put a stop to the smuggling,
they have finished there; no effort has been made to discover what has
become of the smuggled cargoes, and, beyond vaguely and generally
suspecting all who have not openly declared themselves in favour of the
continuance of Spanish rule, no serious endeavour has been made to
discover the identity of the conspirators. The fact is, that the
Spanish Government is acting precisely like the fabled ostrich; it is
burying its head in the sand and refusing to see the coming trouble.
Even now, although two armed risings have very recently taken place, one
in the province of Santiago and the other in that of Mantanzas--the
latter, by the way, having been promptly suppressed--the official mind
persists in asserting that the movement is nothing more than an attempt
on the part of a few bandits to commit robbery and outrage of every
description under the mask of patriotism! Yet you may have observed, as
you passed through the streets to-day, that, despite all their
assertions, they are behaving very much as though they were in a state
of mortal terror. And another symptom of scare is the marked suspicion
and distrust, not to say aversion, with which they regard strangers,
especially Americans and Englishmen, in the island. The Americans, as
you may possibly be aware, have not taken very much trouble to conceal
the fact that their sympathies are distinctly on the side of the Cubans,
and Spanish intelligence seems unable to differentiate between an
American and an Englishman. That is why I say that I would not
recommend an Englishman to remain in Cuba just now unless he possesses
the means of satisfying the Spaniards that he is not inimical to them."

"Well," said Jack, "if there is an Englishman in the whole island who
can do that, I think I ought to be that man; for did I not place my
yacht at their service for the purpose of smashing up one of those gun-
running expeditions that you were speaking of just now, at the moment
when every one of their warships in the harbour had been disabled?"

"Ah, yes!" said the Consul, "I remember hearing something of that
affair, although the authorities did their best to hush it up. You
failed, I believe, in consequence of your engines breaking down?"

"Yes," said Jack, "just off Mulata Bay, the precise spot where the
American steamer was landing her cargo. As a matter of fact, we
actually saw her at it."

"A most extraordinary affair!" remarked the Consul.