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diff --git a/old/68379-0.txt b/old/68379-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fa01278..0000000 --- a/old/68379-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3469 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Under Blanco's eye, by Douglas Wells - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Under Blanco's eye - Or, Hal Maynard among the Cuban insurgents - -Author: Douglas Wells - -Release Date: June 23, 2022 [eBook #68379] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy - of the Digital Library@Villanova University.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER BLANCO'S EYE *** - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -VOL. 1 NO. 1 NEW YORK, MAY 7, 1898 5 CENTS - -STREET & SMITH Publishers. - -STARRY FLAG WEEKLY - -THRILLING STORIES OF OUR VICTORIOUS ARMY - -[Illustration] - -UNDER BLANCO’S EYE OR HAL MAYNARD AMONG THE CUBAN INSURGENTS - - * * * * * - -Starry Flag Weekly - -_Issued Weekly--By Subscription: $2.50 per year. Entered as Second -Class Matter at the N. Y. Post Office._ STREET & SMITH, _81 Fulton St., -N. Y. Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1898, in the -Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C._ - -No. 1. NEW YORK, May 7, 1898 Price Five Cents. - - - - -_Under Blanco’s Eye_; - - -OR, _HAL MAYNARD AMONG THE CUBAN INSURGENTS_ - -By DOUGLAS WELLS. - - * * * * * - -First Part. - - - - -CHAPTER I. “THE ONLY AMERICAN IN HAVANA.” - - -“Stop!” - -A boy of some eighteen or nineteen years rushed frantically out upon a -wharf bordering the harbor of Havana. - -“Hold on!” - -Elbowing his way through the dark-skinned crowd, he reached the -string-piece, now waving his arms wildly. - -At the top of his voice came the fervent appeal: - -“Don’t leave me behind!” - -Unheedful of the Spanish crowd about him, the boy gazed anxiously at -the fast receding stern of the United States steamer Fern. - -That crowd was bent on mischief. It had jeered itself nearly hoarse -when the little steamer left her berth. - -Now it saw in this shouting, gesticulating youth a closer victim of -their sport. - -“Swim!” jeered one low-browed, dirty Spaniard. - -To this came an echoing shout of: - -“Make him swim!” - -“Yes! Throw the Yankee dog into the harbor. He will find company in -the sailors of the Maine!” - -A yell went up--a yell that was partly derisive and partly defiant. - -It had one effect that the victim was quick to notice--it utterly -drowned out his appealing shouts to those on the deck of the Fern, -causing him to gasp: - -“Am I the only American left behind in Havana?” - -It looked like it. - -Further from the pier, nearer every moment to the entrance of Havana -harbor went the Fern, the last of the United States steamers to leave -Cuba’s capital city on that memorable afternoon of the ninth of April, -1898. - -Aboard the Fern was that sturdy American hero, General Fitzhugh Lee. - -Up to the last moment he had served the interests of the United States -and her citizens as consul general at Havana. - -Now, when the state of affairs there had become intolerable, General -Lee had sailed on the Fern. - -After indomitable efforts extending over several days, he had succeeded -in shipping, as he believed, the last American in that danger-infested -city. - -Then, and not until then, had General Lee stepped aboard the Fern. - -His coming had been the signal for the start. A moment later the little -steamer’s prow was cutting the muddy, blood-stained waters of Havana -harbor. - -Close to the wreck of the United States’ once proud battleship Maine -passed the Fern. - -Standing on deck, General Lee and his immediate party had bared their -heads in silent respect and grief for the two hundred and sixty-six -sailors whom Spanish treachery had destroyed. - -General Lee believed that he had succeeded in bringing the last -American away. - -He certainly had, so far as he knew. He had done his duty like an -American. - -Yet, all unknown to him, one American remained behind--Hal Maynard, the -boy who now stood watching the receding Fern with a look of mingled -anxiety and wistfulness. - -Suddenly Hal uncovered. His glance had rested on the Stars and Stripes -at the steamer’s stern. - -It was a courageous thing to do--to salute the hated Yankee flag in -this stronghold of that flag’s bitterest enemies. - -But Hal did it, without bluster or hesitation. - -There was a choking sensation in the boy’s throat; tears glistened in -his eyes. - -“My country’s flag,” he murmured brokenly. “May God always bless your -folds, and protect them! May those Stars and Stripes soon come back -here, and float a supreme warning that treachery and tyranny can never -flourish in the New World!” - -It may be that some of the Spaniards grouped about him heard him. If -so, they did not understand, or it would have been worse for this -American boy. - -“The senor does not like our climate!” - -Jeeringly the words were uttered. - -Half turning, Maynard gazed unto the speaker’s eyes. - -The latter was a Spaniard, a peon or laborer. Ragged, barefooted, -dirty, he had the appearance of a man half-starved. - -The fellow’s tattered sombrero rested at an angle on his head. His -gleaming, glittering eyes, made brighter by that nondescript illness, -slow starvation, had an ugly light in them. - -In whatever direction Maynard turned he saw others like this -fellow--thousands of them. - -Every wharf and pier, every building near the water front, every -available spot of view was crowded by Spaniards who had come out to -watch the departure of America’s consul general, and, watching, to jeer. - -It was no use to gaze longer after the Fern, yet Hal Maynard found -himself unable to stir. - -“If I never see the flag again, I must see it to the last to-day,” he -murmured. - -“Senor does not like our climate?” again jeered the fellow at his elbow. - -Hal made no answer, not even turning this time. - -But his tormentor would not quit. - -“Perhaps it is our people that the senor does not like? I have heard -that there were some Americans who do not love the Spanish!” - -Still Hal stood with his eyes fastened on the flag. - -“If the senor is a good friend of Spain,” continued the fellow, with -mocking insinuation, “he will shout, ‘viva Espana!’” - -Long live Spain? Hal Maynard would have died a dozen deaths sooner than -utter such a detestable wish! - -Those black, gleaming eyes were fastened on him pitilessly, -until--until the tormentor found himself ignored. - -Then he swiftly turned to his fellow Spaniards. - -“Here is an American!” he cried. - -A laughing chorus greeted the announcement. - -“He wanted to go home!” - -More laughter greeted this stupid sally. - -“And now,” continued the announcer, “he is crying to find himself left -here with us!” - -“There is yet time for him to swim after the vessel!” jibed another -Spaniard. - -“Or let him cruise home on the Maine!” - -At this there was a cyclonic burst of laughter. - -Instantly the other Spaniards began to cast about for sayings which the -crowd would regard as being witty. - -Hal Maynard’s eyes flashed. - -A fight would be helpless--hopeless, leaving him only the fate of death -at the hands of this jibing, vicious mob. - -Yet no sooner was the word “Maine” uttered than he turned once more to -where the wreck of the Maine lay and lifted his hat with a motion of -reverence. - -It was grit--clear grit! That much even the Spaniards could appreciate. - -It was a defiance, too, and in a moment angry murmurs went up. - -“Let us see if a Yankee pig can swim!” - -“And if he steers toward that battered iron scow, we can shoot him from -the wharf.” - -“As we will shoot all Yankees who dare to come here after this!” -shouted another. - -Hal faced them, head erect and shoulders thrown back. - -He fully expected to be thrown into the muddy water, but he did not -propose to flinch. - -For a moment the crowd hesitated, ready to follow any caprice, but -waiting for a leader. - -After waiting a moment for the attack, Hal felt a sudden thrill of -misgiving. - -His hand had touched, accidentally, on something under his coat. - -That recalled him to his duty, to the reason for his being in Havana, -to the cause of his being left behind. - -Hidden away in his clothing was a bag. It contained two thousand -dollars, the property of another, confided to his care. - -“This mob is made up of worthless fellows,” muttered the boy. “They -don’t know any better than to do as they are doing. They are so -ignorant that not one in a dozen of them would know his own name -in print. They shall not make me forget my duty. Since there is no -American ship here, I will try to find an English one.” - -Then, ignoring the crowd that surged about him, he turned again to scan -the line of wharves. - -Less than a quarter of a mile away lay a brig from whose masthead -floated the Union Jack of Great Britain. - -“I shall be safe there,” murmured Hal. “I can leave Havana on that -craft. It may even be that the brig is bound for an American port.” - -His mind made up, he turned to leave the wharf, meaning to walk along -the river front until he came to the brig’s wharf. - -But his original tormentor put himself fairly in the boy’s path. - -“Where is the Yankee pig going to root?” he demanded. - -Other murmurs went up. - -“Do not let him leave us!” - -“Not until he has cried ‘viva Espana!’” - -“Gentlemen,” said Hal, trying to speak calmly, “I find that I am not on -the right wharf. Will you allow me to pass?” - -“Certainly, senor!” - -“Way for the gentleman!” - -“Let the Yankee pig find his wallow!” - -Click-clack! click-clack! Way on the outskirts of the crowd a man had -picked up a cobblestone, on which he now began to whet his knife. - -It was a most suggestive sound. The crowd roared with merriment, -craning their necks to see whether this Yankee blanched. - -But Hal, though he knew that a spark would be sufficient to touch off a -mine of Spanish mob-treachery, retained his composure. - -“I am in a hurry, if you please,” he said, trying to edge his way -through. - -The crowd pretended to make way, yet each Spaniard took pains to get -only more in the way. - -They were playing with him, as a cat does with a mouse, enjoying their -sport with true feline ferocity. - -One of the crowd suddenly divined our hero’s purpose. - -“He wants to reach that English ship. The gringo fancies he will be -safer there than with us. Let us convince him that our hospitality is -genuine.” - -Still laughing, the crowd made way for Hal to pass off the pier, but -the instant that he tried to walk along the shore in the direction of -the bridge, he found himself confronted by the dense ranks of a barring -crowd. - -“No, no, senor! Straight back into Havana.” - -“I guess I might as well go to a hotel,” Hal acquiesced, inwardly. -“From there, an hour later, I may be able to get a closed carriage to -the brig.” - -There was a driver within call. To him Hal signaled. - -The jehu came up, but on hearing the name of the hotel, he shook his -head and scowled. - -“No, no, senor,” he protested, “I cannot drive Yankees.” - -“I will walk, then,” rejoined Hal. - -But the crowd protested that he must ride. - -“If the senor will pay three fares,” declared the jehu, “I will take -him.” - -“Very well,” muttered Hal, stepping into the carriage. - -“Ha! Senor Maynard, wait! I must see you!” cried a man, making his way -through the crowd. - -“Vasquez!” thrilled the boy, recognizing his accoster. - -Then, for the first time that day, Hal Maynard turned pale. - - - - -CHAPTER II. JUAN RAMIREZ INTRODUCES HIMSELF. - - -Senor Vasquez, a middle-aged Spaniard with the air of a prosperous -merchant, pushed his way through to the carriage. - -The crowd, scenting as if by instinct some new trouble for the boy, -made way for the newcomer. - -Vasquez’s eyes glittered. He regarded the boy with a look of evil -triumph, though his manner, as he stepped into the carriage, was -faultlessly diplomatic. - -“You will excuse my intrusion?” he begged. - -“I shall have to,” was Hal’s cold rejoinder. - -“I was anxious to see you. This meeting has given me great pleasure.” - -Then, lowering his voice, he added: - -“Senor Maynard, your employer owes me, as you know, two thousand -dollars. I must have that money at once.” - -“If Mr. Richardson owes you anything,” replied Hal, “he will pay it.” - -“Bah! Do you think I am so simple? Senor Richardson left yesterday for -Key West.” - -“I repeat,” came firmly from Hal, “that, if he owes you anything he -will pay it.” - -“And I, my dear young friend,” rejoined the Spaniard, “assure you that -I mean to collect from you. You have the money. I know it.” - -Hal tried not to start at this cool piece of assurance. - -“I know,” continued Senor Vasquez, in the same low tone, “where you -collected the money. I know just how much you collected, and can tell -you, to a peseta, just how much you carry in a certain bag. Ha! my -friend, you do not seem happy over my knowledge. But a trustworthy man -of mine has followed you. You see that there is no use denying what my -faithful agent told me.” - -“But did he tell you,” smiled Hal, coolly, “where I took that bag?” - -Senor Vasquez changed color and hesitated. - -That was enough to show observant Hal that his “bluff” had a chance of -winning. - -“If he did not tell you that,” resumed the American, “go back and cane -your agent for a sleepy fellow. Senor Vasquez, if you meant to wrest -the money from me by force, you should have employed a better agent.” - -Maynard’s manner was so cool and convincing that for a moment the -Spaniard was staggered. - -“Ha!” he cried, suddenly. “Whatever you have done with the money, you -have not had chance to send it out of Cuba, and your last chance to do -that is gone. Perhaps you will conclude to tell me where the money is.” - -“Assuredly not,” rejoined Hal, stoutly. - -“Now, if I were to make a few remarks about you to the crowd which -surges about this carriage, do you know what would happen to you?” - -“Certainly,” replied Hal. “I should be in danger of being killed.” - -“Do you feel like taking the risk?” - -“If you were scoundrel enough, senor, I should be compelled to take it.” - -Vasquez’s black eyes snapped dangerously. - -“I have only to say the word,” he suggested. - -Hal was playing a desperate game. The thought drove some of the color -from his cheeks. - -“Will you tell me where the money is?” insisted the Spaniard. - -“Suppose that I did not know, how could I tell you?” - -Vasquez snorted impatiently, then beckoned to one of the leaders of the -mob, who quickly approached. - -“Your last chance, Senor Maynard,” whispered the Spaniard. - -“I can tell you nothing.” - -As Hal uttered these words he expected to be handed over to the Spanish -mob. - -To his surprise Vasquez’s manner swiftly changed. - -To the ring-leader Senor Vasquez said: - -“Pedro, I trust that your friends will not molest this young man. He is -in a measure under my protection.” - -“Senor Vasquez’s words always carry weight,” was the quick, respectful -answer. - -“My dear young friend,” went on the Spaniard, “I may see you again. If -we do meet, I trust I shall find you more gracious.” - -With that the Spaniard slipped quickly from the carriage, and the -driver, taking the cue, turned up one of the streets into the city. - -Jeers followed, but nothing else happened. - -“Vasquez is as slick as ever,” mused Hal, sinking back on the cushion. -“At first, he thought he would frighten me. Now perhaps he means to -call upon me at the hotel, try to convince me that he saved my life, -and thus work upon my gratitude. If Senor Vasquez imagines that he can -persuade me to betray my good old employer, he will wake up and find it -all a dream! - -“But first of all he will send his agents out again, to see if he can -get them on the track of the place where the money is. How my Spanish -pirate would swear if he knew that he had been within a foot of the -money all the while! Yet, because I have fooled the fellow this time, I -must not underrate him. He is deadly!” - -Deadly, indeed! Vasquez, though a rich merchant, had seldom earned an -honest dollar. - -He belonged to a Spanish type that has been common in Cuba. American -merchants and planters, especially those who were new to the island, -had been his especial game for years. - -He sought the acquaintance of such “new” Americans, tendered them his -services and goods, and charged exorbitantly for both. - -Should an American planter protest, the crop in one of his sugar or -tobacco fields was burned, nor was it long before the planter learned -that “irrepressible friends of Senor Vasquez had rebuked a grasping -foreigner.” - -Should an American merchant protest at Vasquez’s charges, something -happened to the “impudent merchant’s” stores or warehouses. - -Yet Vasquez himself had always kept on the safe side of the law, while -cheerfully ruining Americans. - -They were simply compelled to submit to his extortions. One American, a -planter, who had resolutely resisted the Spaniard, had been found dead, -but the crime could be fastened on no one. - -Just before the outbreak of the Cuban rebellion, Henry Richardson had -started sugar plantations in the interior. He had fallen into Vasquez’s -hands at the outset, and had been systematically plundered. - -Hal Maynard, who had come to Cuba a year before as Mr. Richardson’s -private secretary, had detected the Spaniard in several doubtful -dealings. - -Naturally Vasquez’s feeling for our hero was far from cordial. - -While Hal and his employer were still in the interior, Vasquez had -tried to involve them in trouble with the Spanish authorities. - -This menace Mr. Richardson had dodged by paying a liberal bribe to the -officer commanding the nearest garrison. - -Nevertheless, more dangers threatened these two Americans. - -Then Consul General Lee’s call had come for Americans to leave Cuba. -Mr. Richardson had gone the day before. Hal had lingered long enough to -collect two thousand dollars due his employer. This accomplished, he -had traveled hastily to Havana, meaning to leave there on the historic -ninth of April. We have seen how he had reached there too late. - -The money that Vasquez claimed as his due was the balance of an -exorbitant bill. He had already been paid far more than he was entitled -to. - -But he had hoped to overtake and intimidate the American boy. - -The carriage drew up before the hotel door, which appeared deserted -as, indeed, it was, for with money and food both scarce in Havana, the -hotels stand but a poor show of patronage. - -“Your three fares, peon,” said Hal, dropping a few coins in the -driver’s hand. - -“Four pesetas more,” insisted the driver. - -Hal paid it, without protest, and disappeared inside. He was quickly -shown to a room, and requested that his trunk be sent up. - -“Although I ordered that sent here from the interior,” he smiled, as he -bent over the box, “I expected to leave it behind.” - -Unlocking the lid, he examined the articles in the trunk for some -moments, until a warning “Ss-sst!” reached his ear. - -Rising quickly, Hal saw from whence the signal had come. - -In the aperture made by an open skylight overhead appeared the head of -a dark-skinned young man. - -His bright, restless eyes took in everything in the room, our hero -included. - -“You are an American?” he asked, as Hal stepped under the skylight. - -“Yes.” - -“Then I am your friend. But have you an enemy?” - -“I--I fear I have.” - -“Look out of the window toward the harbor. Then come back.” - -Hal quickly obeyed, returning with a perturbed face. - -“You saw Senor Vasquez approaching, with two officers and a squad of -soldiers?” - -“Just that!” affirmed Hal. - -“The officers have a pretense, but Vasquez will really seek your money. -If you have it not with you, or know a safe hiding place, you will fool -him, but if the money is in your possession, it will surely be taken -from you.” - -Hal hesitated, regarding the speaker with a look full of penetration. - -What he saw was the frank, pleasing face of a youth of eighteen. -Somehow, Hal’s heart went out to the stranger. - -“If,” said the other, “you have the money, and wish to save it, you can -trust it with me, senor.” - -“What could you do with it?” projected Hal. - -“Drop it into one of my pockets,” added the other, adding with a laugh: - -“No one would search such a thin, ragged Cuban as I for the possession -of so much money. But think quickly, senor, for Vasquez will be here in -another moment. Juan Ramirez is my name.” - -“A Cuban?” asked Hal. - -“See!” And Juan drew from a pocket what could easily become his -death-warrant--a small Cuban flag. - -This he kissed with a simple, unaffected air of devotion. - -“By Jove, I’ll trust you,” murmured Hal. “I’ve yet to meet a Cuban -thief!” - -R-rip! In a second he began to unbutton his clothing, bringing out to -view from under his shirt a long, thin bag. - -“This contains two thousand dollars,” he whispered. - -“And if anything happens to you, to whom does the money belong?” - -“Henry Richardson, at Key West.” - -“He shall have it,” promised the Cuban. “Hush! There are steps on the -stairs.” - -Like a flash, Ramirez vanished. - -“Have I been duped?” wondered Hal, with a quick thrill of apprehension. - -Ramirez had looked like a fellow to be trusted. Yet, if Hal had kept -the money about him, it would soon pass into the hands of Vasquez, who -would be able to persuade the Spanish judges that his claim was just. - -“If Ramirez has stolen it,” quivered Hal, “all I can say is that I’d -sooner see him get it than Vasquez.” - -Tramp! tramp! tramp! Reaching the head of the stairs, the soldiers were -now marching straight for his door. - -Whack! thump! The door was thrown unceremoniously open, and the -uniforms of Spain filled the room. - - - - -CHAPTER III. “SPANISH EVIDENCE.” - - -“This is the young man?” - -One of the two officers who appeared at the head of a file of a dozen -soldiers turned and put the question to Senor Vasquez. - -That consummate liar responded by a nod of the head. - -Though Hal Maynard had not studied his attitude, he stood at that -moment a typical young American. - -With feet rather spread, his hands thrust into his trousers pockets, -shoulders manfully back and head inclining slightly forward, he ignored -Vasquez, but regarded the officers with a rather indolent look in which -there was just a trace of curiosity. - -“A visitation, I presume?” he said, addressing one of the officers in -Spanish. - -But the latter, barely looking at him, turned to the other officer to -command: - -“Search the trunk.” - -“It is locked,” said Hal, stepping slowly forward. “Permit me to offer -you the key.” - -The officer who received it merely grunted, and immediately knelt -before the trunk. - -Hal stood by looking on, until one of the soldiers, after scowling at -him an instant, darted forward and gave the boy a push. - -“If I am in your way,” retorted Maynard, recovering his equilibrium, -“won’t you be kind enough to say so?” - -“Silence!” ordered the commanding officer. - -Hal responded by a polite nod. - -“These officers don’t belong to the mob, and they should be gentlemen,” -he murmured. “If they’re not, it’s not for me to set them the example.” - -Flop! went a lot of Hal’s clothing, strewed promiscuously over the -floor. - -Slap! followed his linen. - -Smash! went a small hand mirror, flung across the room so that it -struck the wall and landed on the floor in atoms. - -“May I ask a question, sir?” queried Hal, turning to the officer in -charge. - -“Silence!” - -“I beg your pardon,” went on Hal, imperturbably. “All I wanted to ask -was whether my property is to be ruthlessly destroyed before a charge -has been even made against me?” - -“Silence!” - -“If I had committed any breach of decorum in asking,” pursued Hal, -calmly, “please consider that I didn’t ask.” - -“Silence!” - -Thump! The butt of a soldier’s musket landed forcibly in Hal’s stomach. - -“Ouch!” grunted the boy. - -“Silence!” - -“Not even allowed to express natural emotion,” murmured our hero. He -couldn’t have talked much in his breathless condition, just then, even -if he wanted to. - -He saw the soldier’s musket-butt aimed at him, and dodged as nimbly as -he could. - -Click! - -Another soldier cocked his weapon, aiming fully at the American’s head. - -At this the commanding officer smiled. Some of the soldiers laughed -softly. They wanted to see the Yankee flinch, and were sure that he -would--for had not their Havana newspapers told them that all the -Yankees were cowards? - -But Hal, who felt reasonably sure that nothing short of violence on his -part would result in his death just then, did not feel inwardly alarmed. - -Instead, he slowly folded his arms, closed one eye, and with the other -squinted down the steel barrel that stared him in the face. - -“Bah!” muttered he who had aimed, now raising the muzzle of his piece. -“The Yankee pig doesn’t even know what a gun is.” - -“Silence!” came sharply from the commanding officer. - -“Well,” murmured Hal, under his voice, “I am gratified to learn that -somebody else besides myself has to hold his tongue. I wouldn’t like to -do all the shutting-up!” - -It was all a picnic, so he fancied, since he was not only sure that the -officers would find nothing compromising, but also sure that, whoever -got the money, Senor Vasquez would not. - -But the Spaniard, who had been narrowly watching the boy, now -interposed: - -“Captain, may a civilian subject suggest that the accused has not yet -been searched?” - -“Senor,” replied the captain, bowing slightly, “your loyal suggestion -shall be at once acted upon. I myself will make the search.” - -Thereupon the captain waved the soldiers away, most of them withdrawing -to the corridor and doorway. - -“Stand beside the accused,” ordered the captain, nodding at two of his -men, who accordingly ranged themselves on either side of the American. - -“Senor,” said the captain, coldly, “you will understand that what I am -about to do is a duty imposed upon me.” - -There was a trace of civility about this, which caused Hal to reply -politely: - -“If it is your duty, captain, I would be the last one to urge you from -it. But I can tell you what I have about me. I have a pocket knife and -a sum of money.” - -“Money?” uttered Vasquez, becoming alert at once. “It is mine--mine by -right!” - -“You are mistaken,” replied Hal, coldly; “but if you need it you may -have it. I have only three pesetas.” - -“Three pesetas?” faltered the Spanish merchant. He looked as angry as a -man who is being robbed, for three pesetas is but about sixty cents. - -“You may have it,” rejoined Hal, with mock generosity, “if the officer -permits me to present it to you.” - -Then he threw his hands up while the captain went through his pockets. - -That officer looked a trifle ashamed of his task, for an army officer -is a gentleman, at least by education. - -But Hal’s pockets, under the most rigid search, showed no more than he -had mentioned. - -“Off with your clothes, senor,” came the next command. - -Hal looked and felt a trifle surprised, but saw that the order was a -serious one. - -“Shall I er--er--withdraw to the closet before disrobing?” he suggested. - -“Naturally not,” was the dry answer. - -There was no help for it. Hal had to obey, which he did with the -poorest grace in the world. - -But he passed through this ordeal like the others without mishap, and -was curtly informed that he could put on his clothing again. - -This Hal did, next standing at ease between the two soldiers. - -“Do you find anything?” asked the captain, turning to his subordinate. - -“Nothing,” replied the lieutenant. - -“A mare’s nest, eh?” smiled the captain, grimly. - -Hal duplicated the smile, but in a more genial manner, then turned to -look at Vasquez. - -But that Spaniard suddenly darted over to the trunk, knelt beside the -lieutenant, and began to help rummage among the few remaining articles -there. - -“Ha! Here is something,” announced Vasquez, holding up a slip of paper. - -Hal looked on, wide-eyed, for he knew well that no such paper had been -among his possessions when he packed them. - -Then he gave a gasp, for he realized the Spaniard’s game at last. -That scoundrel, by some clever legerdemain, had slipped a paper among -Maynard’s effects. - -“Ho!” grunted the Spaniard, running his eyes over the page. “This is a -note, apparently, from one of the comrades of that bandit chief, Gomez.” - -He finished reading, while the captain stood looking calmly on. - -“An American plotter!” screamed Vasquez. “This is proof conclusive -enough to merit for him a dozen deaths if that were possible!” - -He held the page in one hand, pointing a denouncing finger at our -startled hero. - -“Let me see it,” commanded the captain. “A letter relating to a -filibustering expedition, eh? This is, indeed, evidence. So!” turning -to Maynard. “You are one of the Yankees who help his majesty’s subjects -to rebel.” - -“Upon my honor,” protested Hal, “I know nothing about that letter.” - -“Your honor?” cried the captain. “Bah, you Yankee pig! Lieutenant, -bring him along under guard. To the Prefatura.” - -To the Prefatura! To Havana’s police headquarters? Over the door of -that grim building might well be written, “All hope abandon, ye who -enter here!” - -It was at the door of this building that all trace had been lost of -countless Cuban insurgents, the members of their families, and of -others who had in any way been suspected of sympathy with the cause of -the rebels. - -From here, in the late hours of night, countless doomed ones had -been led away, ostensibly to imprisonment in Morro Castle or Cabanas -Fortress--with this horrible peculiarity, that they had never reached -their destinations or been heard from again! - -To the Prefatura! For an instant, contemplating the letter which the -captain now held in his hand, Hal felt his heart sinking utterly. - -“I was sure I could not be mistaken,” murmured Senor Vasquez, softly. - -That voice aroused the American as the bite of a snake would have done. - -“Senor Vasquez,” he cried, throwing his head back proudly, “we have not -seen the end of this matter!” - -Then, bowing to the captain, Hal stepped between the two files of -soldiers as they formed. - -Down the stairs they started. Vasquez brought up the rear, gnashing his -teeth. - -He had found no trace of the money. - -But perhaps he yet hoped to! - - - - -CHAPTER IV. AT THE PREFATURA. - - -Hal marched through the main entrance to the Prefatura. - -His bearing was as proud as ever. - -He could not have shown more fortitude had he felt that the whole honor -of Old Glory was resting on his youthful shoulders. - -He had marched for more than two miles through the streets, his -military escort taking a roundabout course, as if they enjoyed -displaying this dangerous captive to the excited populace. - -He had been jeered at, jibed at, made the butt of hundreds of coarse -jokes. - -At last he had reached the Prefatura. Senor Vasquez still brought -up the rear. He carried himself with the air of one who wishes it -understood that he has done his duty by his country. - -In the corridor of the Prefatura Hal’s escort halted until it could be -learned before which official the prisoner was to be taken. - -In the same corridor were other prisoners, each under guard. - -There was only this difference: Hal Maynard was erect, rosy, -healthy-looking. The other poor wretches, most of whom were women, were -plainly Cubans. - -Their invariably starved appearance showed them to be -reconcentrados--people from the interior who had been driven in by -General Weyler’s infamous order, and then left to starve. - -There was little, if any, acute terror in their fates. They had -suffered so much, had witnessed so many atrocities, that they were -indifferent to what was yet to come. - -Paris, during the Reign of Terror, was not such a city of horrors as -Havana has lately been! - -Captain Tamiva, Hal’s chief captor, still bearing the letter “found” in -the boy’s trunk, disappeared into one of the numerous offices opening -upon the corridor. - -He soon came back, ordering the soldiers to take their prisoner in. - -Hal found himself arraigned before a stern-looking, elderly Spaniard. -Before the latter, on his desk, lay the accusing letter. - -He looked up quickly, this official, shot a penetrating look into the -boy’s face, and snarled out: - -“So you are another of the Yankee pigs who root with our Cuban -sucklings!” - -“I am an American citizen, certainly,” replied Hal. - -“And a sympathizer, as I said.” - -“I have never held communication with the insurgents.” - -“But this letter?” - -“I know nothing about it.” - -“It was found in your trunk.” - -“Though never placed there by me.” - -“Bah! Of what avail is lying? Do you think you are talking to some of -your own stupid Yankees? Confess!” - -“How can I,” retorted Hal, “when there is nothing to confess?” - -The official scowled, snorting impatiently: - -“Time is valuable. We have too many cases like yours to attend to. The -island is full of treason. Instantly tell me all you know about this -letter, and the plans at which it hints, or take the consequences.” - -“There is nothing that I can tell you,” rejoined Hal, earnestly. - -“Then take the consequences!” - -“I shall have to, since I can’t run away from them.” - -“Very well. Then this is the disposition of your case: At ten to-night -you shall be rowed across the harbor to Morro Castle. Once in a dungeon -there you will be out of my jurisdiction, and thenceforth under the eye -of General Blanco.” - -All the while Senor Vasquez had stood by looking silently on with his -eager, burning eyes. - -“One moment,” he now interposed. “May I have a word with the prisoner.” - -“To one of such known loyalty as Senor Vasquez,” replied the police -official, politely, “no favor can be refused.” - -Vasquez led our hero to the other end of the room. - -“You are to go to Morro Castle,” whispered the Spaniard, warningly. “Do -you know what that means?” - -“Yes,” retorted Hal. “Solitary confinement until----” - -“Until----” followed Vasquez, eagerly. - -“Until American sailors and soldiers purify that loathsome place by -planting the American flag over it.” - -“Fool!” hissed Vasquez. “Do you imagine you will ever reach Morro?” - -“I know only what that official said.” - -“Well, then, let me tell you,” snarled the Spaniard, “that you will -only embark in a boat that will start across the harbor. By and by that -boat will return without you, but you will never have reached Morro! -You will never be heard from again!” - -“And it is for this you have plotted?” cried Hal, paling, but otherwise -keeping his composure. - -“If I have plotted,” murmured Vasquez, rapidly, “it was for my own -good. You would not expect me to serve another than myself, would you?” - -“No!” came the answer, with withering sarcasm. - -“Now, my young friend,” went on the plotter, dropping into a cooing -voice, “if I am a dangerous enemy, let us forget that. I am also a good -friend. Your employer owed me the money which you collected. Put me in -the way of finding that, and I have influence enough here to secure -your freedom.” - -“Now, listen to me,” retorted Hal, spiritedly. “Whether my employer -owes you the money or not is nothing for me to decide. But I will tell -you this honestly: I don’t know where the money is, at this moment. If -I wanted to play into your hands, I simply couldn’t.” - -“You are lying!” gnashed Vasquez, but a searching look into the boy’s -face soon convinced that shrewd judge of human nature that Maynard -spoke the truth. - -“I am not going to waste more time on you,” went on the Spaniard, -passionately. “If you send for me before it is too late, I will come. -As you value even a few more days of life, don’t tempt fate by taking -the trip across the harbor to-night!” - -Murmuring these words in the boy’s ears, the scoundrel turned to dart -way. - -As he did so, another man moved forward, saying quietly: - -“I will speak with the prisoner now.” - -Hal did not know the speaker until Vasquez stammered: - -“The British consul general!” - -“Yes,” replied the visitor, Mr. Gollan, “I was informed that a British -subject named Maynard had been arrested. I hurried here only to learn -that Maynard is an American citizen. Is that the case?” - -“It is, sir,” affirmed Hal. - -“Still,” smiled Mr. Gollan, “perhaps I can do something. At the request -of my government, Consul General Lee turned over to me this afternoon -the papers and duties of his office. Mr. Maynard, can you suggest any -service that I can do you?” - -“Now, I should say so!” vented overjoyed Hal. “I have been arrested on -false charges and a trumped-up paper. Can you not demand to see that -document?” - -“Certainly,” replied Mr. Gollan. “Come with me.” - -Together they stepped before the official who had just condemned Hal to -Morro Castle. - -“Do you mind my looking at the letter on which this young man’s arrest -was ordered?” asked Mr. Gollan. - -“Certainly not,” answered the official, at the same time raising the -paper from his desk and handing it over. - -“Thank you.” - -As Gollan ran his eyes over the paper, Hal stood looking on at the -spectacle that meant the turning point for his life or death. - -Suddenly our hero started, uttered an exclamation of astonishment, and -snatched the paper from Mr. Gollan’s hands. - -“I beg your pardon, sir,” came impetuously from the boy, “but do you -see this other side of the sheet? It is one of Vasquez’s own business -letter heads! He has blundered by not looking at the other side of the -sheet on which he wrote! It bears out my charge that he trumped up this -letter, for, bear in mind, sir, it was he who pretended to find it in -my trunk!” - -“Car-r-r-r-ramba!” exploded Vasquez, first turning white, next purpling -with wrath. - -Back went the paper into the police official’s hands. - -Senor Vasquez tried to explain; the police official asked a half a -dozen questions in a breath, while Captain Tamiva had much to say. - -But over all the hubbub arose Consul Gollan’s voice: - -“As representative both of the interests of Great Britain and the -United States, I ask for the instant release of this prisoner.” - -Too disconcerted to speak, the police official could only nod his -consent. - -Hal felt an arm thrust through his. In a maze he was led down the -corridor and into the square. - -Then a hearty voice said: - -“My young friend, I am very glad to have served you. I would advise you -to leave Cuba at once.” - -“I intend to,” responded Hal. “I saw an English brig loading at one of -the wharves. I think I will try to get passage on her.” - -“The Emeline Atwood--a good vessel,” replied Mr. Gollan. “She is bound, -too, for Norfolk.” - -Then, after much hand-shaking and many protestations of thanks from -Hal, he turned down one of the side streets to the water front. - -The narrow thoroughfares appeared deserted. He walked quickly. - -“Now, that was stupid of me,” muttered the boy, after going a quarter -of a mile. “Why didn’t I think to ask who it was that took word to Mr. -Gollan? Could it have been Ramirez?” - -“Senor! senor!” whispered a voice through the shutters of a window. -“Walk faster, and remember that you are being followed!” - -Like a shot Hal halted, trying to catch sight of his informant. - -“No, don’t stop! Don’t look this way, or you’ll betray me,” came the -whisper. “But hurry! The deadliest danger hovers over you in the next -five minutes!” - - * * * * * - -Second Part. - - - - -CHAPTER V. “A SPANIARD OF HONOR!” - - -“Thanks!” - -The acknowledgment, softly uttered as the warning, floated back over -Hal Maynard’s shoulder as he struck out on the double-quick for the -water front. - -Once he turned. Over his shoulder he saw three indistinct figures -following him down the street. - -Fast as he was traveling, the pursuers increased their speed until they -seemed likely to overtake him. - -“Is this more of Vasquez’s deadly work?” groaned Hal. “Will he never -stop until he has destroyed me?” - -Cold perspiration oozed out on the boy’s forehead. - -He broke into a swift run. - -At this gait, he calculated that less than three minutes would bring -him to the English brig’s wharf. - -As he ran, he took a flying look over his shoulder. - -Hardly more than two hundred feet to the rear were the pursuers, their -sandaled feet moving without noise. - -“I can beat them,” thrilled Hal, putting on an even better spurt of -speed. - -Just ahead was the water-front street. - -Here, a swift turn to the right, and a speedy dash would carry him to -the wharf he sought. - -Trip! Hal’s feet became entangled in something stretched across the -sidewalk. - -He plunged, then fell to the sidewalk, measuring his full length there. - -More quickly than he could rise, a figure darted out of the doorway. - -Across the boy’s body a man hurled himself. - -“You’ll fight for it--sure!” vented Hal, gripping the stranger by the -throat. - -They grappled, struggled, breath coming quick and short. - -Hal fought like a tiger. He quickly placed himself on top of his -assailant, but could not wrench himself loose. - -Pit-patter-pat! Soft sandals struck the sidewalk as the three shadows -rushed upon the scene. - -Not pausing an instant, they hurled themselves into the melee. - -Many hands grappled the boy at once. - -Maynard fought with renewed fury, but what could he do against so many? - -One seized him by either arm and shoulder, another grasped his kicking -feet. - -“Help! help! help! Thieves!” roared the victim, but his captor-carriers -did not even attempt to stifle his cries--the surest way of proving -that they had no reason to fear interference. - -Hal’s first assailant now darted back into the doorway, unlocking a -door, and making way for the squad to enter. - -Still kicking and squirming, Hal Maynard was carried through the house -and out into a courtyard at the rear. - -Here he renewed his shouts, with no other effect than to make his -captors smile maliciously. - -At the rear of the yard a gate was unlocked. - -Hal Maynard involuntarily crossed a second yard, after which those who -carried him entered another house. - -Here he was carried into one of the rooms, and unceremoniously dumped -upon the floor. - -“You stay there,” muttered he who appeared to be the spokesman, “unless -you are foolish enough to try to escape.” - -“What would be the use?” grated Hal, inwardly. “They wouldn’t be so -sure of me if there was a dog’s chance to crawl out.” - -The spokesman went out, but the other three remained. - -Ting-a-ling-ling-ling! tinkled a bell in another room. - -“A telephone,” conjectured Hal. “Will Senor Enrique Vasquez be at the -other end of the wire?” - -Though he listened intently, he could not hear the words spoken into -the receiver. - -Presently the fourth man came back. - -As Hal had not made any effort to get up, his jailers now squatted upon -the floor, lighting paper cigarettes and puffing incessantly. - -Minute after minute dragged by. - -Hal did not address a word to his captors. Neither did he shout for -help, for he felt sure that he would not have been left ungagged had -they feared that his voice would reach friendly ears. - -Nor did his captors speak, beyond an occasional word addressed to one -another. - -“Whatever is to be done, they are merely the agents of some one else,” -cogitated Hal, his mind as busy as his tongue was idle. “Vasquez -bragged about his agents. Are these some of them? If so, they are not a -lot to boast about!” - -His reflections were cut short by the sound of the wheels of an -arriving carriage. - -Then steps sounded in a hallway, next at the door. - -The door opened, to give entrance to Senor Vasquez, as Hal had expected. - -As the Spaniard’s burning gaze fell upon the boy, his face darkened, -though his lips smiled. - -“Good-evening, Senor Maynard,” was his greeting. “Did you think that -you had seen the last of me?” - -“Hardly,” gritted Hal. “I have always heard that the devil is more busy -than successful.” - -“Take a seat, senor,” urged Vasquez, pushing forward one of the few -chairs in the room. “As to you, my good fellows,” turning to the four -thugs who had vanquished Hal, “you may step just outside the door.” - -As almost anything was more comfortable than the floor, Hal availed -himself of the chair. - -Next he turned a look of cool scrutiny upon the Spaniard. - -Yet, if Hal looked cool, his appearance was far from expressing his -feelings. - -He fully realized that never before had he been in such a critical -situation. - -In fact, with such a foe as Vasquez, who, under the circumstances could -not be placated, there was little hope that the American could escape -with his life. - -Senor Vasquez drew out a cigar, lighted it, and puffed slowly for some -time before he began to speak. - -Yet, while thinking, his brow grew blacker. - -“Senor Maynard,” he finally blurted out, “are you not ashamed to be an -American?” - -Hal turned eyes that were wide open with surprise upon the man pacing -the floor before him. - -“Ashamed of being an American?” he repeated. “Senor Vasquez, are you -training for a humorist? How can any American live without finding life -one long thrill of pride that he is part and parcel of the Stars and -Stripes?” - -“Bah!” retorted Vasquez, impatiently. “Shall I tell you what your -greatest fault is?” - -“If you care to.” - -“You Americans are not honest,” went on the Spaniard. “You lie, cheat -and steal, always pouring the pesetas or dollars into your pockets, -and laughing at the more simple more honest people of other nations -from whom you derive your dishonest profits. Nowhere do you find easier -victims than the old-fashioned, simple, trusting, generous, honest -Spaniards.” - -“Of whom I suppose you are one?” - -“Of whom,” repeated Vasquez, sadly, “I am one.” - -Hal could not keep back the burst of laughter that sprang to his lips. - -“Why do you laugh?” demanded Vasquez, angrily. “Because you have duped -me so easily?” - -“Because you have duped yourself so easily,” retorted Hal, with spirit. -“You vaunt your honesty, you who have never earned an honest dollar -in your whole career. You, a simple, trusting man, when you cannot -look back upon a single month in twenty years when you have not used -the fear of fire or the assassin’s knife to inforce the payment of -exorbitant claims against Americans who were new to the island! When -you look into your own heart, Vasquez, can you blame me for laughing at -your pretenses?” - -But Hal did not laugh now. His voice rang with a scorn and contempt -that were too deep for merriment. - -“Your employer owed me money,” went on Vasquez, plaintively. - -“He has paid you far more than he ever owed you. That I know from the -dealings I have had between you. As near as I could place it, you have -robbed him, in three years, of at least twenty thousand dollars more -than you were entitled to. Yet you prate about honesty!” - -“He owes me two thousand dollars,” insisted the Spaniard, doggedly. -“Senor Richardson escaped from Cuba yesterday, and left me sighing in -vain for my money. I find that you have collected, within the last -twenty-four hours, money of his enough to pay me. Yet you refuse to -turn it over to me.” - -“Of course I refused,” voiced Hal. “I should have been false to my -trust if I had paid over my employer’s money without authority from -him.” - -“And that is why I call you dishonest,” cried Vasquez. “You have -conspired, you two, to defraud me of my money.” - -“You didn’t conspire to have me sent to Morro Castle, did you?” sneered -Maynard. - -“Now,” resume the Spaniard, ignoring all the inconvenient points in -Hal’s reply, “I have stated fully my grievance against you. Do not -think, you Yankee pig, that you can hope to dupe me any longer. You are -now dealing with a Spaniard of honor!” - -Vasquez drew himself erect and puffed his chest out as if he believed -his vainglorious boast. - -Halting suddenly before the boy, he glared at Hal with burning eyes, -and demanded, with a pause after each word: - -“Where--is--that--money?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Yet you had it.” - -“Certainly?” - -“Then what did you do with it?” - -“I shall never tell you,” retorted Hal, with spirit. - -Now Vasquez’s passion escaped all bounds. - -“Oh, you Yankees! Oh, you thieves!” he declared, violently, pacing the -room like a caged hyena. “You hope to dupe us, even when you are in our -power.” - -Then his voice became sarcastic, as he went on: - -“Senor, do you know how we Spaniards love you Yankees? Do you realize -what happiness it would give us to caress you? To caress each and every -one of your people--to caress them so?” - -Pausing in his agitated walk, Vasquez drew a knife, making a -significant gesture of cutting a throat. - -“That is the way we would like to treat all you Yankees,” went on the -Spaniard. “No! I mistake. That would be much too quick a punishment. We -must be more ingenious in our punishment of the impudent Yankees--even -as I propose to deal with you now.” - -Under that fierce, malicious gaze, Hal Maynard felt himself growing -“creepy.” - -It did not afford him much satisfaction, even, to see Vasquez put away -his knife, for the Spaniard’s word and manner left little doubt that -the knife would be put aside only in favor of a more fearful method of -revenge. - -“Senor, I ask you, for the last time, what did you do with the money?” - -“And I refuse to tell you a word.” - -“Did you understand that I was asking for the last time?” - -“Yes!” - -Hal fairly hurled the short, defiant retort. - -As Senor Vasquez realized that it was too late for parley, he raised -his voice, shouting: - -“Pedro! Jose!” - -Instantly the door opened. Vasquez’s four agents filed into the room. - -“Bind the pig! Gag him!” directed the Spaniard, tremulously. - -These orders were swiftly carried out, for, though Hal Maynard -struggled manfully, he was like clay in the hands of so many desperate -fellows. Weights were tied to his feet. - -“He is ready,” voiced Vasquez, glaring at last at his helpless foe. -“Pedro, open the shutters over there.” - -Out he was thrust, face down, his startled eyes gazing down at the -muddy water of Havana harbor but a few feet below him. - -“Ready, my good fellows?” quivered Vasquez. - -“Ready, senor!” - -“Then drop him!” - -Through the darkness of the night shot a human form. - -Plash! - -Hal Maynard’s bound and weighted form sank below the foul waters. - -He had gone to share, in a different way, the fate of the Maine heroes! - - - - -CHAPTER VI. CUBA’S NEW RECRUIT. - - -Rub! rub! rub! - -Chafe! chafe! chafe! - -Under the shed over a wharf one human figure bent over another. - -Rub! rub! rub! - -With the quiet but energetic heroism of common humanity, the rescuer -strove to bring back the spark of life to a young man only just -snatched from the engulfing waters. - -“It is odd, strange!” muttered the rubber, pausing for an instant -to look at the lifeless figure. “Can it be possible that I was too -late--or that I am too clumsy?” - -He bent anxiously over the still figure. - -“It would be a great thing to fool Senor Vasquez,” murmured the Cuban, -for such he was. “Moreover, I would like greatly to save this American, -who trusted me even as I trusted him.” - -For some minutes more he continued to chafe the wrists and body of Hal -Maynard. - -“A sip or two of brandy might save him--but how shall one get brandy, -which costs twenty-five pesetas a bottle? Perhaps----” - -But Juan Ramirez suddenly and resolutely checked the thought that -perhaps he might be justified in using some of the money intrusted to -him by our hero. - -“He said that belonged to another. Therefore he would not thank me to -use some of it to save his life.” - -Such was the simple creed of honor of this Cuban. - -He was soon rewarded, however, by a flutter of the eyelids, a sigh from -the unconscious one. - -“Santa Maria! He still lives!” cried the Cuban, now overjoyed, and -working as if his own life depended upon the result. - -A minute later Hal Maynard opened his eyes. - -Juan bent so low over him that, despite the darkness, our hero -recognized his rescuer. - -“Ramirez?” he murmured. - -“At your service, Senor Americano.” - -“But I was dropped into the harbor--weighted.” - -“And I, senor, was fortunate enough to be near by.” - -Hal blinked stupidly, having by no means recovered his wits as yet. - -“Rest easily, and breathe freely,” counseled the Cuban. “Do not try to -move yet. Do not even try to think.” - -Hal obeyed, lying there for two or three minutes before he tried again -to speak. - -“Where are we now?” he asked, finally. - -“Senor, I would caution you not to speak above a whisper. We are both -in danger, if some unfriendly prowler should overhear us. Let me raise -you--so. Now, do you see the building over yonder that rests upon the -water’s edge?” - -“Yes.” - -“It was from one of those windows that you were dropped.” - -“And you----” - -“I was prowling near, senor. No sooner did the scoundrels hear the -splash than they closed the window. It was then that I dove into the -harbor, swam to you, and found you some ten feet below the surface. It -was a simple matter to cut the ropes that bound the weights to you. -Then I brought you here. That is all, senor.” - -“All?” echoed Hal, now sitting up. “It seems to me, my friend, that you -make a very modest statement of your noble action.” - -“Senor, to-day you trusted me. In return I could not do less.” - -“And it was you, I am sure, who went to the British consulate----” - -“I was there, senor.” - -“And it was you who lodged the information that resulted in my release -at the Prefatura.” - -“It was I, senor, as you have guessed,” Ramirez quietly replied. - -“You have been my good angel to-day,” cried Maynard, gratefully. - -“I could not do less, senor, after a stranger had trusted me.” - -“And it was you who warned me to-night that I was being followed.” - -“Wrong this time, senor. It was a friend of mine.” - -“Yet he worked at your instigation?” - -“True.” - -“And, finally, you have saved me from certain death.” - -“All of which, Senor Americano, gives me occasion to rejoice,” answered -the Cuban, simply. - -Hal now managed to get upon his feet. No sooner did he find himself -facing the Cuban than he warmly grasped the latter’s hand. - -“I owe you my life and the safety of my money,” cried Maynard, -impulsively. “Yet I never saw you before to-day. Pardon me if such -great friendliness bewilders me.” - -“I have done only what any Cuban would do for an American,” was the -quiet reply. “I offer you one more service before leaving you. You were -bound to some ship?” - -“The British brig, Emeline Atwood.” - -“I know her berth. I will lead you there. Once on board, you should be -safe. Come; I will show you the way, senor.” - -“Wait just one instant,” implored Hal. “Ramirez, such friendship as -you have shown to-day is seldom met with. Pardon me if I seek to learn -something about you.” - -“There is little to tell,” responded the Cuban. “I love this people -and their island, for I am one of them. I have done, as perhaps you -have guessed, all in my power to serve Cuba. You see, senor, I do not -hesitate to trust you. You will wonder why one of my sentiments is not -in the Cuban army. I will answer that question before you ask it. It -is forbidden to a Cuban to join our patriot army unless he can bring -with him a gun and some ammunition. When I can do that, I shall leave -Havana and take to the long grass where the insurgents, if not as thick -as locusts, are fighting as bravely as lions. Beyond that I can tell -you little, except that I have no living relatives. All have died of -starvation, and my greatest dread is that I shall starve before I am -ready to strike out for the long grass.” - -Simple and brief as Ramirez’s statement was, it was the eloquent -account of a patriot who would die for his cause and country, and who -would die with equal cheerfulness, either of starvation in Havana, or -under arms in the field. - -There were tears in Hal’s eyes as he heard the simple story. - -But Ramirez cut short his reflections by saying: - -“Senor, not all of our danger is behind us. If you are going to the -English ship, let me advise you that we should start at once.” - -“Just one more question before we go,” interposed Hal. “You spoke of a -gun and ammunition. Can they be obtained here in Havana?” - -“When one has the price, senor.” - -“And what is that price?” - -“Well, if I had twenty-five dollars I could buy a rifle and a pocketful -of cartridges. But, why speculate? Twenty-five dollars is not to be -found.” - -“You are right,” responded Hal. “Let us find the brig.” - -Ramirez guided him from the wharf and led him down a dark street, -halting every few steps to make sure that they were not being followed. - -Of a sudden, the Cuban, every instant alert, dragged our hero into a -doorway. - -“Here comes the patrol,” whispered Juan. - -Hal listened, yet it was some moments before he could hear the tramp of -soldiers. - -“Your hearing is wonderful,” he whispered. - -“It is said,” replied Ramirez, “that starvation quickens all the -senses.” - -“And you are starving?” uttered Hal, feeling as if he were choking. - -“Far from it,” was the answer. “I ate a quarter of a loaf of bread the -day before yesterday.” - -“And since----” - -“I have had several drinks of water, but it was warm and therefore not -palatable.” - -Terrible as this statement was, it was made quietly, without the least -trace of a desire to parade misery. - -Tears glistened in Hal Maynard’s eyes. He was about to speak when -Ramirez cut him short by whispering: - -“I find that this door behind us opens. That is fortunate, for -otherwise we would perhaps be captured.” - -Silently both moved into the hallway. Trying not even to breathe, they -listened as a score of Spanish regulars or volunteers marched by. - -Only a few yards further on they heard the command halt. Then followed -a dialogue between an officer and a belated pedestrian. - -It was soon evident that the latter could not give a satisfactory -account of himself, for they heard the officer break in sharply: - -“Enough! Step in between the files. You shall tell the rest of your -story at the Prefatura.” - -Tramp, tramp! sounded the squad, marching on again. Ramirez listened -until long after Hal had heard the last footfall. - -Then the door was opened once more, and the pair stole out to the -sidewalk. - -“We are safe,” breathed Ramirez. “Walk quickly for a minute, and you -will be aboard your ship.” - -A prediction that was realized, for, without further mishap, they -reached the wharf and walked its length. - -“Who comes here?” growled a gruff voice. - -Hal’s heart gave a jump at sound of the old, dear, familiar English -tongue. - -“We are friends. I am an American,” he replied, stepping in advance. “I -wish to speak with the captain.” - -“You’ll find him on board, sir,” replied the sailor, more respectfully. - -“I must leave you, senor,” whispered Ramirez, adding, when he saw Hal’s -look of surprise: “The money that you intrusted to me I left with -friends. Do not be uneasy. In twenty minutes you should see me back.” - -Before Hal could grasp his hand to wring it, Ramirez had glided off in -the shadows. - -“Of all the true hearts in the world,” gasped Maynard, admiringly. -“Will he come back? I wish I were as sure of heaven!” - -Without a doubt regarding Ramirez, our hero turned and went aboard the -brig. - -Only three words of introduction were needed to secure a warm grasp -from Captain Blodgett’s hand: - -“I’m an American.” - -“And left behind, eh?” demanded the captain. “We sail at midnight; -Norfolk; there’s plenty of room aboard.” - -“May I speak confidentially with you, sir?” asked Hal. - -“Of course.” - -They conversed in low tones by the rail for ten minutes. After that -they turned, looking shoreward. - -At length, Ramirez appeared. No sooner did he reach the wharf than he -struck into a trot that did not slacken until the Cuban reached the -Atwood’s deck. - -“Your money, senor,” announced the breathless messenger. - -Diving under his jacket, he produced a bag. - -“To my belief it has not been opened. Nevertheless, senor, you will -do me a great favor to count the money, and thus acquit me of all -suspicion.” - -“At your request only I do so,” answered Hal. “Captain, may we use the -table in your cabin?” - -“In more ways than one,” was the hearty answer. “Follow me below, -gentlemen.” - -There, upon the table the bag was opened, the money poured forth. - -Not much time was required in the counting. Two thousand dollars was -restored to the bag. The balance, sixty dollars, Hal stowed away in his -own pockets. - -“My own money,” he announced. “Ramirez, how can I ever thank you for -all your honesty and goodness?” - -“Since your people have been our friends for three years,” came the -reply, “it is enough for me to know that I have served an American. -And now I must take my leave of this vessel.” - -“I also,” replied Hal, rising. - -“You?” echoed Ramirez, amazed, while Captain Blodgett looked gravely on. - -“Certainly,” rejoined Hal; “I am going with you.” - -“With me, senor? Where, may I ask?” - -“To the long grass, if you will take me.” - -“You? Santa Maria! Do you mean, senor, that----” - -He paused, utterly bewildered, but Hal Maynard finished, quickly: - -“Ramirez, I saw a man when I met you. I am anxious to prove my own -manhood. I offer myself as a recruit to fight Spain!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. THE TEMPTATION OF PEDRO. - - -Had a bombshell exploded near the Cuban, he could not have been more -excited. - -“You a recruit?” he gasped. - -“Why not?” laughed Hal. “Am I not healthy enough, or do you fear that I -would run at the first fire?” - -“Senor, you would be a valuable recruit, but you are not a Cuban.” - -“Is that a disqualification?” - -“But this rebellion is not your affair, senor. You belong to a free -people, and have no need to fight for Cuba.” - -“There are already many Americans who take a different view. With -Maximo Gomez and Calixta Garcia there are scores, if not hundreds, -of American citizens. I have not heard that they make poor soldiers. -Ramirez, I owe my life to you. You are a Cuban. Therefore, I owe -my life to Cuba. I have no family ties; no obligation except to my -employer. Captain Blodgett has undertaken to deliver the money to him. -There is nothing to hold me back. You have remained in Havana because -you did not have the twenty-five dollars with which to buy a gun. I -have enough to buy two. Will you take me to the insurgents, or will you -go alone?” - -Ramirez still hesitated for a moment; next he darted forward seizing -Hal’s hand. - -“Senor, if you are in earnest, I will show you the way.” - -“It is settled, then,” was all Hal Maynard said. - -“Oh, this is glorious!” cried Ramirez, his eyes becoming misty. “At -last I am to be able to join the Cuban army. More than that, I shall -take a comrade with me.” - -“Here is all the money I have in the world,” added Hal, turning his -funds over to Juan. “Henceforth, it belongs to Cuba.” - -“Let us lose not a moment’s time,” urged Ramirez, his eyes dancing with -delight. “Senor, I am afraid to move, for fear I shall wake up and find -it all a dream. I cannot delay for a second.” - -“Nevertheless,” broke in Captain Blodgett, “I hope you will dally here -for a little while. Young men, you are starting into an island where -starvation reigns. Let me offer you a square meal--the last, perhaps, -that you will get for weeks to come.” - -“I do not need food,” declared Juan, trying to puff out his thin -cheeks. “Happiness will sustain me.” - -“I’m hungry, and not ashamed to say so,” interposed Hal, with a laugh. -“If Captain Blodgett will do something to relieve that, I beg you, my -dear fellow, to wait here a few moments.” - -Juan reluctantly consented. A bustling steward soon had the table -spread with hearty food. - -Hal ate a hearty meal. Ramirez fed like one famished. - -“Bah!” uttered the Cuban, rising in disgust at last. “I have made such -a wolf of myself that I am not fit to walk. But to you, captain, I -offer a thousand thanks for your hospitality, and a thousand apologies -for the spectacle I have made of myself.” - -“I shall hold together until to-morrow,” murmured Hal, rising with a -satisfied air. “Captain, my most earnest thanks.” - -Now the bustling steward came back with two parcels of food which he -helped the young men to stow away under their jackets. - -Captain Blodgett, hearty, if somewhat taciturn, followed them to the -deck, slipping into Hal’s hand a receipt for the money, which he -undertook to forward to its destination. - -“The best of good luck, lads,” came in an earnest whisper from the -English captain, as he offered each a hand at the same time. - -They stepped ashore, Ramirez acting as guide. - -Of all that followed, during the next two hours, Hal had, at the end of -that time, only the vague recollection that follows a dream. - -But they reached the southern outskirts of Havana without mishap; they -trudged along a dusty country road, dodging behind trees or into the -brush whenever Ramirez’s acute hearing warned them of the presence or -approach of military. - -“Do you see those lights ahead?” queried Juan, at last. - -“Yes.” - -“Those lights come from the Inn of the Red Cavalier. It is the inn -where Spanish officers dine when they return from the interior well -provided with plunder taken from those who had yet something left to -lose. Judging by the sounds, there are officers dining there now.” - -“A good place to keep away from, eh?” queried Hal. - -“By no means, senor. Keep close to me, and I hope to show you that -such places as the inn are useful to the insurgents.” - -Ramirez left the road, plunging into the depths of a grove. - -The nearer he came to the inn the more slowly he moved. - -Frequent bursts of laughter were now audible from the inn. - -“They are happy, the Spanish fiends,” muttered Juan, grating his teeth. -“Yet, senor, they are feeding on the very blood of Cuba!” - -Rattle of dishes and clink of glasses came to the ears of the -listeners. Outside the inn were tethered some two score of horses, -while soldiers lolled about over the ground, some eating bread, while -others puffed at cigarettes. - -“Twenty of our own brave Cuban fellows could stop that gayety forever,” -growled Ramirez, savagely. - -“But there are at least forty of the enemy,” observed Hal. - -“It is no matter. Twenty of our men would do. But hush! There is the -gleam of a soldier’s musket--a sentinel. Senor, do not make a sound -that will betray us.” - -Forward, a foot at a time, moved the pair, while not even a blade of -grass rustled under their feet. - -So quietly did they move, in fact, that, aided by the darkness and -shadow of the grove, they gained a spot within less than thirty feet of -the pacing sentinel. - -Halting, Ramirez looked long and anxiously at this uniformed son of -Spain. - -When the Cuban placed his mouth close against our hero’s ear, it was to -whisper: - -“Senor, that soldier is one whom I know, for I have long had my eyes -upon him. If all goes well, we shall soon have two guns. If I am -deceived, our lives are not worth a peseta. If you hesitate, go back, -and I will take the chance alone.” - -“Go back?” whispered Hal. “Not when you go forward!” - -Ramirez’s black eyes danced as he nodded. - -Then, craning his neck forward, he whispered, sharply: - -“Pedro! Pedro Escarillaz!” - -In an instant, the sentinel halted, turning his head. - -“If money will do you any good, Pedro Escarillaz, come here.” - -Quick as a flash, the soldier’s rifle flew to his shoulder. - -Then, reconsidering, he walked slowly toward the grove. - -“Who called?” he asked. - -“Men who have money,” answered Juan. “If you happen to be hungry, you -will be glad that we have called you.” - -Hal felt thunderstruck. - -“Is this Cuban crazy?” he wondered, hardly knowing whether to run or -stand his ground. - -But the next second brought better counsel. - -Up to the present, Juan had proven himself very far removed from a -lunatic. - -Nevertheless, Maynard felt cold shivers running up and down his spine -as he realized that slight warning from this sentinel would bring the -whole Spanish force down upon them. - -“Who are you?” whispered the sentinel, stopping squarely in front of -them. - -He held the muzzle aimed at them, ready to fire at the slightest sign -of need. - -Yet that muzzle wavered slightly, as if the Spaniard’s fingers, tightly -gripping stock and lock, were twitching. - -“The Spaniard is more afraid than I am,” muttered Hal, inwardly. “I -guess it’s the wrong time for me to get rattled.” - -Though the talismanic word “money” had brought the soldier a little -off his beat, it was plain that he feared some surprise, for he not -only gazed keenly at his two accosters, but tried to peer over their -shoulders into the darkness beyond. - -“You called me?” he demanded, in a voice that could not have been heard -twenty feet off. - -“Yes,” answered Juan, coolly. “We need your services. We can pay for -them. Could you use money if you had it?” - -“Carramba!” muttered the fellow, his eyes gleaming. “Could I not?” - -“Very well, Pedro Escarillaz; we do not want much--only two rifles and -a hundred cartridges.” - -“Carr-r-r-r-rajo!” swore Pedro, under his breath. “It is death to talk -that way.” - -“Then you cannot serve us?” demanded Juan, in a voice that sounded all -but indifferent. - -“How much do you offer?” asked the soldier, suddenly. - -“Fifty dollars.” - -“Fifty dollars for a gun and cartridges?” repeated Private Escarillaz. -“It is too little.” - -“That would be altogether too much,” retorted Ramirez, imperturbably. -“The price that I have offered must be for two Mauser rifles and a -hundred cartridges.” - -“Say seventy-five dollars,” proposed the soldier, “and I may be able to -help you. But for less it cannot be done.” - -“Then, Pedro Escarillaz, I wish you good-night,” answered Juan, -performing a half wheel. - -“Not so quick,” uttered the soldier, warningly. “Suppose I were to call -the guard? You would lose your money and your lives.” - -“True,” admitted Juan, composedly; “but then your officers would get -the money, and you would get nothing. If you make a trade with us--why, -just think what you could do with so much money.” - -“If I only knew how to accomplish it,” murmured Pedro, his dark eyes -snapping at thought of the good times he could have in Havana with so -much wealth. - -“Oh, very well,” said Juan, calmly, “if you cannot do it, we have made -a serious mistake, and you have been a great loser.” - -“Wait,” whispered Pedro. “In five minutes the guard will be changed.” - -“And then----” - -“I will do my best.” - -Hal and Juan ensconced themselves behind some bushes. In ten minutes -Pedro Escarillaz returned, trembling and pallid. - -Almost in silence, the trade was made, the traitor not daring to look -into the eyes of the purchasers. - -Silently as shadows, the two latest recruits for Cuba stole off in the -night. - -But Juan Ramirez seemed to have grown a half a foot as he turned to his -American comrade, murmuring hoarsely: - -“Now, mi amigo, for the long grass! Henceforth our only cry shall be -‘Viva Cuba Libre!’” - - * * * * * - -Third Part. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. “AS GOMEZ WOULD SPEAK.” - - -“It is your turn, mi amigo!” - -“Ready!” responded Hal, rubbing his eyes and then springing to his feet. - -As he did so, he caught up the Mauser rifle which had lain at his side -as he slept. - -It was past sunrise. When he had lain down, the earth was still wrapped -in darkness. - -There had been a bargain that he should sleep an hour, then rise and -stand guard while Juan snatched an hour of refreshing sleep. - -Was it all a dream? Hal wondered, as he surveyed the scene with alert -eyes while Juan had already commenced to snore. - -A dream it certainly was not. The rifle with which each was provided -was a reality. So was the small Cuban flag which Juan now wore proudly -pinned to his tattered jacket. - -Havana was now many miles behind. They were well up in the hills. -Around them all was verdure and bloom. - -This bit of wild forest beauty had escaped the devastating hand of the -Spaniard. - -It was Easter morning, Hal remembered, with a thrill. Surely, in this -spot, nature was doing floral honor to the day. - -Not a sound was heard save the calling of the birds, the buzzing of -insects. Perched on a rise of ground, screened by thick bushes, a foe -might have stood within a hundred feet and not discovered them. - -“The only danger,” smiled Hal, “would come from Juan’s snoring.” - -Amid all this solitude of nature, however, Juan’s nasal notes did not -seem a source of danger. - -“Jupiter! What’s that?” muttered Hal, suddenly. - -From his perch he had an excellent view up a long, winding ravine. - -“The glint of the sun on steel, as sure as I’m a sinner,” muttered the -boy. - -Turning, he gave Juan’s nearer shoulder a quick shake. - -“Ready, senor,” murmured the Cuban, waking at once. “My hour is up, -then?” - -“No, but something else is up,” whispered excited Hal, pointing up the -ravine. “Look there!” - -Juan looked, and became instantly awake. - -“The enemy!” he muttered, his eyes flashing ominously. “Heaven be -thanked that at last we have guns. We can fight!” - -“Fight that force?” demanded Hal, aghast. “My friend, have you counted -their number?” - -“No.” - -“I have.” - -“Well?” - -“They number at least sixty.” - -“No matter!” grated Juan. “We can worry them. We shall be killed, of -course, but perhaps we can settle three or four of their men first.” - -“See here,” remonstrated Hal. “I’m ready for fighting, but not for -suicide.” - -“It is the way we Cubans fight,” rejoined Juan, proudly. “We care not -what the number of the enemy. We always fire when we see one.” - -“We’ll fire, then, if you say so,” agreed Hal. “If you asked my -opinion, though, I should say that we had better wait until we have had -a chance to offer ourselves at the nearest Cuban camp.” - -Juan fixed his wide open eyes on our hero for an instant. - -“I have no doubt you are right, mi amigo,” he said, an instant -later. “Our Cuban blood is too hot. We lack the cool judgment of you -Americanos. Senor, will you take command?” - -“Until we reach camp, if you wish it.” - -“I beg you to do so.” - -“Very well; though I warn you,” smiled Hal, “that I shall not give the -order to attack thirty times our number.” - -Juan sighed, but remained silent. - -“They are going to march by within a hundred feet of us,” whispered -Hal, following the course of the ravine. - -Juan grasped his rifle tightly to still the trembling of his fingers. - -By this time, the head of the column was within five hundred feet. - -At the head rode a half a dozen mounted Spanish officers. - -Behind them marched a captain and two lieutenants in command of the -infantrymen. - -Tattered and dusty-looking were these soldiers. Many of them limped, as -if used up by a long forced march. Just at the foot of the hill from -which Hal and Juan glared from covert, the captain, at a sign from one -of the mounted officers, cried: - -“Halt!” - -It was a popular order, as the relieved faces of the men instantly -showed. - -“Break ranks.” - -Arms were stacked, four sentinels mounted, and the horses tethered. - -Just at that moment, two dust-covered troopers rode up the ravine from -the direction of Havana. - -They dismounted before the captain, talking with him in quick murmurs. - -“My colonel,” called the captain, saluting one of the mounted officers, -“the scouts tell me that there are none of the enemy within forty -miles.” - -“I do not believe there are any rebels nearer, captain,” laughed the -colonel. “So let your poor fellows get some of the rest they need so -badly. True, we have no breakfast to offer them, but I have caught -sight of a stream through the trees. Let those who would like to take a -swim.” - -No proposition could have met with greater favor. As with one accord, -the soldiers began to move off between the trees, while the scouts -cantered away. - -“You four,” cried the captain, selecting a quartette of his men, “will -hurry up with your swim, and return here to relieve the sentinels, that -they, too, may have a plunge.” - -With the men went their officers, nine in number. The heat of the day -made cold water a luxury that could not be resisted. - -Down in the camp, with the horses and stacked arms, remained only the -four sentinels. - -Even these looked wistfully through the trees as the shouts and -plashing of water came to their ears. - -“Jupiter!” whispered Hal, his eyes beginning to sparkle. “I’m beginning -to feel some of the Cuban hot blood myself.” - -“If we could only capture that camp!” murmured Juan, eagerly. - -To his intense delight, Hal made this whispered reply: - -“By thunder, we’ll try it, if we go under for it!” - -“Oh, my brave friend,” quivered Juan Ramirez, “you have spoken as our -brave Gomez would speak!” - -For a few moments the heads of the two youths bobbed together in -earnest, whispered conversation. - -When they had finished, Juan crept off through the bushes with the -stealth of an Indian. - -He reached a spot twenty feet away from our hero before he halted and -signaled back. - -Through the bushes the muzzle of Hal’s rifle protruded. - -As he aimed at one of the sentinels, a curious thrill swept over the -American. - -He was about to take a life, and unfairly, it seemed, since he must -fire from ambush upon an unsuspecting foe. - -Yet, even as he hesitated, the remembrance came back to him of the -evening before, when a Spanish officer had proposed to send him over -the fatal ferry to Morro Castle. - -The enemy would not hesitate; he must not. Besides, war consists of -killing; war is gauged only by its successes. - -With these thoughts surging through his mind, Hal Maynard steadied both -hands and vision. - -Crack! - -His rifle spoke, and the sentinel at whom he had aimed dropped and lay -still. - -Crack! - -Juan had waited only for this signal. Before the first sentinel had -struck the ground, the second had received his death-wound. - -Crack! crack! - -Right on the heels of the first two shots came the next pair. - -Before the last two sentries had time to turn, run or fire, they had -met their fates. - -In a twinkling Hal was on his feet. The fire of battle was in his -blood; the spirit of freedom possessed his soul as his voice rang out -full and clear! - -“By platoon, battalion charge!” - -An answering yell came from Ramirez as that youth too leaped to his -feet. - -Together they rushed down the hill-side, shouting commands to an -imaginary battalion. - -Crack! crack! crack! crack! crack! - -Without stopping to aim, they fired their repeating rifles through the -trees as fast as they could. - -“Viva Cuba Libre!” they shouted in unison. - -Through the woods came the startled yells of the bathing Spanish -soldiers, just out of range of vision. - -Reaching the ravine, Hal made for one stack of rifles, Juan for another. - -Seizing each a rifle in either hand, they commenced discharging them -two at a time in the direction of the creek. - -“Al machete! al machete!” (To the sword!) roared Juan, keeping up a -thunderous rattle of musketry. - -“Surround the enemy!” thundered Hal. “Give no quarter to Spaniards! -Every foe killed to-day is a foe the less to meet to-morrow.” - -All the while the incessant banging of guns rang out. - -To the startled bathers by the creek it seemed as if they had fallen, -naked and unarmed, into fierce, one-sided battle. - -“Keep a-banging and a-shouting,” muttered Hal, as he sped by Juan. - -Ramirez obeyed with a will, while Hal, though he still continued to -yell, busied his hands by gathering up the rifles an armful at a time. - -There was rope around in plenty among the camp baggage. - -Working like a Trojan, Hal quickly had thirty of the rifles lashed -upon two of the horses. - -Juan turned and saw with blazing eyes what his comrade had accomplished. - -“The Spaniards are running,” he quivered. “If it were not so, we would -have them on our hands by this time.” - -And he worked like a beaver to help Hal lash the remaining arms upon -other horses. - -There were many cartridge belts strewn around. These, too, were lashed -across the saddles, as well as a few cases of ammunition. - -“Here are four less of the enemy for our men to deal with,” cried Juan, -spurning with his foot the body of one of the four slain sentinels. - -“It was a tremendous piece of cheek,” blurted Hal, vaulting into one of -the saddles, and seizing the halters of two led pack horses. - -“The Spaniards must still be running,” chuckled Juan. - -“I imagine few of them stopped for their clothes,” laughed Hal. “But -mount, my friend, mount! When the enemy halt----” - -“It will be a half an hour before they do,” derided Ramirez. “Oh, mi -amigo, you were born a master of strategy. It was magnificent--that -charge of a battalion of trees--that fusilade fired by four hands!” - -“Into saddle! forward!” urged Hal. “It is our turn to laugh, now, but -in sixty seconds it may not be. When the enemy discover the trick, -rivers of blood would not satisfy them!” - -Smiling grimly, with a full realization of the peril, Hal Maynard urged -his mount into a trot. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. BATTLE IN EARNEST. - - -“Viva Cuba Libre!” - -Ramirez shouted that stirring battle-cry with the full strength of his -lungs. - -“Oh, it’s just glorious!” declared Hal, turning his sparkling eyes upon -his comrade. “Two recruits, with six horses and sixty rifles!” - -“Our comrades--that is, our comrades-to-be--will embrace us!” uttered -Juan. - -Click-clack! Hoofs rang out sharply on the stony bed of the ravine. - -“Even if they turn to follow, we are leaving the Spaniards behind,” -cried Juan. - -“Very likely; but what if we were to encounter a second body of the -enemy here in this ravine? Our turn to laugh would be over.” - -That thought urged them to greater speed. When the ravine narrowed, -Hal, with two of the led horses in tow, took the lead, Ramirez -following closely. - -“Juan, my comrade!” - -“Si, mi amigo!” - -“We are coming out of the ravine. There is a plain ahead.” - -Three minutes more of hard trotting brought them out into open country, -dotted here and there with small groves of palms. - -“Better halt,” advised Hal, reining up. - -Ramirez did the same, without questioning. - -“Rope the horses abreast,” directed Maynard. “You can ride on one side -of the line, I on the other. In that way we can keep the brutes at a -gallop, if needed.” - -Dismounting, they quickly accomplished this task. Within two minutes -they were once more in saddle. - -“You must be our guide,” suggested Maynard, as he settled down in -saddle. “Where shall we find the nearest Cuban camp?” - -“I do not know,” replied the Cuban. “I know where Major Alvaredo was -the day before yesterday, but--diablo!--the Cubans are not likely to -camp for two hours in the same spot. All I can say, mi amigo, is that -we had better ride eastward, trusting that we shall meet some pacifico -who can tell us the way more particularly.” - -“Forward, then!” - -From a trot they broke into a gallop, urging the pack horses on by -liberal lashing with ropes. - -In two minutes more our friends had covered over half a mile. - -“I heard yells,” muttered Hal, looking backward over his shoulder. - -Ramirez looked, too, then broke into a hearty laugh. - -Back on a hill, near the mouth of the ravine, they saw a sight -calculated to inspire mirth. - -Spanish soldiers, some of them nude and many half-dressed, dotted the -hill. - -In the first fright of surprise, these men had fled. Then, finding that -none of their number were killed, and that no foe pursued, they had -halted, turned about. - -They had probably found their four dead comrades, and must have -divined, from the absence of such footmarks as a battalion would have -made, that they had been tricked. - -So they had pursued until now they had reached a spot whence they were -able to see the exact strength of the attacking force. - -Frantic shouts now rent the air, reaching our young friends even at -that distance. - -In the lead of all the Spaniards, Hal could make out the uniform of the -Spanish colonel. - -“He seems mad,” observed Hal, quizzically. “If those soldiers were -close at hand, unarmed though they are, they would make things hot for -us.” - -Ramirez nodded, his face darkening. - -“Mi amigo,” he suggested, tremulously, “suppose we stop and give them -fight.” - -“With these horses and all these guns destined for the insurgents?” -demanded Hal. “My friend--nit! We have no right to risk losing such -splendid supplies.” - -“At least,” begged Ramirez, “let us halt and fire a half a dozen shots -into them.” - -“Fire at unarmed men?” retorted Hal. “Not while I’m here to stop it.” - -“Mi amigo, you are right,” replied Juan, with an air of self-reproach. -“But do not blame me. We have so much reason to hate that uniform of -Spain that we cannot resist the temptation to fire upon it wherever we -see it.” - -“I don’t blame you,” nodded Hal. “But my grievances against Spain are -of such recent date that I can wait for fair fight.” - -No attempt was made by the Spaniards to pursue the pair across the -plain. Such a chase would have been futile, anyway, for jaded men are -no match for galloping horses. - -In another half hour the foe were left five miles to the rear. - -Our young friends, too, had come to the end of the plain. Before them -stretched a gradual slope leading up into the hills. - -“I think we can halt to breathe our horses,” proposed Hal. “What do you -say?” - -Ramirez nodding, both threw themselves out of saddle to stretch their -legs. - -“It’s odd that we haven’t met a single passer-by,” commented Hal. - -“What else would you expect?” demanded the Cuban, shrugging his -shoulders. “Spain has burned down all the country homes, and driven the -people into the cities. Even if pacificos had the courage to remain out -here in the country, on what could they subsist? There is not enough -food out here to feed a rat.” - -“They would have almost as much to eat here as in the cities,” remarked -Maynard, growing misty-eyed over the remembrance of the thousands of -starving Cuban reconcentrados he had seen in Havana. “But we must go -on, Juan. The more I think, the hotter my blood becomes. I shall not be -happy until I stand under the Cuban flag.” - -Ramirez stretched out his hand, grasping our hero’s warmly. - -“I can never forget, mi amigo,” he murmured, huskily, “that it was you -who gave me the happiness of being able to take to the long grass.” - -Mounting again, Hal gave the signal to go forward. Up the slope they -moved at a jogging gait, being compelled once more to lead their pack -horses. - -Hal reached the highest land just in advance of his comrade. - -Like a flash Maynard wheeled about. - -“Halt! Dismount! Don’t come to the top,” he cried. “Tether your -horses--so. Follow me.” - -Rifle in hand, Hal led the way, Ramirez following without a word. - -“Look down there,” cried Hal. - -In a valley to the northward rested a squad of Spanish cavalry men, -some twenty in number, and commanded by an officer. - -Ramirez looked, his eyes flashing with hate. - -The enemy were dismounted, with horses tethered. - -“We can fire now!” breathed the Cuban. “Those men are armed.” - -“Wait!” warned Hal. “Come here. Now look down there.” - -Down the southward slope of the hill, less than half the distance away -of the dismounted cavalry was a sight that made the Cuban’s blood boil -still hotter. - -Four pacificos, their hands bound and roped together, were slowly -ascending the grade. - -Ahead of them rode three Spanish cavalrymen; behind the prisoners a -like number of guards. - -“What do you say now?” quivered Hal. - -“The pacificos must be saved. They are to be taken to Havana or shot. -The latter would be the most merciful fate.” - -Ramirez spoke jerkily, at the same time swinging his rifle into -position. - -“Not yet,” commanded Hal. “Those fellows are coming this way. We can -fire straighter when they are nearer. If they keep to their course, -they will go by within fifty feet of here.” - -“You command,” grumbled Ramirez, “but it is hard to wait.” - -“It’s common sense,” declared the American. “If we were to fire now, -and miss, the cavalry in the valley on the other side of the hill could -reach here before the fight was over. We should be killed, and all to -no purpose.” - -“You have a plan?” questioned Ramirez. - -“Thunder, yes!” - -“If it works as well as the other did my patience will be rewarded.” - -“Slip back to the horses. Get four more rifles--loaded ones.” - -Ramirez vanished, though it hardly seemed as if he had gone, before he -was back again. - -“Here they are, senor, and loaded.” - -“Good. Now crouch down, after placing two of the rifles at my side and -two by your own side. Whatever you do, don’t fire until I give the -word.” - -Ramirez obeyed, though the suspense made him tremble. - -His eyes flashed like jewels as he saw the four Cubans and their guard -come nearer. - -“Surely they are near enough now to open fire,” he whispered hoarsely. - -But Hal shook his head emphatically. “No, no, my comrade! When we fire, -we must take no chance of missing. Now, not another word, but you will -hear me whisper ‘fire’ when they are within a hundred feet. You take -the fellow in the front rank on the extreme left.” - -Juan protruded the muzzle of one of his weapons through the bushes that -screened them from sight. - -He shook so with impatience as to make the bushes rattle. - -“Steady,” whispered Hal. - -Ramirez, by a tremendous effort at patience, got a better grip on -himself. - -Nearer, still nearer, came the six troopers and their captives. - -Hal himself found it hard to restrain the temptation to fire, though he -held himself in check to the last. - -But at last the whispered word came: “Fire!” - -Two jets of flame shot out from the bushes; two troopers reeled from -saddle and fell. - -Crack! crack! Two more were down. - -Crack! crack! A fifth trooper fell, all within the space of five -seconds. - -Ramirez, firing with the deadly aim of hatred, had brought down all -three of his men, but Hal missed at the third shot. - -“Car-r-r-r-r-rajo!” vented the solitary remaining trooper, wheeling -and putting spurs to his horse. - -Crack! Ramirez fired again, bringing this fellow down, too. - -Hal darted to his feet and started down the slope, Ramirez posting -after him. - -At the first sound of fire, the four pacificos had thrown themselves -to the earth. Now they raised themselves, peering eagerly at their -rescuers. - -“You are friends of Cuba?” panted Hal. - -A hot chorus in the affirmative answered him. - -“You will fight with us? There are more foes near.” - -“Si, si, si,” (yes, yes, yes) cried one of the pacificos, while the -other three raised a tumultuous shout of: - -“Viva Cuba libre!” - -Hal and Juan instantly busied themselves with freeing the quartette. - -“Follow us to the top of the hill at your best speed,” yelled Maynard. - -He reached there ahead of the rescued ones, faced them, and shoved into -the hands of each a rifle. - -As these were repeating weapons, each still contained several shots. - -Below, on the other side of the hill, an animated scene was going on. - -The squad, a few moments before lolling on the grass, had now sprung -into saddle. - -Their officer was bawling himself hoarse with his rapidly delivered -orders. - -For a few seconds the squad seemed uncertain whether to flee or fight. - -Hal kept his little force out of sight by making them crouch behind the -bushes. - -“I have waited a year and more for such a chance as this,” sobbed one -of the pacificos, kissing the barrel of his rifle, and Hal, looking the -emaciated wretches over, had no doubt that they would fight to the last -breath. - -Juan slipped back to where the horses were tethered, returning with -more cartridges. - -Hal, in the meantime, had restrained the others from firing. - -“It would do little good at this range,” he explained, “and from what -I have heard the Cubans are not so rich in ammunition that they can -afford to waste any.” - -All the time he kept his eyes on the squad below. - -Their officer had decided upon an attack, for at a quick command from -him the troopers spread out in skirmish line and advanced. - -Instantly the pacificos began to take eager aim. - -“Don’t fire yet,” ordered Hal. - -“But senor,” pleaded one of the quartette, “it is so hard to see the -Spaniards, and yet not fire!” - -“The best fighters,” rejoined Hal, promptly, “are those who can keep -cool and obey orders.” - -“The senor is right, mi amigos,” ejaculated Ramirez. “Twice he has -restrained my impatience, and in consequence we won both times.” - -Bang! A line of fire ran along the skirmish line below, the reports -sounding as one. - -Whish! whish! A tornado of whistling bullets tore through the leaves of -the bushes that sheltered the little Cuban force. - -“Oh, mi amigo!” suddenly groaned Ramirez, turning white. - -For one of the bullets had struck Hal Maynard. - -Up flew his hand to his forehead. - -In the next second he keeled back--stretched out. - - - - -CHAPTER X. UNDER CUBA’S FLAG. - - -“Ten lives shall not pay for that one!” exclaimed Juan. - -But hardly were his words out when Hal sat up, wiping away the blood -from his forehead. - -“I’m a long ways from dead yet,” he gritted, wiping away the blood. - -Ramirez ran to his side. - -His nervous fingers glided swiftly over the American’s forehead, making -quick examination of the wound. - -“Santa Maria be praised!” cheered the Cuban. “The wound is not a deep -one.” - -“Glancing bullet, likely,” muttered Hal, rising to his knees, and -picking up his rifle once more. “The shock knocked me over, I suppose. -Perhaps fright had something to do with it.” - -“Fright?” echoed Juan, indignantly. “Nothing of the sort.” - -“Well, I’m certainly feeling some fright,” smiled Hal, his face more -than a trifle pallid as he took another look down below at the squad -trotting upward. - -They were just aiming for another volley, those Spaniards, who were now -hardly more than an eighth of a mile away. - -“Down!” warned Maynard, himself setting the example. - -He had no more than ducked when the volley came. - -“Up!” quivered Hal. “Give ’em some of their own medicine!” - -Six shots rang out, almost simultaneously. Two saddles were emptied. - -“Keep a-pumping,” ordered Hal, breathlessly, as he discharged his own -piece as fast as he could work the mechanism. - -His own wound had been caused undoubtedly by a glancing bullet, but -this is the most painful kind of injury. It maddened him, made him -utterly reckless. - -Five more saddles were quickly emptied By this time the firing was -general. - -Clack! clack! clack! rang the hoofs. The cavalry, firing at will like -their opponents, were now within a few yards of the top of the hill. - -The Cubans were overmatched. Hal felt that the last few moments of his -life had come. - -Yet only one thought actuated him. Before he closed his eyes he would -send as many Spaniards as possible to their last account. - -Crack! crack! crack! Half of the Spaniards were out of the fight by the -time the two forces came face to face at little more than arm’s length. - -Bang! A ball from Juan Ramirez’s rifle passed clean through the head of -the lieutenant in command, killing him instantly. - -“No quarter!” yelled Juan as the six leaped to their feet for -hand-to-hand combat. - -“On the contrary!” thundered Hal. “Any enemy who throws down his gun -must not be harmed!” - -A ball from a cavalryman’s revolver sent one of the pacificos -staggering back--dead. - -Hal immediately avenged by killing the trooper. - -Now one of the enemy threw down his sabre and revolver, crying for -quarter. - -“Spare his life, then,” shouted Hal, running forward. - -That command acted like magic. Not another shot was fired, for not one -of the eight surviving Spaniards lost a second in surrendering. - -This they followed up by dismounting and submitting to being tied. - -Ramirez, with blood running from a wound in his left shoulder, -superintended the work of tying. - -There were eight of the prisoners. As soon as bound, they were ordered -to remount, and were next lashed to their saddles. - -“The dogs!” vented Juan, gnashing his teeth as he looked the troopers -over. “Of course they surrender, for the Cubans treat their prisoners -of war kindly, and it is easier to surrender than to be shot. Besides, -these fellows know that the Cubans cannot be bothered long with -prisoners and that they will be set free.” - -“This is horse fair day for us,” laughed Hal. “Besides the horses -which the Spaniards ride, there are four more below which appear to be -uninjured.” - -This was the fact. Hal’s little command now had eighteen horses in all. - -As soon as these had been corralled, the field was gone over for every -weapon and cartridge that could be found. - -Fifteen minutes were thus consumed. - -At last Hal had time to think of the pacifico who had been killed. - -He was dead beyond a doubt. - -“My brother,” huskily murmured another of the pacificos. - -“He died nobly, in a good cause,” said Hal, soothingly. - -“He died for Cuba!” cried the dead man’s brother, throwing back his -head proudly. “I shall pray to the Almighty that I may die in the same -splendid way.” - -Hal was ready to proceed, now, yet before the start could be made there -was one sad duty to perform--the saddest that belongs to war. - -A shallow trench was dug, and in this the man who had been slain was -laid. - -Then, while the rest stood by with uncovered heads, murmuring silent -prayers, two of the pacificos covered the still form over. - -There was no time to bury the Spanish slain. - -Indeed, the Cubans, embittered by more than three years of suffering -under the infamous war methods of Spain, were in little mood to do -anything decent by the remains of the slain foe. - -“The buzzards shall get them,” cried Juan, disdainfully. “The buzzards -alone, in Cuba, do not go hungry!” - -As Hal’s little command and considerable train moved forward, our hero -heard the story of the pacificos. - -Some fourteen months before they had broken away from Havana. Since -then they had lived in hiding in the woods, subsisting mainly on roots -and fruit. - -Once in a while they had received morsels of meat from passing bodies -of Cuban soldiers. - -But the law of the Republic of Cuba forbade them to join the army -without weapons and ammunition, which was the only reason they had -remained pacificos. - -That very morning they had been surprised and surrounded while sleeping. - -Incapable of resistance for lack of arms, they had been forced to -surrender. - -They were on their way to Havana when rescued. Had their journey been -finished they would undoubtedly have been shot in the prison yard of -either Morro Castle or the Cabanas Fortress. - -From these men Hal learned that the Cuban commander, Major Alvaredo, -was supposed to be somewhere in the neighborhood, though that officer’s -exact location could be only a matter of conjecture, for the Cubans -moved from point to point with the speed of human lightning. - -“I shall volunteer to the first Cuban commander I meet--no matter who -he is,” declared Hal. - -“Volunteer?” echoed Juan, smiling. “It is too late for that, mi -amigo! Judging by the trail we have left behind, you are already -a full-fledged Cuban commander. Never has so small a command done -handsomer work.” - -At noon they halted, in the midst of one of nature’s blooming -wildernesses. Here there had been no plantations, no homes, hence the -blighting hand of Spanish devastation had not left its mark. - -For the first time our hero remembered the food with which Captain -Blodgett had provided Juan and himself the night before. - -It was brought to light now, and given entirely to the three late -pacificos. They devoured it like famished creatures. - -“It seems as if I lived again,” declared one of the poor, thin fellows, -when he had finished. - -“It is like a touch of Heaven,” said the second. - -“The first real food I have touched in weeks,” sighed the third. “With -this in my stomach I can fight for a week without feeding.” - -It was still dangerous to delay. Hal gave the word to start. - -It took an hour to cover the next five miles, for the road was now all -the way up grade. - -It was near the top of a hill that Hal was startled by a sudden sharp -command of: - -“Halt!” - -In the same instant our hero found himself looking into the muzzles of -a dozen rifles. - -Yet the men behind those rifles were invisible behind a dense tangle of -green foliage. - -“What do you want here?” came the quick question. - -It was Juan Ramirez who answered: - -“We seek Major Alvaredo.” - -“And if he is not here?” - -“Then any Cuban officer will do, for I know you to be Cubans. Send word -to your commander, please, that five recruits wait to offer themselves.” - -“Major Alvaredo is here,” replied a grave voice. - -Through a screen of leaves came a short, wiry-looking man of middle -age, a bronzed, scarred veteran who, despite his ragged attire, looked -every inch the trooper. - -One hand rested on the naked machete that he wore dangling at his side; -the other hand touched lightly against a revolver. - -“You are recruits?” he asked, keenly surveying the five, then gazing -with intense pleasure upon the horses, weapons and prisoners they -brought him. “Judging from appearances, you will be valuable recruits. -Where do you come from?” - -Major Alvaredo listened with an interest that soon changed to amazement -as he heard of the doings of the morning. - -By the time that the narration was over, he grasped our hero cordially -by the hand. - -“You are ten times welcome, senor,” he cried. “You want to see service -against Spain? Carramba! you shall see it. And if I mistake not, senor -Americano, my general, Calixta Garcia, will receive you as something -more than a private soldier. You have won a commission, if ever man did -in our armies.” - -“If there is a commission going a-begging,” smiled Hal, “it belongs to -my guide and mentor, Juan Ramirez.” - -“Oh, as to that,” smiled the major, “there may be commissions enough -for two.” - -With that they were conducted into the camp, where the major had about -him eighty of the most daring riders in Cuba. - -Thus our hero had gained the Cuban ranks. He was destined to become -one of the most famous fighters of them all. - -That night Hal Maynard slept under the flag of Free Cuba. - -But he dreamed of the coming of the Stars and Stripes! - -[THE END.] - -Cuba is the scene of splendid deeds! The struggle of her people -for the Heaven-born boon of independence has commanded the whole -world’s admiration, just as the Starry Flag Weekly’s series of Cuban -war stories will win the hearty applause of all American readers. -Hal Maynard and Juan Ramirez played manly, dashing parts in that -hot-blooded struggle. What was perhaps their greatest exploit of all -will be thrillingly told by Douglas Wells in “Gomez’s Yankee Scout; or, -The Blow that Told for Cuba,” which will be published complete in next -week’s Starry Flag Weekly, No. 2. This series will embrace by far the -best Cuban war stories that will be Published! - - * * * * * - -IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. - -It is the unchanging object of the publishers of the STARRY FLAG WEEKLY -to have the best stories of adventure that can be procured, regardless -of expense or trouble. Following this policy, the publishers decided -some weeks ago to send Mr. Douglas Wells to Cuba. Mr. Wells, being an -old campaigner, is accustomed to moving on short notice. Within two -hours of the receipt of his orders he was speeding southward “under -light equipment.” - -Mr. Wells has spent many years of his eventful life in the armed camps -of the world. He has spent many more years of his life in describing -what he has seen, in works ranging all the way from history to romance. -His long and varied experience, powers of observation, and knowledge of -human nature have all greatly aided him in knowing just what subjects -to depict, therefore, on reaching Havana he lost no time in getting -to work. In the face of many difficulties he succeeded in obtaining -permission to proceed into the interior, and he was soon among the -insurgents. Then followed days of hard, rough riding, scant sleep and -poor and little food. He was received by General Gomez, of the Cuban -Army, and, after witnessing much of the Cuban drilling and some of the -fighting made his way from the island to Key West. - -Should war take place between the United States and Spain all his -stories will be written from the front. Readers of the STARRY FLAG -WEEKLY will have the most accurate and truthful pictures of the war, -and those who are familiar with this author’s thrilling style will -understand that, while there may be other Cuban stories published, none -will be equal to those which will appear in the STARRY FLAG WEEKLY. - -Hal Maynard will be the hero, a bright, typical, dashing American boy. -As Napoleon once said that every soldier of France carried in his -knapsack a marshal’s baton, so every American boy has implanted in him -the seeds of heroism, awaiting only the sunshine of opportunity for -development. - -Thus Hal Maynard will be the representative of all American boys, and -our readers, in following his adventures, will see done exactly what -they would do themselves were they in the hero’s place. - -Young Americans will do well to keep their eyes on the STARRY FLAG -WEEKLY. It will be in these columns they will find the best and most -graphic stories of the war--stories that will be written by an author -who enjoys the somewhat rare distinction of knowing what he is writing -about. Mr. Wells will not quit the front so long as the fighting goes -on. Who can describe so well as he the march of great events this -summer? - - * * * * * - -STORIES BY A WAR CORRESPONDENT _IN CUBA_ - -MR. DOUGLAS WELLS TO WRITE A NEW SERIES FROM THE FRONT - -[Illustration: MR. DOUGLAS WELLS] - - A WELL-KNOWN AND POPULAR AUTHOR ENGAGED BY THE - Starry Flag Weekly - TO DESCRIBE THE ADVENTURES OF AN AMERICAN BOY IN CUBA. - -Young Americans will do well to keep their eyes on this publication. -It will be in these columns they will find the best and most graphic -stories of the war. The following stories will appear in the order -given: - -TITLES. - - No. 1. Under Blanco’s Eye; or, Hal Maynard Among the Cuban Insurgents. - - No. 2. Gomez’s Yankee Scout; or, The Blow That Told for Cuba. - - No. 3. The First Gun; or, Lieut. Hal Maynard’s Secret Mission in Cuba. - - No. 4. Into Death’s Jaws; or, Defending the Stars and Stripes. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - -The following change was made: - -p. 14: are inserted (they are not) - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER BLANCO'S EYE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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