arted westward
along the coast. Cienfuegos was passed, and presently the cruiser was
taken nearer shore. The lookouts were told to keep watch for horsemen
riding near the beach. This order aroused our flagging interest, and the
majority of men on board maintained a careful scrutiny of the white
strip of land just beyond the breakers.

It was not until noon, however, that our search was rewarded. It was
just after passing a deep inlet that one of the lookouts espied a group
of men gathered near the water's edge. There seemed to be a number of
them, and not far away could be seen a blue and white flag flying from a
small staff.

The engines were stopped, and a boat officered by Lieutenant Duncan, and
carrying "Hay" as interpreter, went ashore. "Hay" had spent several
years in the West Indies and was thoroughly familiar with the Spanish
language. As he was unique in that respect on board the ship, he often
did duty as interpreter.

The boat landed in a little cove. After parleying for a while, one of
the landing party was seen to wigwag. A few moments later the boat
returned, bringing three Cubans, one of whom was the Cuban governor of
Matanzas. The others were a captain and commander respectively. "Hay"
was immediately surrounded and asked to describe what he saw ashore.

"I have had the honor of photographing a detachment of the Cuban Army of
Liberation," he replied, quizzically. "To tell the truth, it looked like
a part of Coxey's army. There were about thirty of them, and the
clothing of the whole outfit wouldn't supply a New England farmer with a
season's scarecrow. They carried guns of all descriptions, some of them
with the barrels sawed off short like cavalry carbines; and not one of
the men looked as if he knew the meaning of a square meal."

"Like Washington's army at Valley Forge, eh?" observed LeValley, joining
the group.

"Yes, and they are fighting for their liberty, too."

"How did they like being photographed?" asked Tommy.

"Tickled to death. When I asked them to line up they almost fell over
each other. Next to eating, I think the poor devils love to have their
pictures taken. They were just like children, and when I pressed the
button they stood round waiting for the photograph to drop from the
kodak."

"Reminds me of the Cubans of Puerto Principe when the railway was built
to that place," put in "Zere," the chief quartermaster. "A temporary
roundhouse had been constructed, and when the first