on the estate were concerned, pursued the even tenor of their way;
nothing in the least out of the common happened, and the Senora
Montijo's mental condition had by this time so far improved that the
society of Carlos and Jack was no longer necessary to her welfare.
But they both remained on the estate, for the war had now come almost to
their own door, and their services were as likely to be useful where
they were as anywhere else. News came to them at irregular intervals,
and there by and by reached them the intelligence that, in order to
isolate Maceo and prevent his return to the eastern provinces of the
island, General Weyler was constructing a _trocha_, or entrenchment,
with blockhouses and wire entanglements all complete, from Mariel on the
north coast to Majana on the south--that is to say, across the narrowest
part of the island--some sixteen or seventeen miles in length. The next
news to hand was that the _trocha_ was completed, and manned by twenty
thousand men! And the next was that Weyler was marching ten thousand
troops through the province, with the object of finding and destroying
Maceo and his men--and any other rebels, actual or suspected, whom they
might chance to find! Jack and Carlos felt that the time had arrived
for them to hold themselves on the qui vive.
They were not kept very long in suspense. A few days later, as they
were about to sit down to dinner, a negro peon presented himself, with
the report that a large body of Spanish troops, having marched down the
road from Pinar del Rio, were at that moment pitching their camp on the
plain, some two miles away; and just as the party had finished their
meal, and were on the point of rising from the table, the beat of
horses' hoofs, approaching the house, was heard, with, a little later,
the jingle of accoutrements; and presently footsteps, accompanied by the
clink of spurs and the clanking of a scabbard, were heard ascending the
steps leading to the veranda. The next moment the major-domo flung open
the door and, with the announcement of "Capitan Carera", ushered in a
fine, soldierly looking man, attired in a silver-braided crimson jacket
and shako, and light-blue riding breeches, tucked into knee-boots
adorned with large brass spurs.
The newcomer bowed with easy courtesy as he entered, and then paused,
apparently taken somewhat aback as his eye fell on the Senora. He
quickly recovered himself, however, and, addressing himself to Don
Hermoso, asked if he might have the honour of a few minutes' private
speech with the owner of the estate; to which Don Hermoso replied by
conducting his visitor to the room in which he was wont to transact his
business. The interview was very brief, and when it was ended the
soldier bowed himself out and, descending the steps, took his horse from
the orderly who had accompanied him: then, mounting, he went clattering
away down the private road leading through the tobacco fields to the
highway, and thence to the distant camp.
"Well, what is the news, Pater?" demanded Carlos, as Don Hermoso
presently returned to the dining-room, looking very pale and agitated.
"The news, my son, is this," answered Don Hermoso, his voice quivering
with anger: "General Echague, who is in command of the troops which have
just encamped in our neighbourhood, has sent a message to me regretfully
intimating that it will be his duty to destroy this house, together with
all its warehouses and outbuildings of every description, to prevent its
seizure by the rebels who are known to be in this neighbourhood. And,
as an act of grace, he gives me until noon to-morrow to remove my
household and belongings to such a place of safety as I may select!"
"Oh! he does, does he?" retorted Carlos. "Awfully kind of him, I'm
sure! And what answer did you return to the message?"
"I simply replied that I thanked General Echague for the time given me,
and that I would do my utmost to complete my preparations by the hour
named," answered Don Hermoso.
"That is all right!" commented Carlos grimly. "I think we can complete
our preparations by noon to-morrow. What say you, Jack?"
"I say," answered Jack, "that we can not only complete our preparations
in the time given us, but have plenty of time for play afterwards. As a
matter of fact, our preparations are practically complete already. We
have nothing to do except blow up the bridge, and that we will do as
soon as you, Don Hermoso, and the Senora are far enough on your way to
Pinar to be safe from pursuit. Then we will teach these arrogant
Spaniards a much-needed lesson on the desirability of modifying their
tyrannical methods."
"What do you mean, Jack?" demanded Don Hermoso. "Do you imagine for a
moment that I will seek safety in flight, and leave you two lads to
defend my property for me?"
"No, Senor, I don't mean that at all," answered Jack. "What I mean is
this: the natural situation of the place is happily such that, with the
preparations already made for its defence, and perhaps one or two more
which we can easily make to-morrow morning, we can without difficulty
hold the estate against a much stronger force than that encamped on the
plain below; and therefore there is not the slightest reason why you
should not remove the Senora from the turmoil and excitement of the
fight which is sure to come to-morrow."
"I see," said Don Hermoso. "It is the same thing, however, stated in
different words. `The turmoil and excitement of the fight', as you put
it, will scarcely be perceptible here, in the house, and will therefore
not be likely to have any injurious effect upon my wife, who must be
induced to remain indoors while we are arguing the point with the
Spaniards. I shall therefore remain and take my share of the risks with
you."
And from this resolution Don Hermoso was not to be moved.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
WIPED OUT.
With the first sign of dawn on the following morning the Montijo estate
became a scene of bustling activity; for, as Jack observed, since fight
they must, they might as well begin early and get it over during the
hours of daylight. Jack and Carlos, who had, with the tacit consent of
Don Hermoso, jointly assumed the responsibility of defending the place,
had, on the previous night, held a short council of war, and had finally
come to the conclusion that of the two vulnerable points of attack which
still remained, that which they had by common consent come to speak of
as the "cross-country route" was the weaker, since at one point the
river was so narrow that it could be jumped by a horseman, and
consequently was capable of being temporarily bridged without much
difficulty. The defence of this position, therefore, Carlos insisted on
personally undertaking, with the assistance of a force consisting of
two-thirds of the negroes employed upon the estate; while Jack, with the
other third, was to defend the approach by way of the main road and the
mined bridge. It was also arranged that Jack was to have the twelve-
pounder field gun, while Carlos took the two Maxims.
Now, it happened that while the two youths were making these final
dispositions, it occurred to Don Hermoso that the attack upon his estate
would afford Antonio Maceo and his four thousand guerrillas up there in
the mountains a splendid opportunity to come down and take the Spaniards
in the rear; he therefore retired to his own room, wrote a long letter
to Maceo, in which he fully set forth all the particulars of the
situation, and dispatched it by the hands of a trusty negro by way of
the ravine and gorge where Alvaros was supposed to have died, the negro
asserting his ability to cross the gorge at the waterfall by means of a
pine tree which he would cut down in such a manner as to cause it to
fall across the gap, and which he would afterwards throw into the abyss,
returning to the estate, after the execution of his mission, with Maceo
and his men.
The reveille was just sounding in the Spanish camp when Jack, having
placed his forces in position in open order behind a screen of bamboo
and scrub which completely commanded the approach to the mined bridge,
and also effectually masked the position of his twelve-pounder,
proceeded down the road alone for the purpose of destroying the bridge.
Ten minutes later a deep boom, accompanied by a volcanic upheaval of
dust and debris, announced the successful accomplishment of the task, at
the same time that it startled the Spanish soldiery and aroused the
curiosity and suspicion of the Spanish general, who at once dispatched a
small reconnoitring party to investigate the nature of the explosion.
Jack, who had waited to examine the result of his engineering
experiment, and had seen with much satisfaction that, while the crown of
the arch was completely destroyed, rendering the bridge absolutely
impassable, it would be a simple matter to repair the damage later on,
observed the approach of the party, and at once determined to await it,
deeming it an excellent opportunity to establish a clear understanding
with the Spaniards and bring matters at once to an issue. Accordingly,
he stood there, on his own side of the wrecked bridge, in clear view of
the approaching reconnoitring party, and patiently awaited its arrival.
Presently the officer in charge of the party, catching sight of him,
galloped forward alone and, reining up on the opposite side of the gap
in the bridge, indignantly demanded:
"Hola, Senor! What is the meaning of this, and who is responsible for
the deed?"
"I am responsible for it," answered Jack; "and it means that Senor
Montijo is not disposed to tamely submit to the destruction of his
property. You may therefore return to General Echague and inform him
that we have placed the estate in a condition of defence; that we are
prepared to resist attack to the last gasp; and that if he is ill-
advised enough to persist in his attempt at destruction, he, and he
only, will be responsible for the bloodshed that must ensue."
"It is well, Senor," answered the officer; "I will tell the General what
you say. And you, in turn, may inform Senor Montijo that if he persists
in his mad resolve to resist us, his blood and that of every soul who
takes part with him will be on his own head: for General Echague is in
no mood to deal leniently with rebels; when he turns his back upon you a
few hours hence the estate will be a blackened, fire-scorched waste, and
every man, woman, and child upon it will have been put to the sword!"
And, wheeling his horse, with a swaggering show of contemptuous
indifference to possible danger he rode slowly away.
Jack watched the party until it had returned to the camp, and the
officer in command had made his report; and then, seeing that the
Spanish troops were to be allowed to get breakfast before being led to
the attack, he dispatched Calderon--who had undertaken to perform the
duties of galloper--to Carlos with a message to the effect that no
immediate attack was to be expected. Then, having posted sentries and
given his own contingent instructions to get their breakfast at once,
where they were, he mounted his horse and galloped up to the house to
snatch the meal which he knew would by this time be ready for him. It
was a hurried meal, of course, but it was none the less welcome on that
account, and it imparted that feeling of refreshment and vigour which is
so comforting to a man who is about to engage in a possibly long and
arduous fight; while it also afforded him the opportunity to personally
acquaint Don Hermoso and Carlos--who also presently came in--with the
details of what had passed between him and the Spanish officer.
Then, having fortified himself with food, Jack returned to his post, to
find his negro forces busily discussing their own breakfast, which they
finished nearly half an hour before there was any sign of movement in
the Spanish camp. At length, however, the blare of bugles and the
rattle of drums gave intimation that a movement of some sort was
impending; and presently the troops were seen to be mustering under
arms. They consisted, as Jack soon saw, mainly of infantry: but there
was a small body of cavalry with them, about fifty in number; and they
also had two light field pieces, each drawn by six mules.
While the infantry were forming up, and the mules were being put to the
guns, the general and his staff suddenly rode out of camp and advanced
along the main road, with the evident intention of reconnoitring the
menaced position and ascertaining the most promising point of attack.
But Jack had no idea of allowing them to gain even so much advantage as
that; he therefore moved among his men, and selecting some twenty of the
best shots, rapidly transferred them to another patch of cover which
commanded the junction of the private with the main road, and instructed
them to open fire upon the reconnoitring party the moment that it should
come into view, himself remaining with them to encourage and give them
confidence. He had scarcely got his little body of sharpshooters into
position when the leading files of the reconnoitring party appeared in
sight at the junction of the two roads, evidently bent upon examining
the wrecked bridge; and Jack, waiting only until the entire body came
into view, gave the order to fire. The effect was disastrous to the
Spaniards, for the negroes, concealed as they were, and confident of
their own absolute safety, took aim with the utmost coolness and
deliberation, with the result that seven out of the dozen saddles were
emptied, while the general and another officer had their horses shot
under them. There was an immediate wild stampede of the survivors, the
two dismounted men contriving with difficulty to catch and mount a
couple of riderless horses; and ere they had got beyond range two more
men and three more horses were bowled over by the main body of Jack's
negroes, who had the adventurous party in view as soon as they were lost
to sight by the band of sharpshooters nearer the bridge.
Upon regaining his camp the Spanish general at once ordered forward his
two field guns, his instructions to the artillerymen apparently being to
shell the little clump of cover in which Jack had concealed his
sharpshooters. But the latter, despite his youth and inexperience, was
shrewd enough to foresee some such move as this, and accordingly he had
no sooner put the reconnoitring party to flight than he withdrew his men
from their place of concealment and marched them back to rejoin their
comrades, taking care to keep them all together, for he had a very
strong suspicion that he would again need them for special service ere
long.
The guns were advanced at a gallop, brought to action front, and
unlimbered, all with very creditable smartness; and the next moment
shell fire was opened by both weapons upon the little patch of cover
just vacated by Jack's marksmen. The aim was good, shell after shell
dropping so close to where those marksmen had been concealed that within
the first five minutes they must all have been destroyed had they
remained there, even although about two out of every three shells failed
to explode. The Spanish general was soon convinced that his guns had
accomplished their mission, for when they had fired some thirty shells a
galloper was seen approaching the artillery officer, and the next moment
that individual gave the word to cease fire and limber up. At the word,
the drivers put their mules into motion and advanced toward the guns;
whereupon Jack, who had been patiently awaiting this movement, gave an
order to his sharpshooters, who immediately opened fire upon the teams,
with the result that before the guns could be moved every animal was
down. Then the artillerymen themselves attempted to drag the weapons
away, upon which they also began to drop; and at length a squad of
cavalry was dispatched to move the weapons. But they were obliged to
gallop nearly half a mile across Jack's front, within range the whole
time; and, although they covered the ground at a good pace, so hot was
the fire maintained upon them, and so deadly the aim, that not one of
the horsemen was able to reach the guns: Jack had got the weapons under
the cover of his rifles, and he did not mean to let them go.
But Singleton soon had something else than the two guns of the enemy to
think about; for while he had been concentrating his attention upon the
two field pieces, the entire body of troops had begun to move, and were
advancing, in two columns, with the evident intention of endeavouring to
force the passage of the stream somewhere in the neighbourhood of the
ruined bridge: apparently they were unaware of the existence of the
still weaker position which Carlos had undertaken to defend. Through
some strange oversight or carelessness on the part of their commander,
they were advancing in close order, and Jack felt that now was the
moment when his twelve-pounder was likely to prove useful. He intended
to captain the gun himself, and had caused it to be loaded with shrapnel
some time before: and he therefore now carefully aimed the weapon at a
certain spot over which the troops must pass, and the distance of which
he knew almost to an inch. Then, waiting patiently until the leading
column was within about three yards of it, he fired. The shell appeared
to strike the ground and explode almost at the feet of the advancing
troops, and when the smoke of the explosion cleared away it was seen
that an enormous gap had been made in the advancing column, which had
been thrown into the utmost confusion, those men in the immediate
vicinity of the gap, on either side of it, having halted in dismay,
while the right and left wings had continued to advance; and in the
midst of the gap could be seen a long swath of prostrate men, the most
of whom were lying horribly and unnaturally still. It was pitiable to
see those men, many of them scarcely out of their boyhood, led forth to
die in support of grinding, unendurable tyranny and misgovernment: yet
that was not the moment in which to indulge a feeling of mistaken
humanitarian sentiment--mistaken, because Jack knew that unless those
same men could be driven off they would be remorselessly used as the
instruments of ruthless destruction and indiscriminate slaughter; so,
while the confusion among the ranks was still at its height, he ordered
the gun to be reloaded, and again plumped a shell right in the very
midst of them.
This second shell appeared to have been even more terribly destructive
in its effects than the first, for the two columns were, when it fell,
bunched close together, and it seemed to have dropped where the men were
thickest; and ere the now demoralised troops could recover from the
panic into which they had been thrown, their ranks were yet more
disastrously thinned, a rattling crash of Maxim fire from Carlos'
position indicating the direction from which this new punishment had
come. But by this time General Echague had begun to recover his
presence of mind. He saw that to attempt to advance farther in close
formation in the face of such a withering fire would be suicidal, and he
gave the word for his men to take open order, which they instantly did:
and a moment later a slight change in the formation of the attacking
troops showed that while the leading column was intended to be used in
forcing the passage of the river at the point where the bridge had been
destroyed, the other column had been diverted to attack the position
which Carlos had undertaken to defend.
The troops, having taken open order, were next ordered to lie down and
thus minimise their exposure as far as possible; and in this posture
they advanced to the attack, creeping gradually forward and firing
independently at any spot where the flash of a rifle, or a puff of
smoke, showed that an enemy lay concealed. There was one small party of
men in particular that attracted Jack's attention, and a careful
inspection of them through his glasses showed that they were provided
with something which had the appearance of scaling ladders, which they
were laboriously dragging after them, and which Singleton very shrewdly
suspected were intended to span the gap in the broken bridge and thus
afford a passage for the troops across the river. To these men, and to
the cavalry who were still persistently endeavouring to recover the
possession and use of the two field pieces, Jack commended the especial
attention of his negroes, leaving the remainder of the Spanish troops to
be dealt with a little later on; for, the defenders being safely
ensconced in cover, the rifle fire of the attacking party was absolutely
harmless to them, and the young Englishman felt that so long as he could
keep the party with the scaling ladders at arm's length, and the field
pieces from being used against him, he was practically master of the
situation. And these two objects he gained most successfully, the party
with the ladders very soon being wiped out, while all attempts on the
part of the main body to supply its place were effectually frustrated;
while, as for the guns, by the time that the cavalry-men had lost rather
more than a quarter of their number they had evidently arrived at the
conclusion that to move the pieces from the exposed position which they
occupied was an impossible task, and they accordingly abandoned it,
turning their attention next to the position which Carlos was defending.
The unequal fight had been in progress for nearly two hours, during
which Singleton's party had experienced less than a dozen casualties,
while the enemy, exposed in the open, had suffered very severely, when
another body of men suddenly made their appearance in the rear of the
Spanish forces, and, with howls and yells of vengeful delight, rushed
forward to the attack. A small flag of Cuba Libre which was borne in
their midst proclaimed them to be a body of revolutionaries, and the
Spanish troops were hastily called off from the attack on the estate and
formed up in square to receive them. But the Spaniards might as well
have attempted to stop the wind as to stem the onrush of those fierce
and determined men, who were, moreover, in overwhelming numbers; they
had time only to pour in a couple of hasty, ill-directed volleys, and
then the Cubans--armed, some with rifles, and others with swords, cane-
knives, machetes, scythe blades, pikes, hatchets, ay, and even crowbars
and smiths' hammers--swept down upon and overwhelmed them. For the
space of perhaps three minutes there was a hideous melee, a confused
mass of men struggling, yelling, shrieking; a popping of pistol shots, a
whirling and flashing of blades in the sun; and then out from the midst
of the confusion there emerged a bare half-dozen of panic-stricken
horsemen, who set spurs to their frantic steeds and galloped for their
lives off that fatal field. Another Spanish force had been wiped out by
the insurgents!
Half an hour later, when the dead had been stripped of their weapons and
ammunition, Antonio Maceo and a little body of his subordinate officers,
using the scaling ladders left on the field by the Spaniards, crossed
the gap in the wrecked bridge, and made their way up to the house for
the purpose of thanking Don Hermoso for the letter of warning which he
had dispatched to them, and with a request for the loan of all the
spades and other tools which he could spare to enable the insurgents to
bury the dead: and by sunset that night a long, low mound of fresh-
turned earth, showing red amid the vivid green of the grass-grown plain,
was all that was left as evidence of the tragedy; while Maceo and his
four thousand patriots were wearily wending their way back to their
mountain fastness, the richer by two six-pounder field guns, a thousand
stand of arms, with a considerable quantity of ammunition, and the
entire spoils of the Spanish camp.