Spanish Naval signal-book," answered Milsom. "Each navy has its own
private code of signals, which no man can read unless he has access to
the official signal-book. No; that is no good. Is there no spot ashore
from which one can get a good view of the offing?"
"Nothing nearer, I am afraid, than Punta Brava; and that is quite two
miles from the landing-place by the shortest possible cut," answered Don
Hermoso. "One could not walk there and back in much less than an hour
and a half, in this heat; and to drive there would, I am afraid, be
almost as imprudent as running down to the harbour's mouth in the steam
pinnace."
"Quite," answered Milsom. "But"--as he leaned out over the rail and
glanced up at the yacht's funnel, which he could thus just see clear of
the awning--"we might slip our moorings and go out in the yacht, if you
like, Senor. I see that we have steam enough to move; and we are free
to go to sea at any moment, now, you know."
"So I understand," answered Don Hermoso. "Yet I think we had better
remain where we are a little longer; for I am anxious to assure myself,
before starting on our trip, that the _Potter_ has succeeded in landing
her cargo and getting away safely. And if we were to go to sea just now
we should be obliged to proceed on our voyage, I think; we could advance
no good reason for hanging about outside and watching the movements of
strange craft."
"No, no, of course not; I quite see your point," agreed Milsom. "It
would undoubtedly be better to remain where we are for an hour or two
longer, and see how the affair eventually develops. But I wouldn't mind
betting that that signal had some reference to the American boat, for
see how furiously they are firing up aboard the cruiser."
They were indeed firing up "furiously", as Milsom had said; for dense
clouds of black smoke were now continuously pouring and billowing out of
both funnels of the cruiser, to the outspoken scorn and derision of
Macintyre, who had his own ideas upon the subject of "firing", his
theory being that to make steam quickly, and keep it when made, one
should "fire" lightly and continuously.
Meanwhile the preparations for going to sea were progressing apace
aboard the cruiser, the boats being all hoisted in except one, which,
with a couple of hands in her, was hanging on to the buoy to which the
cruiser was moored, in readiness to unshackle the cable from the mooring
ring so soon as the vessel had steam enough to enable her to move. The
bells of the shipping in the harbour were chiming eight--which in this
case meant noon--when the first white feather of steam began to play
about the tops of the cruiser's steam pipes; and at the sight the
watchers on board the yacht stirred in their chairs and assumed a more
alert attitude, for further developments might now be looked for.
They came--within the next five minutes--the first of them being the
sudden lowering of the captain's gig aboard the cruiser, the hurried
descent of her crew into her by way of the davit tackles, and the
hauling of her alongside the hastily lowered gangway. A moment later an
officer stepped into the stern-sheets; and, with the naval ensign of
Spain snapping in the breeze at her stern, and her boat pennant trailing
from the staff in her bows, she shoved off and dashed away toward the
landing steps, with her eight oarsmen bending their backs and making
their good ash blades spring almost to breaking-point, as though their
very lives depended upon their speed. She swept past the _Thetis_
within a biscuit's toss, and the party on the top of that vessel's deck-
house were not only able to distinguish, by the gold braid on his coat
cuffs, that the solitary occupant of the stern-sheets held the rank of
captain, but also that the poor man looked worried and scared almost out
of his senses. Just before coming abreast of the yacht, which of course
had her club ensign and burgee flying, the boat swerved slightly from
her course, and for a moment it looked almost as though she intended to
run alongside; but the next moment she straightened up again and went on
her way toward the landing steps, the "brass bounder" in her stern just
touching the peak of his uniform cap with his finger tips in
acknowledgment of Jack's and Milsom's courtesy salute. Two minutes
later her crew tossed oars and she swept up alongside the landing steps
and hooked on; the skipper next moment springing up the steps and
disappearing in the crowd of idlers who had gathered at the head of the
steps.
Two bells came, and with it the stewards to lay the table for second
breakfast, or luncheon, on the yacht's deck-house; and as three bells
struck, the little party drew in round the "hospitable board" and sat
down to their mid-day meal. They had just about finished when Milsom,
who was sitting facing the town and wharf, put down his glass somewhat
emphatically on the table, and, rising to his feet, exclaimed: "Now,
what does this mean?"
"What does what mean?" demanded Jack, also rising to his feet and facing
in the direction toward which the skipper was looking. "Phew!" he
whistled; "the plot thickens! Surely it is not possible that we were
seen last night, Phil, eh?"
"I could have sworn that we were not," answered Milsom. "Yet, if we
were not, I repeat: What does this mean?"
He might well ask. For there, halfway between the wharf and the yacht,
was the cruiser's boat, with the captain and an elderly gentleman in
plain clothes in the stern-sheets; and it was unquestionable that they
were making for the yacht. Jack snatched up a pair of binoculars that
lay in one of the basket chairs and brought it to bear upon the boat.
"Why," he exclaimed, "I'll be shot if it isn't the Capitan-General who
is coming off to us!"
"The Capitan--General!" gasped Don Hermoso. "Then, depend on it,
gentlemen, your movements were observed last night, and you have been
informed upon. What will you do?"
"Why," answered Jack, "we will wait until we have heard what these
people have to say; and then--be guided by circumstances. But--pooh! I
believe we are scaring ourselves unnecessarily. If they suspected us of
tampering with their ships it is not in a boat manned by six unarmed
sailors that they would come off to us. Come along, Phil, you as
skipper and I as owner of this vessel will go down to receive these
gentlemen and learn what their business is with us."
And, so saying, and followed by Milsom, he descended to the main deck
and stationed himself at the head of the gangway ladder, by which time
the boat was alongside. Another moment and the Capitan-General, hat in
hand, and bowing courteously to the two Englishmen, passed in through
the gangway, followed by the captain of the cruiser.
"Good-day, Senor Singleton!" exclaimed the old gentleman genially,
offering his hand. "Do you happen to remember me, or must I introduce
myself?"
"I remember you perfectly well, of course, General," answered Jack,
accepting the proffered hand with--it must be confessed--a feeling of
very considerable relief, "and I am very glad indeed to have the honour
of receiving you on board my yacht, although you have deferred your
visit until the moment when we are about to proceed to sea."
"Ah, yes," answered the General, "so I guessed, from the steam which I
see issuing from your vessel's funnel! It is about that that I have
come off to see you. But, before we go any further, permit me to have
the honour of introducing to you Captain Morillo, of His Spanish
Majesty's cruiser the _Infanta Isabel_, which lies yonder."
The introduction having been made and acknowledged with all due
formality, the old gentleman resumed:
"Now, a most extraordinary thing has happened here to-day--an occurrence
so singular and unique that one is driven to the conviction that certain
very clever conspirators have been at work." The old gentleman, whether
by accident or designedly, looked Jack square in the eye as he said
this; and it was with the utmost difficulty that the latter was able to
keep his countenance and retain that nonchalance of demeanour and
expression of polite interest which he felt was so necessary to avert
any suspicion of his own complicity with the "very clever conspirators".
To cover any indication of confusion which he might have inadvertently
betrayed, he shouted to the quartermaster, who was busy about nothing in
particular near the stern grating:
"Quartermaster, bring along four basket chairs." Then to the General:
"You interest me immensely, General. I have just sent for some chairs,
and when they arrive we will sit and discuss the matter in comfort.
Meanwhile, may I offer you and Captain Morillo a glass of wine? We have
some very passable champagne down in our cold chamber."
The Capitan-General and his friend expressed themselves as perfectly
willing to partake of Senor Singleton's gracious hospitality; and
presently, seated at ease, and with a foaming glass of ice-cold Mumm
before him, the Governor resumed his story.
"I need not ask you, Senor, whether you are aware that the present
condition of Cuba is somewhat abnormal, for I feel convinced that a
caballero of your intelligence must have long ere this discovered that
the island is literally seething with rebellion--to such an extent,
indeed, that a rising against Spanish rule may be anticipated at any
moment. Nor need I point out to you how ruinously disastrous to the
rebels and all who might be suspected of sympathising with them such a
rising must necessarily be; for it would of course be my painful duty to
suppress it by force of arms. It is therefore in the interest of the
Cubans themselves that we are adopting certain measures for the
prevention of everything of a nature calculated to encourage hope on the
part of the native population that a rising against Spanish authority
could by any possibility be successful; and one of these measures is the
suppression of all importation of weapons and war material of every
description."
"Quite so," concurred Jack with a smile. "We had an illustration of the
vigour and thoroughness of your efforts in that direction upon our
arrival on the coast, in the action taken by the Commander of the
gunboat yonder, who was only convinced with the utmost difficulty that
we were not engaged in the business of smuggling war material into the
country. Indeed, I believe he never would have been convinced, had I
not insisted upon his making a thoroughly exhaustive search of my
vessel, with the result, of course, that nothing of the kind was to be
found on board her."
The old gentleman flushed, fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair, and
fortified himself by emptying his glass. He would rather not have been
reminded of that circumstance, especially at that moment.
"Ah!" he said, shaking his head sorrowfully as he put down his empty
glass and feigned to be oblivious of the fact that Jack promptly
refilled it; "yes, that was a most regrettable occurrence--the result of
a very unfortunate mistake on the part of certain friends of ours on the
other side. I understand, however, that Commander Albuquerque made the
_amende honourable_ in a manner that was absolutely satisfactory to
yourself, Senor; and, with the expression of my own personal profound
regret, I trust that you will have the extreme generosity to allow the
deplorable affair to be forgotten."
"Of course I will," said Jack heartily; "I am not one to bear malice.
We are all liable to make mistakes at some time or other of our lives."
"Senor," exclaimed the General with enthusiasm, "I am indeed delighted
to find you so generously disposed--the more so that my visit to you to-
day is connected with a similar incident; the only difference being
that, in this case, there is unfortunately no room for the belief that
we are making a second mistake. We have received the most positive
information that certain American sympathisers with the revolutionary
movement in Cuba have loaded a steamer with munitions of war for the use
of the insurgents; and these munitions are to be landed to-day at a spot
known as Mulata Bay, a few miles to the westward of this port. The
information, most unfortunately, did not reach us in time to allow of
our taking measures for the seizure of the cargo upon being landed; but
that appeared, at the time, to be a matter of no moment, for I had
planned to send a torpedo boat to seize the vessel and her cargo upon
her arrival in Mulata Bay. The vessel, I may mention, was to have
arrived at her destination at mid-day to-day; and, as a matter of fact,
she has arrived, for she was sighted in the offing this morning, and has
since been seen heading in toward the bay. And now we come to the
explanation of my remark in reference to certain very clever
conspirators; for when the torpedo boat attempted to leave the harbour
this morning for the purpose of intercepting the smuggling ship, it was
found that her machinery had been tampered with, so that it became
impossible to send her. It was then decided to send the gunboat; but
when she in turn attempted to move it was discovered that she also had
been disabled. And finally, to cut my story short, it was discovered
that the engines of Captain Morillo's ship had also been so effectually
tampered with that she cannot move. Thus, you see, at a very critical
moment, we find ourselves absolutely helpless; and unless something can
be done, and that instantly, the cargo will be landed, with the
deplorable result that an armed rebellion will break out in the island,
and incalculable mischief will ensue."
"Yes," assented Jack thoughtfully; "I must confess that such a result
seems not improbable."
"Not improbable!" ejaculated the General; "my dear sir, it is absolutely
certain! We have the very best of reasons for knowing that, once the
insurgents find themselves possessed of arms, they will lose not a
moment in making a determined effort to throw off the yoke of Spanish
rule, and the island will be at once plunged into all the horrors of
war. Now, my dear Senor Singleton, it is in your power to avert those
horrors, if you will!" ("Precisely!" thought Jack; "I could have bet
that the old boy was leading up to this.") "You see exactly how we are
situated. That American ship and her cargo must be seized; yet we have
no ship available with which to effect the seizure. You, on the other
hand, have a ship that is in every way admirably adapted for the
service, and you have steam up; you can leave the harbour at a moment's
notice, if you choose--"
"Pardon me, General," interrupted Jack; "I understand exactly what you
are driving at: you want me to lend you this yacht for the purpose of
conveying a party of soldiers or sailors to--to--"
"Mulata Bay," interpolated the General.
"Yes," continued Jack, "to Mulata Bay, to seize an American ship which,
you say, is smuggling a cargo of contraband-of-war into the island!
But, my dear sir, has the very extraordinary nature of your request yet
dawned upon you? Do you recognise that you are asking me, a private
English gentleman, to mix myself up in a quarrel with which I have
absolutely nothing to do, and the rights and wrongs of which I do not in
the least understand? Why should I interfere with an American ship,
even though she be engaged, as you suggest, in affording aid and
encouragement to the revolutionaries?"
"Surely, Senor, the reasons that I have already advanced ought to be
sufficient," answered the General. "But if they are not, let me give
you another. Your friend Don Hermoso Montijo, whom I see with his wife
and family on the upper deck yonder, are not altogether free from the
taint of suspicion of being in sympathy with the revolutionaries;
indeed, it has been whispered to me that--but it would perhaps be unfair
to them to repeat suggestions which have not as yet been absolutely
proved: let it suffice for me to say that I wish the present predicament
of my Government to be laid before them, together with the request which
I have ventured to make to you; and let me know how they advise you in
the matter."
"But, General, this is absolutely preposterous!" protested Jack. "Why
should Don Hermoso Montijo and his family be dragged into the affair?
And why should I be supposed to be governed by their advice? I must
positively refuse to submit the matter to them in any shape or form; and
I must also refuse to permit myself to be influenced by any advice which
they might see fit to give. They are my guests on board this vessel,
and, I may tell you, have embarked in her for the purpose of taking a
cruise in her for the benefit of the health of the ladies of the
family--indeed, we were on the point of getting under way when you
boarded us."
"Senor," retorted the General, "I will not pretend to dispute any one of
your statements; but I will simply say that if you persist in refusing
your assistance to the Spanish Government in this strait, your refusal
will have the effect of very greatly strengthening the suspicions that
already exist as to the loyalty of the Montijo family!"
"General," exclaimed Jack, "if you did but know it you could scarcely
have said anything better calculated to defeat your own wishes and make
me declare that under no circumstances will I permit myself to be
dragged into this business. To be perfectly frank with you, I do not
believe that you have the slightest shadow of foundation or excuse for
your suspicions of Senor Montijo and his family. But, in order to show
you how little grounds there are for them--should such actually exist--I
will do violence to my own feelings by acceding to your request, without
consulting Senor Montijo in any way, to the extent of conveying a party
of your men, not exceeding fifty, to Mulata Bay; upon condition that I
am allowed to fly the Spanish man-o'-war ensign while engaged upon the
service."
"Why do you attach that condition to your assent, Senor?" demanded the
General.
"Because," snapped Jack, who was now perilously near losing his temper,
"I neither can nor will do the work under the British flag!"
"I think, Excellency, Senor Singleton is justified in his demand,"
remarked the skipper of the cruiser, now speaking for the first time.
"The work that he has kindly undertaken to do is essentially Spanish
Government work, and can only be properly done under the Spanish flag.
I will bring you a Spanish ensign and pennant to hoist, Senor, when I
bring my men alongside," he added, turning to Jack.
"I shall be obliged, Senor, if you will," answered Jack; "for I will do
nothing without them."
"Then that is settled," exclaimed the General, rising to his feet.
"When will you be ready to leave the harbour, Senor Singleton?"
"As soon as Captain Morillo brings his men alongside," answered Jack.
"Then, to expedite matters, let us be going at once, Morillo," exclaimed
the General. Then, turning to Jack, he said: "Senor, permit me to
express to you the gratitude not only of myself, personally, but also of
the Spanish Government, for your courtesy in consenting to render us
this important service at an exceedingly critical moment, I fear that,
in my anxiety, I may have brought rather an unfair amount of pressure to
bear upon you in order to overcome your scruples; but I trust that you
will ultimately forgive me for that. And I am quite sure that if, as I
have understood, you intend to prolong your stay in Cuba, the time will
come when you will be glad to have placed us all under an obligation. I
offer you a thousand thanks, Senor, and have the honour to bid you good-
day!"
And thereupon, with many bows, his Excellency the Capitan-General of
Cuba followed the skipper of the cruiser to the gangway and thence down
into their boat.
"Well," exclaimed Milsom, who had contrived to follow the conversation
sufficiently to get a fairly accurate impression of what had transpired,
"you have managed to get us all fairly into the centre of a hobble by
consenting to run those men down to Mulata Bay! How the mischief do you
propose to get out of it again without putting all the fat in the fire?"
"Quite easily, my dear Phil, or you may bet your bottom dollar that I
would never have consented," answered Jack. "You see, the Spanish ships
have had their engines tampered with. Very well: ours have been
tampered with too--Macintyre will have to see to that. While the old
chap was talking, the idea occurred to me that if I should persist in my
refusal, Captain Morillo might, in desperation, take it into his head to
send away a boat expedition to Mulata Bay; and, the people there being
of opinion that everything is all right, they may take matters prettily
easily, with the result that the boat expedition might possibly have
arrived in time to effect a seizure. Therefore while, for the sake of
effect, I pretended to be very unwilling to fall in with his
Excellency's views, I had decided that I would do so, almost as soon as
I saw what was coming. Now, my plan is this. We will take the Spanish
crowd aboard and run them down toward Mulata Bay, which will put an
effectual stopper upon any attempt to dispatch another expedition. But,
when we get down abreast of our destination, our engines will break
down, and instead of going into Mulata Bay, we shall go driving
helplessly away down to leeward before this fine, roaring trade wind;
and before we can get the ship again under command _the James B.
Potter_ will have discharged her cargo and got away again. And I reckon
upon our appearance off the place under the Spanish ensign and pennant
to give all concerned a hint as to the importance of `hustling' over
their job. Twiggez?"
"Je twig--I tumble!" answered Milsom. "And a very pretty scheme it is,
too, Jack--does you proud, old man; it ought to work like a charm. Now,
before the Spanish Johnnies come aboard, I'll just hunt up Macintyre,
and post him upon his share of the work, while you go and explain
matters to the Don and his family. Who-oop! It will be interesting to
observe the expression on the countenances of our Spanish friends when
our engines--tampered with by those pestilent revolutionaries--break
down!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
AN EXPEDITION THAT FAILED.
A few minutes sufficed Jack to explain the situation to the Montijo
family, to their mingled indignation and amusement; and he then
suggested that, as the yacht would possibly be rolling and tumbling
about somewhat unpleasantly in the heavy sea outside while in her
apparently helpless condition, the ladies might prefer to pass the night
ashore, in one of the Havana hotels. But neither of them would for a
moment listen to any such proposal: the Senora explained that she had
never yet been seasick, and did not propose to begin now; while Dona
Isolda opined that it would be no worse for her than if they had gone to
sea in the ordinary way during the afternoon, so she, too, elected to
remain on board and take her chance. Then, while they were all talking
together, Milsom came up on to the top of the deck-house with the
information that Macintyre fully understood what was wanted and was
making elaborate preparations for a perfectly gorgeous breakdown of the
engines--the maximum speed of which during the trip would not exceed
fourteen knots, at the outside. And presently the cruiser's first
cutter pushed off from her parent ship's side and came pulling toward
the yacht, with twenty seamen and five marines on board, in addition to
her own crew, all armed to the teeth, and Captain Morillo and another
officer in the stern-sheets.
A few minutes later the boat swept up alongside, and the two officers
ascended to the deck, where they were met by Jack and Milsom.
"Senor Singleton, and Senor Capitan Milsom, permit me to have the honour
of presenting to you Senor el Teniente Villacampa, the officer who will
have the command of the expedition," said Morillo. "He will be
responsible for the good behaviour of the men, and will lead them to the
attack of the ship and those on shore who will be assisting in the
landing of the cargo; but, apart from that duty, he will of course be
under your orders. I have brought you," he continued, taking a bundle
of bunting from Villacampa, "an ensign and a pennant, which you will
substitute for your own colours at the moment which you may deem most
suitable. And now, what about boats? Will you tow the one which is
alongside; or would you rather use your own?"