When Santiago Fell; or, The War Adventures of Two Chums

It was a Spanish military officer of high rank who spoke, and he addressed Alano Guerez and myself. I did not understand his words, but my companion did, and he quickly translat...

Alano let out the exclamation as a broad sheet of light swept across the rain and the waters beneath us--light coming from a search-lantern in the turret of the gunboat. Fortuna...

To say that I was alarmed when I found that the intruder in our sleeping quarters was a bloodhound would be to put the fact very mildly. I was truly horrified, and a chill shook...

I looked with much foreboding upon the faces of the soldiers who had surrounded us. All were stern almost to the verge of cruelty, and the face of the captain when he came up wa...

Both Alano and I were almost paralyzed by the sight of the huge alligator bearing down upon us, his mouth wide open, showing his cruel teeth, and his long tail shifting angrily...

How we ever escaped from the falling tree I do not fully know to this day. The lightning stunned me almost as much as my companion, and both of us went down in a heap in the sof...

It was the cry of the nearest of the Spanish horsemen. He had espied us just as Alano let out his cry of alarm, and now he came galloping toward us at a rapid gait.

With caution he approached the thatched hut, a miserable affair, scarcely twelve feet square and six feet high, with the trunks of palm trees as the four corner-posts. There wer...

I had already dropped to the limb upon which I had been sitting. Now, swinging myself by the hands, I let go and descended to the ground, a distance of twelve or fifteen feet.

To this I made no reply. I had drawn my pistol, and with the crook of the handle was endeavoring to hook a thick sugar-cane stalk within my reach. Several times I had the stalk...

I was of course deeply interested in what Alano had to say, and my heart gave a sudden leap when he mentioned that General Garcia's wing of the rebel army was so close at hand....

The hoof-strokes of the pursuing horses sounded nearer, and I expected every moment to see the band of Spanish cavalrymen dash into sight with drawn arms, ready to shoot or cut...

I shut my mouth, to signify that I agreed, and then I was allowed to rise, and in a twinkle my hands were tied behind my back. Two of the men conducted me away from the spot, wh...

My first view of General Calixto Garcia was a disappointing one. For some reason, probably from the reports I had heard concerning his bravery, I had expected to see a man of gr...

By instinct more than reason, I put out both hands as I fell, and this movement saved me from a severe blow on the head. My hands crashed through the branches of a tree, bumped...

Mere words cannot express my astonishment and alarm when I saw who the prisoner tied to the tree was. As I gazed at Alano my heart leaped into my throat, and like lightning I re...

teeth and gone on for fully a mile. When the animal had come to a halt he had found himself on a side trail, with no idea where he was.

I must mention that now that we had gained the high ground of the mountains the air was much cooler and clearer than it was in the valleys, and, consequently, traveling was less...

I raised my pistol, and at the same time our guide looked as I had directed. I was about to pull the trigger of my weapon when he stopped me.

I lay in the clearing in the valley for all of half an hour. Then, somewhat rested, I arose, unable to endure the thought that night would find me in the wilds alone and unarmed.

I was horrified over the discovery that I had made. Here I was, in absolute darkness, hemmed in by water and rocky walls, and drifting rapidly I knew not whither.

"Yes." He turned to his companions, and introduced me to Father Anuncio and to Lieutenant Porlando, both of whom shook hands warmly when they were informed who I was. "You see,...

Hardly had we heard the report than there was a crash and the splinters flew in every direction. The shot had struck the frame of the doors and shattered it badly.

"Mark!" ejaculated my Cuban chum, when, on releasing himself from his sisters' embraces, he espied me. "So you have reached here before me. I am very glad to see it."

"Most likely they will be ransacked first and then the torch will be applied," answered Alano's father with increased bitterness. "Ah, well, such are the fortunes of war. _Cuba...

My situation was truly an appalling one. Here I was, with the fierce fire from the sugar-cane fields swirling about me, my horse and companions gone, left utterly alone, with th...

"That's too bad," he said gravely. "However, there is no help for this unexpected turn of affairs, and we must make the best of it. Alano, my son, you are sure you are not mista...

With an effort I squeezed through the hole that had been made, and felt my way to the prisoner's side, for the interior of the cell was dark. He had a chain around one wrist, an...

It was about eight o'clock in the morning that the door of the prison cell was opened and Gilbert Burnham and I were ordered to march out into a larger apartment.

"Gone, eh?" remarked Gilbert Burnham, as he saw the disappointed look upon my face. "Well, you could hardly expect anything different, with the fighting going on. It's more than...

Fortunately the road leading to the northern shore of Santiago Bay was well known to Captain Guerez, who at one time had been a commissioner of highways in that district.

"We're in for it, that's a fact!" ejaculated Gilbert Burnham, as he came after Alano, bringing the remaining two horses. "Come on, can't we ride two on a horse and escape them?"

My readers can readily believe that all of us were much alarmed at the prospect ahead. We had not dreamed that the freight car contained soldiers, although all of us had heard t...

These words caused me to utter a deep sigh of relief. They had not discovered us, and now they were going away. But the next words sent a chill down my backbone.

In a few minutes Alano's father recovered sufficiently to tell his story. He had entered the village in safety, and soon put himself into communication with several citizens who...

The announcement that the bloodhounds would soon be upon us filled me with dread. I had had one experience with this class of beasts, and I did not wish to have another. I looke...

After this we remained as quiet as mice, hardly daring to breathe. We heard loud talking, partly in Spanish and a few words in very bad English. "I know they are here," growled...

Mr. Raymond broke off short and pointed upward. He was right. The shell which had torn up the sidewalk above us had left a hole in the dungeon ceiling nearly a foot in diameter.