at the sound of which the startled
occupants of the tents came tumbling out, one over another, to learn
what the disturbance was about, and to seize their weapons. But,
instead of their piled arms, their eyes fell upon fifty stalwart negroes
facing them with levelled rifles, and Jack beside them with a revolver
in each hand.

Such an unexpected sight naturally caused the Spaniards to pause in
their rush, of which circumstance Singleton took advantage to thrust one
of his revolvers back into his belt, and then raise his hand, with a
command for silence. The Spaniards, their eyes still heavy with sleep,
and disconcerted by the discovery that every one of their weapons had
mysteriously vanished, obeyed readily enough, whereupon Jack requested
the officer in command to step forward.

A barefooted man, in shirt and trousers only, and carrying in his hand
the sheathed sword of a Spanish infantry captain, which he had evidently
snatched from his tent pole as he sprang from his camp bed, stepped
forward, and, announcing himself as the senior surviving officer,
demanded to know who Jack was, and what he wanted.

"I am," said Jack, "the commander of a body of negroes, of whom you see
a detachment before you. We are in arms against Spain, as are thousands
more of the inhabitants of this island, because we very strongly object
to the cruel tyranny and oppression with which we have been governed,
and demand our freedom. Your march through the country has been marked
by violence and outrage of every conceivable description, and you have
left in your track nothing but death and desolation. The measure of
your iniquity is full, and Cuba will endure no more. Your General
Weyler has declared a war of extermination against Cubans, and you who
execute his murderous mandate must pay the penalty. Yet, since it would
be manifestly unfair to punish the innocent for the guilty, and since I
am convinced that many of you have only obeyed your general's orders
most unwillingly, I will spare those of you who will surrender, and
execute only those who, by refusing, exhibit a readiness to persist in
their iniquitous deeds. And do not look for any help from your comrades
yonder; they triumphed temporarily, achieving a victory by sheer force
of numbers, but since you and they parted company they have fallen into
a trap--and now those who still live are prisoners. Will you join them;
or will you go the way of those others who have to-night l