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In his excitement he had forgotten the river, and it was not till the cold water touched his feet that he stood still by instinct. The Yara saw that he was wavering, and suffering herself to sway gently backwards and forwards on the surface of the river, she began to sing. The song floated through the trees, now far and now near; no one could tell whence it came, the whole air seemed full of it.
At last matters progressed so rapidly in the mother country that the Cubans dared not wait for the completion of their plans, but on October 10, 1868, began the hostilities. On that day, Carlos M. de Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo, took the initiative with 128 poorly armed men, and issued a declaration of independence at Yara.
'Because the voice you heard I know you will laugh, but it is quite true it was the voice of the Yara. At these words Alonzo burst into a shout of laughter; but it sounded so harsh and loud that Julia shrank away shuddering.
Then, his pistol being empty, he grasped the barrel with both hands, and stood ready to use it as a club should the Yara approach any closer. But now it seemed her turn to feel afraid, for she paused for an instant while he pressed forward, still holding the pistol above his head, prepared to strike.
From her childhood she had heard stories of the terrible beings that lived in the forests and were hidden under the banks of the rivers, and could only be kept off by powerful charms. Could the voice which had bewitched Alonzo have come from one of these? Perhaps, who knows, it might be the voice of the dreaded Yara herself, who sought young men on the eve of their marriage as her prey.
Thus an element more dangerous to continued colonial relations between Cuba and Spain than that which inspired the insurrection at Yara an element opposed to granting any relief from misrule and abuse, with no aspirations after freedom, commanding no sympathies in generous breasts, aiming to rivet still stronger the shackles of slavery and oppression has seized many of the emblems of power in Cuba, and, under professions of loyalty to the mother country, is exhausting the resources of the island, and is doing acts which are at variance with those principles of justice, of liberality, and of right which give nobility of character to a republic.
'Because the voice you heard I know you will laugh, but it is quite true it was the voice of the Yara. At these words Alonzo burst into a shout of laughter; but it sounded so harsh and loud that Julia shrank away shuddering.
With the earliest rays of dawn he went back to the forest to see whether he could find any traces of the Yara, but though he searched every clump of bushes, and looked up every tree, everything was empty, and the only voices he heard were those of parrots, which are so ugly that they only drive people away.
Perhaps I do not know for certain but perhaps, I may be stronger than the Yara. It was late that night when Alonzo returned home. The moon was shining on the distant river, which looked cool and inviting, and the trees of the forest seemed to stretch out their arms and beckon him near. But the young man steadily turned his face in the other direction, and went home to bed.
Nobody who has not seen the Yara laughs like that. And Julia flung herself on the ground weeping bitterly. At this sight Alonzo became suddenly grave, and kneeling by her side, gently raised her up. 'Do not cry so, my angel, he said, 'I will promise anything you please. Only let me see you smile again. With a great effort Julia checked her sobs, and rose to her feet. 'Thank you, she answered.
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