CHARGED WITH A SECRET MISSION
Having ascertained from the captain of his troop that the order brought
by Major Dodley was one that must be obeyed, Ridge went below with a
very heavy heart to collect his scanty possessions. As he did so his
thoughts were full of bitterness. Why should any one be sent back to
that hateful camp, and for what reason had he been singled out from all
his fellows? It looked as though he were being disgraced, or at least
chosen for some duty that would keep him from going to Cuba, which
would be almost as bad. At the same time he could not imagine what he
had done to incur the displeasure of his superiors. It was all a
mystery, and a decidedly unpleasant one. That the order should come
through Dodley, too, whom he particularly disliked, was adding insult
to injury.
"I'd rather swim ashore than go with that man!" he exclaimed to Rollo
Van Kyp, who, full of sympathy, and genuinely distressed at the
prospect of their separation, had gone below with him. Ridge had told
his chum all about Dodley, whom they had discovered lounging on a
breezy veranda of the great Tampa Bay hotel a few days before, so that
now the latter fully comprehended his feelings.
"It's a beastly shame!" cried Rollo; "or rather it's two beastly
shames, and if you say so, old man, we'll just quietly chuck that Major
fellow overboard, so that you can have his boat all to yourself. Then,
instead of going ashore, you head down the bay for some place where you
can hide until we come along and pick you up."
"That's a great scheme," replied Ridge, with a sorrowful little smile,
"but I am afraid it wouldn't work, and so there is nothing left for me
but submission to the inevitable. I do hate to go with Dodley, though."
Just here Ensign Comly appeared on the scene with his brother, whom he
was bidding farewell.
"I say, Comly!" cried Rollo, who knew him, "why can't you set my friend
Norris here ashore? It wouldn't be much out of your way, would it?"
"Not at all," answered the ensign, courteously. "And I should be
pleased to accommodate any friend of yours. I must go at once, though;
so, if Mr. Norris will come on deck--"
"Oh, but that won't do," interrupted Van Kyp. "He must get off the
ship without any one on deck seeing him." With this he explained the
situation to the ensign, who readily grasped it, and said:
"All right. I'll run my boat in under this sideport, and he can drop
out of it if the sentry will let him pass."
Of course the guard at the wide freight port left open for a better
circulation of air between decks would allow Ridge to pass, for he was
one of their own troop, and knew that the sergeant had been ordered
ashore. To give him further assurance that everything was all right,
Ridge said:
"It is my duty, you know, to go in the first boat that offers, since
Major Dodley undoubtedly left some time since. He said he would only
wait two minutes, and as that was fully five minutes ago, he ought to
be ashore by now."
Thus it happened that while the messenger who had been ordered to fetch
Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders was still fuming over the
unpardonable delay of the trooper, and threatening all sorts of
unpleasant things for him when he did appear, Ridge gained the railroad
wharf without being observed from the deck of the transport. There,
finding an empty train just starting for Tampa, he was able to present
himself in camp half an hour later. From it he was sent to
headquarters, with orders to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt,
who had come ashore early that morning. This Ridge hastened to do,
without waiting to answer any of the eager questions showered upon him
by his recent comrades of the camp.
At the hotel occupied as headquarters an orderly conducted him to the
office of the commanding general, where, upon admittance, he found
himself not only in the presence of his own superior officer, but of a
group of distinguished looking men in uniform, who, as he afterwards
discovered, were Generals Miles, Shafter, Lee, and Lawton, and
Lieutenant Boldwood of the navy, now in command of the despatch boat
_Speedy_, recently arrived.
"General," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, addressing the
commander-in-chief, "this is Sergeant Norris of my regiment, the man
whom I recommended for your purpose, and for whom you sent less than an
hour ago."
"Where were you when ordered to report here?" asked General Miles,
turning abruptly to Ridge.
"On board the transport _Yucatan_, lying off Port Tampa, sir."
"Then you are one of the few men whom I have discovered among our
volunteers who have learned the lesson of _prompt_ obedience," remarked
the general, with a slight scowl on his still handsome though deeply
lined face.
"Umph!" snorted General Shafter, who was a big man, weighing about
three hundred pounds, and whose hair was sadly rumpled, as though by
much perplexity.
General Lee, also a large, fine-looking man, smiled approvingly at the
prompt young trooper, while General "Iron" Lawton, spare of figure and
with a reputation as a fighter, gave him a penetrating glance, that
Ridge knew had indelibly fixed his face upon the soldier's memory. The
naval man also regarded him with interest, and our hero, greatly
confused at being thus observed, was relieved to have General Miles
proceed, to question him further.
"I understand that you speak Spanish like a native."
"I do, sir."
"Have you ever been in Cuba?"
"No, sir."
"Or travelled in Spain?"
"Yes, sir."
"Acquainted with its principal cities?"
"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
were tending.
"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
in your country's service?"
"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
required of him than simply remaining in camp.
"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death. It is
deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba. If his identity
is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
be that of a spy. Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"
"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.
"Good! A commissioned officer was selected for this duty, but he is
prevented by illness from performing it. You have been chosen to take
his place on the recommendation of Colonel Roosevelt because of your
knowledge of Spanish, your military record, and because you are a
native-born American. I could have found plenty of Cubans to undertake
the mission, and possibly one of them would have carried it to a
satisfactory ending, but I wanted an American."
"Plain North American Yankee," growled General Shafter.
"As you know," continued General Miles, "a powerful expedition is about
to leave this place for Cuba. Very few persons have any idea where it
is to land; but you must know that in about ten days from now it will
appear off Daiquiri, some twelve miles east of Santiago, in which city
I want you to be at that time. You will sail to-night in the
despatch-boat _Speedy_, of which this gentleman, Lieutenant Boldwood,
is the commander. Within three days he will land you on the northern
coast of the province of Santiago. During the following week I want
you to visit the Spanish commanders at Holguin, Jiguani, and Santiago,
to all of whom you will bear what purport to be important despatches
from Señor Carranza, chief of the Spanish secret service in North
America, whose headquarters are in Montreal.
"You will represent yourself to be José Remelio, one of the clerks
attached to the recent Spanish Legation at Washington. You will
estimate the strength and condition of the Spanish forces in the
province. Also, you will meet as many of the insurgent leaders as
possible, inform them of the coming of our expedition, and impress upon
them the necessity of intercepting supplies or re-inforcements for
Santiago. For the sake of appearances, I authorize you to assume any
military rank up to that of Captain you may deem advisable. You will
also be given the secret countersign of the Cuban Junta, which will
secure for you good treatment among all Cubans of intelligence."
"His best safeguard among Cubans should be that he is an American
soldier," suggested General Lawton.
"You will perceive," continued General Miles, "that I have laid out a
vast amount of work for you to perform in a very short time; but you
will be provided with plenty of money, and by procuring a good horse as
soon as possible after landing I believe you can accomplish it. I hope
you will be able to reach Santiago and gain a knowledge of its
defences; but no matter where you are, when you hear that our army has
landed, make your way to it with all speed, and report immediately to
the commanding general. Is all this clear? and have you anything to
suggest?"
"Your instructions are perfectly clear, sir," replied Ridge, his voice
trembling with excitement, "and I only want to suggest that instead of
depending upon Cuban horses for transportation across the island, I be
allowed to take my own from here."
"Are you sure that your horse is enough better than those of the island
to warrant carrying it to such a distance?"
"I can vouch for that, General," interposed Lieutenant-Colonel
Roosevelt. "Sergeant Norris has one of the very best horses in our
regiment, and one that has developed almost human intelligence under
his training."
"No one realizes the value of a reliable horse in times of danger
better than I," rejoined General Miles. "I wonder, though, if it will
be possible to carry one on the _Speedy_?"
"I believe we can manage it, General," said Lieutenant Boldwood.
"Very, well, then, you may take your own horse. How will you get it to
the port?"
"I think the simplest and probably the quickest way will be to ride
her, sir."
"Then do so with all haste, for I want the _Speedy_ to sail this very
evening, and within two hours, if possible. You will receive your
despatches, funds, and promised countersign after you get on board.
Good-bye. Good luck to you, and remember that your proposed movements
must be kept absolutely secret outside of this room."
Ridge had barely taken his departure after shaking hands with the
several generals, who rose to bid him farewell, when a telegraph
message was handed to General Shafter. He read it with perplexity,
studied it for a few moments, and then burst into a roar of laughter.
It was from his aide, Major Dodley, had been sent from Port Tampa, and
read as follows:
"I charge Sergeant Norris of Rough Riders with contempt, disobedience
of orders, and desertion. Saw him aboard transport, and delivered your
order, whereupon he disappeared. Have searched ship without
discovering trace of him. He has undoubtedly deserted."
"Some persons are fools occasionally," remarked the big General, "while
others are never anything else. I don't think Dodley belongs to the
former class."