At the head of the stairs there was another guard to be passed, but this
the stranger did with a formal military salute and an air of authority as
if his right to enter was beyond question. His manner quieted all
suspicion in the mind of the sentinel, and the newcomer entered the
governor's room unchallenged, closing the door behind him.
Before him sat the governor-general in a large easy-chair, quite alone and
busily engaged in writing. On seeing him thus unattended the
weather-beaten face of the stranger took on a look of satisfaction.
Evidently his secret plans had worked fully to his desire. Taking off his
cloak, he tossed it over his arm, making a noise that attracted the
governor's attention. Tacon looked up in surprise, fixing his eyes keenly
upon his unlooked-for visitor.
"Who is this that enters, at this late hour, without warning or
announcement?" he sternly asked, looking in doubt at the unknown face.
"One who brings information that the governor-general wants. You are he, I
believe?"
"I am. What do you want? And how did you, a stranger, pass my guard
without challenge?"
"That is not the question. Your Excellency, I understand, has offered a
handsome reward to any one who will put you on the track of the rovers of
the gulf?"
"Ha! is that your errand?" exclaimed Tacon, with sudden interest. "What
know you of them?"
"Excellency, I must speak with caution," said the stranger. "I have my own
safety to consider."
"That you need not fear. My offer of reward also carries pardon to the
informant. If you are even a member of the confederation itself you will
be safe in speaking freely."
"I understand you offer an additional reward, a rich one, for the
discovery of Captain Marti, the chief of the smugglers?"
"I do. You may fully trust in my promise to reward and protect any one who
puts me on the track of that leader of the villains."
"Your Excellency, I must have special assurance of this. Do you give me
your knightly word that you will grant me a free pardon for all offences
against the customs, if I tell all you wish to know, even to the most
secret hiding-places of the rovers?"
"I pledge you my full word of honor for that," said the governor, now
deeply interested.
"You will grant me full pardon, under the king's seal, no matter how great
my offences or crimes, if you call them so, may have been?"
"If what you reveal is to the purpose," said Tacon, wondering why his
visitor was so unduly cautious.
"Even if I were a leader among the rovers myself?"
Tacon hesitated a moment, looking closely at the stalwart stranger, while
considering the purport of his words.
"Yes," he said, at length. "If you will lead our ships to the haunts of
Marti and his followers, you can fully depend on the reward and the
pardon."
"Excellency, I know you well enough to trust your word, or I should never
have put myself in your power."
"You can trust my word," said Tacon, impatiently. "Now come to the point;
I have no time to waste."
"Your Excellency, the man for whom you have offered the largest reward,
dead or alive, stands before you."
"Ha! you are
"Captain Marti."
The governor started in surprise, and laid his hand hastily on a pistol
that lay before him. But he regained his self-possession in a moment, and
solemnly said,--
"I shall keep my promise, if you keep yours. You have offended deeply, but
my word is my law. But to insure your faithfulness, I must put you for the
present under guard."
"As you will, your Excellency," said Marti.
Tacon rang a bell by his side, an attendant entered, and soon after Marti
was safely locked up, orders being given to make him comfortable until he
was sent for. And so this strange interview ended.
During the next day there was a commotion in the harbor of Havana. An
armed revenue cutter, which for weeks had lain idly under the guns of
Morro Castle, became the scene of sudden activity; food, ammunition, and
other stores being taken on board. Before noon the anchor was weighed and
she stood out into the open sea. On her deck was a man unknown to captain
or crew, otherwise than as the pilot of their cruise. Marti was keeping
his word.
A skilled and faithful pilot he proved,--faithful to them, but faithless
and treacherous to his late comrades and followers,--for he guided the ship
with wonderful ease and assurance through all the shoals and perils of the
coast waters, taking her to the secret haunts of the rovers, and revealing
their depots of smuggled goods and secret hiding-places. Many a craft of
the smugglers was taken and destroyed and large quantities of their goods
were captured, as for a month the raiding voyage continued. The returns to
the government were of great value and the business of the smugglers was
effectually broken up. At its end Marti returned to the governor to claim
the reward for his base treachery.
"You have kept your word faithfully," said Tacon. "It is now for me to
keep mine. In this document you will find a free and unconditional pardon
for all the offences you have committed against the laws. As for your
reward, here's an order on the treasury for--"
"Will your Excellency excuse me for interrupting?" said Marti. "I am glad
to have the pardon. But as for the reward, I should like to make you a
proposition in place of the money you offer. What I ask is that you grant
me the sole right to fish in the waters near the city, and declare the
trade in fish contraband to any one except my agents. This will repay me
quite well enough for my service to the government, and I shall build at
my own expense a public market of stone, which shall be an ornament to the
city. At the expiration of a certain term of years this market, with all
right and title to the fisheries, shall revert to the government."
Tacon was highly pleased with this proposition. He would save the large
sum which he had promised Marti, and the city would gain a fine
fish-market without expense. So, after weighing fully all the _pros_ and
_cons_, Tacon assented to the proposition, granting Marti in full legal
form the sole right to fish near the city and to sell fish in its markets.
Marti knew far better than Tacon the value to him of this concession.
During his life as a rover he had become familiar with the best
fishing-grounds, and for years furnished the city bountifully with fish,
reaping a very large profit upon his enterprise. At the close of the
period of his monopoly the market and privileges reverted to the
government.
Marti had all he needed, and was now a man of large wealth. How he should
invest it was the question that next concerned him. He finally decided to
try and obtain the monopoly of theatrical performances in Havana on
condition of building there one of the largest and finest theatres in the
world. This was done, paying the speculator a large interest on his
wealth, and he died at length rich and honored, his money serving as a
gravestone for his sins.