il, for it soon became clear
that a separate spy had been told off to watch each member of the party;
when they separated, therefore, Jack found that while one man remained
to watch him, a second followed Don Hermoso, and a third, with equal
tenacity, followed Carlos. And finally, when, later on in the
afternoon, Jack set off to walk down to the wharf in order to go back
aboard the yacht, he suddenly found himself accosted by a swarthy,
unkempt individual, picturesquely attired in rags, yet whose manner was
somehow out of keeping with his appearance.

"_Pardon, Senor_" exclaimed the fellow in Spanish, with an air of
mystery, as he took off his sombrero with a flourish, "but have I the
supreme honour of addressing the noble Englishman who owns the beautiful
yacht that came in yesterday?"

"If you refer to the English yacht _Thetis_," said Jack, "yes, I am the
owner of her."

"_Mil gracias, Senor_, for your condescension," answered the man.
"Senor," he continued, "I have a very great favour to beg of you. It
has been said that the Senor is about to visit Cuba. Is this so?"

The mention of Cuba instantly put Jack on his guard: he at once
suspected that he was face to face with another Spanish spy, and felt
curious to know what the fellow was driving at. Yet he was careful to
conceal the fact that his suspicions had been aroused; he therefore
answered, with an air of carelessness:

"Indeed! That is curious, for I am not aware that I have thus far
mentioned my intentions to anyone ashore here. And, as to visiting
Cuba--well, I am not at all certain that I shall do so; for, from what I
have gathered to-day, I am led to understand that the country is in a
very disturbed condition, and that it is scarcely safe for strangers to
go there at present. But you have not yet mentioned the favour that you
wish to ask me. Has it anything to do with my supposed intention to
visit Cuba?"

"Assuredly it has, Senor; most intimately," answered the other.
"Senor," and the speaker assumed a yet more furtive and mysterious
manner, "I am a Cuban--and a patriot; I am destitute, as my appearance
doubtless testifies, and I am most anxious to return to my country and
take up arms against the oppressor. The English, enjoying liberty
themselves, are reputed to be in sympathy with us Cubans in our
endeavours to throw off the hated yoke of a foreign oppressor; and I
have ventured to hope that the Senor would be magnanimous enough to give