As it happened, Jack did not see a solitary human being until he presently emerged into one of the wider and more frequented streets; and twenty minutes later he was safely on board the Thetis again, to the great astonishment of Milsom, who had been pacing the deck in an endeavour to raise an appetite for dinner, and meanwhile picturing to himself the pleasant time that he supposed Jack to be having at the hacienda. He was, of course, profoundly concerned at the news which Jack had to tell him; and spent the remainder of the evening in alternately invoking sea blessings upon the head of Don Sebastian Alvaros, wondering what would happen to the Montijos should the apprehensions of their friends prove correct, and endeavouring to devise schemes for the discovery and liberation of the family.
The next morning saw Jack an early visitor at the office of the British Consul; and into the sympathetic ear of that most long-suffering official the young man poured all his woes, all his fears, all his indignation that such happenings could occur in a so-called Christian country. But the Consul could offer him very little comfort; for, as he pointed out to Jack, the affair was one concerning the Spanish Government alone, and with which he could not possibly interfere—at least officially; but he undertook to refer to the matter unofficially, at his next interview with the Capitan-General, and promised to furnish Jack with any information which he might then or upon any other occasion obtain. And with that somewhat meagre promise Master Jack was obliged to rest content. But the young man could not remain so for long; and on that and several succeeding days he wandered about the Havana streets and haunted the various cafés and restaurants in the hope of somewhere hearing a chance word which would throw a glimmer of light upon the mystery. And he also reconnoitred the jails, passing and repassing them a dozen times a day upon the off-chance that he might sooner or later catch a glimpse of one or another of his friends’ faces peering out through one of the little grated openings in the walls. But all to no purpose; at the end of three weeks from the date of the disappearance the mystery remained as insoluble as ever. Nor had Don Ramon met with any better success. “I cannot understand it,” exclaimed that gentleman irritably; “I have sought information in every conceivable direction, and have set all sorts of unseen forces in motion, with absolutely no result. Even the Capitan-General has drawn blank: he is ignorant—or pretends to be—of what has happened to our friends; and the most that I have been able to get out of him is the statement—which we may take for what it is worth—that he has issued no order for the arrest of any member of the Montijo family. I wish I could get hold of Alvaros, but I have not been able to run up against him; and nobody seems to know where he is, or anything about him.”
It was three or four days later that Jack, by this time utterly weary and heartsick at his lack of success, entered a restaurant which was much frequented by the officers of the garrison, and, seating himself at a table, ordered second breakfast. There were not very many people in the place at the moment, but it soon began to fill up; and presently the young man’s heart gave a great bound, and he felt the pulses of his temples throbbing furiously, as three officers, laughing and talking loudly, entered the place and began to look about them for a table. One of these men was Alvaros; hence Jack’s emotion.
As the lad sat staring open-eyed at them, Alvaros glanced in his direction, and Jack saw the light of recognition leap into his eyes.
“See, my friends,” exclaimed the Spaniard, “there is a vacant table, next to the one at which that young beast of an Englishman is sitting. Let us take it.”
And therewith the trio stalked down the room, and, with a vast amount of clatter, seated themselves at the table next to the one occupied by Singleton.
“That beggar means mischief; I can see it in his eye!” thought Jack. “Well,” continued he mentally, “let him do his worst; I mean mischief too, and we will see who is the better player at the game. But I must keep cool if I am to come out on top; and, who knows? the skunk may say something which will afford me a useful tip.”
For a few minutes the three officers sat chatting together, and then Jack noticed that it was Alvaros and the youngest of the trio—an ensign, apparently—who did most of the talking; the third man, who was evidently a cavalryman, merely put in a word or two here and there, and seemed to be slightly disgusted at the boisterousness of his companions. Then Alvaros, who had feigned not to have recognised Jack, exclaimed:
“By the by, I must not forget to tell you a most interesting item of news. Do either of you fellows happen to know, or to have heard of, a certain Don Hermoso Montijo, who owns a large tobacco plantation in the direction of Pinar del Rio? But of course you have; everybody knows or has heard of Montijo, the richest man in Cuba—or who was until very recently; but I am afraid that his riches will never be of much use to him again. Why? Simply because the old scoundrel turns out to be hand in glove with the insurgents! He has been helping them most lavishly with money, and it is more than suspected that it is he who is responsible for the importations of arms and supplies of all sorts that have entered the island and reached the hands of the insurgents within the last six months. He even went to Europe, taking his cub of a son with him, for the purpose of procuring the most modern weapons. Every Spaniard, therefore, who falls during the operations for the suppression of the present rising will be indebted to Don Hermoso Montijo for his death. But the Government is going to give him ample time in which to repent of his sins, for he and his family sail for Fernando Po on Sunday next on board the convict steamer El Marañon, in the company of several other choice miserables. So we shall no longer be troubled with him or his. And as I was chiefly instrumental in laying bare his villainy, I shall, when his estates are confiscated, put in a claim for them as my reward.
“But it was not so much of him as of his daughter that I intended to tell you. Dona Isolda Montijo is universally admitted to be, beyond all question, the most lovely woman in Cuba; and for once the popular estimate is correct, as no man knows so well as I do.” (“Steady, old man, steady!” said Jack to himself. “Hold tight, and clench your teeth! The blackguard is talking now with the express intention of provoking you into the commission of some overt act for which you would be sorry afterwards, and you must not allow yourself to be provoked. The infernal fool, in his anxiety to hurt you, has made you a present of what may prove to be a most valuable bit of information; but you must not allow yourself to be inveigled into a scrape of any sort, or you may not be allowed the opportunity to avail yourself of it. So keep a tight grip upon yourself, Jack Singleton, and bottle up your wrath for future use!”) “When the Montijos were arrested, about a month ago,” continued Don Sebastian, “I so arranged matters that they were confined in La Jacoba; and, of course, as Governor of the prison, I possessed considerable powers; thus it was not difficult—” And therewith the fellow proceeded with great gusto to tell the story of cruelty the like of which, it is to be hoped, for the credit of one’s manhood, is not often repeated. And while it was telling, Jack “sat tight” and listened, storing up every vile word and every monstrous detail in his mind that he might have something to whet his vengeance upon when the time for vengeance should come. But his agitation was so evident, his distress so poignant, that Alvaros thought it would be very good fun to direct public attention to it; so, feigning to become suddenly aware of it, he swung his chair round, and exclaimed loud enough for everybody in the room to hear: