“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 Señor 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, Señor, 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, Señor; 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.”
“Señor,” 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.”