men had departed on their desperate mission more than
+a month before, and when, late that evening, they again reached it,
+they were once more safe at home with their work well done, and their
+fame established forever.
+
+For a week the truce continued, and while the Spaniards strengthened
+their defences, the Americans lengthened their lines, built roads over
+which to bring up their artillery, provided their camps with bomb-proof
+shelters, and received reinforcements.  Knowing all this, General Toral
+still refused to surrender, and during the afternoon of Sunday, July
+10th, the white flags were taken down and a bombardment of the city was
+begun.  For two hours, or until the coming of darkness, a heavy
+cannonade with brisk rifle-fire was kept up by both sides, but with
+little damage to either.  With sunrise of the following morning it was
+resumed.
+
+"I wonder what it is all for?" asked Rollo Van Kyp, as he crouched in
+the hot trench, industriously firing his carbine at the flashes from
+the Spanish rifle-pits.  "We don't seem to hit them, and they certainly
+don't hit us.  Now if Teddy would only order a charge, it would be
+something sensible.  But this play-fighting is disgusting!"
+
+Just then a Spanish shell burst close above the heads of this
+particular group of Rough Riders, and a fragment from it cut the staff
+of the troop guidon, planted in the soft earth, so that the silken flag
+fell outward.  In an instant Rollo had leaped over the protecting
+embankment, picked up the fallen flag, and, amid yells of approbation
+from his comrades, restored it to its former position.  Then,
+half-turning and swinging his hat defiantly above his head, the daring
+young trooper sprang back to his place of safety.  As he did so,
+something seemed to go wrong, and instead of landing on his feet he
+pitched awkwardly, and then lay motionless in the bottom of the trench.
+
+At the same moment trumpet and bugle along the whole line sounded the
+order "cease firing," and once more the white flags of truce fluttered
+in the sunlight.  Santiago was again summoned to surrender; and this
+time the summons was so seriously considered that, two days later, it
+was obeyed.  Although no one knew it at the time, the last shot of the
+campaign had been fired and the war was virtually ended.
+
+But the last shot had stricken down brave, generous, light-hearted
+Rollo Van Kyp just as he had covered himself with glory and was within
+a hair's-breadth of safety; for, as Lieutenant Norris knelt anxiously
+beside his friend, the gallant young trooper lay as though dead, with
+blood streaming over his face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+TWO INVALID HEROES
+
+Rollo Van Kyp, carefully lifted from the bloody trench in which he had
+fought and suffered so cheerfully, was borne to the rear, and the
+assistant surgeon of his regiment accompanied him to the hospital at
+Siboney.  Ridge Norris wanted to do this, but his duties would not
+permit of his absence, for officers were becoming scarce, and as yet no
+one knew but that the fighting might be resumed at any moment.  So he
+watched the departure of the ambulance with a heavy heart, and the
+whole troop shared his sorrow at the loss of their well-loved comrade.
+
+The next day the assistant surgeon returned and reported Rollo's wound
+apparently so serious that there was little hope for him.  "There was
+just one chance," he added, in answer to Lieutenant Norris's anxious
+inquiry for details, "and, by good luck, I secured it for him at the
+last moment.  He would surely have died in Siboney, but if he can get
+home and into a Northern hospital he may pull through.  By the greatest
+good fortune a Red Cross ship was about to start for the States with a
+number of the worst cases; and, just as she was sailing, I managed to
+get Van Kyp aboard.  She was so crowded that they weren't going to take
+him, until her skipper--as big-hearted a Yankee sailorman as ever trod
+a deck--said he would give up his own cabin rather than have a Rough
+Rider left behind to die."
+
+"What was his name?" asked Ridge.
+
+"Haven't an idea."
+
+"Do you know the name of the ship?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  She is the _Gray Nun_, a converted yacht."
+
+"Rollo Van Kyp's own boat!" cried Ridge.
+
+"You don't mean it?"
+
+"I do."  And then Ridge told all that he knew of his friend's splendid
+contribution to the service that was doing more than the government
+itself towards alleviating the sufferings of the American troops before
+Santiago.  When he finished, he said, "Of course the skipper recognized
+Van Kyp?"
+
+"No, he didn't," replied the other--"at least, not then, for the poor
+chap's face was covered to protect it from the sun, and I didn't
+mention his name until after he had been taken aboard, when I gave it
+to the surgeon in charge.  At first I only described him as a Rough
+Rider wounded in recovering his troop flag, and the skipper said that
+was all he wanted to know about him."
+
+Besides his news of Rollo, the surgeon had brought from Siboney a
+number of letters recently arrived there for the Rough Riders, and one
+of these was handed to Ridge.  Opening it curiously, for he did not
+recognize the handwriting of its address, the latter read as follows:
+
+
+"DEAR MR. NORRIS,--I have just been made very happy by learning from a
+friend of yours, a Mr. Comly, who is in the navy, that you are not only
+alive and well, but still with your regiment, and have done all sorts
+of splendid things.  This is news that will cause great rejoicing among
+all your friends, including your own family, who have been very anxious
+and unhappy concerning you.  Major Dodley reported in New Orleans that
+you had been placed under arrest for desertion--of course no one who
+knew you believed that for a moment--but had escaped and run away.
+Your father was so furious that he gave the Major a horse-whipping in
+front of the St. Charles, and made him take back every word.  Then he
+telegraphed and wrote to Tampa; but half of your regiment had left, and
+those who remained behind could tell nothing except that you had
+disappeared in a very mysterious manner.  You may imagine the distress
+of your father.
+
+"I had returned to my own home, but Dulce wrote me all about it, and I
+received her letter when on the point of starting for New York to offer
+my services as a Red Cross nurse, for I didn't feel that I could let
+the war go on a day longer without having some share in it.  I was
+accepted, and immediately assigned to duty aboard the society's ship
+_Gray Nun_, to which I am still attached.  That is how I happen to be
+here, and I am so glad I came, for I don't believe even you can imagine
+how much we were needed.  I have also discovered you, and shall write
+to Dulce at once.  Hoping that we may meet before long, I remain,
+
+"Very sincerely your friend,
+
+"SPENCE CUTHBERT.
+
+"On board _Gray Nun_, off Siboney, _July_ 8, 1898."
+
+
+"Whew!" whistled Ridge, softly, as he finished reading this letter.
+"If that isn't a budget of news!  Spence Cuthbert here in Cuba nursing
+wounded soldiers!  But it is just like the dear girl to do such a
+thing.  If I had only known of it sooner, though, I might have found a
+chance to run down to Siboney and see her.  Now it is too late, for the
+_Nun_ has gone again.  She will discover Rollo, though, and take care
+of him.  Lucky fellow!  Wish I was in his place!  And Comly, too!  He
+must have made that call and scraped an acquaintance.  What cheek those
+navy chaps have, anyway!  So Dodley reports me as a deserter, does he?
+And the dear old dad horsewhipped him.  Oh, if I had only been there!
+It is a shame that I haven't managed to write home, and I'll do so this
+very minute."
+
+In pursuance of this resolve, Ridge did write a long letter to his
+mother, in which he told of his great disappointment at not seeing
+Spence Cuthbert before she left Cuba, and sent it to Siboney to be
+forwarded at the first opportunity.
+
+After that, other exciting events in connection with his duty occupied
+our young Lieutenant's attention; for at a meeting of Generals Shafter
+and Toral, under a great tree midway between the American and Spanish
+lines, the latter finally agreed to surrender the entire province of
+Santiago, with all the troops within its limits.  On this occasion each
+General was accompanied by members of his staff, and to Ridge again
+fell the honor of acting as official interpreter.  Thus for days he was
+kept so continually busy that he hardly found time for sleep.  Then, on
+Sunday, the 17th of July, one week after the firing of the last shot,
+and two weeks after the destruction of Cervera's ships, at precisely
+noon, the red and yellow banner of Spain was lowered forever from over
+Santiago's municipal palace, and the glorious stars and stripes proudly
+flung to the breeze in its place.  The impressive ceremony was
+witnessed by the Ninth Regiment of United States Infantry, two mounted
+troops of the Second Regular Cavalry, and by the brilliant staff who
+surrounded General Shafter.  Besides these, Spanish officers and
+citizens of Santiago crowded every window, doorway, and portico of the
+cathedral, the San Carlos Club, the Venus restaurant, and other
+buildings facing the Plaza de Armas, and watched the proceedings in
+silence.
+
+As the starry flag of the United States ran slowly to the top of the
+tall staff the Ninth Regiment band crashed forth the inspiring strains
+of "The Star-spangled Banner," and every American present, excepting,
+of course, the troops on duty, bared his head.  At the same moment the
+thunder of distant artillery firing a national salute of twenty-one
+guns and exultant cheering from the trenches a mile beyond the city
+told that the glorious news had reached the waiting army.
+
+At the conclusion of the ceremony, General Leonard Wood, formerly
+Colonel of the Rough Riders, was installed as Military Governor of the
+conquered city, and one of the first to congratulate him upon this new
+honor was the young Lieutenant of his old command, who had been
+permitted to do so much towards bringing the Santiago campaign to its
+happy conclusion.  For Ridge Norris, in appreciation of his recent
+services, had been one of the very few guests invited to witness the
+change of flags.
+
+Shortly after it was all over, as Ridge was slowly making his way back
+to camp, no longer upheld by excitement and utterly weary from his
+recent labors, he encountered a forlorn little group of natives, who
+aroused his instant sympathy.  A young woman, gaunt and hollow-cheeked,
+with three children, trying to make her way back to the city, had sunk
+exhausted by the road-side.  One of the children was a babe held
+tightly pressed to her bosom.  Of the others, one was a small boy, who
+stood manfully by his mother's side; while a little girl, burning with
+fever, lay tossing and moaning on the ground.
+
+As Ridge reached this group the woman cried, imploringly, "Help, Senor
+Americano!  For love of the good God help me reach the city before my
+little ones perish!"
+
+Ridge could understand and could talk to her in her own tongue.  So in
+a few minutes he had learned her pitiful story.  It was that of many
+another--a tale of starvation, sickness, death of her husband, and of
+homeless wandering for days.  Now her one desire and hope was to return
+to her home in Santiago.  Even before she had concluded her sad
+narration our young trooper had picked up the fever-stricken child,
+and, with the others following him, was retracing his steps towards the
+city.  He did not leave them until they were safe in the wretched hovel
+they called home, and he had procured for them a supply of food.  Then,
+followed by fervent blessings, he again started for the American lines.
+
+[Illustration: Ridge escorts a Cuban family into Santiago.]
+
+That evening he could not eat the coarse camp fare of his mess, and the
+next morning found him raving in the delirium of fever.  When, a little
+later, the Rough Riders were removed to a more healthful camp-ground, a
+few miles back in the hills, Lieutenant Norris, with several other
+fever-stricken members of the command, was taken to one of the Spanish
+hospitals in Santiago, where, three days later, Spence Cuthbert found
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+ROLLO MAKES PROPOSITIONS
+
+The month of August was drawing to its close when an expectant throng
+of people gathered about the wharf of the great military camp recently
+established for the home-returning American army at Montauk Point, on
+the extreme eastern end of Long Island.  Most of the throng were
+soldiers, but among them was a little group of civilians accompanied by
+a young trooper wearing a brand-new uniform, but looking very pale and
+weak, as though recovering from a severe illness.  He was Rollo Van
+Kyp, only just out from the New York hospital to which he had been
+taken more than a month before.  With him, and anticipating his every
+need, were Mr. and Mrs. Norris and Dulce.  Their Long Island summer
+home had not been sold, and now there was no need that it should be,
+since Mr. Norris's affairs had taken a decided turn for the better.  As
+soon, therefore, as they learned that the army was to be sent to
+Montauk, they went to this cottage and fitted it up as a convalescent
+hospital, for any of their boy's wounded comrades to whom he might
+desire to show particular attention.  Thus Dulce, though not enrolled
+in the Red Cross service, wore a nurse's costume, and Rollo Van Kyp,
+who had insisted on coming down to welcome his home-returning comrades,
+was one of her patients.  Now they were looking for Ridge, of whose
+illness they had not yet learned.
+
+Those Rough Riders left behind at Tampa had already been transferred to
+Montauk, together with all the horses of the regiment, and these hearty
+young troopers formed the greater part of the throng now assembled to
+greet the heroes of Las Guasimas, of San Juan, and of the Santiago
+trenches, for Colonel Roosevelt and his men were coming home, and the
+_Miami_, on which they were embarked, was nearing the wharf.  Her decks
+were crowded with men, worn and weary, clad in battle-stained uniforms,
+and filled with a great joy at once more breathing the air of their
+native land.  Already was Rollo recognizing familiar faces, and eagerly
+pointing them out.
+
+"But where is my boy?" cried Mrs. Morris.  "I cannot see him."
+
+The others did not answer, for they too were greatly disappointed at
+not discovering the face they most longed to see.
+
+At length the slow-moving ship was made fast, its gang-plank was run
+out, and the eager troopers began to swarm ashore.  Some were so weak
+that comrades were obliged to support their feeble steps; but all were
+radiant with the joy of home-coming.  Cheer after cheer greeted each
+troop, as with silken guidons fluttering above them they marched from
+the ship, and finally a perfect roar of welcome announced the
+appearance of their Colonel.
+
+"There's Teddy!" cried Rollo, with a feeble attempt at waving his hat.
+"Oh, how good it is to see him again!"
+
+"But my boy!  Where is my boy?" cried the distracted mother, crowding
+her way to the very front rank of spectators.  As she did so, Colonel
+Roosevelt passed close to her, and she clutched his arm.
+
+"Oh, sir, my boy!  Where is my boy?  Do not tell me he is dead!"
+
+"It is Mrs. Norris, Colonel," explained Rollo Van Kyp, pressing
+forward, "and she is disappointed at not seeing the Lieutenant."
+
+"Thank God, my dear fellow, that you are alive!" exclaimed the Colonel,
+grasping Van Kyp's hand.  Then, in a lower tone, he added, "We had to
+leave poor Norris behind.  He was too ill to be brought on a transport,
+but he may come at any time on a hospital-ship.  Here is a note for his
+family from one of the hospital nurses.  My dear madam," he added,
+turning to Mrs. Norris, "your son is alive, but detained for a time at
+Santiago.  If you will excuse me now, I will see you again very
+shortly, and tell you of all the fine things he has done."
+
+With this the embarrassed Colonel passed on, thankful at having thus
+concluded one of the interviews with anxious parents that he so dreaded.
+
+For a moment Mrs. Norris stared after him in speechless agony; for the
+mother's keen ear had overheard his low-spoken words to Rollo Van Kyp,
+and she knew that her boy had been left in Cuba too ill to be moved.
+Then she uttered a moan, and fainted in her husband's arms.
+
+A little later, when the saddened group had been driven back to the
+cottage that had been so happily prepared for the reception of their
+soldier, they read Spence Cuthbert's note, hastily written as the Rough
+Riders were embarking at Santiago.  It told of the terrible suffering
+that had impelled her to remain behind when the _Gray Nun_ went north,
+of her disappointment at not hearing anything from Ridge, and how she
+had at last discovered him in the Santiago hospital, to which she had
+been transferred immediately after the surrender.
+
+"I did not dare write sooner," she continued, "for we had no hope that
+he could live; but now he is again conscious, and has recognized me.
+The doctors talk of sending him north as soon as he can be moved; but,
+remembering the horrors of the _Seneca_ and the _Concho_, I dread the
+voyage for him even more than I do the pestilent air of this awful
+hospital.  In fact, I am in despair, and know not what is best to be
+done."
+
+"I know!" exclaimed Rollo Van Kyp, as Dulce, with tear-filled eyes,
+finished reading this pitiful note.  "He must be brought back on the
+_Nun_.  Mr. Norris, she leaves New York to-morrow with a fresh lot of
+nurses for Santiago, and if you will only take the run down on her you
+can bring the dear old chap back in comfort."
+
+Mr. Norris hesitated a moment.  "Do you realize," he asked, "that if
+your yacht brings back a single yellow-fever patient it may never be
+safe to use her again?"
+
+"My dear sir!" cried Rollo, "if she were all that I had in the world
+she would still be at the service of my dearest friend."
+
+So Mr. Norris thankfully accepted the young millionaire's offer, and
+sailed the very next day for Santiago.
+
+A week later a Red Cross nurse, worn and wearied almost to the point of
+exhaustion by her days and nights of caring for sick and dying
+soldiers, sat in a Santiago hospital beside one of her patients, gently
+fanning him.  His eyes were closed, and she hoped that he slept.  As
+she watched him her own eyes slowly filled with tears; for she did not
+believe he would ever gain sufficient strength to bear removal from
+that house of sorrow.  The air of the ward was hot, damp, and lifeless.
+Sickening odors rising from the streets of the filthy city drifted in
+through its open windows.  The whole atmosphere of the place was
+depressing, and suggestive of suffering that could only end with death.
+
+"Poor Ridge!" she murmured bitterly to herself.  "After all your
+splendid work, it is cruel to leave you here to die, deserted and
+forgotten!"
+
+Just then the patient opened wide his eyes, and an expression of eager
+anticipation flitted across his white face.  "Dad is coming," he
+whispered.  "I hear his footstep.  Oh, Spence, he is here, and will
+take us home!"
+
+The nurse listened, but heard only the moans of other sufferers, and
+thinking that this one had dreamed of his father's coming, tried to
+soothe him with hopeful promises.  Then, all at once, she uttered a
+little cry of joy, for at the far end of the long white ward she saw
+one of the house surgeons escorting a familiar figure.  In another
+minute Mr. Norris, seeming to bring with him a breath of bracing
+northern air, stood beside his son's cot.
+
+"I thank God and you, Spence Cuthbert, that my boy is still alive!" he
+cried.  "And now, how soon can we take him north?  I have Van Kyp's
+yacht waiting out here in the harbor, and we can start at a moment's
+notice."
+
+"I believe I could go this very minute, dad," said Ridge, his voice
+already strengthened with hope and happiness.  "But, father," he added,
+anxiously, "we must take Spence with us; for she has promised to stay
+with me as long as I need her, and I know I couldn't travel without
+her."
+
+"Of course we will take her, son, and keep her, too, just as long as we
+can."
+
+For three days longer Ridge lay on that cot, gaining strength with each
+moment of renewed hope and eager anticipation.  During this time Mr.
+Norris occupied the intervals of rest from watching beside his son with
+visiting the battle-fields near the city over which the young trooper
+had so bravely fought.  On these expeditions he was accompanied and
+guided by a Cuban named del Concha, recommended by General Wood, to
+whom he had rendered valuable service by the giving of intelligent and
+honestly patriotic advice.  When del Concha discovered that the
+American senor whom he was asked to guide was father to his friend, the
+brave _teniente_ Norris, he was overjoyed to be of assistance to him,
+and completely won the elder gentleman's heart by praise of his son and
+stories of the latter's exploits while executing his dangerous mission
+among the Spaniards of Cuba.  Del Concha also told of himself; and,
+among other things, that, on the very day he had learned of Santiago's
+surrender, he had married his sweetheart, the brave girl who had
+assisted Ridge to escape from the Holguin prison, and who was now very
+nearly recovered from her wound.
+
+At length the joyous day came when Ridge could be moved, and he was
+carefully borne in a litter, by four of the stalwart negro troopers, in
+whose company he had charged up San Juan Heights, through the streets
+of Santiago to the waiting yacht.  Besides the young trooper and his
+proud father, the _Nun_ carried northward a score more of convalescent
+soldiers, to whom Spence Cuthbert, and a group of her companion nurses,
+also returning home from their glorious service, gave devoted care.
+
+On the day that Montauk was to be reached, Ridge was strong enough to
+be carried on deck, where, from a pillowed steamer-chair, he gazed
+happily at the loved features of the nearing coast.  He was the very
+first to spy his mother, who again waited in trembling eagerness on the
+wharf, this time not to be disappointed.
+
+"And there are Rollo," he said, to the girl who stood beside him, "and
+Dulce, and the Colonel.  And oh, Spence, to think that but for you I
+should certainly never have seen them again!"
+
+For many days after the home-coming of our young trooper the Norris
+cottage was strictly quarantined against a possible outbreak of
+yellow-fever; but, as Rollo Van Kyp said:
+
+"Who cares?  I'm sure I don't; for all of the world I want to see just
+now is held within these walls."
+
+The very first time Ridge was allowed to go out, he was driven to the
+Rough-Rider camp to be mustered from service with his regiment.  On
+this occasion he wore a lieutenant's uniform, at which his mother,
+seated beside him in the carriage, gazed with such undisguised pride
+that he laughingly accused her of being more susceptible to the
+influence of brass buttons than any girl of his acquaintance.
+
+Only once after this did our young lieutenant wear his uniform, and
+that was when, two months later, he was married in a little Kentucky
+church to Spence Cuthbert, who, at his earnest request, wore as her
+wedding-dress the costume of a Red Cross nurse.
+
+Dulce was, of course, maid of honor, while Rollo Van Kyp was best man.
+When the simple ceremony was over, and they were all gathered to wish
+the radiant couple God-speed on their wedding journey, Rollo unfolded
+the great news he had received that morning.
+
+"Teddy has been nominated for Governor of New York!" he cried.  "And I
+am to stump the State with him.  When he is elected he is going to make
+me a Colonel on his staff, so that Dulce won't have to marry a mere
+private after all."
+
+And Dulce, blushing furiously, replied, "I would rather marry a private
+soldier who had charged up San Juan Hill than any staff-officer in the
+world."
+
+"How about taking both?" asked Rollo.
+
+
+
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