No sooner had Weyler returned than he began to make extraordinary preparations to defend the city, and so it is generally believed in Havana that the report is true.
It is known positively that the Cubans are very near the city, and that Gomez has issued orders to all the insurgent leaders to press the war forward with unceasing activity.
It seems that the Sultan has really been brought to terms.
The ambassadors, if you remember, gave him a stern refusal to treat with any one but Tewfik Pasha, and repeated their demand for a written acceptance of the frontier.
After this meeting with Tewfik the diplomats held a conference which resulted in the preparation of a note to their governments in which they gave it as their opinion that the Sultan could never be brought to terms unless some decided action was taken.
The Sultan heard of this, and became alarmed.
He therefore sent one of his ministers, Yussuf Bey, to the ambassadors, urging them to do nothing hastily, but assuring them that if they would only have patience for a few days, everything could be satisfactorily arranged.
But the ambassadors had had enough of delay, and they dismissed Yussuf Bey, telling him politely that they could not possibly wait any longer.