The Cruise of the Thetis: A Tale of the Cuban Insurrection Page 6

  CHAPTER SIX.

  COMMANDER DON LUIS Y ALBUQUERQUE.

  "I say, Phil, you seemed to have your knife into that Spaniard," saidJack, as he and Milsom stood watching the gunboat. "You appeared totake a delight in rubbing his fur the wrong way."

  "Yes," agreed Milsom meditatively, "I am afraid I did; and I am afraid,too, that I went just a little farther than there was any strict needfor. But then the beggars put my back up, to start with, by firing atus. Had they contented themselves with pitching a shot across our fore-foot, I would not have minded so much; but they fired to hit--if theycould. Then that lieutenant must needs come swaggering aboard here,putting on side, and threatening us--actually threatening us--witharrest, and imprisonment, and goodness knows what else! I only wishthey would try to take us; I would teach them that it pays to be civilto Englishmen.--Well, what the dickens are you laughing at?" for Jackhad burst into a hearty peal of laughter.

  "Oh, Phil, Phil," Jack exclaimed, when at length he had regained controlof himself, "you are as good as a pantomime! The idea of you, of allmen, complaining of the other fellow having threatened, and put on side!Why, man alive, you were just as exasperating as you could possibly beto the poor chap; and, as to the threatening--why, you were simplybreathing out threatenings and slaughter! You will have to keep yourweather eye lifting, my hearty, when you get round to Havana; for thatfellow will look out for you, and force you into a fight, as sure aseggs are eggs."

  "All right!" answered Milsom, "I'll not disappoint him; if he wantsfighting he shall have as much as he can take. But, after all, Jack, Ihave no doubt you are right, and that I was a bit `trying', as my poormother used to say. But then, you see, I was `bluffing', doing thevirtuous-indignation business, and all that, you know, for it wasnecessary to persuade the gentlemen that we are absolutely virtuous andinnocent; it would never do to allow them to entertain the slightestshred of suspicion of the vessel, otherwise they would be continuallywatching her. Ah! As I expected, here comes the skipper himself tohave a talk with us--and also to have a look round. I expect that,after what his lieutenant has told him, he is feeling a bituncomfortable. But we must be civil to him and smooth him down; for,after all, there is nothing to be gained by making enemies without goodand sufficient cause. And perhaps you, in your character of owner ofthe ship, had better tackle this fellow; then we shall have anopportunity to witness your skill as a diplomatist."

  Accordingly, when the captain of the gunboat entered the yacht'sgangway, it was Jack who received him, Milsom simply standing by as asort of supporter.

  The new arrival was a man apparently a few years older than hislieutenant, very distinguished looking for the commander of a meregunboat, and with a considerably more polished and affable manner thanthe man who had preceded him. He raised his cap at Jack's salutation,and said, in English:

  "Good afternoon, gentlemen! I am given to understand by my lieutenantthat a most unfortunate mistake appears to have in some inexplicablemanner arisen in connection with this vessel; and I have come on boardfor the purpose of putting matters right, if possible."

  "You are most welcome, Senor Capitan," answered Jack cordially; "and Ishall be very pleased to render you all the assistance in my power--themore so since I am very anxious to see as much as possible of yourbeautiful island, and may perhaps remain here for some time. Indeed, Imay say that one reason for my visit to Cuba is that I have had someidea of investing in a tobacco plantation here."

  "Indeed, Senor?" observed the Spaniard. "Our information pointed to avery different reason for your visit. As my lieutenant has alreadyinformed you, we have been led to believe that the presence of youryacht in Cuban waters was due to sympathy on your part with theinsurgents, and a determination to assist them by smuggling munitions ofwar into the country for their use. And, as my lieutenant has alsoinformed you, the _Tiburon_ has been sent out specially for the purposeof seizing the vessel."

  "Yes," said Jack suavely, "your lieutenant mentioned that fact--insomewhat emphatic language; so emphatic, indeed, that, if I may bepermitted to say so, it was almost offensive, and my captain felt boundto adopt somewhat vigorous speech in expressing our disapproval, notonly of his behaviour, but also of that of your Government. It is notusual, Senor, as you must know, for an Englishman, visiting a foreigncountry in his own yacht, to have his vessel seized upon the strength ofa mere rumour; and you must allow me to say that, in acting as it hasdone, I consider your Government has not only been precipitate, but hasalso behaved in such a manner as will evoke a very strong protest frommy own. The British Government, Senor, is not wont to have its flagfired upon without exacting ample reparation."

  It was quite clear that the Spanish officer was beginning to feelexceedingly uncomfortable. He was silent for several seconds, andappeared to be reviewing the situation. At length he said:

  "Senor, you must not blame my Government for the indiscretion of one ofits officers. I personally am responsible for the act of firing uponyour ship, which I now acknowledge to have been a quite unjustifiableact, for which I beg to tender you my most sincere and profoundapologies; although I must be allowed to say that I fired under theimpression that you intended to disregard my summons to heave-to."

  "I am afraid, Senor," said Jack, "that your explanation does not go veryfar toward mending matters; for my contention is that you had no rightto stop me on the high seas. But I will allow that to pass, and willaccept your apology, for I have no wish whatever to make mattersunpleasant for you personally, or for your Government; on the contrary,I am anxious to establish the most amicable relations possible betweenmyself and the Spanish authorities during my stay in the island:therefore, having made my protest, I will say no more about it. But asthere appears to have been some suspicions with regard to the characterof my yacht, I must insist that either you, or someone on your behalf,shall examine the vessel at once, that you--and, through you, yourGovernment--may be completely satisfied that such suspicions areabsolutely groundless."

  "Senor," said the Spaniard, "you overwhelm me with your generousconsideration. If you will kindly permit me I should like, as well foryour justification as for my own, to look over your vessel, in orderthat I may be in a position to absolutely assure my superiors that theirsuspicions are without foundation. And, to prevent all possibility ofany future misunderstanding, I should like my lieutenant to be presentat the inspection, if you will be so very good as to permit it."

  "By all means," answered Jack cordially. "Pray send your boat for yourlieutenant--and any other officers whom you would like to be present.The more, the better; for, Senor, you must understand that I wish yourinspection of my yacht to be thorough and exhaustive."

  The Spaniard bowed and, stepping to the gangway, called down to hiscoxswain, instructing him to proceed to the gunboat and requestLieutenant Fernandez to come on board the English yacht forthwith.Then, during the short interval between the dispatch and the return ofthe boat, the Spanish Commander chatted affably with Jack and Milsomupon indifferent subjects, incidentally introducing himself as CommanderLuis y Albuquerque.

  Lieutenant Fernandez was in a much more subdued mood when he returnedthan he had been upon his departure from the _Thetis_: probably he haddone some hard thinking in the interim, and had come to recognise thepossibility that trouble might be looming ahead of him; at all eventshis manner was all courtesy and politeness as he again stepped inthrough the gangway.

  "Senor Fernandez," said Don Luis, "I am very much afraid that, from whatDon Juan Singleton has told me, there has been a most serious mistakesomewhere, and that we have thus been betrayed into unwittinglyinflicting a most unprovoked affront upon an English gentleman. SenorSingleton has, however," with a bow to Jack, "been good enough to acceptmy explanation and apologies, and I therefore venture to hope that wemay now consider the incident as closed. But Senor Singleton insists--quite justifiably, I think--that we shall satisfy ourselves as to thefalsity of the statement that he is carrying munitions of war; and Ihav
e therefore sent for you to accompany me on a tour of inspectionthrough this yacht, which we must make so thorough that there shall beno possibility of any aspersions being hereafter cast upon the integrityof Don Juan or his vessel. And now, Senor," to Jack, "we are ready toaccompany you."

  "Very well," said Jack. "Where would you like to begin--forward, oraft?"

  "Perhaps we may as well begin forward, and work our way aft," answeredthe Spanish Commander.

  "Right," acquiesced Jack. "Captain Milsom, be so good as to giveinstructions for two or three men to attend us below with lanterns.Meanwhile, gentlemen, perhaps you will give my boats an overhaul. Iwill have the canvas covers stripped off them."

  "Oh no, Senor," protested Don Luis, "there is not the slightestnecessity for us to go to such extreme lengths as that; for, assumingfor a moment that you actually had contraband on board, you would not bein the least likely to carry it stowed in your boats."

  Now this offer of Jack's was a piece of "bluff", for his boats were theonly places that he did not wish the Spaniards to examine, since in oneof them was stowed his submarine, the sight of which he knew would belikely to give rise to renewed suspicions. And, as we have seen, the"bluff" worked to perfection, possibly in consequence of the slight, butnone the less perceptible, tone of sarcasm in which Jack made the offer.With a feeling of carefully suppressed relief, Jack accordingly led theSpaniards forward to the forecastle, down into which the partydescended, and where they found three men--one of whom was thecarpenter--awaiting them with lighted lanterns. The forecastle was soonexamined, and then the hatch of the forepeak was lifted, and thatdarksome storehouse very carefully explored. There was no passage fromthe forepeak into the hold, as the collision bulkhead ran from thekeelson right up to the deck; and, Jack having pointed out this fact,the party emerged on deck and descended into the officers' quarters,proceeding from thence down into the main hold, where they found nothingbut iron ballast and the water tanks, every one of which Jack insistedshould be opened and looked into. Thence they proceeded to the engine-room and stokehold, where they found much to admire in the scrupulouscleanliness and unusual form of the machinery, but no sign or trace ofanything in the nature of contraband. Then they entered the mainsaloon, and examined it and the sleeping cabins, finishing up with thesteward's storeroom, the sail-room, and the powder magazine. Jack wasquite prepared to be questioned about this last, and he was; but he hadhis answer ready.

  "Is it usual, Senor Singleton, for English yachts to go as heavily armedas your vessel is?" suavely enquired Don Luis.

  "Not when cruising in home waters," answered Jack. "But when theintention is to `cruise foreign', as we phrase it, especially if thecruise is to be round the world, it is usually considered prudent toprovide the vessel with an armament sufficiently powerful to protect herfrom the attacks of pirates--Malays, Chinese, and so on--or, in fact,aggressors of any description. For instance," he continued maliciously,"if we had not happened to have been armed to-day, just consider, Senor,how unpleasant would have been our predicament at this moment."

  Don Luis frowned. "Pardon me, Senor," said he, "but I hope you are notlabouring under the misapprehension that it is because of your shipbeing armed that I have refrained from arresting you; the suggestion isinjurious, Senor. Your freedom is due entirely to the fact that Iaccepted the assurances which you offered to Lieutenant Fernandez, andwas willing to believe that an unfortunate mistake had somehow arisen.And I trust you will also believe that, had the mistake resulted inunpleasant consequences to yourself, my Government would have hastenedto make you the most ample reparation on the instant of discovering thatwrong had been done you, as it will, now, if you insist--"

  "Pray say no more," interrupted Jack. "I have not the slightest desireto place either you, personally, or your Government in an embarrassingposition. If, therefore, you are fully satisfied that your informationrespecting me and my yacht was wrong, I am quite willing to regard theincident as closed, and to say nothing further about it. And in proofof my friendly disposition, permit me to say that it will afford me verygreat pleasure if you and your lieutenant will give me the pleasure ofyour company at dinner to-night."

  But Don Luis very courteously declined Jack's polite invitation, uponthe plea that he felt it to be his imperative duty to return forthwithto Havana, to report to the authorities there the full and truecircumstances of the case, in order that Jack might be subjected to nofurther annoyance from the unfortunate blunder that had somehow beenmade. But no doubt the true explanation of his refusal was to be foundin the fact that his exceedingly sensitive pride was hurt by Jack'sinnuendo, and by the fact that he had been placed in a false andsomewhat ridiculous position. It was bad enough to be made to appearridiculous in the eyes of one's own people; but to be humiliated beforeone of those arrogant, overbearing Englishmen! Caramba! The twoSpaniards therefore took a most ceremonious leave of Jack and Milsom,descended to their boat, and pulled back to their own ship, whichimmediately started her engines and steamed away to the westward,dipping her colours in salute as she went; while the _Thetis_ resumedher course to the eastward in the direction of Calonna, off which shearrived about an hour later. But the delay occasioned by the incidentof the yacht's encounter with the gunboat had been just sufficient toprevent the arrival of the _Thetis_ until after the last train of theday had left Calonna for Pinar del Rio. Don Hermoso therefore decidedto remain on board the yacht all night, and to leave her in time to takethe first train on the following morning.

  Naturally enough, the chief topic of conversation at the dinner-table,that night, was the encounter with the gunboat, and the clever manner inwhich the Spaniards had been "bluffed", Don Hermoso maintaining that itwas entirely due to Jack's skill in the gentle art that no suspicion hadappeared to enter the heads of the Spaniards that the contraband hadalready been got rid of. The matter was very freely discussed, and itwas finally decided that, on the whole, it was a very fortunatecircumstance not only that the encounter had taken place, but that ithad occurred where and when it did; for the ignorance of the Spanishauthorities as to the speed of the yacht would naturally preclude thesuspicion that the vessel had already spent some hours in dischargingher cargo, while the very complete and thorough search to which theyacht had been subjected was of course conclusive, so far as the non-existence of contraband on board at that moment was concerned. The onlypoint upon which Jack had any uneasiness was the fact of the yacht beingso formidably armed; he had given what he regarded as a very clever andingenious explanation of the circumstance, which he hoped would provecompletely satisfactory, but he was nevertheless not wholly free fromdoubts on the matter.

  On the following morning the two Montijos and Jack were astir betimes,in order to catch an early train to Pinar del Rio; and nine o'clockfound them ashore and on the platform, waiting for the train to emergefrom the siding into which it had been shunted. Calonna was not at thattime an important place, nor is the Cuban railway system remarkable forits efficiency; nothing need therefore be said about either save thatafter jolting through some exceedingly beautiful country, which grewmore beautiful with every mile of progress upon a gradually risinggradient, the travellers were safely landed in the city of Pinar delRio--a distance of some fifteen miles from Calonna--in a trifle over anhour! Here Senor Montijo's private carriage--a somewhat cumbersome,four-wheeled affair, fitted with a leather awning and curtains toprotect the occupants from either sun or rain, and drawn by four horses,the off leader being ridden by a postilion, while the wheelers weredriven from the box--was awaiting them, it having been sent in from thehouse on the preceding day. The luggage having been securely strappedon to a platform attached to the rear of the coach, Don Hermoso signedto Jack to enter the vehicle, placed himself by Jack's side, and wasfollowed by Carlos, when the affair got under way, with a tremendousamount of shouting and whip cracking, and went rolling and rumbling andjolting down the narrow street and so out into the country. There was adrive of about sixteen miles farther inland and
toward the OrganMountains before them ere they could arrive at the hacienda Montijo, andalthough the road was abominable, and the heat intense, Jack declaredthat he had never so thoroughly enjoyed a drive in his life. For thecountry was somewhat rugged, and the scenery therefore very lovely, theroad being bordered on either side by fields of tobacco and sugar, andhere and there a patch of cool green Indian corn, divided from the roadby low hedges which were just then a perfect blaze of multi-colouredflowers of various descriptions. It was a fairly busy scene, too, forthe tobacco was ripe, and the fields were alive with labourers of allcolours, from the full-blooded negro to the pure Spaniard, gathering thecrop. At length, when they had been travelling for about a couple ofhours, and when, despite the charm of everything that he saw around him,Jack began to grow conscious of the fact that he was aching in everyjoint from the rolling and jolting of the carriage, the vehicle turnedoff the main road into a lane, access to which was gained through a pairof massive timber gates hung upon piers of ancient, moss-grown masonry;and Don Hermoso announced that they were now upon his own demesne. Andhere at once Jack became conscious of a very great change in theappearance of everything; for not only was the road upon which they weretravelling smooth and well kept, but the fields on either hand, insteadof being half-choked with weeds, as had been the case with most of thosethat they had passed, were scrupulously clean, while the labourers,instead of being picturesque scarecrows, were decently clad, and workedas men do who are content and happy. Every man of them was clearly onthe lookout for the carriage, and had a word of respectful greeting forhis returning master, while--what was perhaps stranger still--DonHermoso seemed to intimately know every man, woman, and child on theplace, though there were hundreds of them.

  At length a bend in the road brought the house in sight, at a distanceof about a mile, and Jack saw before him, perched on the shoulder of alow eminence, a long, white, bungalow-like structure, with a high,thatched roof, and a gallery and veranda running along the whole lengthof the front, and apparently along the sides also. The building was ofone storey only, and although the veranda was so broad as to cast thewhole of the front into deep shadow it seemed to Jack that that frontwas pierced by at least a dozen doors and windows. As Jack looked, twofemale figures clad in white suddenly made their appearance in thecentre of the gallery, and so beautifully clear was the atmosphere that,even at that distance, it could be distinctly seen that they were wavingtheir pocket handkerchiefs to the occupants of the coach. Carlos alsosaw them, and frantically waved his panama by way of reply, shouting, ashe did so:

  "Hurrah, Padre; hurrah, Jack! Look! there are the Madre and Isolda outon the gallery, waving to us! I'll bet that they have been watching thebend of the road through their opera-glasses for the last hour or more!"

  "Doubtless," answered Don Hermoso, laughing happily as he too leaned outof the coach to wave a greeting. "Since we did not arrive last night,as arranged, they have naturally expected us to turn up early thismorning."

  Winding hither and thither along the hillside, in order to secure aneven and easy gradient, the road presently left the tobacco fields andpassed between broad spaces of lawn luxuriantly clad with guinea-grass,and having large parterres of flowers scattered about it here and there;while in other places it was picturesquely broken up by clumps offeathery bamboo, or gigantic wild cotton and other trees. At length,with a final dash and a grand flourish, the carriage drew up in front ofthe broad flight of stone steps that led up the scarped and flower-strewn face of the mound upon which the house was built; and one of thetwo female figures came rushing down the steps, bareheaded, despite thealmost vertical sun, and flung herself into the outstretched arms of DonHermoso, while the other followed in a somewhat more stately anddignified manner.

  Then, when Don Hermoso had released this first figure from his embrace,and turned, hat in hand, to meet the second, Senorita Isolda treated herbrother Carlos to a like greeting, after which she turned, with a sunnysmile and eyes flashing welcome, to Jack.

  "Isolda," exclaimed Carlos, performing the ceremony of introduction,"this, as you will of course have guessed, is my old friend and chum,Jack Singleton, to whom we are so deeply indebted for the very valuableassistance that he has rendered us in our great undertaking. He is thebest friend and comrade that ever lived, therefore give him a cordialwelcome, for my sake, dear."

  "I give you a thousand welcomes, Senor Jack," she exclaimed impulsively,as she offered her hand, "and a thousand thanks for all that you havedone for my father and Carlos. I am delighted that you have been ableto come to us, for I seem to know you quite well; Carlos has talked sooften about you, and of what you used to do together in the old days atDulwich, that I feel it quite impossible to regard you as a stranger."

  For perhaps the first time in his life Jack Singleton found himself at aloss for words. As a rule he had plenty to say for himself, but now hefound himself suddenly dumb. He had heard his friend Carlos speak ofhis sister Isolda with patronising, brotherly affection as "a goodchild", "a nice little thing", "not half a bad sort", and so on, and heseemed to remember that only a day or two ago Carlos had casuallymentioned that his sister was just sixteen years of age; he hadtherefore pictured the girl to himself as a hoyden, in the transitionstage of frocks that are neither short nor long, but betwixt andbetween, a girl with hair flying loose about her shoulders--in short, agirl. And now, all unprepared, he found himself grasping the hand of aglorious creature of absolutely dazzling loveliness, with the face,form, and manners of an irresistibly fascinating woman, who, despite hersixteen years of age, looked as though she might be quite twenty. Hestammered out a few halting and stumbling words of thanks for her kindlywelcome of him, feeling all the time that he would have liked to kickhimself for his stupid gaucherie; and then turned to receive thegreeting of Senora Montijo. This lady was simply an older edition ofher lovely daughter, with a more composed and stately manner, and herwelcome to Jack was cordiality itself; and presently they all turned andmade their way into the house, which they entered by way of a widedoorway furnished with two leaves, now thrown wide open, the upperpanels of which were fitted with Venetian lattices for the admission ofair and the exclusion of the too-ardent beams of the sun. This doorwaygave entrance to a large, marble-paved hall extending the entire depthof the house from front to back, as was to be seen from the fact thatanother door, opposite that by which the party had just entered, stoodwide open, through which could be seen another broad veranda runningalong the back of the house, beyond which could be caught a glimpse ofwhat appeared to be a kind of courtyard, with more lawns and flowerbeds, and a handsome fountain in the centre. The hall was adorned withbeautiful flowering plants in large tubs, and furnished with an abundantsupply of settees and luxuriously-cushioned basket chairs, and seemed tobe used as a kind of lounging place, for which it was eminently adapted,since the two open doors caused a constant draught of comparatively coolair through the apartment. There were a few good pictures on the walls,as well as a gun-rack, well fitted with sporting guns and rifles; and ahatstand which, in addition to its legitimate use, formed a convenientsupport for sundry riding-whips and pairs of spurs. Two passages,leading to right and left out of this hall, gave access, as Jacksubsequently discovered, to the rooms located at the extremities of thebuilding.

  "Now, Jack, old chap," said Carlos, linking his arm in that of hisfriend, after a moment's murmured conversation with his mother, "let metake you to your room. You will be glad to have a wash and brush-upafter our dusty journey; and by the time that you are ready, secondbreakfast will be served." And, so saying, he conducted Singleton outthrough the rear door of the hall into the back veranda, which, as Jacknow saw, ran not only along the entire rear face of the main buildingbut also along the face of two wings which projected therefrom at rightangles, one at each end of the house. These wings, it appeared,provided the sleeping accommodation, bathrooms, lavatories, and so on,of the establishment; beyond which again were the kitchen and otherdomestic offices, and the
coach-house and stables, with the lawn,fountain, and flower beds between, the buildings being shaded not onlyby the broad veranda, but also by rows of orange, lemon, lime, and peachtrees, the fragrance from which imparted an indescribably refreshingcharacter to the air. Turning to the left as they emerged from thehall, Carlos conducted his friend along the left wing until they reachedthe last door but one, which the young Cuban threw open, ushering hisfriend into a neatly furnished and clean bedroom, in which Jack'soverland trunk had already been deposited.

  "The Madre has put you in here, Jack," Carlos explained, "because theroom faces east, and will therefore be cool when you turn in at night,while the trees in front shield it from the morning sun. Also it isnext to the men's bathroom, and therefore will be handy for your bath,night and morning. Now, there are water, soap, and towels; if yourequire anything else, shout for Antonio, and he will bring you whateveryou want. Breakfast will be ready in a quarter of an hour."