ny
of the colonists participated in the speaking, and the discussions were
invariably good-natured. The speakers were sure of close attention and
generous treatment from their auditors, even from those who might
disagree with them. The brotherly feeling which pervaded the colony was
always manifest at these gatherings. Some of the Cubans would often
attend, and more than once a Spaniard was in the audience. It was a
strange sight, one of these meetings. In the dim light of two or three
lanterns, the colonists would be grouped together under a shelter tent,
some sitting on rude wooden benches and others standing. Those on the
outskirts were as often under the stars as under the tent. Both the
audience and the surroundings were picturesque, albeit the whole effect
was suggestive of a primitive life which few of the colonists had before
experienced. The scene is one that is not likely ever to be forgotten by
those who participated in it.

In July, 1900, the Pioneer Association elected new officers, as follows:
President, D. E. Lowell; vice-president, John Latham; secretary, William
M. Carson; treasurer, J. R. P. de les Derniers. By this time new and
more wieldy organizations had sprung up which took much of the practical
work from the association, the latter becoming more of a reminiscence
than a potent force. It is still, however, a factor in the social life
of La Gloria.

CHAPTER X.

EVENTS IMPORTANT AND OTHERWISE.

On the last day of January I became private secretary to President Van
der Voort, serving in that capacity until my return to the States nearly
four months later. This position brought me into close and intimate
contact with all of the colonists, and to no small extent I shared their
joys and woes. I was made the recipient of their confidences, and was
sometimes able, I believe, to make somewhat smoother the rather thorny
paths they had to travel. When I was unable to do this, it was never
from lack of full sympathy with their trials and hardships. I cannot be
too emphatic in saying that never in my life have I met an aggregation
of men and women who were more honest, good-natured, patient, and
reasonable. To me, personally, they invariably extended the kindest
consideration, and so, for that matter, did the officers of the company.
The nucleus for the first American colony in Cuba was beyond all
question a good and substantial one.

[Illustration: GEN. VAN DER VOORT'S CUBAN HOUSE.]

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