t. He accordingly
set out for Pinar del Rio one morning after early breakfast, and arrived
in Havana the same afternoon, intending to return to the hacienda
Montijo on the following day. But he remained in Havana a full
fortnight, during which he and Don Ramon learned many things--among
them, the facts that Senor Alvaros was solely responsible for the arrest
and attempted transportation of the Montijos, and also for the seizure
of the estate--neither of which acts had been reported to the Capitan-
General, or been officially recorded: and that, doubtless because of
these important reasons, when he had set out on his last journey to
visit the estate which he had thus secretly seized, he had omitted to
mention to anyone his intentions, his destination, or the probable
duration of his absence, with the result that eventually, when the
accumulated arrears of his work at length attracted attention and
provoked enquiry, nobody could throw the least light upon his
whereabouts. The conviction had therefore at length been arrived at
that--the man being well-known as possessing a singularly arrogant,
overbearing, and irascible disposition--he had perished in some obscure
and, quite possibly, discreditable quarrel; and his post as Governor of
La Jacoba Prison had been given to another man. These particulars had
been gleaned by dint of very patient and careful enquiry on the part of
Don Ramon, so judiciously conducted that not a particle of suspicion had
anywhere been raised that any enquiry at all was being made: and with
them Jack returned to the hacienda and restored tranquillity to the
minds of its inhabitants, for it had now been made clear not only that
they might dismiss all apprehension of embarrassing enquiry concerning
the fate of Senor Alvaros, but also that nobody was likely to dispute
Don Hermoso's right to retain his own property.

But no sooner were their minds relieved upon this point than they were
filled with apprehension on another, namely, poor Senora Montijo's
mental condition, which seemed to steadily grow worse. For the first
few months of the unfortunate lady's affliction she had been very quiet,
giving no trouble at all, and appearing to suffer chiefly from complete
loss of memory. But now, just at the moment when Jack and Carlos were
completing their preparations to take the field with the rebel forces, a
change for the worse occurred: her memory returned to her
intermittently, bringing with it the r