the enemy was in the neighborhood,
in safety, protected by a fort.

The insurgents numbered about seven hundred cavalrymen, under the
command of Marti and Gomez.

The next morning they came upon the Spanish outpost. Gomez, who has
always shown himself to be a prudent general, thought it would be wiser
not to risk a battle, but to continue their route, as the object of the
expedition was not skirmishing, but to attempt to penetrate into the
Province of Puerto Principe.

But Jose Marti, in his fiery enthusiasm longed to fall upon the enemy;
he declared that not to do so would be dishonor. Gomez yielded.

Marti was mounted upon a very spirited horse. He was told that it was
unmanageable, but he would not listen to reason. Crying, "Come on, my
children!" and "Viva Cuba Libre," he dashed upon the Spanish, followed
by his men.

Before this onslaught, the Spaniards retreated, but in good order. Gomez
cried to his troops to rally, but Marti, dragged on by his horse which
he was unable to control, disappeared among the ranks of the enemy. He
received a bullet above the left eye, another in the throat, and several
bayonet thrusts in the body.

Led by Gomez, who was heart broken at the fate of his old companion and
friend, the insurgents charged upon the Spaniards, but it was of no
avail. The latter retained possession of the corpse of the gallant
soldier, whose only fault was a too reckless bravery.

And now it is a pleasure to be able to recount one noble act on the part
of the Spaniards, perhaps the only one in the whole course of the war.

General Campos, who was a just and honorable man, ordered the body of
the illustrious patriot to receive decent burial, and one of the Spanish
officers even pronounced a sort of eulogy over the remains.

There was a report that Gomez had also been killed, but this was a
mistake. About a mouth afterward he crossed the trocha and entered the
province of Puerto Principe, more commonly known as the Camaguey.

The trocha, by the way, was an invention of Campos in the preceding war,
and was found to be of great value. It was practically a line of forts
extending across the island between the provinces of Puerto Principe and
Santa Clara, and it was intended that the insurgents should not be
allowed to cross this line. Other trochas were afterwards erected, but
they have not proved of any extraordinary advantage in the present
insurrection.

An assembly, composed of representatives of a