VICTORY.
IT was only a few mornings after the news of Hobson's brave venture.
The children were out in the garden, where Ramon had discovered a
chameleon on a grass plot. It was a sunny day, so perhaps that was the
reason the chameleon's skin was such a bright green.
"You know how gray they look on dull days," said Ramon. "Perhaps if
I should put him on the branch of that tree, now, he would change to
a brownish tint, to look as much as possible like it. He's a stupid
little thing, though. If he does change colour, I don't believe he
knows it himself. Mother Nature takes care of him, you know, and
makes him change as a kind of protection. He has no way of defending
himself, but if he is of the same colour as the substance around him,
it is hard for his enemies to find him.
"Oh, dear! it makes me laugh when I think of a battle I once saw
between two chameleons. They stood facing each other. Their small
eyes glared as they slowly opened and shut their jaws like pairs of
scissors. They moved about once a minute. I did not have time to see
which won the battle; it took too long a time for them to do anything."
As the children stood watching the lizard they heard the sound of hoofs
down the road. Then there was a cloud of dust as a horseman came riding
rapidly along. He turned in at the driveway.
"What news? What news?" cried Ramon, who rushed to meet him.
It was an old friend of the family who had given secret help to the
Cuban soldiers throughout their struggle for freedom.
"Of course, you knew the American troops had landed, didn't you? Well,
run in and ask your father to come out. I can only stop a moment and I
have much to tell him."
The gentleman had hardly stopped speaking before Señor Diaz appeared on
the veranda. He was told about the position of the Americans not far
from Santiago. They had met General Garcia, the brave leader of the
insurgents. The Cuban and American armies were now working together.
Battles had already been fought with the common enemy.
But that which interested the children most was the story of the Rough
Riders and their daring charges at El Caney and San Juan Hill. Many
of these Rough Riders were men who had led a wild life on the plains
in America. Some of them had no book-learning; they were not what one
usually calls "gentlemen;" but they were great horsemen and brave
soldiers. They feared nothing in the world.
They were commanded by Colonel Wood, and had been recruited by
Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, who had been out on the plains among them
when a young man. He admired their spirit and was glad to be their
commander now. He knew their ways. He led them up the San Juan heights
when the enemy was protected by forts and shooting right and left at
the Americans. But the Rough Riders charged onward with great courage
and gained the summit. They took possession of the blockhouse at the
top, and killed most of the Spaniards and drove the rest away. It was a
glorious fight and a glorious victory.
"A few more deeds like that, and war and trouble will be ended for us,"
said the gentleman as he rode away to carry the good news to others.
"Hurrah for Lawton and Roosevelt!" shouted Ramon as he danced about
the garden. "Santiago will soon be out of the hands of the Spaniards,
and they will be clearing out of Cuba altogether. It seems as though I
could not rest without shaking hands with our American friends."
The dear boy did not have long to wait, for the very next day came the
news that the Spanish fleet had been destroyed. It had tried to escape
out of the harbour, but had been discovered by the watchful Yankees. In
a few hours all of Spain's war-ships had been sunk or driven ashore.
What was now left for Cuba's tyrants? The battle-ships of the Great
Republic were ranged along her shores unharmed and strong as ever.
The Spanish troops were shut up in the city without hope of escape.
Surrender was the only thing possible to ward off great loss of life on
both sides.
The Spanish commander made a formal surrender to General Shafter, and
Spain's empire in the West Indies came to an end almost on the very
spot where it had begun four hundred years before.
And now the mines were taken out of the harbour and our battle-ships
could enter in safety. As our vessels glided inside one after another
they made a wonderful picture. The harbour seemed alive with boats, and
it looked like a floating city.
Still grander was the sight on land when thousands gathered around the
governor's beautiful palace at Havana to see the stars and stripes of
America unfurled. As the flag spread its folds to the breeze, the band
struck up the air we love so well. It was the "Star Spangled Banner."
Boom! boom! went the cannon, and thousands of American and Cuban hearts
were filled with joy.
"Victory! Victory!" shouted Ramon, when the good news reached him that
night. And "Victory!" cried little Isabella, who added with all her
childish might, "Long live Cuba." Even the parrot echoed the words of
the children. He seemed to feel that something very great must have
happened, for his voice was shriller than usual.
In fact, the family could have no peace in the house, even if there
were peace all over Cuba, till Master Poll's cage had been covered with
a thick, dark cloth, and he was made to believe that night had suddenly
fallen upon his home.