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His reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Milsom, who, having taken the Thetis into Havana harbour and snugly berthed her there, and further made every possible provision for her safety, had turned her over to the capable care of Perkins, her chief mate, and had now come on by train as far as Pinar del Rio, and from thence by Don Hermoso's carriage, to pay his promised visit to the hacienda Montijo.
Don Hermoso's reply to this suggestion was the repetition of a categorical and uncompromising refusal; whereupon Alvaros fell into a paroxysm of rage and swore that he would either compel Don Hermoso to give his consent, or certain very dreadful things would happen to every member of the family, Dona Isolda included.
Don Hermoso's manner was such as to leave no room for doubt in the mind of Singleton as to the sincerity of the Cuban, while the latter and his son were easily able to see that their proposal strongly appealed to the adventurous spirit of the young Englishman: it is therefore not surprising that ere they parted that evening Singleton had definitely agreed to become, for the time being, the apparent owner of the new steam-yacht, and to take part in the gun-running adventure; also agreeing to take along with him the working model of his submarine, which all three were of opinion might be found exceedingly useful, while the service upon which they were about to engage would afford Jack an opportunity to put the craft to the test of actual work.
Milsom, on the other hand, while perhaps as keen as Jack to see all that there was to be seen, was, above and before all things else, a sailor; his acceptance of Don Hermoso's invitation, therefore, was qualified by sundry conditions, every one of which had reference to the question of the safety of the yacht.
And if they did I can only say that I am heartily sorry for the family, for since the recent risings the Government is adopting the most ruthless measures to discourage even passive sympathy with the insurgents; and we know you and I that Don Hermoso's sympathy was something very much more than passive. Now, there is another question which I should like to ask you.
One of these was at once utilised as a shelter for Don Hermoso's wife; and, while the negroes mounted guard round the building, the Don and Jack hurried away toward the house, to ascertain its condition, and, so far as the former was concerned, to endeavour to find a change of clothing for the Senora.
The fact that a party of soldiers was sent to search Don Hermoso's house proves most conclusively that my friend had somehow contrived to arouse the suspicion of the authorities, which, after all, is not very surprising, knowing what I do as to Don Hermoso's connection with the insurgents; and the fact that certain papers were seized by the search party points to the inference that those papers contained incriminating evidence.
The detachment to which the duty of destroying Don Hermoso's property had fallen had consisted of some three thousand infantry, a troop of cavalry, and a battery of field artillery; and according to the story of the prisoners it had suffered frightfully during the attack, the officer in command having wasted his men most recklessly in his determination to conquer at any cost indeed, if they were to be believed, with the exception of about half a squadron of cavalry, a few artillerymen, and perhaps fifty men left behind to destroy the buildings, they were the sole survivors of the attack and the pursuit.
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