Before he left this country he had been ejected from several forts along the South Atlantic coast, where he had been found endeavoring to gain access to those mysteries which no man, unless he wears the blue of the United States army, can righteously know aught of, even in times of peace. This was the first intimation this country had that Spain would introduce here the same system of espionage she employs at home. Following Sobrap's expulsion from the country came the knowledge that Spanish spies were working in Washington, watching every move made there; that they swarmed in Key West and in New York city, where they maintained a strict surveillance over the members of the Cuban Junta.
Many of these spies were American citizens, or at least nominally so, for their work was done under the direction of a well-known detective agency, acting, of course, with the Spanish representatives here. These men were principally engaged in preventing the shipment of stores and arms to Cuba. At one time it was impossible to enter or leave the building where the Junta had its headquarters without observing one or more men hanging about the place, apparently with nothing to do and making a vain effort to do it as gracefully as possible. These were thrilling times in the annals of the Junta, when Rubens, Palma and Captain O'Brien were regularly followed to and from their homes to their headquarters. These were good times, too, for the American detective agency. But all this was mere clumsy work, more of an annoyance than anything else, and scarcely any hindrance to the shipping of arms and stores when the Junta was fortunate enough to have the arms and stores to ship.
But after the declaration of war, the spy question assumed an aspect as serious as it was unlocked for. Spain worked silently, secretly and through one of the best-handled branches of her government and with all the Latins' natural love of intrigue. She no longer paid much heed to Palma or Rubens, or to Captain O'Brien. She was playing a bigger game. American detectives no longer represented her interests here—an impossibility under existing conditions, of course. Under Polo was established a most complete department of espionage, which he controlled from the refuge Canada offered him.
The gathering together of information and those facts which usually concern the operation of secret service of civilized countries seemed to be a side issue with this particular department. The scope of its operations was along different lines from those usually followed by the mere spy.
Polo's intention appeared to be to carry the war into America in a new and startling manner—startling, because his movements could not be seen or foretold until the blow was struck. He made use of the corps under his control to place the bomb of the anarchist and apply the torch of the incendiary under our arsenals and to those buildings where the government stored its supplies for the army and navy.
For a time he was successful in his cowardly scheming and his emissaries celebrated his success with many tons of good American gunpowder, and at the cost of some good American lives. Bombs were found in the coal reserved for use aboard our men-of-war. They were even taken from the coal bunkers of our ships and they were found in certain of the government buildings at Washington. Indeed, the situation became so serious that finally strangers were not allowed to visit a man-of-war or enter a fort.
It must be remembered that there are in America thousands of Spaniards who, unless they commit some overt act of violence, can enjoy all the privileges accorded to a citizen. This, together with our mixed population, in many quarters made up largely of the peoples of Southern Europe, all more or less of one type, all speaking languages which, to untrained ears at least, are almost identical one with the other, gave the Spanish spy in America a protection and freedom from suspicion and surveillance he would hardly meet with in any other country, and which, by the inverse, offered no opportunity for the American spy in Spain, had we chosen to make use of the same methods.
PLAYING A DESPERATE GAME.
These Spaniards were playing a desperate game, however. It was literally at the peril of their necks, for should a man be apprehended, there would be no possibility of escaping the ignominious death that usually awaits on such services. Sobral was allowed to go, though there was no question but that his conduct was so incriminating that he was liable to arrest, trial, and, if convicted, death, had this country cared to hold him. His fate abroad would be easy to foretell. His guilt was almost as great as that which brought Major Andre to his death in the times of the Revolution.