arry this Act into effect."

This is not a story of the Spanish-American war. Let it suffice,
therefore, to say that, after the landing of the Fifth Army Corps on the
island of Cuba on June 24th, and the destruction of the Spanish squadron
under Admiral Cervera on July 3rd, a protocol was signed on August 12th,
and all hostilities were suspended; and finally, on January 1, 1899, the
relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty over Cuba was formally
accomplished, the Spanish flag being lowered and the Stars and Stripes
temporarily hoisted in its place on the various forts and other
Government buildings throughout the island. A singularly pathetic
feature of the Spanish evacuation of Cuba was the solemn removal of the
alleged remains of Christopher Columbus from their resting-place in
Havana Cathedral, and their conveyance to Spain.

The state of the island by the time that the war was ended was of course
dreadful beyond description: the inhabitants were, with a few
exceptions, reduced to a state of absolute destitution; agriculture had
practically ceased; commerce and industry were dead; brigandage was
rampant; and, to use the expressive language of the historian, human
misery had apparently reached its maximum possibility. Under such
circumstances it was not at all difficult for Jack to secure a very
large estate adjoining that of Senor Montijo upon exceptionally
favourable terms; and although, like that of his friend, the estate
consisted but of the soil, now overrun with weeds and the riotous
vegetation of the Tropics, labour was abundant, and Jack and his friend
Don Hermoso, spending their money freely, soon had every trace of the
late troublous times swept away and fresh crops planted. Don Hermoso
did not long survive the triumph of the cause which he had so nobly
espoused: with the coming of peace there came also time for memory and
retrospection, and time for him to miss the dear ones torn from him
during the struggle; and shortly after the completion of his great work
of restoring his estate to its original prosperous and well-managed
condition he passed quietly away--not as the result of any disease in
particular, but apparently because now he no longer had anything to live
for--and was laid to rest beside his wife.

As for Jack, he felt that after what he had seen of, and done in, Cuba,
it was simply impossible for him to turn his back upon the island; he
therefore disposed of his interest in the firm of Single