"No," the correspondent replied, wondering what was in the wind.
"I thought possibly you might want something to eat," General Maceo said, with a smile. "I have a boiled egg here and I want to divide it with you." As he uttered these words he drew out his machete and cut the egg straight through the center. Passing half of it to the correspondent, he said: "Share it; it will do you good." The newspaper man thanked the general and they ate the egg in silence. He said afterward that the incident reminded him of General Marion's breakfast with a British officer. He had read the incident in Peter Parley's history of the revolution, when a schoolboy. Marion raked a baked sweet potato out of the ashes of a camp fire and divided it with his British guest. The officer regretted the absence of salt, and the correspondent said he experienced the same regret when he ate his portion of General Maceo's egg.
After munching the egg both men sat for some time observing the stirring scene in the valley below them. The moon had gone down, but in the glow of the electric lights they could see that the activity among the Spaniards was as great as ever. Suddenly Maceo turned to the correspondent and said abruptly: "Were you asleep when Jesus called you?"
"Oh, no," the correspondent replied, "I was not asleep; I was only just tired—that was all."
The general looked at him searchingly and then said: "Don't worry; it is all right. We are going through that town in a few minutes. There may be a fierce fight, and you will need a clear head. The egg will give you strength."
Within twenty minutes the little columns of three hundred men were on the move. They led their horses down the hill about an hour before daybreak, with the general in the lead. Silently and stealthily they entered the outskirts of the town. The columns passed two blockhouses without being observed and at the break of day were beyond the town on the main road to Banabacoa. Meantime the Spaniards had discovered them. The town was aroused and a hundred and fifty Spanish cavalry headed the pursuit. The road wound through fields of cane. A strong column of Spanish infantry followed the cavalry. Maceo held his men in reserve and continued his march, the Spanish troopers trailing after them like so many wildcats.
Suddenly, to their astonishment, Quintin Bandera's infantry arose on either side of the road and almost annihilated the pursuing column. Those who escaped alarmed the columns of infantry, who returned to San Luis to fortify themselves. Maceo and Bandera camped on the estate of Mejorana, about six miles away. It was here that Marti, Gomez, the two Maceos, Crombet, Guerra, and Rabi met not long before this to inaugurate the new revolution. Bandera and Maceo found plenty of provisions at the estate, but no bread. A small Cuban boy was sent to the Spanish commander at San Luis with a note requesting him to be so kind as to send some bread to visitors at the Mejorana plantation. The boy delivered the note and the Spanish commander asked who sent him. Without a moment's hesitation he replied: "General Maceo." The Spanish official laughed and replied: "Very well, a supply of bread will be sent. It will not be necessary for Maceo to come after it." What is more remarkable is the fact that Maceo told the correspondent beforehand that the bread would be sent, as the Spaniards had been so frightened by Bandera on the previous day that they did not want to invite another attack. That very evening the boy returned, conveying many bags of bread. The Spaniards remained within the town until Maceo had rested his army and departed for Jarahuica.
CAMPOS' CAMPAIGN FAILS.
Before the end of the year Campos' campaign was admitted to be a failure. He could not depart from his humane policy, however, and at the beginning of the year 1896 he returned to Spain. The rabid Spaniards of Havana, having compelled Campos to tender his resignation, demanded from Canovas a captain-general framed in the old iron cast of the Spanish conquerors, not to fight battles and risk his life in the field, but to exterminate the native population. In their belief, women, children, everyone born in Cuba, should be held responsible for the situation. They did not like a soldier with a gallant career and personal courage. They wanted an executioner. Canovas satisfied them and appointed Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau to succeed Martinez Campos.
The question may be asked why the insurgents after so many victories did not invest the city of Havana, and end therewith the Spanish dominion. The answer is very clear. After the battle of Coliseo General Gomez reviewed his troops and found that each soldier had only three cartridges. The Cubans in the United States were making vain efforts to send a big expedition to the insurgents, but the policy of our government was non-interference, and they were checked in their plans. At Guira de Helena, on January 4, 1896, the Cubans had to fight with their machetes to enter the Province of Havana.