)on Balasco 
 
 Key West 
 
 ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER 
 
4?, 
 
 
^/ 
 
Don Balasco 
 Of Key West 
 
 A NOFEL 
 
 BY 
 
 ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER 
 
 // 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "MR. BARNES OF NEW YORK." ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 3 East Fourteenth Street 
 
Copyright, 1896, 
 
 By A. C GUNTER. 
 
 A II rights reserved. 
 
 P 
 
 ^ 
 
 c ^ 1 1 • • 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 
 AN AGENT OF SPAIN. 
 
 Chapter 
 
 I.— The United States Reve- 
 
 
 nue Detective, 
 
 tt 
 
 II. — The Cigarmaker of Key 
 
 
 West, .... 
 
 « 
 
 III.— The Girl in the Skiff, 
 
 it 
 
 IV.— The Drifting Boat from 
 
 
 Cuba, .... 
 
 tt 
 
 V. — Beauty's Photograph, 
 
 25 
 
 38 
 52 
 
 65 
 
 CHi^.PTER 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 FASHION IN THE TROPICS. 
 
 VI.— The Coming of the Hi- 
 dalgo, . . . . yy 
 VII. — **I Demand Long Dresses ! " 92 
 VIII. — The Massacre of a Hos- 
 pital, . . . .107 
 IX. — The False Lights on the 
 
 Key, . . . .122 
 X. — The Party from Palm 
 
 Beach, . . .127 
 
 M142048 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XI. — The Dance at Emerald 
 
 Key, .... 140 
 XII.— Little Vortex has an Ad- 
 venture, . . .150 
 XIIL— -My Billy!" . . .158 
 
 BOOK III. 
 THE PICNIC OF DON BALASCO. 
 
 Chapter XIV.— "The Flag Did Not Pro- 
 tect !" . ... 168 
 XV.— "In Search of a Sea 
 
 Breeze," . . .181 
 
 XVI.— The Dinner on the Yacht, 198 
 
 " XVII. — The Cigars of Don Balasco, 210 
 
 " XVIIL— "The Triumph of Balasco," 221 
 
 XIX.— "Hush, My Boy, You'll 
 
 Frighten Wall Street ! " 242 
 
Don Balasco of Key West. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 AN AGENT OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES REVENUE DETECTIVE. 
 
 Tampa is sleeping in the sun one hot April day 
 of the year 1896. Always a lazy town, this after- 
 noon it is more trance-like than ever. The only 
 man thoroughly awake in the City Hotel is 
 Thomas Duff Mastic, of the United States Rev- 
 enue Service, and he has just roused himself to 
 mutter curses under his breath at a letter he holds 
 in his hand. 
 
 It is from an officer of the Treasury, under 
 whose orders Mastic at present is, and directs him 
 to take steamer this day for Key West and place 
 himself under the directions of Seiior Estrabon 
 Balasco, a cigarmaker of that city. 
 
 "Hang me if I understand this!" mutters the 
 United States detective to himself, for it is in this 
 capacity Mastic is attached to the Revenue Depart- 
 
6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ment. " Now, if I had been told to shadow and 
 track Mr„ Estrabon Balasco, who is the most out- 
 spoken Cuban sympathizer in that nest of Cuban 
 patriots, and prevent his sending a filibustering 
 expedition with arms and explosives to Gomez or 
 Maceo, 1 would have understood it quick enough 
 — but to place myself under the orders of Don 
 Balasco — that's what he's called down there. 
 Great Scottie ! Is the State Department becom- 
 ing a lover of patriots ? Is Grover going to give 
 those poor devils of Cubans a chance, now that the 
 American people have, by their Congress, told him 
 to do so? If I thought that I'd drink his health." 
 
 With this, uttering a prolonged whistle and 
 scratching his short, straight, shock hair in a dazed 
 kind of way, Mr. Tom Mastic strolls slowly out of 
 the hotel, and after a short but contemplative walk 
 on Main street, steps into the office of the Plant 
 Steamship Company and procures transportation 
 on the fast liner Olivette^ which leaves Port Tampa 
 for Havana, touching at Key West on her way to 
 the Cuban capital. 
 
 This finished, Mr. Thomas Duff Mastic has 
 nothing to do but drink, ruminate, and smoke till 
 the evening, when he will take the train from the 
 town proper to Port Tampa, which, some eighteen 
 miles away, is situated at the end of a long wharf 
 upon which the railroad extends to deep water, 
 and consists of a terminus made up of a gi- 
 gantic platform, and a hotel yclept ''The Inn," 
 from whose balconies sea-trout, bass, and other 
 ocean fish may be caught by passengers waiting 
 for steamers bound for Mobile or Havana and 
 Key West, which big craft find plenty of water 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 7, 
 
 alongside of this platform and artificial dock cre- 
 ated by enterprising Americans upon the deep 
 channel of Tampa Bay, which is, in other parts, 
 shallow and pertaining to mud flats. 
 
 Mr. Mastic has been quite often called by his 
 enemies a hard man ; and of these enemies, in the 
 pursuit of his duties, capturing illicit stills in the 
 mountains of Georgia and North Carolina, and 
 nosing out smugglers in the Florida Keys, he has 
 made a great many. Still, no one has ever called 
 him an unjust man, or a timid man. Perchance 
 a little girl whose blue eyes and soft Southern 
 voice had persuaded Mr. Mastic one day to turn 
 his eyes away from her mother's illicit distillery of 
 '^mountain dew" in a backwoods nook by the 
 French Broad River, " 'cause dad has just been 
 lynched"; and perhaps a Spanish muchachito with 
 soft dark eyes, caught by the protector of Federal 
 Revenue peddling unstamped cigars in the streets 
 of St. Augustine at five cents a piece, and let go 
 with a quarter in his hand and the remark, "' You 
 sell these clear Havanas too cheap, sonny," 
 thought him a tender one. But generally against 
 man in his strength, and defying Federal Revenue, 
 Tom Mastic is a sleuthhound to follow, and no 
 more to be turned back than a grizzly bear, even 
 by the unerring rifles of Georgia crackers, or re- 
 volvers held in the desperate hands of Florida 
 smugglers. He has defied ambush and assassina- 
 tion, and has turned his back on bribery, and as 
 such is trusted by the United States Treasury 
 Department. 
 
 For five hours there is nothing to do, and Mr. 
 Mastic does it grandly. His feet are cocked 
 
8 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 higher on the table than any gentleman's in the 
 barroom of the City Hotel. He drinks his mint 
 julep more languidly, he inhales his smoke more 
 contentedly, and lets it out in larger and softer 
 rings of vapor than any of the crowd of loungers. 
 He even eats his supper slowly, though he has 
 boasted that at a pinch he can finish a meal and 
 handcuff a man in sixty seconds railroad-time. 
 
 But this nonchalance vanishes shortly before 
 nine o'clock ; then Tom Mastic is alert and on 
 duty. 
 
 As he takes the train for Port Tampa, en 
 route for Key West, his ferret eyes gleam with a 
 quick and sly twinkle ; his movements, which have 
 been like those of a locomotive slowly getting un- 
 der way, now become as rapid, vigorous, and 
 direct as those of an express hundred-ton engine 
 under full head of steam. As he boards the train, 
 both eyes and ears grow very wide open to things 
 happening near him, for Mr. Mastic's maxim is, 
 " You never know when you may drop on the un- 
 expected." It is in this view that he throws his 
 eyes around the railroad carriage, taking rapid 
 note of the people about him. 
 
 "Nothing remarkable on this car, I reckon," he 
 thinks ; but a moment after, two couples entering 
 almost together attract his attention ; the first pair 
 because they are Cubans or Spaniards, and may 
 be something in the line of Mr. Mastic's further 
 duties; the second, who are a boy and a girl, 
 because the beauty of the girl interests him and 
 something the boy says astonishes him. 
 
 These two take seats immediately in front of Mr. 
 Mastic. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 9 
 
 The girl is about seventeen, perhaps even 
 younger, for she wears her fair blonde hair in one 
 long pigtail, juvenile fashion, hanging down her 
 back, and her skirts have not yet grown below 
 her boot-tops ; a fact that pleases Mr. Mastic, as he 
 admires pretty feet and ankles, and this young 
 lady's are about the prettiest he has ever seen in 
 his life. 
 
 The boy, apparently her brother, is a youth 
 about eighteen, of manly, resolute face and stal- 
 wart, athletic build. ** One of the kind out of which 
 they manufacture football men for the colleges up 
 North," cogitates the detective, whose attention is 
 now entirely riveted upon the young lady and 
 gentleman in front of him. 
 
 The Cubans or Spaniards he can make his study 
 afterward, he thinks, if necessary, and the conversa- 
 tion of the girl and the boy almost immediately 
 interests Mr. Mastic. 
 
 ** My poor Rex," laughs the maiden, " has he been 
 surly all day because by this time he might have 
 had a broken nose playing football on his prep- 
 team?" 
 
 " Don't call it a prep-team, or ^^ou'll give me 
 away. People about here think Fm a college 
 man," mutters the boy; ''and besides" — here 
 scorn comes into his voice -* we don't play foot- 
 ball at this, time of the year. Football in April? 
 No one but a girl or a Frenchman would make 
 such a break." 
 
 '' Well, you can revenge yourself on me at lawn 
 tennis on our island," prattles the inquirer with 
 merry eyes. '' What has made you so gloomy 
 ever since we left Palatka ? Is it coming south to 
 
lO DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 bring me to papa and summer and tropic islands and 
 muslin dresses that makes you act as if you had the 
 cares of a family on you ?" 
 
 " Don't talk Tomi^iy-rot ! " says the boy, sav- 
 agely. " You know I have you under my charge 
 and you'd beat a bike girl on a tandem to keep in 
 order." Then his voice goes into a whisper, as 
 he speaks into the young lady's ear : *' Don't you 
 know those two Spaniards have been following 
 us, 1 think, ever since we left Jacksonville ? You 
 use your blue eyes too thundering much, Gertie. 
 Some day you'll get a bluff that'll astonish you." 
 
 ** I haven't used them at all," answers the accused, 
 tears coming into her two pretty orbs. " I cannot 
 help it if men look at me. It is not my fault, and 
 every time I have put my nose out of the window 
 at a station since I left New York, you have lec- 
 tured me. When you get married I pity your 
 wife ; you'll be a Bluebeard or a — a Sultan." 
 
 "Well, if those chaps come round again, I'll 
 knock them off the dock at Port Tampa. I've 
 got you in my charge, remember that, and, by 
 George, I'll deliver the goods safe at Emerald 
 Key." 
 
 ^* Emerald Key ? " echoes the girl. " Perhaps 
 papa will meet us at Key West." 
 
 " No, he won't," says the boy shortly. " Didn't 
 I tell you I had a letter from him saying he wouldn't 
 be at Key West ; that Indra and he were going to 
 take a run on the yacht to Miami and Palm Beach ; 
 and if the Flying Fish was not at Key West to meet 
 us I could probably get a steam-launch from a 
 SpJaniard down there named Balasco." 
 
 " Oh, Don Estrabon Balasco," chimes in the 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. II 
 
 young lady. " He is the gentleman who acted as 
 agent for the owner and who sold Emerald Key to 
 papa a year ago." 
 
 '' Of course," answers the boy. " The guv'nor 
 writes that in case we need it we can probably get 
 the use of Balasco's steam-launch to take us 
 over to our place. It is only twenty or thirty 
 miles over there. I could row it in a shell ; they 
 say the water down here is calm as Croton." 
 
 This mention of the man to whom he is to report 
 makes the Revenue detective doubly intent upon 
 the conversation of the boy and girl in front of 
 him. 
 
 He learns incidentally, during the forty minutes 
 it takes the train to run to Port Tampa, that the 
 father of the two is George Alfred Vanstone, a 
 retired New York merchant and capitalist, who 
 has, the year before, bought one of the little keys 
 which dot the Gulf of Florida, upon which he has 
 built a country house, and is now spending his 
 first spring season in this land of summer, thus 
 exchanging the cold and snow of the great northern 
 city for the bright sunshine and tropical breezes of 
 those balmy islands that extend in one almost un- 
 broken chain from Key West to the Biscayne Bay 
 on the East; that Miss Indra Vanstone, the eldest 
 daughter of the house, is a young lady of twenty 
 or thereabouts who has been going the pace during 
 the New York social season as belle and bud, and 
 that she has come to Florida for Lenten languor 
 and tropical rest ; that the boy and girl in front 
 of him are the young son and daughter of this New 
 York gentleman, and one is named Rex and the 
 other Gertrude ; that apparently the young gen- 
 
12 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 tleman does not like his spring trip to the South, 
 as he would sooner carry off athletic honors in the 
 spring school and college sporting events ; but the 
 young lady is delighted because it takes her away 
 from her books and boarding school. Also that, 
 like most boys of his age, Mr. Rex Talbot Van- 
 stone considers himself the mentor and guardian 
 of his younger sister, and is inclined to be pretty 
 sharp upon any of the charming frivolities of fem- 
 inine youth and beauty. 
 
 Further observations are cut short by the train 
 running out upon the long wharf and stopping, at 
 the big pile-supported terminus of the Florida 
 Southern Railway, beside whose dock the dashing 
 steamer Olivette is awaiting its passengers for Key 
 West and Havana. 
 
 The girl rising and shaking out fluffy skirts pre- 
 paratory to leaving the car, suddenly puts her 
 head out of the window, sees the waiting steamer 
 and falters : ** Oh, Rex, I am so afraid ! " 
 
 ** Afraid of what? Those cursed Spaniards?" 
 mutters her brother. 
 
 '* No-o — of seasickness," returns Miss Gertrude. 
 Then with a slight laugh, though there is perhaps 
 a shade ofapprehension in it, she exclaims : "There ! 
 They are looking at me again — those Cubans! 
 Rex, hold my grip-sack so you can't double up your 
 fists ! " With these words the maiden, after the 
 manner of girls of her age, gives a sudden pull 
 at her short skirts to make them as long as pos- 
 sible, and steps out of the car followed by her 
 brother, whose hands are too full of umbrellas, 
 gun case, and other impedimenta to permit any 
 more hostile demonstration than a scowl. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I3 
 
 As the detective stands in front of his seat, 
 watching the vanishing boy and girl, the two men 
 who have produced Miss Gertie's remark brush 
 hurriedly past him, and Mastic catches words that 
 make him start : " Diablo! Those are two of the in- 
 nocents who will conceal a crime against Spain." 
 
 In one flash the Revenue detective has turned 
 his attention from youth and beauty to a couple of 
 as hard-looking customers as he has ever gazed 
 upon, very Spanish in appearance, very greasy 
 as to skin, garlicky as to odor, and rather cut- 
 throaty and knife-in-the-back as to manner. 
 
 With the instinct of his profession he gazes hur- 
 riedly at the men, seeking some distinguishing 
 trait ; not at their general appearance, for this 
 oftentimes leads to strange mistakes of identity ; 
 but for some peculiar mark, some brand, as it 
 were, by which he may know them again. 
 
 The first as he passes hurriedly out of the car 
 gives Mastic no such point of identification ; the 
 second, who is the taller of the two, and of a stal- 
 wart build unusual in the races of the Iberian 
 Peninsula, fortunately furnishes him with what he 
 wants. The right ear of this man is much larger 
 than his left, and stands out from his head in gro- 
 tesque elephantine prominence. It is corrugated, 
 red, shiny, and gigantic. So with a muttered 
 " I'll know that Spaniard's bloated ear anywhere," 
 Mastic gathers up his belongings, which are 
 simple, and follows them from the car. 
 
 On the platform he finds the American boy and 
 girl have disappeared, probably having gone di- 
 rectly on board the steamer. 
 
 The two men who have attracted his attention 
 
14 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 are muttering in Spanish, and not being proficient 
 enough in that language to pick up Castilian 
 whispers, Mr. Mastic strolls leisurely on board 
 the steamer. Awaiting the two gentlemen who 
 arouse his curiosity, as they come up the gang- 
 plank he discovers that their tickets are also for 
 Key West, and that the one with the peculiar ear 
 calls the other Pablo, and is in return designated 
 as Juan. 
 
 It is now ten o'clock at night ; the steamer, cast- 
 ing off her moorings, is soon under headway down 
 Tampa Bay, and passing the lights of St. Peters- 
 burg on the right, stands out into the open Gulf of 
 Mexico ; then turning to the south and skirting 
 the low coasts of Florida, with its outlying coral 
 reefs, keys, and small islands, the Olivette puts her 
 prow straight for Key West. 
 
 Satisfied that nothing can happen of any moment 
 this night, the detective goes to his stateroom 
 and turns in ; awaking the next morning upon 
 a summer sea, smooth as the waters of an inland 
 lake, whose only ripples come from the churning 
 propeller of the swift Olivette as she dashes 
 toward the equator. 
 
 At breakfast Mr. Mastic contrives to seat him- 
 self near the American boy and girl. From the 
 conversation of pretty Miss Vanstone and her 
 brother, the revenue man learns no more than he 
 did the night before, save that their father has, 
 besides some small sailing^ boats at his place among 
 the Florida Keys, a big steam yacht. 
 
 " It's a deuced shame," grumbles the boy, ** that 
 Indra should have wanted the Flying Fish to take 
 that trip to Palm Beach just when we were com- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 15 
 
 ing down. Didn't she have enough of fashionables 
 in New York last winter ? '* 
 
 " Oh, I know why she wants to go up there," 
 laughs Gertrude, " our Billy must be up at the 
 Hotel Poinciana." 
 
 " Our Billy is a thing of the past," remarks Rex; 
 " Indra put Mr. William Arthur Severance in the 
 sweet by-and-by two months ago. Our Billy has 
 become sulky and is traveling for his health." 
 Then the boy's face grows thoughtful, and he con- 
 tinues, " I think Indra has made a blasted fool of 
 herself. Billy Severance was the best fellow I 
 ever knew — and liberal! You should have seen 
 the dinner he gave me at the Union Club 
 one night. That fellow was never tired of 
 putting up for me. What times he used to 
 give me ! By Jove ! I have often thought he 
 loved me." 
 
 ** That was because he loved Indra, you con- 
 ceited fellow," rejoins Miss Gertie. " But I'm 
 awfully sorry Indra has shaken him. Our Billy 
 was good for the nicest Christmas presents and 
 the most elaborate Easter cards. I feared there 
 might be something wrong when I did not get 
 one from him three weeks ago." Then she cries 
 almost savagely, "• Oh, why did Indra put our Billy 
 in the sweet by-and-by ? " 
 
 "Jealousy ! " says Rex, sententiously. 
 
 " Jealousy ? Indra jealous ? " ejaculates Gertie, 
 her blue eyes opening wide in unbelief. 
 
 " No ; our Billy did the great Othello act," re- 
 marks the boy. " I'm not quite sure of the details, 
 but I have an idea it was about that beast, Von 
 Stamp, of the German Embassy — that fellow who 
 
1 6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 dances the cotillion so well, after the Russian 
 style, a la jumping jack. You see, Indra's not ac- 
 customed to be talked to — Billy Severance talked 
 to her — and they didn't happen to be really en- 
 gaged, only bordering on. The next time our 
 Billy called, Indra was '■ not at home.' He called 
 again and Miss Vanstone was still out. He 
 dropped in a third time and Miss Vanstone had 
 not come in yet. Then the next steamer for Eu- 
 rope had in its passenger list William Arthur 
 Severance. A month after he came back to New 
 York, but he never called, and, then I think — Hang 
 it ! " says the boy, *' I think Indra repented. It's 
 the only time in her life she ever did, if I'm right. 
 You see she has grown so accustomed to having 
 every fellow that comes along do the enthusiastic 
 over her that she doesn't know a jolly good thing 
 when she's got it. Do you know what it is 
 rumored in the clubs she told him to do ? She 
 told him to go to work I " 
 
 ** Work ! " cries Gertie in astounded interroga- 
 tion. ** Why Billy's got pots of money." 
 
 *' Yes, and bushels of sand. But that's what she 
 told him — to get to work — make a start in life — 
 become somebody^ — get a hustle on ! That's nice 
 kind of talk to a man who is a man among men 
 and has a record. Why, Billy Severance was 
 right tackle eight years ago when Yale men were 
 giants. And now he tools a four-in-hand round 
 pegs at the horse show, and plays polo like blazes 
 on the West Rockaway, and they say he could be 
 as good a lawyer as Joe Choate, if he'd ever taken 
 the trouble to study, only he hasn't read law. Yet 
 that's what they state Indra said to a man like that 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 7 
 
 — told him to go to work ! I am dis-gust-ed ! " and 
 Rex's face shows that he is. 
 
 *' Besides, our Billy knows just what brand of 
 candies I like at Maillard's," chimes in Miss Ger- 
 trude, adding, with a sigh for departed sweets : 
 " Indra has made a fool of herself. 1 shall give 
 papa a piece of my mind about it. He lets Indra 
 have her own way too much." 
 
 " Yes ; we're all spoilt children," laughs Rex. 
 ** But let us go on deck and take a constitutional. 
 I feel the want of exercise, now I've gone out of 
 training." 
 
 As the two rise from the table, the detective 
 finishes his breakfast and strolls on deck also, to 
 pass a lazy, sleepy, tropical day ; wisely thinking 
 that any attempt at espionage will be noticed by 
 the two Spaniards, who arise about noon and are 
 apparently unacquainted with any of their fellow- 
 passengers. 
 
 Consequently Mr. Mastic deems it prudent to 
 let things drift. Muttering to himself, *' 1 reckon 
 developments will strike me in Key West," he de- 
 votes himself to a novel he has purchased at a 
 bookstand in Tampa. 
 
 Eating a good midday meal, he finds himself 
 strong and agile and ready for almost anything 
 that may come to hand, as about three o'clock 
 the boat approaches Key West. 
 
 From the deck of the Olivette the appearance of 
 this place is that of a pretty town of twenty or 
 thirty thousand people, faced by the blue waters 
 of the Floridian straits, and flanked, backed, and 
 dotted over by greenest tropical vegetation. This 
 afternoon the city seems calm, businesslike, and 
 
l8 • DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 peaceful, and though Spanish in appearance, and 
 Cuban in heart, an awful contrast to Havana, only 
 one hundred miles to the south, on the same 
 quiet sea, which is now under the crimson hand 
 of Weyler ; its streets full of frightened citizens ; 
 its fortresses reeking with the filth of the tropics, 
 and choked with dying political prisoners. But 
 Key West is under modern government, and cov- 
 ered by the Stars and Stripes of free America, 
 while over Havana floats the banner of Spain, in- 
 dicative of the medieval barbarism of Alva, rising 
 up in this nineteenth century, with the same 
 cruel ferocity and as great a lust of plunder, 
 rapine, and blood, as when, three hundred years 
 ago, it was buried by the destruction of the 
 Spanish Armada and the rise of the Dutch Re- 
 public. 
 
 Apparently unmindful of the sorrows of Havana 
 just across the Gulf Stream, Key West is bright 
 and smiling in the afternoon sea breeze. Its streets 
 are full of people busied with the arts of peace. 
 Sponge fishermen are unloading their crafts. 
 Steamers are discharging their cargoes of tobacco 
 at its quays. Horse-cars are running along its 
 streets, and electric lights are getting ready to 
 twinkle in the tropical twilight like gigantic fire- 
 flies. 
 
 But all this does not attract Mr. Mastic's atten- 
 tion to any great degree as the Olivette runs along- 
 side the Plant wharf. He has seen the place be- 
 fore, many times, in his raids upon the tobacco 
 smugglers of this portion of Florida. The prevail- 
 ing Spanish style of its Panama-hatted population, 
 the Cuban appearance of its side streets, its negro 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 9 
 
 coachmen with their Spanish lingo and cheap 
 fares, are all familiar to him. 
 
 At present his attention is divided between the 
 young Americans and the two Spaniards, who 
 have apparently been following them. 
 
 Suddenly his mind is given wholly to the boy 
 and girl, for Rex Vanstone cries : " See, Gertie ! 
 There she is ! — the Flying Fish ! And, by George, 
 she's got steam up ! We're in luck ! We shall 
 be at Emerald Key to-night." 
 
 " Perhaps papa or Indra may be on board," 
 ejaculates Miss Gertie, and there is a whisk of 
 short skirts and flickering of pretty ankles as 
 the girl flies across the deck, followed by her 
 brother. 
 
 Mr. Mastic, directed by the eager gestures of 
 the young Americans, perceives among the craft 
 of the harbor a dashing looking pleasure vessel, 
 large enough to very comfortably navigate these 
 quiet waters, though hardly of sufficient power 
 for the demands of a long ocean cruise. The 
 vessel is about one hundred and twenty-five feet 
 long, has a light and graceful hull of brilliant 
 white, sits low in the water, and apparently has 
 engines of considerable power. A dining-room 
 amidships, and a pilot-house just forward of it, 
 rest gracefully on a snowy deck, the after portion 
 of which is covered by a light, pretty, striped awn- 
 ing. On her stern is painted Flying Fish, and her 
 bow is decorated with a figurehead representing 
 that pretty little denizen of equatorial waters. 
 Altogether the yacht is a very likely craft, and 
 the revenue man, noting her big propeller, short 
 naassive smokestack; and space devoted to her 
 
20 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 engines, decides she must be at least a fifteen- 
 knotter in fine weather. 
 
 While the detective has been making these ob- 
 servations, the boy and girl have been talking. 
 
 "Rex," cries Miss Gertie, ''don't you think 
 papa can be on board ?" 
 
 '' You are a hummer on yachts !" sneers her men- 
 tor. " How can papa be on the Flying Fish, when 
 the owner's flag is not hoisted ?" 
 
 *' Well, somebody's on board, any way," replies 
 the young lady. " There ! I'm sure they recognize 
 me. See ! a boat is putting off ! Much you know 
 about yachts, Rex. I'm sure it's papa." 
 
 ''Sure it's papa?" laughs young Vanstone* 
 " Does papa have jetty hair and black mus- 
 tachios ? The guv'nor hasn't gone in for dyeing 
 his locks yet, has he? Though I'll admit he is a 
 pretty gray badger." 
 
 ' * Oh, Rex ! That would be too awful ! Dyed hair 
 would indicate a coming step-mamma; and you 
 know Indra and I couldn't stand anything of that 
 kind." 
 
 " Well, you're safe this time," laughs the boy, 
 " for that hair ain't dyed, and the chap we're look- 
 ing at is a Spaniard, if my eyes are good for any- 
 thing." 
 
 Gazing at the approaching boat, which is now 
 nearly alongside, the youth adds, " Who the deuce 
 is he any way ?" 
 
 This is very shortly answered. A gentleman, 
 in white Panama hat and light tropical costume, 
 to which is given a touch of barbaric color by a 
 red silk sash artistically draped about the waist, 
 steps over the gangplank which now connects the 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 21 
 
 steamer with the wharf, and after a hurried word 
 or two with the captain, that officer approaches the 
 two young Americans and says, '* Mr. and Miss 
 Vanstone, permit me to introduce Don Estrabon 
 Balasco, who has been making inquiry for you." 
 
 "Ah, I am delighted to have the pleasure," re- 
 marks the Spanish gentleman, giving the boy and 
 girl the polished bow of the citizen of the world. 
 •* Your father wrote me that you might wish my 
 steam-launch, but fortunately your own yacht is 
 here. I have taken the liberty of in — inspecting 
 her." The Don hesitates, perchance, a little over 
 the word. '* She is all ready for your trip to Em- 
 erald Key." 
 
 While this is going on. Mastic, though he knows 
 him by sight, is studying the gentleman to whom 
 he is accredited in Key West. He finds that Estra- 
 bon has dark, flashing eyes, and very black hair 
 and mustache, is slightly yet strongly built, and 
 has that lithe grace and subtle charm peculiar to 
 the Castilian race, especially when it has been made 
 soft and languid by a residence in the tropics. 
 
 Senor Balasco, in appearance, is hardly thirty 
 years of age, but notwithstanding his youth is one 
 of the largest cigar manufacturers in Key West, 
 his factory occupying a big plot of ground on the 
 main street, his signs being as notable and his 
 business apparently as extensive as those of Horace 
 R. Kelly or E. H. Gato or any other of the more 
 prominent manufacturers of this town, which is 
 devoted to cigars, cigarettes, sponges, and Cuban 
 patriotism. 
 
 As he inspects him, the Spaniard is in eager con- 
 versation with the boy and girl. 
 
22 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 *' So, you are the Senorita Vanstone," he says, 
 addressing Gertie. " Come to Florida, I presume, 
 to elude New York gayety." 
 
 There is empressement in the Don's eyes and 
 manner. With a spasm of joy the budding girl 
 thinks : " He takes me for a young lady," and puts 
 very grateful eyes upon him. 
 
 But these become almost teary, as Rex breaks 
 out in boyish frankness : '* Oh, don't mistake her for 
 Indra. That would be a terrible fluke. And 
 don't judge Indra by either of us. Indra is in a 
 class by herself." 
 
 " Oh, Rex, how can you talk so ?" mutters 
 Gertie, pleadingly. " Indra is only two years older 
 than I am." 
 
 " Two years ^Xi^. eleven months^'' says the youth, 
 with mathematical and cruel accuracy. 
 
 But Balasco is a man of the world, and though 
 he looks in rather a laughing way at this boy and 
 girl dispute, he ends it diplomatically by saying, 
 " Come this way. I will show you to your boat, 
 Senorita Gertrude. There is a flight of steps 
 leading from the wharf to the water. I have ex- 
 amined the Flying Fish and discovered that she is 
 ver34-fast ; in three hours you will be in the arms of 
 your father, to whom you will, I hope, present 
 my most profound regards. Some day — soon, 
 perhaps — Mr. Vanstone has invited me — I may 
 have the honor of paying you all a visit at charm- 
 ing Emerald Key." 
 
 " Oh, that will be lovely !" murmurs Miss Ger- 
 trude, as Balasco assists her down the gangplank 
 with the etiquette of an Hidalgo, and the customs 
 officer, having nothing better to do, follows them 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 23 
 
 off the boat and sees the Don performing the same 
 polite offices to the young lady once more at the 
 stairs leading to the water. 
 
 Gazing idly at this, Mastic finds two ideas rising 
 in his brain. First, something has happened that 
 has made Miss Indra Vanstone suddenly postpone 
 or give up her visit to Palm Beach, therefore the 
 Flying Fish is now at Key West. Second, for some 
 reason or other Balasco has taken this opportunity 
 to examine and inspect this vessel. 
 
 From this reverie the revenue man is suddenly 
 startled. Around him are the crowd that usually 
 throng the wharf at Key West on the arrival of 
 one ot the Florida boats : sponge fishermen, long- 
 shoremen, the residents of the town, mostly Cuban; 
 tourists, who are passing a few tropic days on the 
 delightful island; cigar manufacturers, smoking 
 their inevitable cigarettes ; pretty, dark-eyed 
 Spanish girls from the packing departments of the 
 various cigar houses, and the usual blur of darkies 
 and darky pickaninnies that go to make up the 
 population of this town of all colored skins — 
 white, yellow, chocolate, and black, but chiefly 
 black. 
 
 From out this crowd almost immediately behind 
 him come words that make the detective start : 
 
 '* Caspita I Don Balasco is weaving his cuttle- 
 fish arms around these two little plotters against 
 Spain." 
 
 Thomas Duff Mastic is sure the voice is that of 
 one of the Spaniards of the railroad car. He does 
 not, however, look round immediately, but non- 
 chalantly watches the boat as it is rowed away by 
 two stalwart deck-hands of the yacht, Don Balasco 
 
24 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 waving his adieux to the young American boy and 
 girl, and telling them he will send their baggage 
 after them in quarter of an hour. 
 
 As this is going on Mastic, turning carelessly 
 about, sees in front of him the Spaniard of the gi- 
 gantic ear. Beside this man stands his companion of 
 the railroad. Half a minute later Don Balasco, skip- 
 ping lightly up the wooden stairs, steps upon the 
 wharf, mingles with the crowd, and is apparently 
 about to devote himself to the shipment of the bag- 
 gage of young Vanstone and his sister. 
 
 While doing so the revenue detective steps 
 beside him, remarking : " Don Estrabon Balasco, 
 I believe. I am ordered to report to you by the 
 Treasury Department. 
 
 This communication, though made guardedly, 
 seems to give the cigarmaker a sudden electric 
 shock. His face grows pale. He whispers : 
 ** I understand ; but do not speak to me publicly; 
 it may mean my life. Meet me privately, at my 
 house at eight o'clock." 
 
 Then, not waiting for answer, Seftor Balasco 
 runs hastily on board the steamer again and be- 
 gins effusively asking the purser if he cannot have 
 the baggage of the young Americans immediately 
 placed on shore. 
 
 Gazing after him, the United States officer cogi- 
 tates : '* By Jove, this is the unexpected ! This 
 fellow is a traitor to the Cubans, and fears for his 
 life. That is the reason I am ordered to report to 
 him." Then suddenly the revenue man scratches 
 his shock head, and this problem comes into 
 Thomas Duff Mastic's brain : " What the devil have 
 that free-spoken young American schoolboy and 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 25 
 
 that pretty little New York schoolgirl got to do 
 with plots against Spain?" 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CI CARMAKER OF KEY WEST. 
 
 To this problem Mr. Mastic finds no imme- 
 diate solution as he occupies himself in care- 
 lessly playing the role of tourist, during which 
 time he notes that the Flying Fish gets under way, 
 and, after rounding the southern point of the 
 island, steams to the eastward. 
 
 Then, not liking the publicity of the Russell 
 House, he strolls to an out-of-the-way and modest 
 little hotel, which is more than half boarding- 
 house, and registers under the name of Robert 
 Johnson, announcing to the landlady that he has 
 come down to see if he cannot pick up a lot of 
 cheap sponges for the northern market. 
 
 This being finished, Mastic leaves his baggage 
 and proceeds to kill time by taking a trip about 
 the town in one of Key West's famous cheap-fare, 
 dilapidated carriages. The driver of this is an 
 equally aged and dilapidated negro, whose tongue, 
 however, is agile and keeps in motion, though his 
 broken-down horse at times manifests a decided 
 inclination to inertia. The drive will only cost 
 about twenty-five cents ; so Mastic invests. 
 
 During this jaunt the detective is again im- 
 pressed by the apparent size of Estrabon Balasco 
 & Co.'s cigar factory, and encouraging his driver 
 to talk about things local, the government officer 
 discovers the address of Don Estrabon's residence. 
 
26 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 and incidentally picks up some very curious addi- 
 tional information. 
 
 *' That's a pretty big establishment, that of Ba- 
 lasco," he remarks carelessly, as his tumble-down 
 chaise runs past the great building. 
 
 *' Yes, boss," answers the negro, who is, contrary 
 to the general run of darkies in Key West, partly 
 American. Like most of his race, being inceptive, 
 he has picked up a good deal of genuine Cuban 
 patriotism, mingled with an equal quantity of un- 
 grammatical Spanish lingo. ^' Don Estrabon is one 
 of de big bosses round heah. Mucho grande ! He 
 is as cute as a Yankee, Sabe I " 
 
 " Cute as a Yankee ? Does he make better 
 cigars than any one of the rest of the Hidalgos 
 about here?" returns Mastic, inquiringly. 
 
 The answer he gets astonishes him. 
 
 " Diablo^ dat no de trick now ! Must habe tabaco 
 to make de cigarros ! Oder man, dey no get de 
 tabaco, Don Balasco he get mucho — mucho ta- 
 baco ! " 
 
 " For a patriot, Balasco has a wonderful pull 
 with Spanish officials," thinks Mastic, with a grin. 
 Then he suggests : " Don Balasco is a patriot, Cuba 
 Libre^thT' 
 
 " Yes, he true Cuban! He get mucho tabaco from 
 Habana," adds the negro, as if the two went to- 
 gether ; though the detective thinks it is a rather 
 curious combination. 
 
 But at the little hotel, after his drive. Mastic 
 finds everybody agrees as to Don Balasco's devo- 
 tion to the cause of Cuba. 
 
 At supper this is impressed upon him by 
 a cigarmaker, who, sitting next him, re- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 27 
 
 marks to the revenue man's casual questions: 
 " Yes, Don Estrabon is a stanch friend of Cuba 
 Libre. He has none in his employ but exiles 
 from the island— patriots who give a portion of 
 their weekly wages to aid the cause. As one of 
 these I reverence him. The closing of his factory 
 would be a blow to the haters of Spain. Recogniz- 
 ing this, Don Balasco, with rare foresight, has pro- 
 vided that none of his employees shall go idle on 
 his account. It would be a blow to the cause, if 
 his Cuban cigarmakers should be thrown out of 
 employment. But with the audacity of a general 
 and the wisdom of a Yankee, he has made such 
 arrangements that every day adds to his stock of 
 tobacco, while the other great manufacturers here 
 can hardly get a leaf/' 
 
 " Umph ! I am delighted to know he is such a 
 patriot," replies the American, and goes to think- 
 ing that probably Don Balasco may have his own 
 interests in his eye in filling up his factory, and 
 possibly some particular pull with the Spanish 
 authorities at Havana, by which he receives large 
 shipments, when his rivals in trade find it diffi- 
 cult to obtain a bale of tobacco from the island. 
 
 Full of these ideas, at eight o'clock, according 
 to instructions, the detective goes to Don Balasco's, 
 cautiously making his way to a cottage on a side 
 street, which, nestled among bananas, palms, and 
 cocoanut trees, seems a veritable haven of peace 
 and quiet. 
 
 The house is of wood, painted generally white. 
 It has large verandas and green Venetian blinds. 
 The whole appearance of the place is American, 
 not Spanish, though a hammock is swinging on 
 
2& DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the veranda, indicating tropical siestas in the 
 heat of the day. The front entrance has an elec- 
 tric bell, upon touching which the door is opened 
 by a darky butler, and Mastic is shown into the 
 parlor. 
 
 " Don Balasco is at present submerged with 
 some gents in de dining-room. I'll take yo* card 
 concisely to him," remarks the darky servitor, 
 after showing the detective in. 
 
 ** I haven't got a pasteboard with me," is the 
 detective's reply ; " but kindly tell the Don that 
 the gentleman with whom he has an appointment 
 at eight o'clock is here. He will understand." 
 
 The sable butler going on his way, the revenue 
 man looks around the apartment, to find it fur- 
 nished in American style, with northern conven- 
 iences, yet southern airiness, its big windows 
 opening directly upon the wide porticoes. A chan- 
 delier illuminates the room brilliantly, bringing out 
 some very pretty paintings, and a few handsome 
 pieces of bric-a-brac in cabinets. Making an in- 
 spection of these, the detective, who has an eye 
 for beauty, is attracted by the photograph of a 
 young lady, which has been very prettily framed 
 and^ stands 'on one of the cabinets. It has been 
 beautifully colored in water tints, and shows a girl 
 of very light brown hair, dancing, riant blue eyes, 
 and exquisite figure, the beauties of which are 
 easily discernible, as the young lady is in a fash- 
 ionable evening gown, apparently arrayed for 
 opera or ball. 
 
 *' By Jove ! That's no dark-eyed seSorita of 
 Spain," laughs Mastic to himself, for the ap- 
 pearance of the young lady of the picture is de- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 29 
 
 cidedly American. The face is Anglo-Saxon, and 
 though laughing and brilliant in expression, has 
 that decision and self-reliance peculiar to daugh- 
 ters of the United States. 
 
 As the detective makes this remark, he discovers 
 that the announcement of his presence has pro- 
 duced an immediate effect upon the gentleman he 
 visits. He hears Don Balasco's soft, smooth Cas- 
 tilian voice in the hall, saying in Spanish — a 
 language of which Mastic has picked up a little in 
 his Key West experiences : 
 
 *' Remember, you are cigarmakers. Apply for 
 work at my factory to-morrow." 
 
 Thinking this a rather peculiar statement to 
 make to applicants for employment, the revenue 
 man throws a hasty glance into the hall and sees 
 a gigantic ear disappearing out of the front door. 
 
 A moment after his host comes in to him with 
 outstretched hand, and says cordially, though not 
 effusively, in a voice that is low almost to a whisper, 
 " I hope I have not kept you waiting, Sefior Mastic." 
 
 ** I have been using my time very pleasantly," 
 returns the American, who cannot keep his eyes 
 from the picture. 
 
 *' Ah, yes," remarks Balasco, lifting up the pho- 
 tograph to the light. '' It is so beautiful it would 
 attract any man. So lovely ! I would like to 
 know who she is." 
 
 "You don't know the name of the girl ?" asks 
 the detective, astonished. 
 
 '' I have not an idea," replies the Don, with the 
 suspicion of a sigh. " It came into my possession 
 in the way of business." 
 
 ** In the way of business ?" 
 
30 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Yes ; you see it is a fashion of my trade to make 
 our cigar-boxes alluring by adding to them the faces 
 of fair women. It is the advertisement of the 
 actress, the pride of the professional beauty. But 
 stage loveliness is now almost exhausted, and we 
 have a man in New York who devotes a great deal 
 of his time to finding for trade uses pictures of 
 new Venuses. This photograph was sent to me by 
 him; probably picked up in the sale of some fash- 
 ionable photograph gallery which was moving or 
 bankrupt." 
 
 "And probably now has become the trade- 
 mark of Estrabon Balasco & Company," chuckles 
 Mastic. 
 
 '^Por DiosI No!" cries the Don, suddenly. Then 
 he goes on, a tinge of romance in both voice and 
 eye: " This is not the face of a woman who would 
 wish her loveliness to be made public on a cigar- 
 box. I have had it tinted by an artist, and some- 
 times wonder if the flesh and blood original is half 
 as fascinating as the photograph." Next, as if to 
 change the topic, Balasco, dropping his tones 
 to a whisper, remarks : " I have been notified by the 
 Collector that you would consult me in behalf of 
 the United States Government. Step into the 
 dining-room ; there I will discuss the matter with 
 you over a cigar and a glass of wine." 
 
 " I am with you on the cigar and wine," remarks 
 the free and easy American, as he follows the Don 
 along the lighted hall into an apartment which 
 is at the other end of the cottage. Here the rich 
 silver, the massive carved oaken sideboard, and the 
 remains of a magnificent meal which has been 
 served with floral decoration, more in the style of a 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 3 1 
 
 prince than a cigarmaker, call forth an astonished 
 *' Gee whiz ! " from Mr. Mastic. 
 
 " Ah ! you like my quarters," remarks Estrabon. 
 " They are quite good for a Key West bachelor. 
 Permit me to offer you Spanish hospitality. By 
 this wine" — he pours out a generous libation — "I 
 have the honor to drink the health of you and 
 your good President." 
 
 " Here's at you ! " replies Mastic, and puts down 
 his throat something that he cannot describe, but 
 which seems to him smoother than the finest 
 Bourbon and more delicious in flavor than the 
 juice of a sugar pine. 
 
 "What kind of punch is it?" gasps the detec- 
 tive, smacking his lips and indulging in a long and 
 luxurious breath. 
 
 ** Punch! Por Dios! It is Madeira of forty 
 years vintage — have another glass?" 
 
 ** I don't care if I do," remarks Mr. Mastic. " I 
 accept your hospitality, Sehor, in the way in which 
 it is offered." 
 
 " Then I hope you will enjoy my cigars," sug- 
 gests Don Balasco, and he puts before the revenue 
 man an Havana which causes that functionary, 
 after a preliminary whiff or two, to remark : " By 
 gosh ! These beat any samples I ever confiscated, 
 and I have done a good deal of that from Florida 
 smugglers." - 
 
 " They are Regalias Imperiales, manufactured 
 specially for the Captain-General of Cuba, the 
 Czar of Russia, and myself," remarks the Don. 
 " You had better enjoy them this evening. You 
 may never get another chance, unless you visit 
 me again." 
 
32 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 '' Then I'll take your hint," laughs Mastic. 
 " You'll excuse me, but it's a habit I have — " 
 and he fills his pockets from the box. 
 
 " Diautre! " grins Estrabon, though his face is as- 
 tonished. '^ I hope you will show as much activity 
 in seizing the scoundrels upon whose track I am 
 about to place you." 
 
 *' Name 'em ! " 
 
 " I will ! — but first " Here the Spaniard steps 
 
 quickly to the French windows, opens them and 
 looks cautiously out on the veranda, then closing 
 the sashes, he drops the curtains and draws the 
 blinds, next steps to the door, closes and locks it, 
 and coming to the revenue officer, who has watched 
 him in nonchalant unconcern, whispers to him : 
 " Your life, as well as mine, might be lost if we were 
 overheard. These scoundrels would not hesitate 
 to sacrifice any one to their accursed cause." The 
 Don grinds his white, firm teeth together over 
 his last words. 
 
 " Nominate the wretches," remarks the detec- 
 tive between whiffs of his cigar, that seem to him, 
 in their aroma and flavor, like puffs of the land 
 breeze from a Florida key when the pineapples 
 jire ripening. 
 
 "" " The wretches I refer to are the Cuban sympa- 
 thizers in this place and Florida." 
 
 " That's a rather curious statement from a Cuban 
 patriot like you ! " laughs Mastic. 
 
 " Cuban patriot — bah ! " ejaculates Estrabon. 
 Then he goes on sneeringly. " How I trick them — 
 to know their secrets." A moment's pause and he 
 goes on more calmly: *'But there can be no 
 secrets between you and me. Seizor Officer — I have 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 33 
 
 the word of your superior as to your silence and 
 discretion. I may as well tell you I am a hater of 
 Cuban rebels and an agent of the Spanish Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 ** Ah, then I think I understand you," returns 
 the revenue man slowly. 'You have some knowl- 
 edge of an expedition to be fitted out to carry arms 
 and ammunition to the msurgents on the island. 
 I suppose you want me to put a revenue cutter or 
 a United States war vessel upon them — some of 
 the work I have been trying to do in regard to the 
 Three Friends T 
 
 " Diablo ! The Three Friends I If we could catch 
 that vessel ! Not here, where it would be a trial, 
 a farce, a mockery, a let-go ; but in Cuba, what a 
 fine butchery we would have ! " cries the Spaniard, 
 triumph and blood in his eye. 
 
 " No doubt of it," remarks the revenue man 
 grimly. " But these massacres cost your cause 
 more than your defeats. They lose you the sym- 
 pathy of the American people." 
 
 " Caramba ! What do we care for the sympathy 
 of the American people as long as we have the 
 American Government, with its warships and its 
 revenue cutters, to aid us ? " 
 
 *'Well, forthe present I reckon you've got us ! " 
 answers the detective, glumly. Then he con- 
 tinues, as if anxious to avoid discussion : "• Better 
 get to business and quit politics. I am here to do 
 my duty by my government and execute my 
 orders. What expedition have you reason to think 
 is being fitted out to violate United States neu- 
 trality in these parts ? " 
 
 " It is not immediately here," replies the Don, 
 
34 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 '' but at one of the islands about thirty miles to 
 the west of us — Emerald Key." 
 
 '' Emerald Key ! " ejaculates the customs offi- 
 cer. " Great Scott ! that is the home of George 
 Vanstone. His son and daughter are there." 
 
 " Bah ! That is the cunning of the man. He 
 has his family there beside him to give him in- 
 nocence — a superb place, pineapple plantation, 
 cocoanut grove, keeps open house, entertains 
 friends. But he is plotting to send a filibustering 
 expedition to Cuba; he is an enemy of Spain." 
 
 " What object do you suppose Vanstone can 
 have in such an affair? He is an American 
 merchant." 
 
 *' What is the object of every Yankee merchant ? 
 Money ! " 
 
 " But Vanstone is a millionaire. Look at his 
 steam yacht." 
 
 " Ah ! It is the steam yacht that will do the 
 business! " cries the Spaniard. " Caramba ! don't 
 you think I know he is a millionaire ? Does that 
 keep any Yankee merchant from wishing more 
 millions ? He is a Yankee merchant ; do you 
 know what that means ? It means a man who will 
 do anything for money. I know them. Por Dios ! 
 Estrabon Balasco knows them. Did not some of 
 them in your great war of secession fit out block- 
 ade-runners on the sly — for money ? Don't lots of 
 them now swindle your government custom 
 houses on valuations of goods, by false invoices — 
 for money ? " 
 
 This effusion Mastic can hardly deny. As a 
 revenue detective, he knows the sins of Yankee 
 merchants. He, therefore, goes on shortly; 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 35 
 
 " What reason have you to think that Mr. Van- 
 stone contemplates sending a filibustering- expedi- 
 tion to Cuba? " 
 
 " These : First, he has in concealment in his 
 house at Emerald Key a Cuban officer, one of 
 Maceo's staff, my information states. Second, 
 there is a hidden supply of arms, ammunition, and 
 dynamite, either on Emerald Key or some island 
 very near it. When the time comes, a gang of 
 these * patriots ' from Key West, the Cuban 
 officer, the concealed arms, and steam yacht will 
 come together, and in ten hours those arms may 
 be in the hands of the enemies of Spain, to shoot 
 my brothers down, to destroy my country. 
 Santa Maria / Think of thsit, Americano / Think 
 what it is to see the greatest empire the world has 
 seen, the proudest nation upon earth, trampled in 
 the dust by these traitors." 
 
 The Don's eyes are flashing, his gesture excited, 
 his emphasis snarling. 
 
 " Very well. What do you wish me to do in the 
 matter?" says the detective grimly, biting off the 
 end of another of Estrabon's peerless Havanas. 
 
 " I wish you to take a boat and discover where 
 the hidden depot of arms is located, so that it may 
 be seized. I wish you to also discover who is the 
 Cuban leader at present residing with Mr. Van- 
 stone and his family ; if he has already violated 
 American neutrality; so a warrant for his arrest 
 may be issued ! You must swear that out your- 
 self. Here is money to provide for your expenses." 
 
 "The United States Government is my pay- 
 master," mutters the detective, shortly, declining 
 the proffered gold. 
 
36 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Ah, of course ! You are right. You are in 
 the pay of the Great President. Report to me 
 as soon as possible. Do you think you can do 
 what I wish you ? " 
 
 *' Certainly. I am accustomed to the Florida 
 keys, and know how to travel about 'em," remarks 
 Mastic. 
 
 " Can I trust you ? So many of your country- 
 men sympathize with these dogs that would humble 
 Spain. So many Americanos hate my country." 
 The first is said eagerly, yet nervously, the last 
 somewhat dejectedly. 
 
 " You can rely on me," replies the revenue man, 
 determinedly. " Whatever my sympathies are, 1 am 
 an officer of the United States Government, and 
 as such will do my duty to the last drop of blood 
 in my body and the last gasp of breath in my 
 gizzard." 
 
 **Ah, yes, of course, I can trust an American," 
 says Don Estrabon. '* You phlegmatic people 
 never let your emotions overcome your duty." 
 
 " Not often," laughs the detective, " but when 
 we do, we're like anthracite — hard to start, but 
 harder to put out.'* 
 
 "Ah, yes. You Yankees are hard — like your 
 coal. But can't I offer you anything more, Senor 
 Mastic ? " 
 
 "Well, I've got a three days' cruise along the 
 Florida Reefs ahead of me," remarks the officer 
 reflectively, " and if I could make bold, a box of 
 them prime cigars would keep off mosquitoes." 
 
 " Ah, of course, certainly ! Are they not divine 
 in their flavor ?" 
 
 With this the Don forces into Mastic's hand a 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 3*1' 
 
 hundred of his superb weeds, and leads him to the 
 front door. 
 
 Here he whispers cautiously : 
 
 " Then I can rely on hearing from you very 
 shortly. There is now a revenue cutter in the 
 harbor. The Raleigh will be here within three 
 days ; she is at present pursuing the accursed Three 
 Friends^ the vessel she never catches." 
 
 " No ; I don't think she ever will, as long as Nap 
 Broward is captain of the Three Friends r laughs 
 the detective. 
 
 "Ah, if we only had that Broward in Havana — 
 a little of the Virginius business once more — eh mi 
 amigo f " 
 
 This last has been a dangerous speech for the 
 Spaniard ; Mastic's iron hand has been tightly 
 clinched, and did Don Balasco know it, his dark, 
 flashing eyes have come very near seeing stars 
 and his beautiful excited Latin features have been 
 very close to feeling the revenue officer's fist. 
 
 Controlling himself, however, the American 
 says shortly, " In three or four days you will 
 hear from me," turns on his heel, goes down the 
 shell walk to the street, muttering to himself, " No ; 
 that wouldn't do. They'd have bounced me 
 from the revenue service if I'd smashed the Don's 
 face. And now, I suppose I have got to do my 
 duty, and put another nail in Cuba's coffin. Hang 
 it ! I'd sooner be fitting out filibustering expedi- 
 tions to help the poor devils, than cutting them 
 off from the arms with which to keep themselves 
 from being butchered." Then he chuckles to him- 
 self. " I couldn't help taking the Don's cigars. No 
 smoker could help that, with their ^ come-to-heaven' 
 
38 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 flavor — but his money — hang me! if I'd grabbed 
 that, I'd have felt as if I was selling the goddess of 
 liberty by the pound." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GIRL IN THE SKIFF. 
 
 " Now let me consider a little how to do my duty 
 by the U. S.," cogitates the detective. 
 
 A moment after he leaves the main street of Key 
 West, and after a tramp through the dusty lanes 
 of the Cuban quarter of the town, finds himself 
 near South Beach. Here he knocks at the door 
 of a house that, despite its surrounding palms, 
 papaws and cocoanut trees, has a somewhat de- 
 cayed though nautical appearance. Near its por- 
 tal are several fishing nets and a number of the 
 long poles and hooks used by sponge gatherers. 
 
 It is hardly nine o'clock in the evening, and 
 Mastic soon gets answer from an old darky woman, 
 who apparently is the presiding genius of the 
 place. 
 
 To her he says : '^ Aunt Dinah, you remember 
 me?" 
 
 ^' Yas, you'se Massa Moss-Tick." 
 
 ** Quite right, Auntie. Is Alligator Pete within 
 hail?" 
 
 *' Golly, Massa Moss-Tick, you'se in luck. Dis 
 af'ernoon, you come- and say, ' Where Massa Alli- 
 gator Pete ? ' I tell you, ' Hanged if I kno'. ' Now 
 I tell you, he come in from Snipe Key in his 
 schooner to-day to buy grub." 
 
 Then she raises her voice and cries, '' Massa 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. ^^ 
 
 Alligator Pete,Massa Moss-Tick of de States Gub- 
 erment here to see yo' ! " 
 
 And the answer that comes back is, *' Auntie, 
 ye can tell the Government to come in. I ain't 
 been smuggling, and I'm tickled to grip Tom 
 Mastic by the hand." 
 
 A moment after the detective finds himself con- 
 fronted by a thin, weather-beaten individual of in* 
 definite age, long ago named Peter Smith, but 
 now generally known as " 'Gator Pete." 
 
 At present there is but one description that can 
 be given to him and that is " dried'' The only 
 features that have not undergone this process are 
 his eyes, that are bright, flashing, and steel gray. 
 This desiccation under the burning sun of Florida 
 seems to have left nothing but muscle, sinew and 
 bone, for his form is erect and his step light and 
 elastic, but somewhat rolling, for Alligator Pete, 
 though a hunter and trapper of wide-spread re- 
 nown, is partly amphibious. Descended from one 
 of the most illustrious " cracker " families of South- 
 ern Florida — the * shoot-on-the-drop-of-the-hat- 
 Smiths" — 'Gator Pete early in life had turned 
 his attention to murdering the reptiles from which 
 he had gained his appellation. 
 
 Like a good many of his class, Pete is a nomad; 
 but for the last few years he has spent his time 
 sponge-fishing on the Florida reefs, mixed with 
 occasional ventures in tobacco smuggling. He is 
 now considered one of the best guides about the 
 Florida Keys, and in this capacity has been of Use 
 to Mr. Mastic, even assisting him at times in raids 
 upon the defiers of the United States revenue. 
 Consequently on several cruises, the two have been 
 
40 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 drawn together by the bond of mutual danger and 
 mutual support. Both have learned to know each 
 other as men who can be relied on in tough times 
 and squally waters. 
 
 *' I am right glad to see you, Pete," remarks the 
 detective. 
 
 ** That's me also," replies the guide. " Is it busi- 
 ness or pleasure?" 
 
 " Business," answers the revenue man, shortly. 
 " I want to know — now this is man to man — if you 
 can take me over to some little island near Emer- 
 ald Key in your schooner, and loaf around there 
 three or four days with me, fishing — and not see 
 anything but fishing ^ 
 
 " Yes. I reckon it can be did," is Pete's reply. 
 Then his face assumes a knowing expression, and 
 he continues : " It's lucky you spoke quick. Mastic, 
 for t'other side were talking to me about next 
 week, and then you see I might ha' been agin ye 
 and the guv'ment." 
 
 ** Who were talking ?" asks the detective, sud- 
 denly. 
 
 " Wal, that would be tellin'," chuckles the guide. 
 "And my terms will have to be higher this trip, 
 Ma€tic, though that don't matter to you, as Uncle 
 Sammy pays the reckoning. Ye see, since there's 
 so much dodging round the Keys by filibustering 
 craft and guv'ment revenue cutters, the price of a 
 guide and pilot has bulged up like an alligator 
 h'isting the mud when comin' out of winter 
 quarters.'' 
 
 ** The terms will be all right," assents the revenue 
 man, with the easy indifference with which a man 
 always pays out government money. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 4I 
 
 " Wal, that's settled. Now Vm on your side of 
 the fence, let's shake flippers on it." 
 
 As Mastic's hand grips the skinny, bony, dried- 
 up fingers of the guide, he knows that Alligator 
 Pete is, while he receives government pay, dead 
 for the government and dead against any one who 
 would violate its laws, though the cracker would 
 go to smuggling or piloting expeditions, con- 
 trary to the neutrality of the United States, within 
 two minutes after he had gone out of its employ. 
 
 "Then let's be moving," says the customs of- 
 ficer, hurriedly. " We must get out of here to- 
 night." 
 
 "All right ; I will have you on board in twenty 
 minutes," answers the alligator killer. Then calling 
 to Auntie to look after the drying of his sponges 
 in the back yard, the guide suggests, " You step up 
 town and get your duds, while I go down to the 
 boat and get things ready for a start. It's fortunate 
 I've just laid in a new stock of canned goods and 
 liquid sustenance from Monsalvatge Brothers, 
 which, of course, under the sarcumstances, the 
 guv'ment settles for." 
 
 "Quite right!" answers the officer, and starts 
 hurriedly toward the center of the town, the guide 
 telling him that he will have a lantern in the bow 
 of the skiff that will take him on board. 
 
 At his hotel Mastic informs the landlady he has a 
 chance to buy a lot of cheap sponges on one of the 
 keys toward the Dry Tortugas and is going there 
 to-night. 
 
 A few minutes after, he is near South Beach 
 again, and being rowed out in a small boat by 
 Alligator Pete, finds himself on the deck of the 
 
42 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Sponge-fisherman's schooner, the Gopher. This is a 
 little center-board craft of some forty feet long, 
 which has been left m charge of a boy who, under 
 the appellation of the Varmint, acts as first mate, 
 crew, steward, and sometimes cook of the vessel. 
 
 *' Hallo ! Is that you, Varmint ? " says Mastic 
 cheerily. 
 
 ** Hallo yourself, Custom-house!" replies the 
 other, merrily. "■ What tyranny is the guv'ment 
 up to now ? " 
 
 *' Quit your darned skylarking. Varmint; let that 
 boat tow astern ; then help h'ist the mainsail," cries 
 Pete. And this being done they put the foresail 
 on the vessel also. ** Now, everybody bear a hand 
 at the windlass and get in the anchor ! " 
 
 Then the Varmint and Mastic run up the jib, as 
 Pete takes the tiller, and the little vessel is under 
 way, first running south from Key West until she 
 is clear of the reefs, and then steering to the east- 
 ward. 
 
 " Now you kin turn in if you like. Mastic," re- 
 marks the guide. '' No good of your staying up. 
 The Varmint and I kin take care of the craft. If 
 I want a pull at the sheets, I'll rouse ye. No, I 
 don't want you to take a hand at the tiller to-night. 
 Ye'd navigate us in this darkness on to a reef be- 
 fore daybreak. I'll sleep to-morrow while the 
 Varmint takes care of the boat, and you do the 
 fishing. What's the fish your after— smugglers 
 or Cubans ? " 
 
 '' That'd be telling, too," laughs the detective, 
 looking for a soft spot of plank. 
 
 The night is a perfect one; the deck preferable 
 to the stuffy little cabin. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 43 
 
 It does not take long for Mastic to roll up in a 
 pair of blankets and make himself comfortable on 
 the lee deck of the schooner, and sleep the sleep 
 of the blessed. From this he is only aroused once 
 or twice by the skipper, when it is necessary to 
 put the boat about. 
 
 The consequence is, that when the revenue man 
 arises the next morning and looks around him he 
 thinks he is in fairyland. 
 
 The schooner is anchored just off a little islet, 
 which sits low on the blue water and is green with 
 tropic vegetation. 
 
 Farther to the east are the Big and Little Pine 
 Keys, both covered with the trees after which 
 they are named, although even these are inter- 
 mingled with the flora of the equator. 
 
 There are islands — fairy islands— all about them, 
 and the breezes from these ocean oases are per- 
 fumed with the breath of fruits and flowers. 
 
 To the south is another green islet, perchance 
 not over half a mile in diameter, which is cov- 
 ered with the growing fruit of the tropics. Nestled 
 in its verdure is a great white house, spacious as 
 even some of the country places of the Berkshire 
 Hills. Flower gardens are in bloom all about it. 
 A beautiful shell walk leading from its grounds 
 connects with a pretty little wharf that runs out 
 into the limpid water. To this is attached steps 
 with floating dock for the convenience of boating 
 parties. Little skiffs are moored beside it ; farther 
 out is a flat-bottomed catboat, and perhaps one 
 hundred yards from the shore is anchored a white 
 steam yacht, which Mr. Mastic immediately 
 recognizes as the Flying Fish, 
 
44 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 The Varmint is just making plates, platters, and 
 dishes fly in arranging for a meal on deck. Pete 
 is even now coming out of the cabin, from which 
 the aroma of coffee and the odors of fried fish, 
 flapjacks, eggs, and bacon herald approaching 
 breakfast. 
 
 The rising sun is just tinging the eastern waters 
 and making them brilliant, soft, and warm, though 
 tempered with the southern breeze. Altogether, 
 it is as pretty and bright a scene as Mr. Mastic has 
 ever looked upon. 
 
 The view seems also to affect Alligator Pete, as 
 he several times shades his eyes with his hand, 
 gazing toward a small, low island about a couple 
 of miles east of them. On it are a few scrub pine 
 trees, surrounded by the usual mangrove and but- 
 tonwood growth of the Florida islands. 
 
 " What are you looking at so earnestly ? " asks 
 Mastic, following the guide's glance. 
 
 *' I war trying to see what made that light over 
 thar. Hang me if I kin work it out. That key 
 ain't got no inhabitants on it, and yet jist as we 
 anchored this morning Pd swar' I seed a light 
 thar plain as I sees that island now." 
 
 '' A light there, and no inhabitants ? " queries 
 MastTc eagerly. '* Suppose we go fishing that way 
 to-day." 
 
 " Well, Coral Key's about as good a place as 
 you could pick out," answers the pilot. " It's 
 rather strange it ain't got no inhabitants. It's the 
 best landing place in the islands. A channel runs 
 right alongside of it, and a five-hundred ton ves- 
 sel could moor agin' its coral rocks as easy as she 
 could agin' a wharf. But navigation don't bother 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 45 
 
 me just now so much as breakfast. Heave ahead 
 thar, Varmint, with the grub ! " 
 
 Then they sit down on deck, and over the meal 
 get to discussing their surroundings, Mr. Mastic 
 gaining what information he can about the Van- 
 stones. 
 
 ** I don't know much about the old gent," says 
 Pete. ** All I know is that he must have as much 
 money as the Havana lottery. Darn it, I believe 
 he's got more ! He's too rich to drink reg'lar 
 water, he are. They bring it all in bottles tied up 
 with wire to keep it from spilling, it's so darned 
 precious." 
 
 ** Shucks ! that ain't nothin'," remarks the Var- 
 mint, anxious to display his knowledge. " They 
 have ice like a bar-room down thar" — he waves 
 his hand toward Emerald Key — ** and a freeze place 
 for meat. A nigger sneaked in thar one night to 
 steal and somehow he got locked in. The next 
 morning thar war frozen nigger. You bet the 
 coons don't play round old Vanstone's beef quar- 
 ters no more ; not for peanuts ! Besides, with all 
 his money he ain't got no health. I tell you what, 
 thar's been a doc' over dere for the last week." 
 
 " A doctor? " queries Mastic, to whom this in- 
 formation is astonishing. 
 
 ** Yes, a doc'," answers the boy, confidently. " T 
 know it was a doc', because Joe Vance, who ran 
 him over in a tugboat, told me he got ten dollars 
 for every ten minutes he beat three hours in git- 
 ting him thar. I reckon that showed the old gent 
 was purty near gone, ready to pay for gaspin's at 
 the rate of a picayune a breath. He must be a 
 pretty ornery cuss, he must." 
 
46 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Well, Vanstone can't get ahead of these 
 cigars," laughs Mastic, producing a portion of 
 Don Balasco's gift. 
 
 " Great Crackie ! " says Alligator Pete, lighting 
 up lazily and blowing out the smoke. '' These do 
 beat corncob. Where in thunder did you seize 
 them?" 
 
 But Mastic's answer is cut short by a yell from 
 the Varmint, who has stepped forward, with the 
 dishes. 
 
 " Great snakes ! " cries the boy, *' A boat '11 be 
 aboard of us in two minutes, and by sharks, she's 
 sailed by a gal ! and the most tarnation, all-fired 
 lookin' one I ever seen. Darn me if she isn't 
 rigged as if she war waitin' for de angels." 
 
 The guide and Mastic step forward, and their 
 glances following the Varmint's pointing hand, 
 they see something that makes Alligator Pete's 
 eyes grow very big and gives Mastic something 
 to think about. 
 
 A light flat-bottomed skiff, peculiarly adapted 
 to the navigation of these shallow waters of 
 Florida Bay, is coming head on to them as fast as 
 the gentle breeze will bring her. In the bow sits 
 a white-headed negro ; in the stern about as pretty 
 a specimen of femininity as ever played the mer- 
 maid to enchant the heart of man. 
 
 " Did ye ever see such a rig before?" remarks 
 the guide. " She's a leetle cuter than the pictures 
 they have on whisky bottles." 
 
 But Mastic does not answer him. The boat is 
 now quite near, and astonishment dominates the 
 detective's mind, for the young lady who steers the 
 skiff so dashingly is the girl whose photograph 
 
PON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. ^7 
 
 Don Balasco's delicacy has prevented adorning 
 his cigar-boxes. Only, this flesh-and-blood creature 
 is to her counterfeit presentment as the sun is to 
 the stars. 
 
 In a light, floating, snowy, fly-away dress, with 
 three touches of delicate color : one a sash of sim- 
 mering pinkish satin that outlines her lithe and 
 delicate waist; another, some blush rosebuds in 
 her white leghorn ; the third, her cheeks, that are 
 tinted by the bloom of youth, exercise, and 
 health ; the girl looks like a Naiad, nay morp, a 
 Venus of the waters. 
 
 Though at first Mastic does not thoroughly ap- 
 preciate all her loveliness, for the young lady has 
 charms of manner and subtle graces of mind, in- 
 tellect, and body that are to him, as yet, unknown 
 — still every moment he gazes at her adds to the 
 effect of the girl's beauty upon him — likewise 
 on Alligator Pete and even the boy Varmipt, 
 who gapes at her open-mouthed. 
 
 " Look out ! " cries the guide, gallantly, for the 
 young lady is now within hail, " or ye'U run us 
 down. Miss ! " 
 
 " Oh, never fear. Captain," floats over the water, 
 in the bright, laughing tones of girlhood. " I'm 
 enough of a sailor for this. Throw Gohah a rope, 
 and I'll be alongside in a minute." 
 
 ** Who in thunder is Goliah?" asks Pete, too 
 much absorbed in her beauty to heed the fair one's 
 command. 
 
 " I'se Goliah, boss," says the voice of the darky 
 in the bow of the skiff. 
 
 This is mingled with feminine entreaty, " Oh, 
 please throw us a rope, quick ! " next, in delicious, 
 
4^ DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 but disappointed tones, '' Oh, you're too late. We 
 shall have to come about.'' 
 
 This the girl does, guiding the skiff with the 
 skill of a fisherman's daughter, and as the boat 
 comes up in the wind she cries, '' Won't you please 
 throw me a rope ? " 
 
 This time they obey her and her skiff glides 
 alongside the Gopher. 
 
 " Ye will excuse me. Miss," says Alligator 
 Pete, taking off his sombrero and making an elab- 
 orate bow. "' But both me and the Varmint were 
 so occupied with looking at ye we couldn't do 
 nothin' else, the first time ye passed us by." 
 
 But the young lady pays no direct attention to 
 the compliment; she merely says, " I am Miss Van- 
 stone. You're Mr. Alligator Pete — are you not ? '' 
 
 ** Yes, Miss ; and this is Mr. Mastic, and here's 
 my cook, cabin boy, fust mate and crew, the 
 Varmint," chuckles the guide ; then says, " Ye 
 won't step on board, will ye, Miss?" 
 
 " No, thank you," ans\vers the girl as Mastic 
 does his best at bowing, and the Varmint, having 
 no cap to take off, pulls his forelock and titters. 
 Then she goes on, a curious trace of nervous hesi- 
 tation in her liquid voice that makes the detective 
 won5er: " I've — I've come to buy fish for break- 
 fast. You're — you're fishermen, I believe." 
 
 ** Fishermen be darned ! " ejaculates the Varmint, 
 who is apparently anxious to get into the con- 
 versation. 
 
 " Sonny ! " remarks his captain, in a smooth but 
 suggestive tone, " Walk for'ard like a streak of 
 lightning and keep your jaws clapped together 
 tighter than a calked seam." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 49 
 
 To this Mastic adds, " We ain't fishermen, Miss, 
 but if ye want fish for breakfast, if that nigger of 
 yours is worth his salt he can catch a mess of 
 pompano any morning in twenty minutes off that 
 p'int." 
 
 " Stay, we'll do it for ye," says Alligator Pete, 
 anxious to please beauty. 
 
 But just at this moment the Varmint, eager to 
 be of service also, cries, ** Hurry, Custom-house, 
 haul that boat for'ard ! " 
 
 The effect of ** Custom-house " on the girl is 
 instantaneous. The roses leave her cheeks, she 
 grows suddenly pale, and a curious, anxious ex- 
 pression comes into her beautiful eyes. She stam- 
 mers, " You — you are a revenue officer ? " 
 
 " Yes, Miss," replies Mastic, cursing under his 
 breath the boy whose words have told his tale to 
 one of the family upon whom he has come to spy. 
 '*A United States customs officer looking for 
 smugglers." 
 
 " A — ah ! That being the case," says the young 
 lady, " I'll not take you from your duty and the — 
 the smugglers." Then she cries, " Goliah, let go 
 the line ! " and the boat fiashes over the rippling 
 water, bearing what seems to Alligator Pete a 
 day dream away from him. 
 
 As for Mastic, the instinct of the detective tells 
 him this beautiful creature for some unknown rea- 
 son fears the United States revenue department. 
 He ponders '* Why ? " 
 
 But his reveries are broken in upon by screams, 
 howls, yells, and shrieks from the unfortunate 
 Varmint, who is dancing a schottische under the 
 rope's end. 
 
5© DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ** I'll teach ye to open your blarsted jaws when 1 
 told you to keep 'em shut, you whelp. Every time 
 ye opened that souse pot of yers ye scared that 
 top knot of creatum. Than, darn ye, ye gave 
 the detective away. Didn't I tell ye this was 
 to be a sneak cruise ? " 
 
 But if the Varmint's voice drove Miss Vanstone 
 away, it also brings her back. Mastic sees her 
 boat hastily come about, and before the boy 
 has finished his dance and stopped his music the 
 girl is once more near the schooner. Her eyes 
 flash indignation, and she cries : " For what are 
 you beating that poor boy ? " 
 
 " Shucks, 'tain't nothin' but a leetle rope's ending 
 I war givin' the Varmint for not obeying orders. 
 Got to have discipline on shipboard," mutters 
 Alligator Pete, who is a kind-hearted man, but a 
 captain who will be obeyed. '' I war only doing 
 it fur the boy's good," he adds in a shamefaced 
 sort of way. 
 
 *' No ; it wasn't for his good I Don't tell me 
 that. Alligator Pete," says the girl excitedly. " It 
 was because he told me Mr. Mastic was a United 
 States Revenue officer in pusuit of smugglers. 
 Then she falters these curious words : ** This — 
 this proves to me what — what I feared." Indig- 
 nation now comes into her voice, she adds: 
 '* You, Mr. Officer, are here to seek Cuban sym- 
 pathizers — come to me to-day at eleven o'clock 
 and I will show you one." 
 
 **Ye don't quite understand me. Miss," mum- 
 bles the detective. 
 
 But the girl only answers commandingly: 
 " Come — it is your duty — Come ! " 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 5 1 
 
 Then, with dainty hand, she holds out some- 
 thing to the sufferer, who is still rubbing his legs 
 and emitting subdued sniffs, and says, " Poor 
 Varmint — poor, friendless ship boy — here's some- 
 thing to make you laugh when you get a cruise 
 on shore." 
 
 *' Oh, snakes and 'gators ! " screams the boy, *' Fm 
 
 set up for life. It's — it's " Then he calls after 
 
 her, " Ye've made a mistake. Ye've busted your- 
 self. Miss. This ain't no dollar note ! " 
 
 But the boat keeps on her course, though the 
 girl, shaking her sunny curls, looks back at him 
 and smiles — leaving the Varmint with tears of joy, 
 gratitude, and love in his eyes, gazing at a twenty 
 dollar bill, which seems to him almost the wealth 
 of a Rothschild, and for which one day he will pay 
 interest greater than ever Shylock dreamed of — 
 in things that affect life and death to those blue 
 eyes, when hope has left them and despair has 
 entered into them, and this fair earth seems 
 peopled with the fiends of hell. 
 
 ** Ye'se made a strike. Varmint, for which I'd 
 take the whaling I've give ye myself. But as it 
 hurts her feelings, I'll promise not to larrup ye 
 agin this cruise if ye'll half behave," says Pete, in 
 a shamefaced, kindly tone. Then he turns to 
 Mastic and asks : '* I suppose y'r going to see Miss 
 Highflyer at eleven ? " 
 
 *' Sartin ! " replies the detective, " If I have to 
 handcuff her daddy. Both because it's my duty 
 and because she's the prettiest thing I ever looked 
 on, and I've been to Kentucky horse fairs ! " 
 
 Then he gets to wondering if old Vanstone is 
 really fitting put filibustering expeditions, and 
 
52 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 what this lovely girl of fashion and refinement has # 
 to do with such affairs, anyway. 
 
 But when man is concerned, even girls of fash- 
 ion and refinement sometimes find a place in very 
 curious transactions. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DRIFTING BOAT FROM CUBA. 
 
 The revenue man, whatever may be his opinion 
 about the interview, apparently is determined to 
 make a good impression upon the young lady 
 who has summoned him to it. 
 
 In the cabin of the Gopher Mr. Mastic shakes 
 the dust of ages out of his clothes and even at- 
 tempts to shave such portions of his face as are 
 not adorned by his full beard and long mustache. 
 Then he rumages in the gripsack he has brought 
 with him from Tampa, and proceeds to make 
 what is, for him, such an elaborate toilet that it 
 produces jeering comment from the Varmint on 
 the deck above. 
 
 *' Hang me, Pete ! " cries the boy, gazing down 
 with grinning face at Mastic's preparations. 
 " Hang me, if Custom-house isn't puttin' on a 
 biled shirt and a red speckled necktie. And now 
 — Golly! He's histing on his guv'ment cap." 
 
 When Mr. Mastic steps on the deck of the 
 Gopher he proves the Varmint's inspection has 
 been correct, for he has given himself as civilized 
 and official an appearance as is possible under the 
 circumstances. 
 
 " By chipmunks ! " remarks Alligator Pete, as 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 53 
 
 he rows the government man toward Emerald 
 Key. " One would think ye were sparking, 
 Mastic, instead of going to raise the devil with 
 that gal's daddy." For the two have been dis- 
 cussing the matter and have half-way formed the 
 opmion that old Vanstone must be in the filibuster- 
 ing business. 
 
 " Darn me if I don't think I've hit it," remarks 
 Mastic. " The old man's going to Cuba himself 
 to land his shipments of arms, and the gal's afeard 
 the Dons will catch him and garrote him ; so she's 
 going to use me to stop him." 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder if ye'd struck it," rejoins 
 Pete. '' Any way, the gal seems to be as anxious 
 about the matter as ye are. See, she's come down 
 to meet yer." And he points to Miss Indra Van- 
 stone, who, forming an alluring picture, is stand- 
 ing upon the wharf that runs out from Emerald 
 Key, apparently awaiting their coming. 
 
 The spot where the girl is posed is a pretty 
 structure which, built on piles, runs out from the 
 land to a sufficient depth of water to permit the 
 Flying Fish, if necessary, to run alongside of it, 
 thus avoiding the inconvenience of boat-connec- 
 tion with the sea-going yacht. Its planking leads 
 directly to a wide shell walk which, passing 
 through gardens of blooming flowers, goes 
 up to the . portico of the great white house. 
 Behind it, amid the cocoanuts, bananas, paw- 
 paws, sugar-apples, and sapadillos, are two 
 pretty structures built after the pagoda style, one 
 of which is quite large and is used as a bil- 
 liard-room and bowling alley, the other is the 
 stable, which, in curious contrast to the size of 
 
54 I50N BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the mansion, is extraordinarily small — horses be- 
 mg of little use on the Florida Keys. 
 
 As the skiff passes her, the girl, who is still 
 in the light, float-away summer costume of the 
 early morning, though she has added to it a 
 white silk sunshade, waves her greeting to them 
 and calls out graciously, " Thank you for keeping 
 your appointment, Mr. Mastic." 
 
 A moment after, the detective, stepping on the 
 light float, runs up the little steps that lead to the 
 wharf, and is greeted in a manner, as he expresses 
 it, that takes him out of his boots. For the 
 young lady brings immediately to bear upon 
 the revenue man all the charms of gracious 
 manner and unaffected, spontaneous girlish fasci- 
 nation — articles of which Miss Indra Vanstone has 
 very many in her dazzling personality and viva- 
 cious mind. 
 
 ** It is very nice of you to come at my request," 
 she remarks, extending an exquisitely gloved hand 
 of welcome. 
 
 " I'm at yer service," replies the detective gal- 
 lantly, giving the pretty digits a hearty grip that 
 almost makes the young lady wince. 
 
 But she goes on, saying pleasantly, " Come 
 witli me to the house," and leads her guest through 
 a scene of beauty that makes him remark, " This 
 takes me to the Tampa Bay Hotel and the Ponce 
 de Leon, only it's condensed." For the grounds 
 about the villa are exquisitely kept and of great 
 tropical beauty, and the click of balls from the 
 pagoda billiard-room, where Rex is practicing 
 fancy shots, brings modern, every-day American 
 life in touch with southern solitude. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 55 
 
 As she walks by his side, the girl startles Mastic 
 by this astounding speech : '' You would think 
 these islands were a land of rest, quiet, peace / '' 
 Indra waves a dainty hand over the charming 
 landscape, rippling waters and snow-white yacht 
 resting lightly on the languid swell which scarcely 
 moves the graceful vessel ; then goes on bitterly, 
 " So it would be, were it not for the war of mur- 
 der and extermination going on only a short 
 hundred miles across the Gulf Stream, from which 
 drifts to us some of its misery, despair, and 
 blood." 
 
 The detective makes no answer to this, only 
 opens his eyes, astonished, for the girl's manner is 
 vehement, excited. A moment after, apparently 
 conquering her emotions, Miss Vanstone con- 
 tinues : '' Papa thought it best to leave the whole 
 affair in my hands," then adds, with a delightful 
 moue, " You know, nearly everybody lets me 
 have my own way." 
 
 ** I reckon ye're about right on that p'int," says 
 the officer, with an affirmative chuckle. '' The 
 man who could say no to you wouldn't be fit to 
 be an Indian." 
 
 " Vm glad you think so," replies the young 
 lady, and her eyes tell the same tale, as she con- 
 tinues, " Let us step into the house, where " — 
 there is a-little tremor in her voice now — " where I 
 have something to tell you. After that, papa will 
 offer you the hospitality of Cocoanut Grove." 
 
 " I am very glad to hear that," returns Mastic, 
 '' because " — here he goes on uneasily — " I was 
 afraid it might be a case of handcuffs." 
 
 ** Handcuffs ! Handcuffs for a wounded man ? 
 
56 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 That — that would be too cruel — too horrible!" 
 falters the girl, a tremor of what the detective 
 thinks is fear running through her beautiful face 
 and willowy figure. Then her pose grows com- 
 manding, her eyes flaming and indignant ; she says 
 imperiously, " Come into the house and see ! " for 
 by this time they are near the great porticoes of 
 the villa. 
 
 A moment after they stand upon its broad ve- 
 randa, and Mastic discovers that Mr. Vanstone's 
 residence is built in true southern style. All around 
 it, save at its back, is an enormous veranda. 
 Through its center runs a hallway from which its 
 large, airy rooms open to right and left. A broad 
 staircase leads to the second, which is the top story, 
 the rooms of which likewise connect with another 
 wide passage that runs from end to end of the man- 
 sion. French windows give all the rooms on the 
 lower floor easy access to the veranda. The 
 house is furnished in light wickerware ; its floors 
 are of hardwood, covered with rugs. The comforts 
 of the tropics are mingled with the graces of the 
 temperate zone. 
 
 As Mastic enters, every window seems to be 
 open,' and the breeze, which has now become very 
 languid, though still refreshing, bears with it the 
 perfumes of growing pineapple and blossoming 
 shrubs and flowers. 
 
 But the young lady does not give him much 
 time for inspection; apparently she is eager to 
 come to the point of a matter which bears upon 
 her young mind. She says earnestly, after a 
 moment's pause of thought: " Upstairs in my 
 boudoir, I can tell you my story better, and can 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 57 
 
 show you what will make you ashamed of your 
 errand here." 
 
 " I — I don't quite understand you, Miss," stam- 
 mers Mastic, as he follows Indra up the broad 
 oaken stairway. Then passing along a hallway, 
 made graceful by growing flowers and palms in 
 ornamental jardinieres, she throws open the door 
 leading to an exquisitely furnished lady's sitting- 
 room, and remarks, ** Step in, please." 
 
 A moment after, confronting the detective, the 
 young lady suddenly falters out, " Please forgive 
 those last words of mine. Your coming has made 
 me very anxious, very nervous. Sit down ; don't 
 interrupt me; let me tell it all to you. Then 
 do your duty ; only remember you have a heart in 
 your body — a good heart. Thank Heaven, I can 
 see you have a good heart ! " 
 
 "Well, Miss, I'm here to listen to you," replies 
 Mastic , somewhat astonished and decidedly im- 
 pressed by this peroration, which is given with 
 excited face and agitated but exquisite gesticula- 
 tion. 
 
 With this the government man drops into a 
 low, luxurious chair, and Indra Vanstone, her soul 
 in her eyes, speaks unto him these words : 
 
 " Since I came to these tropic islands, two 
 weeks ago, I have occupied myself sailing over 
 these beautiful waters — that should be peaceful, 
 but are not — piloted by the negro Goliah, who is 
 devoted to me and knows every key from here to 
 Biscayne. On one day last week we had been on 
 an expedition to Big Pine Key over yonder, for 
 oysters or fish. I forget which, but it is of no 
 moment. On our return, the head wind made it 
 
58 DON BALASCO OF KfiY WEST. 
 
 convenient to beat out a short distance into the 
 Gulf Stream. The day was fine, the water smooth, 
 though a sharp southwest breeze was blowing. A 
 mile or two outside of Pine Key I was just putting 
 the skiff about, when a cry from Goliah, who has 
 the eyes of an eagle, caused me to use my eyes 
 also. I thought I saw a piece of driftwood, a log 
 — one of those huge trees that sometimes are borne 
 out from the great tropical rivers into this won- 
 derful stream of water that runs between us and 
 Cuba. I would have paid no attention to it, but 
 Goliah declared it was a boat — a drifting boat. 
 
 "A suspicion that it might be from some wrecked 
 ship, that I might be of service to some helpless 
 sailors, made me keep my skiff on its course, though 
 it took me five or six miles into the open water — 
 'further than it was safe for my little craft to go. 
 But the day v»^as fair ; there was not a squall-cloud 
 in the heavens, and I was anxious to help the ship- 
 wrecked. 
 
 " Half an hour's run brought me near to 
 the boat. I could see it had suffered disaster 
 of some kind. Its little mast and tiny sail had 
 been partly blown away by a gale. Appar- 
 ently it was drifting before a southern wind, di- 
 agonally across the current of the Gulf Stream 
 from the direction of the Cuban coast. A mo- 
 ment after I peered over its gunwale. 
 
 "If God lets me live one hundred years, Mr. Mas* 
 tic, I shall never forget that sight. I had half ex^ 
 pected suffering, starvation, but I did not dream 
 of blood. Three dead men lay upon the thwarts 
 of the boat; not in the death of shipwreck, but the 
 death of war or murder. Their blood had flowed 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 59 
 
 out of their bodies from bullet and machete 
 wounds. Another — a living man, wounded also, 
 but still breathing — was extended in the stern 
 sheets. I could not do it, but Goliah made the ex- 
 amination and lifted into my skiff the wounded 
 man. We took the boat in tow, the dead men in 
 it, the living one lying beside me ; I pouring water 
 between his pale lips and trying to revive him. 
 But he only muttered awful words, sometimes in 
 English, sometimes Spanish. He was in what 
 might be the semi-uniform of a Cuban officer. 
 The words he faltered in delirium made me know 
 he was not Spanish, though I would have minis- 
 tered to one of them just the same. 
 
 " Two hours afterward my skiff was beside our 
 wharf. Goliah carried the wounded man to our 
 house. Our servants buried the dead beneath 
 those cocoanut trees " — the girl points through 
 the open window and murmurs : " Over them I 
 have had placed a cross. 
 
 '' Fortunately, a tugboat was here with a cargo 
 of coal for the yacht. This boat had steam up, 
 and within six hours, under my father's orders, 
 brought from Key West a friend of ours, a cele- 
 brated northern physician who chanced to be 
 spending a few days there. By his skillful hand the 
 bullet was extracted. By my nursing and that of 
 my sister — for since her arrival she has assisted 
 me — the waif I stole from the sea and the sham- 
 bles has, this morning, I am told, a chance of life. 
 Do you suppose I'm going to let you, by perse- 
 cuting or arresting him under orders from our 
 government, destroy that chance? That is what 
 you came here to do. I knew it by your manner 
 
6o DON BALASCO Of KEY WfiSf. 
 
 when you discovered that I knew you were a 
 revenue officer." 
 
 " Ye're mistaken, Miss Vanstone," replies the 
 detective, with a deprecating wave of his hand, 
 for the girl's tone is reproachful and her manner 
 defiant. " The United States Treasury Depart- 
 ment only prosecutes men who are violating the 
 neutrality of this country by going to Cuba, not 
 coming away from it." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " answers Indra, excitedly. ** Don't 
 I know that they have prosecuted officers who 
 have returned from Cuba for — for previously hav- 
 ing fitted out expeditions ? The Spanish consuls 
 make affidavits, the Treasury Department prose- 
 cutes them, but, thank God, no American jury has 
 ever convicted on them. Don't I see, night after 
 night, your revenue cutters flitting about these 
 keys ? Who are they in pursuit of? Men who 
 would go to fight for the liberty of their native 
 island. Have I not watched at night the dark 
 smoke of the Raleigh as she cruises up and down 
 the ocean there to prevent arms reaching a people 
 to save them from butchery ? Has not the United 
 States Government prevented a dozen expeditions 
 going to that island where the Spaniards have 
 stayed one ? Don't talk to me ! " cries the generous 
 girl, in excited voice. *' I know how well the gov- 
 ernment at Washington loves Cuba." 
 
 " Nevertheless," says the detective affably, " my 
 mission here is only to intercept and head off par- 
 ties sailing to the island. The wounded man you 
 speak of is perfectly safe from me. Besides, I will 
 be plain with you, because I know you're not the 
 kind to give a man away and get his head cut off. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 6 1 
 
 Four-fifths of the government officials down here 
 only do what they are told because they have no 
 choice in the matter. They sympathize with the 
 Cubans just as much as you do." 
 
 " Yes, and you, as I look on you, are one of 
 them," says the girl, extending her hand eagerly 
 and getting in return another grip that makes her 
 wince. 
 
 Then the revenue man goes on : " Perhaps I — if 
 you could tell me who this wounded man is — could 
 find out if there's any likelihood of a warrant being 
 sworn against him by the Spanish consul in Key 
 West, or any trouble coming to him, and give 
 you a hint in time." 
 
 ** I do not know his name," answers Indra. " We 
 searched his uniform, which was but a mass of 
 rags, mud, and blood," she adds with a shud- 
 der. " The one or two scraps of memoranda we 
 found only hinted to us he was either on the staff 
 of Maceo or served under that Cuban leader." 
 
 " But the words of his delirium — did not they 
 give any clue ? " 
 
 Even as the detective speaks, from the next 
 room rings a cry. 
 
 " Would that give you a clue ? " whispers the 
 girl with white lips, as to Mastic's ears come 
 screams, shrieks, and ravings that make his blood 
 run cold — they hint such awful things. 
 
 '* Cuba Libre ! Al machete ! To save the wound- 
 ed ! " is the cry, given like an officer rallying his 
 men. Then the voice grows pleading, piteous, 
 horrified in its tones, as it shrieks, " Santa Maria ! 
 Don't knife the sick ! Devils ! Fiends ! You 
 are macheting the doctor and the nurses ! " Then 
 
62 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the voice goes into a sob. *' Madre de Dios, they 
 have massacred the hospital ! " 
 
 " That's what makes me know he is Cuban," 
 says the girl sternly. " Do Cubans massacre hos- 
 pitals ? Read the newspapers of the United States 
 and see who kill the wounded in their cots, and 
 knife those wearing the red cross of Geneva who 
 attend to them! Did you hear him? He said 
 they were macheting the surgeon whose minister- 
 ing hands were soothing the sick and the dying. 
 It is these cries that I have shuddered at night 
 after night that have made me a hater of Spain. 
 Two weeks ago I was indifferent, careless. What 
 did it matter to me ? But now Cuba has another 
 friend," 
 
 A moment after Indra says, less passionately, 
 ** He will be quieter now. His ravings come less 
 often, but his voice is stronger. The doctor thinks 
 it is a good sign — that of returning vitality. Would 
 you like to step in and see him ? Perhaps you 
 may know who he is. He may have lived in Key 
 West at some time. You can come in with per- 
 fect safety to him ; he knows nobody." 
 
 "With your permission I'll take a look at him," 
 remarks the detective. Opening a door the 
 young lady leads Mr. Mastic into a large, airy 
 room, exquisitely furnished, where, attended by a 
 gentleman whose profession is evidently that of a 
 physician, and a juvenile nurse that Mastic imme- 
 diately recognizes as the Gertie of his journey 
 from Tampa, a young man is lying amid luxurious 
 linen and lace-trimmed pillows. 
 
 The doctor holds up a warning hand and whis- 
 pers : " Tread softly, please. I have administered 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 63 
 
 a narcotic. I think he will go to sleep again. You 
 need not fear taking a look at him. He would not 
 know you; I only wish he would." 
 
 Mastic steps beside the pillows, and sees a young 
 man of twenty-seven or eight, whose face, notwith- 
 standing sickness, is still bronzed by continuous 
 exposure to a burning sun. The features would 
 be handsome were they not pinched with suffering 
 and privation and somewhat disfigured by a ma- 
 chete slash on the forehead, now partially healed. 
 His eyes are closed. A moment after they open 
 and look anxiously around, but apparently noting 
 nothing, close again. 
 
 Coming from the room, the officer whispers 
 to Miss Vanstone: "I'm glad you let me see 
 him. You need have no fear now of any molesta- 
 tion from the American government or Spanish 
 consul under any pretext. The wounded gentle- 
 man is a Cuban. I have seen him a dozen times 
 in Key West, where he has friends. His name 
 
 is " The revenue man hesitates, thinks for a 
 
 moment, then says decidedly, '' Ramon Varona." 
 
 " You're sure of that ?" 
 
 *' Certain ! I have seen him often with Don 
 Balasco, the cigar manufacturer." Here Mastic 
 stops, thinking perhaps he has been too frank. 
 
 But his hesitancy is not heeded. Indra Van- 
 stone has flown into the sickroom, saying excitedly, 
 " Gertie, I know his name. It is Ramon Varona." 
 
 '' Ramon Varona ?" echoes Gertrude. " What 
 a lovely name ; Ramon Varona !" 
 
 And the young man rises up in bed and cries at 
 them: 
 
 " Yes, Ramon Varona, Lieutenant of Bandera's 
 
64 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Brigade, guarding a concealed hospital six miles 
 west of Cabanas." Then with astonished eyes the 
 invalid gazes about the room and mutters: *' Dios 
 mio! Where am I ? I was in an open boat, but 
 
 " Here his voice becomes languid, " I'm 
 
 sleepy. I would rest," and his head falls back on 
 the pillow. 
 
 And the doctor, bending over him, whispers, 
 *• Asleep, thank God !" then mutters grimly: '' That 
 was a narrow squeak for life." Next he takes the 
 young ladies, each by an arm, leads them out of 
 the room, and closing the door, says : " What 
 the devil do you mean by daring to come in and 
 cry out his name in the ears of my patient ? By 
 the blessing of God and good luck you didn't 
 kill him ; only brought him to his senses. You 
 are fine nurses, you are. You are discharged from 
 the hospital; you don't play the red-cross-of- 
 Geneva racket in that sick-room again !" 
 
 ** Oh, Dr. Granite," pleads Gertie. '' He's going 
 to get well ; don't keep me out now ! You said I 
 had nearly saved Ramon. Besides he's going to 
 be so handsome when he gets fat and well." 
 
 As for the elder girl, she says: " You are right. 
 Iforgot myself in the excitement of knowing who 
 Lieutenant Varona was. Dr. Granite, I apologize 
 and will do anything you tell me. Even you will 
 admit, with this exception, I have done my duty." 
 
 " Yes, like an angel," mutters old Granite, with 
 a tear in his eye. ** Run along, both of you ; I 
 will consider your cases, unless the fellow grows 
 too deuced handsome, with those dark eyes and 
 drooping mustache. Now, you had better both 
 go down to lunch. That chap in there will sleep 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 65 
 
 for a few hours now, and when he wakes I think 
 he will be on the road to recovery." 
 
 " You'll come and join us, won't you, at lunch, 
 Mr. Mastic?" remarks Indra, cordially. '' I know^ 
 papa would like to see you. He pooh-poohed the , 
 idea of your having any warrant, and my father is 
 a gentleman who always likes to know he is right." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 beauty's photograph. 
 
 Then Dr. Granite returns to the chamber of the 
 sick man, and the two young ladies and Mr. Mas- 
 tic stroll down to the dining-room of the house, 
 where that officer encounters a meal such as only 
 a rich man can give in one of the out-of-the-way 
 places of the world. 
 
 It is a repast where climate has been defied and 
 every comfort, nay, luxury, has been brought with 
 the careless prodigality of Dives to this tropical 
 island in the southern seas, The table is beautified 
 and made dainty by flowers, and gorgeous by cut 
 glass, massive silver, and delicately painted china. 
 Its linen is of snow. Its service is impressive, as 
 performed by an imported flunkey butler from New 
 York, and second man ; ''but it is *the grub,' as 
 the detective expresses it in his mind, that ' takes 
 my persimmon.' " 
 
 Of course, there is everything that pertains to 
 the island : just-out-of-the-w^ter fish, just-off'-the- 
 tree fruit, and vegetables that have been gathered 
 for the meal. But the beefsteak Mastic sets teeth 
 into has come from the best butcher in New York, 
 
66 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 and has been stored for a week in the chill-room of 
 the great ice-house that is shaded by the cocoanut 
 trees. Delicate French pancakes, with delicious 
 French preserves, tickle his palate. Clysmic and 
 ApoUinaris, served in fragile cut-glass, take the 
 place at this table of luxury of the spring water of 
 these Florida keys, which at times is somewhat 
 brackish, slightly sulphury, and by no means palat- 
 able. Light wmes of rich bouquet are also at Mr. 
 Mastic's hand and in his m.outh, likewise liqueurs, 
 and even brandy and whisky, he having expressed 
 preference for the same, come to him after his cup 
 of Mocha. 
 
 The conversation of the young ladies is bright, 
 piquant, and charming, and any austerity of man- 
 ner that the detective has thought necessary for 
 his official importance, passes away under the 
 smiles of beneficent beauty, for Indra and her sis- 
 ter seem to take delight in heaping the good 
 things of this world upon the plate of the man who 
 has removed from them all thought of menace to 
 the wounded officer who has become, under the 
 ministering hands of these two self-appointed 
 votaries of the Geneva Cross, something to be 
 guarded — aye, even, perchance, to be loved. For 
 woman loves most that for which she cares, that 
 w^hich she nurses, that for which she makes sacri- 
 fice. 
 
 It is in the midst of this meal of Lucullus, which 
 is going along very merrily, Mr. Mastic telling 
 some of his funniest stbries of the revenue service, 
 and the young ladies prattling to him of the glories 
 of the New York Horse Show — for Mastic is a born 
 Kentuckian, and as such, of course, loves the prod- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 67 
 
 uct and the pet of the Blue Grass region — that the 
 master of the house and father of his two pretty 
 hostesses enters. 
 
 He is a handsome man of about fifty, with sharp, 
 shrew^d eyes, kindly expression, and genial manner. 
 Having practically retired from business, Mr. Van- 
 stone has taken to the delights of horticulture, and 
 has just come in from his growing pineapples, ac- 
 companied by Rex, who has grown hungry over 
 the billiard-table. 
 
 The happy hospitality of this northern gentle- 
 man, places the detective at his ease at once. He 
 gives his host a grasp of friendship, also affably re- 
 marking to Rex : " I saw you, sonny, with your 
 sister, on the voyage from Tampa down." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I remember you," remarks the boy 
 pleasantly and turns his attention to what the but- 
 ler has placed in front of him ; while Indra hastily 
 explains to her father that Mr. Mastic has no in- 
 tention of arresting the sick man upstairs, telling 
 him the story of the recognition, and that Dr. 
 Granite now thinks their charge will get well. 
 
 ** So the young chap's name is Varona, is it," 
 remarks Vanstone /f/re. Then he chuckles, 
 " Didn't I tell you that the United States Govern- 
 ment w^ould not trouble him? But you have been 
 so anxious about that young fellow, Indra, you 
 captured in the Gulf Stream, one would think you 
 were spoony on him." 
 
 ** What ! spoony on any one but our Billy ? " 
 cries Gertie, indignantly. 
 
 " Oh, that would be too hard lines on Sever- 
 ance," observes Rex, with a grin. 
 
 But here Mr. Vanstone's face assumes a serious 
 
68 DON BA1.ASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 expression, and he mutters something like " Infer- 
 nal scoundrel ! " then turning to the boy, he adds 
 sternly : ** You will please not mention Mr. 
 Severance again. He — he has behaved very 
 badly." 
 
 "Not at all, papa," interjects Indra, her face 
 flaming with embarrassment; " Mr. Severance has 
 done exactly what I told him." Then the gener- 
 ous nature of the girl making her for a moipent 
 forget, she says enthusiastically, " I cannot permit 
 you to do injustice to a gentleman who is absent, 
 but who has treated me better than I deserved." 
 Here, chancing to catch Mastic's eye, the girl 
 bites her lip suddenly, and adds : " But I don't 
 think there is any need of discussing the affair 
 further at present," and rising from the table, 
 strolls out on the veranda and looks wistfully over 
 the soft waters toward the North, as if she hoped 
 that some one might come from there ; a habit 
 this young lady has got into ever since she came 
 to the Florida Keys. 
 
 A few minutes after Mr. Mastic stands beside 
 her, Miss Gertie in his company. 
 
 ^* You'll excuse me, Miss," says the detective, 
 "but you see I must be going. Alligator Pete and 
 I are to take a look about these islands for hidden 
 arms. You know I must do my duty by the gov- 
 ernment, though that young chap up there has 
 nothing to fear — from me." Then he goes on, 
 pointing to Coral Key, in the direction of which 
 Indra is still gazing, and carelessly questions "You 
 don't know if that island is inhabited, do you, Miss 
 Vanstone?" 
 
 " I'm sure it is not," answers the young lady, 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WiiST. 69 
 
 decidedly. " I have sailed around it a dozen times. 
 Why do you ask ? " 
 
 "Well, Alligator Pete thought he saw a light 
 over there this morning." 
 
 " Oh, then it must have been a camping party 
 or wreckers or sponge-fishermen," remarks Indra. 
 " And you, 1 presume, thought it might be filibus- 
 ters. What a suspicious man you must be ! " 
 Then she laughs, " I suppose, though, that is part 
 of your profession." 
 
 *' Yes," cries Gertie, effusively, " he is the best 
 detective I ever saw. He is the Vidocq of the 
 Florida Keys, and he's going to help us with our 
 patient." 
 
 *' And on that subject I must speak to you," re- 
 turns Indra, smiling at Gertie's unwittingly un- 
 complimentary metaphor. '' But you're in a 
 hurry ? We will walk down with you to your boat ; 
 on the way I can tell you." 
 
 "Then, with your permission, I'll — I'll light 
 up," suggests Mastic. " If you don't mind," he 
 adds, deferentially. 
 
 " Not at all," answers the young lady ; then she 
 goes on vivaciously, " I have been educated to 
 smoke. Rex, papa, and our " She checks her- 
 self quickly and cries : " Gertie, run and get some 
 cigars for Mr. Mastic." 
 
 " Thanks, yer dad offered me one, but I induced 
 him to try one of mine. He'll be shouting about 
 that cigar, in about a minute," chuckles Mastic, 
 producing one of Don Balasco's exquisite Imperi- 
 ales. 
 
 Proof of this now comes from the smoking- 
 room in Vanstone p^res enthusiastic voice, " By 
 
70 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Jove, Mr. Mastic, where did you get this weed?** 
 And the head of the house makes his appearance, 
 blue wreaths floating about him and the joy of the 
 smoker in his eye. '' This cigar," he goes on, ** is 
 the finest I ever put between my lips." Then he 
 looks at the revenue man smilingly, and suggests, 
 '' Where did you confiscate it ? " 
 
 " Those didn't come to me in the way of busi- 
 ness," returns Mastic, grinning, " but if you will ap- 
 ply to Don Balasco of Key West, perhaps he will 
 be able to accommodate you with some of them." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! Don Estrabon is the gentleman who 
 acted as agent for the parties from whom I pur- 
 chased this property," replies the New Yorker. 
 
 "The great cigarmaker and Cuban patriot!" 
 remarks Indra ; then adds, " I have never seen 
 him." At which Mastic gives another and more 
 pronounced chuckle. 
 
 " But / have," cries Gertie, excitedly. '* He is 
 dark, romantic, picturesque, Spanish, patent- 
 leather boots, red sash, Panama hat, and tropical. 
 He said he might come over and see us. He 
 would put romance into this island." 
 
 " Yes ; he has done me quite a number of 
 favors," observes Mr. Vanstone. " I have asked 
 him to visit us. He is a gentleman who will make 
 it interesting for Rex and me at billiards. I have 
 played a few games with him in Key West. But, 
 you're going, Mr. Mastic ? I am much obliged to 
 you for relieving my daughter's mind in regard to 
 her patient, and shall be happy to see you at any 
 time you may be sailing this way." 
 
 Then the detective takes his way to the boat, 
 Miss Indra walking beside him, and Gertie, in the 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 7^ 
 
 playful ease of short skirts, frisking ahead of him, 
 and making a very pretty show of herself in white 
 muslin, straw hat, floating ribbons, and childhood 
 just changing to womanhood. 
 
 "A propos of Senor Balasco," suggests Indra» 
 *' he is the gentleman you said knew Lieutenant 
 Ramon Varona. You are going to Key West 
 soon ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I calculate on being there within twenty- 
 four hours." 
 
 '' Then, would you be kind enough to tell Don 
 Balasco the mishap that has come to his wounded 
 friend. Don Estrabon is a tme Cuban patriot, I 
 know. As such, perhaps it would be better if you 
 asked him if he could run over and see this 
 wounded lieutenant of Maceo. He may do for 
 him things that we could not do." 
 
 Then how Mastic's tongue itches to tell the fair 
 creature walking by his side the truth about the 
 putative lover of Cuba Libre. But it is a profes- 
 sional secret, and as such he buries it in his breast ; 
 reasoning, ** I would be surely bounced for blab- 
 bing, and they would mob, perhaps murder, the 
 Don in Key West, as certain as he wears patent 
 leathers." 
 
 ** You will ask Senor Balasco to visit us," 
 requests the young lady as they approach the 
 wharf. 
 
 ** Yes ; if you wish it," replies Mastic, slowly, a 
 grin running over his countenance as he cogi- 
 tates : " This meeting with the beauty at my 
 side will be an eye-opener to his Spanish nibs." 
 
 ** Thank you," says Indra. " You have relieved 
 my mind about that young Cuban, and — Good- 
 
72 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 bye." She offers him her hand, for they are 
 at the wharf, which now looks animated. A 
 boat from the Flying Fish is by its side getting a 
 supply of vegetables. Goliah is on the landing 
 stage, gossiping with the alligator slayer. 
 
 " Yours to command, Miss," replies Mastic, and 
 goes down the steps to the little float, where 
 Gertie, ahead of him, is interviewing the guide. 
 
 '* Indra ! " cries the girl excitedly, " this is Alli- 
 gator Pete, who is so celebrated. Goliah says he 
 has killed more 'gators than any man in the world." 
 
 ** That ain't quite the truth. Miss," remarks 
 Pete, grinning. '' Alligator Pratt, my old pard- 
 ner, he killed more'n 1 ever drew bead on. 'Gators 
 were thicker in them days." 
 
 *' Well, you're the best alligator slayer living, 
 any way," replies Gertie, who will not be robbed 
 of her hero. " Goliah, I hope you gave Alligator 
 Pete a good lunch and plenty to drink." 
 
 " Yes," replies the guide, '* Goliah did the 
 squar' thing by me. I'm full to the brim." 
 
 A moment later the boat shoves off, the young 
 ladies making a pretty picture as they wave their 
 adieux from the end of the wharf. 
 
 '■' This is delightful ! " says Gertie, enthusiasti- 
 cally. " Don Balasco, the romantic Cuban patriot, 
 will come over to visit Ramon Varona,the Cuban 
 hero." Then she laughs the careless laugh of girl- 
 hood, and cries, " One for you, and one for me ! " 
 but does not know what she has prophesied. 
 
 "Stop talking nonsense, Gertie," says her sister 
 severely, walking toward the house. 
 
 On the veranda Indra's eyes get looking again to 
 the northward, anguish comes into her fair face. 
 
DON BALASCO OF feEY WfiSt. 73 
 
 and she murmurs, " 1 had happiness, was not that 
 enough ?" 
 
 *' Oh, I know what you're thinking about," whis- 
 pers Gertie, who has run up the steps after her. 
 ^* When you look that way you're thinking of our 
 Billy. Why, — you're — you're crying, Indra!" 
 
 *' Nonsense ! " says Miss Vanstone, sternly ; then 
 adds severely : " Don't be foolish, Gertrude, or I 
 shall not let you nurse my patient any more." 
 
 " Your patient ! " screams the young girl. **My 
 patient ! Haven't I given him four times as much 
 medicine as you to-day? I don't care if you did 
 fish Ramon out of the Gulf Stream. My pa- 
 tient!" 
 
 The next morning Miss Indra Vanstone gazes 
 out over the same quiet water, as she opens the 
 blinds of her pretty room. '* The schooner has 
 disappeared," she says to herself. '* I suppose by 
 this time Mr. Mastic is in Key West, and to-mor- 
 row or the day after we may expect Don Balasco," 
 then adds carelessly : " Perhaps Mr. Mastic may 
 not deliver the message. Perhaps the Cuban may 
 be too busy. It does not make much difference 
 to me." 
 
 Perchance Miss Vanstone would not be so in. 
 different if she could but hear the conversation 
 that takes place at the house of the gentleman she 
 speaks of in Key West, thirty miles away, this 
 bright spring morning. 
 
 It is in Balasco's dining-room. The detective 
 has come from his schooner cautiously to the 
 house. They are both sitting over the breakfast 
 table, Mastic smoking one of the Don*s famous 
 cigars. 
 
74 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " This is all you have to say ? " remarks Estra- 
 bon, disappointedly. " You found no hidden arms 
 m Emerald Key or any of the islands near it ? " 
 
 " No, Pete and I hunted most of yesterday after- 
 noon and some of last night, and not a vestige 
 could we find of anything suspicious in the neigh- 
 borhood." 
 
 " And the young lady, Miss Indra Vanstone, is 
 very anxious about her wounded Cuban rebel she 
 picked up adrift in the Gulf Stream ? " queries the 
 Don. Then he laughs : " Is it a case of love at 
 first sight with the young lady ?" 
 
 '* Not with her," chuckles Mastic. '' But I think 
 the younger one — Miss Gertie — has took a shine 
 to young Ramon Varona — she's a-nursing him. 
 You should have seen her get me off on one side 
 —all on the sly — no one guessing — and plead to 
 me not to arrest one so noble — so patriotic — so 
 brave. A chicken-love always gets to my heart." 
 
 " O ho ! Diantre ! The leetle muchachita is in 
 love. Ha-ha ! It es funny. What does ze beauti- 
 ful Mees Indra say to her young sister — ze child in 
 short skirts — playing ze fool with ze wounded 
 rebel ? " laughs Estrabon, in his amusement, omit- 
 tingi-5. portion of his English accent. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Indra don't say nothing, I reckon,'* 
 remarks the detective, taking a philosophical 
 whifFor two of his cigar, as he thinks of the surprise 
 in store for Don Balasco. '* They're teasing her 
 about a young fellow she sent away ; one they call 
 ' Our Billy.' " 
 
 *' One they call * Our Billy ' ? " echoes the Don, 
 laughing, "• Que aburricion / Mr. Vanstone has a ro 
 mantic family." Then he adds, rising, as if to end 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 75 
 
 the interview, '' 1 do not think I shall go over to 
 see this wounded Cuban. I know Ramon Varona 
 slightly, and have no enmity against him, more 
 than I should have to any who would destroy 
 and humiliate my country. To visit Mr. Van- 
 stone's now I should have to play the part of 
 Cuban patriot — a role that is already fatiguing to 
 me. 
 
 *' Nevertheless, I'll bet you'll go !" 
 
 ** What will take me there ? " 
 
 '' Curiosity." 
 
 " Curiosity ? Bah ! I have it not in my dispo- 
 sition. Curiosity for the young Cuban ? " 
 
 "Yes; curiosity, or something else," remarks 
 Mastic, suggestively. Then he adds : ** Do you 
 think you would give me one hundred more of 
 those come-to-heaven cigars if I could tell you 
 where you would find the reality of that colored 
 photograph in your parlor ? " 
 
 " Her name?" This is said very eagerly. 
 
 " Is it the hundred cigars?" 
 
 " Certainly ! Her name ? " The Spaniard's eyes 
 flash, 
 
 *' Indra Vanstone ! " 
 
 '' You — you are sure ? " stammers the Don. 
 Then he runs out of the dining-room, to return, 
 bringing the lovely picture, and murmurs, his eyes 
 lighting up as they gaze upon it. "■ Tell me. You 
 are sure this is she?" 
 
 " Certain ! Only she knocks that photo silly." 
 
 " More beautiful than this ? Impossible ! " 
 
 *'Just as much purtier as flesh and blood is 
 sweeter than paper and paint." 
 
 '' Dios mio I " murmurs Balasco, eyeing the pic- 
 
76 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ture greedily. " I — I think I will go over ; but it 
 is not curiosity. I have concluded upon reflection, 
 that there must be hidden arms near Emerald Key; 
 these I shall search for myself. But I also wish 
 your assistance. I will telegraph your superior 
 for further orders for you." 
 
 " As you please," assents Mastic. " This is a 
 full box, I reckon," and he selects a package of 
 the cigars that have enchanted him, from the side- 
 board. "You'll find me on board Pete's schooner, 
 at South Beach. Thank you, I will take just anoth- 
 er weed. " Lighting this, he strolls out, but on the 
 doorstep, after a reflective puff or two, he chuckles, 
 sotto voce, " Great snakes ! Did I see his eyes ? The 
 hidalgo's busted all up on that photo. He'll be a 
 snorter for love. Perhaps I've put a new peg 
 into the Don's life." 
 
 But Mastic would hardly grin so merrily did he 
 know what a curious peg he had just put into his 
 own life. 
 
 The detective's guess is, however, true. 
 
 Even now Estrabon is holding the picture up to 
 the light, gazing at it, and murmuring, ** How 
 beautiful ! Santa Maria I Shall I see her in flesh 
 and blood? this image that has produced in me 
 more sentiment, more passion, than ever came to 
 me from flesh and blood ? " 
 
BOOK II. 
 FASHION IN THE TROPICS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE COMING OF THE HIDALGO. 
 
 The sea-breeze is still blowing, on the after- 
 noon following his interview with the detective, 
 as Balasco's steam-launch, the Figaro, steered by 
 his darky helmsman, glides to the little landing 
 float beside the pretty wharf at Emerald Key. 
 
 The boat is scarcely tied up, before its owner 
 in the costume of a tropical dandy, with flashing 
 patent leathers, the very whitest of flannel suits, 
 most flaming of sashes, linen immaculate, 
 sombrero de Guayaquil woven of most delicate equa- 
 torial grasses, steps hastily from his little cabin, 
 and rapidly up the steps that lead from the land- 
 ing, to take route through the beautiful gardens 
 to the Vanstone residence. 
 
 As he walks he murmurs to himself, a slight 
 tremble on his delicate lip: ''I shall see her! 
 The photograph will live to me ; those blue eyes 
 will shine to me ; those coral lips will speak tome." 
 
 Once, however, Estrabon hesitates and sneers : 
 " I suppose it will be a disenchantment. Perhaps 
 even the detective may have been mistaken. Did 
 
78 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 not I try to discover, by letters to New York, who 
 the lady was— without effect? The photograph 
 is but a proof, not even stamped with the artist's 
 name." 
 
 Suddenly he runs eagerly and anxiously up the 
 great steps of the Vanstone mansion, for into his 
 mind has flown, " She is near me. Dios viio ! I 
 am keeping my eyes from the sight they have 
 hungered for." 
 
 As he thinks, he rings the bell at the wide, open 
 portals. 
 
 This is almost immediately answered by a man- 
 servant, who says very respectfully; " Don Balasco, 
 I believe." 
 
 *' Yes ; present my cards to the ladies and Mr. 
 Vanstone." 
 
 "Certainly, sir. Your coming was expected. 
 With your permission I will send down to your 
 boat ior your luggage." 
 
 ''Gracias. My valet will attend to that. Only 
 present my cards as quickly as possible." There 
 is impatience in the Spaniard's voice. 
 
 A moment later Estrabon is in the parlor where, 
 among flowering shrubs, and breathing through 
 the jopen windows the soft perfumes from the 
 blossoming gardens outside, he sits with a heart 
 that beats more rapidly than it is wont, awaiting 
 a com-ng sensation ; and gets it, as Indra Van- 
 stone glides into the room. 
 
 For if the girl had robed herself for this man's 
 undoing, she could not have done her work more 
 craftily. All trace of watching and waiting by 
 the sick-bed of her waif from the Gulf Stream has 
 deserted her countenance, and left upon her fair 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 79 
 
 brow and delicate cheeks only the radiance of 
 dazzling youth, dainty loveliness, and beauty 
 ethereal. 
 
 The toilet this young lady has unwittingly 
 achieved this afternoon is simplicity itself; but its 
 effects are very potent upon the gentleman rising 
 to receive her. To him she seems like a daze of 
 radiance, vivacity, charm, and coquetry, rising 
 from a cloud of green tulle, dashed here and there 
 with fluffy white to give it sea-foam effects ; and 
 romance coming upon him, he murmurs to him- 
 self: ''Venus Aphrodite ! " 
 
 But if he thinks her the goddess of beauty, this 
 young lady is also the goddess of hospitality. Her 
 liquid voice says affably: " Welcome to Cocoanut 
 Grove ! " Her hand, after the manner of Ameri- 
 cans, IS extended to him. 
 
 This the Don gallantly kisses, a VEspagnol, and 
 a slight color of embarrassment tinges the girl's 
 delicate cheeks, as she murmurs, '' Your note 
 reached us yesterday, Senor Balasco. Thank you 
 very much for an immediate answer to my appeal 
 about the wounded officer upstairs." 
 
 "Young Varona is better, I hope?" murmurs 
 the Don. '' He has not told you how he came to 
 be wounded in an open boat in the Gulf stream ?" 
 
 '' That question shows you do not know Dr. 
 Granite !" answers the young lady, cheerily. 
 " Dr. Granite is the tyrant of the sickroom. Do 
 you suppose he'd let us question a convales- 
 cent? But Dr. Granite says Senor Ramon is 
 now much better. To-morrow, at the latest, you 
 will be able to see him." 
 
 '' Ah ! then I am happy," replies Estrabon, gal- 
 
8o DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 lantly. " I shall have to remain here another 
 day." 
 
 ** Oh, I hope much longer," suggests the young 
 lady, hospitably. ** Papa says you must remain 
 for the dance we give." 
 
 " Aha, a fandango !" 
 
 ** Yes. We expect some friends from Palm 
 Beach in a day or two. We shall ask every one 
 as far away as Key Largo, but that won't be very 
 many," says the girl. " Besides, Lieutenant Varona 
 will then be convalescent, and you can consult with 
 him about your beloved island." 
 
 ** Ah, yes ! " returns Estrabon. " A patriot is 
 always thinking of Cuba Libre. You, I hope, are 
 a friend of the cause." 
 
 ** As much as an American can be," says Indra 
 heartily. 
 
 " Then that is enough !" cries the Don, en- 
 thusiastically. Though he continues in his mind : 
 " I will change her views on this subject. Mi que- 
 rida shall become a Spaniard when she becomes 
 
 " and gasps almost at his audacious quickness 
 
 of determination and desire. For the exquisite 
 tones of the young lady's voice, her gracious hos- 
 pitality, vivacious gestures, and changing piquancy 
 of expression, have put into Balasco's fiery, trop- 
 ical mind, burning love and passionate desire ; to 
 both of which Miss Indra will add — unwittingly, 
 perchance carelessly, but still all too effectively — 
 with the many playful arts of young ladies who have 
 been taught, after the American fashion, that man 
 should bow down to them and masculinity is theirs 
 to command, to amuse themselves with and then 
 perhaps put away. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 8l 
 
 Had it not been for her good heart, Miss Van- 
 stone would have been a flirt ; as it is, dominated 
 by high spirits, health, and youth, on a lonely 
 island, with a picturesque cavalier standing 
 by her side, she is very apt to make the best use 
 of him that her education has taught her, and that 
 is to make him her devotee — a dangerous thing, 
 with a man of Spanish temperament and sensitive 
 Castilian pride. 
 
 But coming events do not cast their shadows 
 before, and the young lady enters into easy con- 
 versation with the gentleman standing before her, 
 saying, ** Papa will be here in a few minutes. I 
 presume he is in his pineapple field, as usual. 
 
 Gertie, my little sister You have seen her, I 
 
 believe." 
 
 " Ah, yes," answers Estrabon, with a smile. ** T 
 had the pleasure of meeting Senorita Gertrude 
 and your young brother at Key West, where, God 
 be thanked, I was of a little service to them with 
 their baggage. She is a vivacious child." 
 
 " She will impress that on you very shortly," 
 laughs Indra, easily. " But we do not dine till 
 seven. I have still time to show you our grounds. 
 The place has changed greatly since papa bought 
 it." 
 
 " Changed ? Caspita ! You have made of a cocoa- 
 nut grove, a mangrove swamp and a pineapple 
 field, a very heaven of the gods." 
 
 " I don't know to whom you refer by * the gods,' 
 unless it is Rex, who is at present fishing, I 
 believe." 
 
 *' Ah, but the goddess of this island !" suggests 
 Estrabon, feasting his eyes on the beauty as she 
 
83 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 trips ahead of him along the bright vistas of the 
 garden. 
 
 " Have you not yet learnt that all women are 
 mortals ?" says the girl archly, playing havoc with 
 the Don's soul by her vivacious movements, grace- 
 ful poses, and that indescribable yet potential 
 witchery we call charm of manner. 
 
 A moment after they sit down under the cocoa- 
 nut trees, and get to chatting and laughing to- 
 gether like old friends, Balasco telling of equa- 
 torial scenes and Indra prattling of New York 
 society. Finally, as illustration, the Don steps into 
 the pineapple patch and shows his companion how 
 they eat sugar-pines in Cuba, and the two together 
 make a very pleasant a/ fresco ZLiternoon of it. For 
 Estrabon's manners are polished and pleasing, 
 his mind vivacious and well informed, and the 
 young lady has not had an eligible gentleman at 
 her side for two or three weeks. 
 
 The time passes rapidly, the shadows are begin- 
 ning to deepen, the land-breeze is coming up, 
 when Miss Indra exclaims suddenly, " Oh, good- 
 ness ! Is not that four bells from the Flying Fish ? 
 It must be six o'clock ! Time to give my patient 
 his. medicine. 1 had forgotten the Cuban officer." 
 
 " And I had forgotten much more than that," 
 laughs her cavalier, in happy voice. Then he 
 says, a little tone of entreaty in his accent, " You 
 must go ? " 
 
 ** Certainly," replies Indra. " I am a nurse." 
 
 " Ah, yes. And of course you are devoted to the 
 — the sickroom **" 
 
 " Extremely." 
 
 This puts a pang mto the Don's heart as he fol- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 83 
 
 lows his Circe. But even as they reach the door 
 of the house, this passes from him, for Miss Gertie 
 runs down the big oaken stairway from the hall 
 above, and cries savagely, " You're a fine nurse ! 
 You have forgotten our patient !" Then she adds 
 sarcastically, ** You needn't trouble yourself, Indra, 
 I have given Ramon his medicine at the proper 
 time. If he depended on you now, the sick man 
 would die." 
 
 " Stop talking and come here !" laughs her sister. 
 " Don't you remember, Don Balasco?" 
 
 "Ah, now I see what made you forget Ramon," 
 remarks the Red Cross maiden. Then courtesying 
 to the Spaniard, she babbles on, " But I am happy 
 to tell you, Don Estrabon, that your friend will 
 soon he well and strong, and very handsome, now 
 he is getting fatter." 
 
 *' Ah ! Under such nurses, who could fail to live 
 — live for his nurses ! " murmurs the gentleman, the 
 child's careless words putting joy into his soul. 
 
 But here Gertie astonishes both the Spaniard 
 and her sister, for she says, anxiously, " Do you 
 think, Don Balasco, that a man is very apt to fall 
 in love with the young lady who takes very good 
 care of him ? Dr. Granite says they never do. At 
 the New York hospital they have the handsomest 
 corps of young women nurses, and he tells me no 
 man ever cares a rap for them after he gets well 
 and walks off. He says they associate them with 
 
 suffering and physic and But Granite is an 
 
 old poke," chirrups the young lady, '' and between 
 you and me I don't believe him." 
 
 " Bah !" says Estrabon, '' No butcher of human- 
 ity is fit to dissect love." 
 
S4 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Well, you can discuss the question with the 
 butcher of humanity at dinner — he sits next to 
 you ! " laughs Miss Vanstone, as they go into the 
 house. 
 
 Upstairs, Estrabon finds his rooms airy and 
 quarters magnificent. His valet and baggage 
 have come up from the boat, and he enters the 
 parlor, thirty minutes after, as perfect as to dress 
 and appointment as any New York clubman. 
 
 Here he is greeted by his host, who says, " I 
 would have given you my hand before, but nobody 
 knew where to find me. You see, I was engaged 
 fighting a battle with the ants for my pineapples.*' 
 
 "Ah, yes," replies Balasco, *' we all have to fight 
 for the sweet things of this world." 
 
 ^'A propos of that, let me thank you for the five 
 hundred magnificent cigars you have just sent me." 
 
 ** Yes, I took the liberty, as Senor Mastic told 
 me how much you admired them, of presenting 
 them."^ 
 
 *' But I can't allow that," says Vanstone, warmly. 
 
 ** I can let you have them no other way. Though 
 I am in the cigar business, and would be happy to 
 sell you any other brand," replies Don Estrabon. 
 " But these I can only give to you, as they are a 
 
 present to me — a gift from the Captain " He 
 
 checks himself, and does not make it " Captain-Gen- 
 eral of Cuba," but continues, " I cannot tell you 
 his name. Sometimes captains are smugglers." 
 
 ** So that's how the revenue man got hold of his ! " 
 laughs Vanstone. 
 
 As the two gentlemen have been talking, the 
 others of the party have dropped in, and Estrabon 
 finds himself introduced to the great physician, 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 85 
 
 who, though a savage in the sick-room and the 
 terror of negligent hospital nurses and budding 
 young surgeons, is much more complaisant in gen- 
 eral society. 
 
 Young Mr. Rex also lounges in from some fish- 
 ing or hunting expedition, and greets the Don as 
 an old friend, in memory of his politeness to him in 
 Key West. For Balasco has that peculiar tact of 
 treating very young people as if they were very old 
 people ; a thing that generally tells quite strongly 
 with adolescence in both sexes. In proof of this 
 with Gertie and Rex very shortly become his com- 
 panions, even playmates ; for, like a great many 
 others of the Latin race, this gentleman has a 
 £^ood deal of child nature in him — its exuberant 
 bys — its almost unreasoning passions. 
 
 A moment later and Granite chuckles, " Behold 
 my two Red Cross girls," and Indra and Gertrude 
 enter, though not in hospital uniform. Miss Van- 
 stone still wears the dress in which he has met her — 
 upon the principle probably that it is best to let 
 success alone. Gertie, however, has changed 
 her apron and cap of the sick-room for a light 
 evening gown. In it she looks like a young 
 misses* fashion plate, its bodice giving charming 
 glimpses of her white arms and delicate shoiilders, 
 and its short skirt showing her graceful feet and 
 ankles in pretty slippers and exquisite hosiery. 
 
 Dinner is announced, and they all go in to a 
 merry meal, the conversation growing general 
 over oysters and soup ; Dr. Granite giving them 
 a somewhat gruesome account of a tremendous 
 operation he has lately performed in New York. 
 'This he winds up by : '* I cut the patient to 
 
86 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 pieces in twenty minutes and sewed him up in 
 thirty/' 
 
 " And buried him in ten more," adds Rex, with 
 the festive humor of youth. 
 
 " I never tell of my unsuccessful operations, 
 young man," remarks the doctor, sagely. *' I am 
 a successful surgeon." 
 
 But Rex, having produced a smile, is now 
 anxious to pose as a wit, and with the easy con- 
 fidence of adolescence commences to distribute his 
 bons mots about the table, producing general dis- 
 may. 
 
 " Gertie," he says, severely, to that young lady's 
 prattle, ** children should be seen and not heard." 
 
 " Please remember that yourself ! " answers the 
 girl, savagely. ''Dr. Granite willtell you I'm a 
 woman in the sick-room." 
 
 *' Yes ; you are doing very well," replies the 
 physician, '* now your sister has resigned." 
 
 " Ah, yes," interjects Rex, ** since the arrival of 
 another patient. That's Indra's style. One up, 
 t'other down, in the language of the P. R. At 
 fifteen it was Sammy Ransom, the fat boy ; at six- 
 teen Sammy had taken a back seat, and Julian 
 Stuj*ges, the Fauntleroy of Dodsworth's dancmg 
 school, reigned in his stead ; at seventeen Fauntle- 
 roy had been dethroned, for our Billy was Great 
 Mogul, and now Billy, the bad boy, is in the soup. 
 Who comes next? Don't all speak at once ! " and 
 he grins jovially at Don Estrabon. 
 
 To this oration Miss Vanstone apparently gives 
 no attention ; though her cheeks are very prettily 
 red as she seems interested in her Pompano a la 
 Creole. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 87 
 
 But Balasco opens his ears very widely upon 
 hearing " Our Billy's " name, which the detective 
 had sung in his ears only the day before, and as 
 he listens makes a curious mistake. The Don's 
 knowledge of English is, when not excited, very 
 good, but he is not acquainted with the easy 
 phraseology of juvenile New York, and it gives 
 him a great joy and happiness to hear " Our 
 Billy " rated as a boy among boys. So he puts 
 Mr. William Arthur Severance out of his mind 
 without further care, as a seventeen-year-older 
 who is unworthy his attention or his jealousy. 
 
 He might, perhaps, get some more pertinent 
 information in regard to the gentleman Rex is dis- 
 cussing did not the boy's oration come to an in- 
 glorious end. Mr. Vanstone looks up from the 
 head of the table and says, '' Rex, what did you 
 say to Gertie a minute ago ?" 
 
 " I know, papa," cries Gertie, merrily. *' He 
 said, * Children should be seen and not heard.' " 
 
 " Well, I say the same thing! " remarks the head 
 of the house, and emphasizes his words with a 
 scowl that makes his son think the wax tapers 
 have gone out on the dinner table. So Vanstone 
 Junior devotes himself to the delights of gas- 
 tronomy, and the rest of the party, relieved from 
 youthful badinage, run along gayly toward dessert 
 — Don Balasco devoting most of his time and 
 conversation to Miss Indra, who sits beside him, 
 every arch glance from her blue eyes, every pretty 
 gesture of her fair hands, and every tripping 
 sentence from her coral lips completing a conquest 
 her counterfeit presentment had begun. But he 
 doesn't dare to tell her of the photograph just 
 
88 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 yet. That will come later, he thinks. When — 
 and his dark eyes grow luminous with a romance 
 that now dominates his Spanish soul. 
 
 After the coffee, the Don's wondrous cigars are 
 produced, and even Granite smiles benignly as he 
 blows the blue wreaths away, and says, " This is 
 the only poison I prescribe for myself." 
 
 " Prescribe it for your patient upstairs," inter- 
 jects Gertie, eagerly, and horrifies the physician 
 by asserting, '' Ramon has been begging for 
 cigarettes ever since he recovered his senses." 
 
 " Good heavens ! You did not give him any?" 
 mutters Granite, aghast. 
 
 " No ; but I promised him some as soon " 
 
 " As soon as I go away to-morrow," replies the 
 medical man, sharply. 
 
 '* You think Senor Varona well enough for you 
 to leave?" This is in Indra's voice. 
 
 " Yes ; in a week that young fellow, who recu- 
 perates with all the vitality an open-air life gives a 
 healthy man of twenty-five, will be as strong as a 
 bull again — if you don't kill him with over-eating, 
 cigarettes, and kindness." 
 
 ** You are going so soon ? " asks his host frorr. 
 the' head of the table. 
 
 " I have to. From my telegrams I think half 
 New York will die if I don't get there," laughs 
 the physician. Then he says, inquiringly : '' Do 
 you think you can let me have the Flying Fish ? " 
 
 " With pleasure," answers Vanstone, and Indra 
 suggests : " Why not let it carry you to Miami ? 
 From there you can take a parlor car direct for 
 New York." 
 
 " It will not inconvenience you ? " 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 89 
 
 " Not at all. The yacht can then bring our 
 party of visitors from Palm Beach." 
 
 '' That'll suit me admirably," assents the physi- 
 cian. " I leave to-morrow afternoon. Til have 
 my Cuban hero down-stairs by that time." 
 
 '' Yes, and I'll have Senor Ramon ready for 
 picnics in a week ! " cries Gertie, her eyes 
 lighting up. '* You can't tell how bright he gets 
 when I come in the room ! " 
 
 " Who would not, with such a nurse ? " mutters 
 the Doctor ; a remark that makes the girl su- 
 premely happy. 
 
 A minute after the young ladies walk out on 
 the veranda, and with them comes the Don. 
 
 " You need not throw away your cigar,"" ob- 
 serves Indra. *' You don't know how much I like 
 the perfume of the weed ; besides, I shall have to 
 leave you for a little while. My patient is up- 
 stairs." 
 
 Then comes a little incident that makes flame 
 up in Estrabon's fervid nature excited hope. 
 
 Miss Gertie cries savagely : " Why do you al- 
 ways call him j/07ir patient, Indra ? I should think 
 you'd be ashamed of yourself — you're so greedy ! " 
 
 Then the girl goes on, a curious kind of pathos 
 in her voice : " Of course, I know, Indra, you hap- 
 pened to find him in a boat in the Gulf Stream ; 
 but I have nursed Ramon even more than you 
 have, and now he's going to get well and be hand- 
 some I — I don't think it's nice of you to call 
 him j/our patient. One would think you owned 
 him ! " 
 
 '' Very well, I take you at your word, Gertie," 
 laughs Indra, " and give him to you. Lieutenant 
 
90 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Varona is your patient ! Don't let me see you out 
 of the sick-room. Run upstairs, child!" But 
 this ending of her sentence is an unfortunate one. 
 
 '^ Child ! '' cries Miss Gertrude, coming up to 
 her sister, with the light of battle blazing in her 
 eyes. *' How dare you call me child? Of course, I 
 know it is to make yourself important in his 
 eyes ! " This with a suggestive glance at Balasco. 
 *' But it's not quite fair, Indra, at your age. If 
 you were twenty-five, or thirty, I could endure it; 
 but it is contemptible for nineteen to reproach 
 sixteen with h^\x\^ young.'' Then this tremendous 
 peroration ceases — tears come into the girl's blue 
 eyes — she mutters, "You — you are very unkind," 
 and darts round the corner of the veranda. 
 
 But her sister is after her and, catching the fly- 
 away, soothes, kisses, and comforts her, and per- 
 chance guessing what Miss Gertie's complaint is, 
 goes about her work quite craftily, telling the 
 child that Dr. Granite has told her that Seiior 
 Varona takes his medicine better from Sefiorita 
 Gertrude's hands than from any others. 
 
 " That's because you don't care for him — but I 
 tell you Lieutenant Ramon is going to be very 
 handsome," snivels the younger. 
 
 ** Don't I know that as well as you?" laughs 
 Indra. *' Run upstairs to your Cuban hero," Then 
 perchance to cHnch her praise, she adds lightly, 
 " Perhaps yesterday I would not have been so 
 generous ! " 
 
 The Don as he smokes has not heard much of 
 this confab round the corner , but as Indra returns 
 to him his eyes blaze like two black opals— the 
 girl's cheeks grow red — she wonders : *' Did he 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 91 
 
 catch my careless words ? I could bite my tongue 
 for having uttered them." 
 
 But Estrabon's manner soon places her at her 
 ease, and the two sit and chat by themselves, 
 for Vanstone and Granite are still in the dining- 
 room. Rex has wandered off, and Gertie is acting 
 hospital nurse upstairs. Then Mother Eve comes 
 up m the young lady who has been accustomed 
 to admiration, and on this lonely isle has had but 
 little of it, and Indra Vanstone makes herself so 
 winning, so gracious, so enchanting that every 
 soft word she utters and every piquant gesture 
 or arch look she gives him makes Estrabon Ba- 
 lasco's heart beat stronger. 
 
 So the tropic evening goes on — the gentleman 
 thinking he's in heaven, the young lady knowing 
 she's on earth. And as earthly things are satiating 
 — after singing Don Estrabon some Spanish love 
 songs, accompanying herself on a guitar and 
 making herself so agreeable, coquettish, and allur- 
 ing that in a few moments more the Hidalgo will 
 lose his head and say words that will cut his ro- 
 mance very short — Miss Indra Vanstone bids her 
 cavalier good-night, trips up to her room and 
 says to herself, '* Don C6sar de Bazan is a very 
 pleasant fellow and I've had a delightful even- 
 ing." 
 
 Careless words for the calling up of a passion 
 this young lady will find very hard to down — for 
 she has put into the heart of her Spanish admirer 
 a first-class medieval emotion, one of the kind 
 that makes its owner do very curious things, 
 when thwarted, slighted, or not returned. 
 
 Even as the girl nestles amid her snowy 
 
92 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 sheets, this gentleman is seated below on^the de- 
 serted veranda, and is building for himself a 
 rosy castle in his native country, that did she 
 but see it, would make Indra Vanstone shriek. He 
 is likewise murmuring to himself these words that 
 would make the girl's blood run cold, did she but 
 hear them: '' Indra, mt querida., thy beauties, thy 
 love shall all be for me and for no other man on 
 earth ! Of this I, Estrabon Balasco, make solemn 
 oath unto myself." 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 " I DEMAND LONG DRESSES ! " 
 
 The next morning Miss Indra makes her ap- 
 pearance at the breakfast table looking like a rose- 
 bud with dew on it, and gets to playing with fire 
 again — ver}^ innocently, perhaps unwittingly, and 
 certainly never dreaming of the way in which she 
 is going to burn her pretty fingers with the Span- 
 ish furnace in Don Balasco's fervid heart. 
 
 This gentleman has apparently been awaiting 
 her coming, as the rest have all finished their 
 matutinal meal and wandered off, but the Don has 
 lingered, refusing Mr. Vanstone's invitation to 
 pineapple inspection and Rex's suggestion of early 
 billiards. 
 
 So the others have gone to their business or 
 their pleasure, leaving the Spaniard to his delight, 
 which shortly comes to him in the form of Miss 
 Indra Vanstone. 
 
 " You waited for me — that's very nice," re- 
 marks the young lady cordially, as she seats her- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 93 
 
 self and pours out her coffee. '* If you can con- 
 trive to linger over your fruit till I catch up to 
 you, Goliah and I will give you half an hour's sail, 
 and ril tell you of my new invention." 
 
 " Your new invention ? " 
 
 " Yes, my picnic cruise. It's a little surprise 
 I have for everybody, but 1 need your aid, so I'll 
 let you into my secret." 
 
 '* Your confidence is my delight." 
 
 " Oh, it will be a charming novelty. I thought 
 of it last evening after I had left you. I said it 
 shall h^al fresco, Bohemian, romantic," says Miss 
 Indra enthusiastically. *' I shall want your advice 
 as to how many the Flying Fish will accommo- 
 date ; besides, you can get the Cuban musicians 
 for me." Then she gives the Spaniard a glance 
 of piquant pathos and murmurs : " You'll help me, 
 won't you, mt caballero f " 
 
 *' With my life ! " answers the Don, and his eyes 
 become radiant ; for he is not very well accus- 
 tomed to the easy ways of American young ladies, 
 and many things Miss Vanstone does in a careless 
 freedom that is habitual to her class this Hi- 
 dalgo judges by a foreign code and hugs fondly to 
 his soul as evidences of the girl's perpetual favor, 
 even to love and passion. 
 
 *' Then if you've finished we'll run along. On 
 the water I'll give you the details of my picnic 
 cruise," remarks his charmer in easy unconven- 
 tionality. " You can carry my sunshade over 
 me ; the dew is on the grass and I need my hands 
 for my skirts." 
 
 With this chatter, she trips beside Estrabon 
 through the gardens down to the landing stage, 
 
94 I>ON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 where her boat and Goliah are in waiting, every 
 step adding fuel to the Spaniard's flame. Then 
 they pass a happy half-hour on the water, the 
 young lady steering her skiff round the Flying 
 Fish, the crew of which are even now engaged in 
 preparations for their departure with Dr. Granite 
 this afternoon for Miami, the southern terminus 
 of the East Coast Florida Railway. 
 
 ^' She flies over the water like a witch," remarks 
 Indra, gazing at the steam yacht's graceful hull. 
 " When she returns with the house party, then, 
 after the fandango, I give my picnic cruise." With 
 this the girl makes confidant of the Don in her new 
 schemes of entertainment, causing him great hap- 
 piness as she closes her discourse by saying, '' For 
 a day or two this must be our little secret." 
 
 "And shall we not have another little secret 
 some day ?" returns Estrabon, who has for the 
 moment lest his head under the allurements of 
 beauty floating over blue waters. 
 
 " Oh, half a dozen of them, I hope, some day," 
 says Indra, unconcernedly, as she steps lightly out 
 of the boat, which is again at the landing stage. 
 
 ''Dios mio !'' mutters the Don, astounded. 
 'VWhat did she mean by that ?" And he assists the 
 young lady with ceremonious gallantry up the stairs 
 that lead to the wharf, noting, while doing so, that 
 Miss Vanstone has the most beautiful feet and ex- 
 quisite ankles in the world. 
 
 Rex, seated on the veranda, watches their com- 
 ing, and this youthful philosopher communes with 
 himself as follows, " By Jove ! if there's a man 
 within sight he always goes to playing round 
 Indra." Then he adds with a sigh, " Poor Billy, I 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 95 
 
 wonder where he's doing the heavy swell act now. 
 Sometimes I think she regrets giving him his pass- 
 port." 
 
 But Estrabon has no thought of Billy or any one 
 else, he is so vivaciously happy as he comes up 
 the stairs, Miss Vanstone talking merrily to him. 
 
 Here they are met by Mr. Vanstone, that gen- 
 tleman saying cheerily : " I've been looking out 
 for your guests, Indra; seeing the Flying Fish 
 was properly provisioned and well corked for her 
 run to Miami and return." 
 
 "- You won't forget to tell Captain Thomas he 
 must wait there till Mrs. Ormiston, Flora Wood- 
 bridge and Ethel Rivers come down to board her 
 with Jack Blakely and young Vortex," remarks 
 Indra, earnestly. 
 
 '' Of course not," laughs her father. " I would 
 not miss little Cortright Vortex for a tip in Wall 
 Street." 
 
 " You know Vortex is always having adven- 
 tures," he adds, addressing Don Balasco. *' At 
 Palm Beach two weeks ago, I noticed m the pa- 
 pers that have come down to us that Mr. Vortex 
 got lost in the Everglades and was out all night, 
 surrounded by alligators." 
 
 "' Yes, the report said his hair would have turned 
 white, if it had not been straw-colored to begin 
 with," interjects Indra. 
 
 ** I suppose Vortex will be food for sharks down 
 here,' ' giggles Miss Gertie, who has just joined the 
 party apparently in high spirits, for she now 
 informs them that her patient will be down on the 
 veranda this afternoon, and ready for bull-fights 
 next week. 
 
g6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " I have spoken to Senor Ramon about you, 
 Don Balasco, and he will be delighted to talk to 
 you. He is anxious for news of the war, but Dr. 
 Granite thinks that had better be postponed till 
 to-morrow ; " she continues, " then you two 
 patriots can get together." 
 
 Filled. with her news, Miss Red-Cross is now a 
 picture of mirth, glee, happiness and high spirits ; 
 so much so that Rex, who is a youthful cynic, re- 
 marks : " You're mighty pert, Gertie, about hav- 
 ing euchred your sister out of her patient and 
 practically told old Granite that now he has got 
 your wounded hero on his feet you can do the 
 rest. But I reckon pride will have a fall." 
 
 It does ! 
 
 This very afternoon the prophecy of the juvenile 
 sage comes true — with hideous details. 
 
 It is just after lunch. Dr. Granite and the 
 youthful nurse are making preparations to bring 
 Miss Gertie's patient and hero downstairs upon 
 the veranda, where the sea breeze will be cool, re- 
 freshing, and bracing. Vanstone //r^ is in the li- 
 brary attending to some business correspondence. 
 Rex, Indra, and her attendant Spaniard are seated 
 oit' the portico awaiting the coming invalid, a 
 slight nervous curiosity on the Don's face. He 
 wonders if this wounded Cuban may not have 
 some suspicion of his devotion to the patriot cause. 
 Maceo might know more than Key West. Miss 
 Vanstone is not yet a convert to Spanish ideas — 
 a revelation now would be too soon. 
 
 There is a patter of light feet in high-heeled shoes 
 upon the steps of the oaken stairway and through 
 the great hallway ; Gertrude comes quietly upon 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 97 
 
 the veranda and without a word sinks kneeling 
 by her sister's side and puts her head into Indra's 
 lap, so quietly that the three, who are conversing 
 carelessly, scarcely notice her, as this is one of the 
 cunning little ways Miss Gertie has with her 
 sister, of whom she is very fond. 
 
 Suddenly, to their astonished ears, comes out 
 from the girl's head, that is buried in Indra's 
 lap, one awful heart-breaking, soul-stirring sob. 
 
 ^'Santos! What has happened?" ejaculates 
 Estrabon. 
 
 Sob! 
 
 " Gertie ! " cries Rex. 
 
 Sob! Sob! SOB! 
 
 "Is it about Varona ? " whispers Indra, grow- 
 ing pale. 
 
 Convulsions ! ! ! 
 
 ** He has had a relapse ! " cries Miss Vanstone, 
 in agitated voice. 
 
 ** No ; it is worse — WORSE ! " 
 
 " Worse ! " Indra starts up. ** What is the 
 matter? Tell me quick! Is not Dr. Granite up- 
 stairs with him ? Rex, run and call the doctor ! 
 Perhaps he's in the library with papa." 
 
 " No ; Dr. Granite is with him. That's what 
 made it so — so hard to bear ! " moans the girl. 
 
 '* So hard to bear ! Is he dead ? " gasps Rex, 
 excitedly. 
 
 '' No-0-0-0 ! " This is a wail of anguish. " He 
 —he said," gasps Gertrude, sobs choking her, 
 " he said to Dr. Granite — I heard him — ' She is a 
 pretty little— ItUle girl ! ' He — he has broken my 
 heart ! " 
 
 At this astounding revelation Balasco chokes 
 
95 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 down a gasp of merriment, but Rex does not re- 
 strain his, and shrieks, '* Great Scott 1 I thought 
 Ramon had burst a blood-vessel." Then he jeers 
 in youthful carelessness, '' Shake her up ; give her 
 paregoric ! The great nurse of the sickroom, the 
 potentate of lotions and bandages, is a pretty little 
 girl ! " and goes off into spasms of laughter. 
 
 '' 1 don't see how we can help your malady, 
 Gertie," remarks Miss Vanstone, relief upon her 
 face, '' unless you wish to put those curls into a 
 solitary pigtail, and deface those pretty features, 
 and become an ugly little girl." 
 
 ** Don't dare make fun of me ! " screams Ger- 
 trude. Then the tears leave her face, and passion 
 enters it. She says, her eyes blazing, '* Stop 
 laughing ! Indra, since mother died you have 
 pretended to be the head of the family. I demand 
 long dresses ! " 
 
 " Why, your feet and ankles, Gertie, are dead 
 up to the mark," laughs Rex, assuming an elder 
 brother air. " I heard young Jones say at dancing 
 school that your " 
 
 But Gertie cut short Jones's compliment by 
 screaming, " I'll kill young Jones! " 
 
 ^* Why, your skirts are hardly shorter than a 
 lawn-tennis costume, and a good deal more elong- 
 ated than a bike suit, a la mode^' suggests Dr. 
 Granite, who has followed his weeping nurse 
 down-stairs, attempting to throw oil on troubled 
 waters. 
 
 '' That's it ! " cries Gertrude. " You've noticed 
 the length of my skirts, Dr. Granite ! I have ar- 
 rived at an age when it is noticeable y 
 
 Then with flaming cheeks and haughty air she 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 99 
 
 turns upon her sister again, and says : " Indra, in the 
 name of decency, I demand long dresses ! " 
 
 During this outbreak Miss Vanstone has seemed 
 to nave some problem in her mind. She immedi- 
 ately answers her younger sister. 
 
 " That being the case, Gertie," she says, " you 
 shall have as long skirts as you want. Only I 
 don't see how you can get them immediately." 
 
 •* Oh Heaven ! He see me in these ! " moans 
 Gertrude, giving a despairing glance at her petite 
 slippers and openwork stockings. " I shall be 
 branded schoolgirl — child — infant — in his eyes 
 forever." 
 
 Just here Indra's generous heart comes mto 
 play. She says brightly, *' Don't you thmk a few 
 of my new ones — I have had a lot sent me from 
 New York — would suit you for the present, 
 Gertie ? " 
 
 " Suit me ? " screams Miss Adolescence. " Suit 
 me ? — to a dot ! Indra, God bless you ; you have 
 saved me from despair. Give me that white or- 
 gandie, with cream lace and pink ribbons, so I can 
 see him and crush him right off when he comes 
 down." Then she laughs: "Ramon will think I 
 only tucked up my skirts so as not to have them 
 rustle in the sick-room. I w^ant to pour coals of 
 fire on my patient's ungrateful head." 
 
 " Very well," returns Indra. "Come with me 
 and call Annie, the seamstress, and we will see 
 what we can do toward putting you into — into so- 
 ciety." 
 
 " Quick — my heaven — he'll be down soon ! " 
 gasps Gertie, and flies into retirement, followed 
 by her sister. 
 
lOO DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 A few moments after, assisted by Granite, 
 Seiior Ramon Varona steps slowly upon the ver- 
 anda, and would sink immediately onto a settee, 
 did not Castilian politeness make him pause and 
 bow to the two gentlemen, who rise to receive him. 
 
 '* Ah, mi amigo ! " cries Estrabon, seizing the 
 convalescent's hand, "You'll soon be ready to fight 
 the Spaniards." 
 
 " Don't stop for formalities ! " commands 
 Granite. " Sit down, Varona, take things easy. 
 All you have to do now is to keep quiet, and 
 you'll soon be yourself again. This is young Mr. 
 Rex Vanstone, the brother of the two young ladies." 
 
 ** Mr. Vanstone," says the young Cuban, in per- 
 fect English, ** I once went to the same school as 
 you did, in New York. You remember Charlier's 
 Academy, on Fifty-ninth street? You were almost 
 a child then — I was much older." 
 
 " By Jove ! " remarks Rex, " I remember you 
 now also. We little boys used to call you * Cuba 
 Libre.' You were quite fat then." 
 
 **Ah, yes!' The invalid laughs slightly, then 
 murmurs, ** But those were happier days ; I was 
 quite fat then," and looks at his emaciated hand. 
 '"*' Of course you are a little thin now," laughs 
 the boy, " but we have a darky cook who will fat- 
 ten anybody. Dr. Granite, here, has not given 
 her a chance. That's what's the matter with 
 you." 
 
 ** Well, I leave this evening," remarks the medi- 
 cal man, " and to-morrow I suppose your cook 
 will get her deadly work in on my patient." 
 
 " Not while Senorita Gertrude acts as head 
 nurse," suggests Don Estrabon, laughingly. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 101 
 
 " Ah, yes. Your two sisters, where are they ? 
 I had supposed they would welcome me to the 
 veranda," remarks the young man, throwing^ his 
 eyes about rather eagerly. 
 
 To this the brother answers, ** They're making 
 a toilette for the occasion, especially Gertie." 
 
 " You had better not take any more exertion, 
 Sefior Varona," interjects Dr. Granite; "at least 
 not for the present. Take things calmly — and for 
 God's sake don't do that ! " he adds, in medical 
 horror. 
 
 Rex has produced a package of cigarettes for 
 his own use, and noting longing on the Cuban's 
 face, has hospitably handed him one, which Ra- 
 mon's educated fingers are rapidly preparing for 
 his lips. 
 
 '' Diantre ! I haven't smoked for a month," mur- 
 murs the invalid. "Permit me but one — in the name 
 of charity, permit me one, medico. It is a proof 
 that I am at last out of thy hands," pleads Ramon 
 softly, yet with southern grace. 
 
 " But not out of my hands! " With these words, 
 spoken with laughing but determined voice. Miss 
 Gertie swoops upon her patient, and with one deft 
 grab confiscates his cigarette. 
 
 " Sanctisstma! " murmurs the invalid, then seems 
 astonished at his nurse's appearance. A sudden 
 vivacity seems to come to the wounded man. He 
 rises, and holds out entreating hand, murmuring, 
 " Don't you see I'm well enough to smoke?" 
 
 " By Jove ! " whispers Rex to the Don, with 
 whom now he is on terms of easy friendship, ** Is 
 the cigarette or Gertie, Varona's tonic ? " 
 
 And Gertie would be a tonic to most men. For 
 
102 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 she is now a fascinating-, yet resolute picture of 
 adolescent womanhood, and commanding minis- 
 tering angel. 
 
 *' By Jove ! '* thinks Rex, as he gazes, " She's 
 stolen Indra's best gown to mash the Cuban 
 with." 
 
 And this seems to be the truth, for Gertrude is 
 now arrayed m a toilet that has been created by 
 some master of modistes who gives woman his aid 
 for the allurement and enthrallment of man. Like 
 most masterpieces, it is simple in appearance, but 
 tremendous in effect. Though light, fluffy and 
 blow-away, it outlines every curve of beauty in 
 the girl's lithe figure, yet lends substance to her 
 graceful though immature lines of youth. Appar- 
 ently high-necked, it permits exquisite glimpses 
 of fair arms and ivory neck. But what endears it 
 most to Gertie is that it has a nice long skirt, and 
 makes her fondly think her height, which is not 
 abnormal, commanding ; yea, even colossal. 
 
 At all events, in it Miss Gertie has a potent effect 
 upon the Cuban. His dark eyes become lustrous 
 — yet very winning. His manner, which was 
 languid, even for an invalid, suddenly grows ani- 
 mated to vivacity. He murmurs, *'I — I had 
 thought you " then suddenly appears confused. 
 
 "A pretty htt/^ girl. I heard you," laughs 
 Gertrude. 
 
 Then she adds contemplatively, " You did not 
 displease me. 1 don't mind assuming a youth that 
 has now gone from me. A few years ago I should 
 have resented the suspicion of childhood, but as 
 we grow older we grow wiser, don't we, Sefior 
 Lieutenant ?" This is said with such an affecta- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I03 
 
 tion of mature philosophy, yea, even matronly re- 
 gret for girlish days, that Ramon, looking at her, 
 gasps, in a dazed and astonished manner, " Senora, 
 
 you are married. 1 — I had supposed " and 
 
 sinks down on his settee once more, apparently 
 confounded, disconcerted, and, perchance, un- 
 happy. 
 
 *' By Jove !" giggles Rex into Estrabon's ear, 
 " If Varona doesn't think Gertie has got a hus- 
 band. O, short-skirts, this is too rich!" And 
 unable to contain himself, the boy staggers round 
 the corner of the veranda, and would go into con- 
 vulsions quietly by himself. 
 
 But the humor of the situation chancing to 
 strike the Hidalgo with equal force, he steps after 
 Rex, and the two play the boy together, and hold 
 each other up as the tears roll down their cheeks 
 in an ecstasy of merriment. 
 
 This leaves Gertie in convenient tSte-a-tSte with 
 the Cuban ; Granite having gone up stairs to pack 
 his gripsack, as the Flying Fish now has steam up 
 and is coming to the wharf to take him for his 
 trip to Miami. 
 
 She is the girl to take advantage of it. She says 
 sympathetically, "You are in despair? For 
 what?" 
 
 " Caspita! Haven't I cause to be?" mutters the 
 Cuban. 
 
 "You — you don't think I'm married?" screams 
 Gertie. Then the humor of the thing striking the 
 girl, she goes into convulsions herself. But a mo- 
 ment after a tenderer emotion seems to dominate 
 her, and she murmurs, " You would feel badly if I 
 had a husband ?" 
 
104 ^ON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 "Ah! You have not!" cries the young man, 
 passion driving out languor. " You have not ! 
 SenoritUj I see it by your eyes, you have not." 
 
 But Gertrude, who, if she was a child this morn- 
 ing, has grown too much of a woman this after- 
 noon to permit hasty wooing, suddenly says: 
 " Ah ! You're strong once more. I am glad to 
 see that. Strong enough to smoke. Here, take 
 your cigarette, enjoy it, while I bring my sister to 
 you," then runs away, the happiest little girl in 
 America. 
 
 On all this Don Balasco has gazed with laughter 
 but indifference. He thinks : "What has Senorita 
 Gertie's childish passion to do with me and my 
 great love ? " Then he inspects the Cuban, who 
 has dropped into a chair again, and notes a curious 
 change. In the year since he has seen him, this 
 young man has become a soldier, and a hand- 
 some one. He has dark eyes that would be flash- 
 ing did not languor now dominate them, a long, 
 graceful mustache, firm, thin lips, white and per- 
 fect teeth, and a fine forehead that is now slightly 
 scarred by a machete wound. His manner has 
 military determination, and his skin, which has 
 that clear tint peculiar to pure Castilian blood, is 
 still partly bronzed by the continuous exposure of 
 rapid marching under the wind and sun, despite 
 the confinement of the sickroom. 
 
 As the Don thinks this, old Mr. Vanstone comes 
 upon the veranda, and shaking the invalid's hand, 
 says : " You've taken a load off my mind by pulling 
 through, my boy." 
 
 "Ah, how can I ever thank you ! " returns Va- 
 rona. " Even these clothes " he looks at some 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I05 
 
 very handsome garments that adorn him, then 
 murmurs, " Every Cuban is now poor." 
 
 ** Don't let that trouble you, Sefior Ramon," re- 
 marks Estrabon ; ** you can draw on me and then 
 we'll see what the Junta will do for you." 
 
 Now this is a very fortunate speech for the Don. 
 Miss Indra coming out on the balcony chances to 
 hear it, and the look she casts upon Balasco puts 
 him into the seventh heaven. But Varona cries, 
 " Not a peso from our patriot committee ! Their 
 money is all for arms to fight the accursed Span- 
 iard !" 
 
 Here this style of conversation is put a stop to 
 by Dr. Granite, who is coming out to board the Fly- 
 ing Fish, " Not another word on the fighting sub- 
 ject, my young bantam ! " he cries. " Not till you've 
 more blood in your body. Those gentlemen 
 over there," he waves his hand to the south, 
 "practiced a very considerable and nearly suc- 
 cessful phlebotomy on you. Now mark me," he 
 adds solemnly, addressing Balasco and Ramon, 
 *' don't either of you patriots talk shop for a day 
 or two. Good-bye. Don't rise, Varona. * Then 
 he chuckles, " I think, though, I ought to have 
 kisses from both nurses, if the young men don't 
 mind." 
 
 With this the potentate of the sick-room goes 
 down the steps attended by Indra and Gertie, and 
 on the gang plank that leads to the Flying Fish gets 
 two hearty salutes from his Red Cross girls. 
 
 Gazing at this from the veranda, as Indra's fair 
 cheek is brushed by the venerable physician's 
 grizzled mustache, Estrabon clenches his hands, 
 then mutters : '* Pish I the old dolt is over sixty — 
 
Io6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 but after she is " and goes to thinking more 
 
 happy thoughts as the Flying Fish dashes away 
 toward Miami and railroads, mid the waving of 
 handkerchiefs by the young ladies, and view-hal- 
 loos from Rex. 
 
 These amatory ideas Balasco condenses this 
 evening as he smokes one of his famed Imperiales. 
 
 His Circe has just left him, and left him pleased 
 with himself, for she has flattered him by an 
 after-dmner tete-h-tete, that she has thought pleas- 
 ant and interesting, but the Don has deemed rap- 
 turous and romantic, interrupted only by semi- 
 occasional visits from Gertie, who, her invalid hav- 
 ing gone to bed, now walks about the veranda dis- 
 consolate, and by transient appearances of Rex, who 
 suggests billiards. 
 
 Each glance at the girl, who had taken easy, 
 yet effective, pose in a hammock, has been but 
 putting" oil upon the flames, for now, somehow, he 
 thinks she loves him, and construes an habitual 
 coquetry into a Juliet's passion. Miss Vanstone 
 had dropped her handkerchief — it was that he 
 might pick it up — and then his hand had touched 
 her taper fingers as he returned the bit of lace, 
 'indra wore blue this evening ; had he not told her 
 it was his favorite color ? Even when she 
 said good-night, she said it with a sigh, and her 
 little hand rested in his, as with Spanish gallantry 
 he had kissed it. Yes, it had trembled under his 
 mustache, he is sure of that. So, carried away 
 by a romance that manufactures romance, Estra- 
 bon murmurs, '' Mi querida ! It will be a good 
 match both for her and for me. I am rich ; she is 
 rich. We are young ; we love. Indra shall be 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I07 
 
 happy in my adoration, my tenderness, my guid- 
 ance. I will make this earth a heaven for her, my 
 bride," and passion running riot, Senor Balasco 
 builds up in his vivid imagination a palace of cards 
 that will some day fall down and crush him as 
 fatally as if each two-spot were a great marble 
 column and each jack a massive girder of pon- 
 derous weight. 
 
 As for Miss Indra, she says: ''We killed time 
 very nicely to-day." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MASSACRE OF A HOSPITAL. 
 
 It is a pleasant evening on the day after the de- 
 parture of Dr. Granite ; a day which has afforded 
 Don Estrabon many fascinating little interviews 
 with his hostess, all of which have added faggots 
 to the fire that burns within him. 
 
 The two have been left alone together several 
 times. Miss Gertie has been occupied with her pa- 
 tient, who now says he is a patient no longer, and 
 proves it by striding about the garden attended by 
 his devoted nurse ; Mr. Vanstone has been engaged 
 m fighting his perpetual ant pest, so after a game or 
 two of billiards, which he has played with Rex to 
 keep him quiet, the Don has had practically a clear 
 field to himself. This he has occupied in discuss- 
 ing with Miss Indra various details of the fete she 
 is going to give to her house party, and the picnic 
 cruise which will follow. It has of course given 
 her admirer no very great opportunities for pas- 
 sionate expression, but the young lady's manner 
 
Io8 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 has been very cordial, and she has thanked him 
 very prettily for the trouble to which he has gone 
 in ordering the Cuban musicians from Key West, 
 and acting as general directory in sending out invi- 
 tations for her dance to the few families on the 
 surrounding keys. She has also given him a posy 
 for his buttonhole, and told him that she hopes he 
 dances very well, adding laughingly : " Then jou 
 can teach me the bolero and the cachucha." 
 
 Now all these are very little things, but, em- 
 phasized and embellished by bright eyes, piquant 
 gestures and soft voice, they are enough to make 
 the Spaniard romantically happy. 
 
 Consequently, this evening, as he sits on the 
 veranda listening to the light conversation of the 
 elder Vanstone and his family, Don Estrabon con- 
 siders himself one of the blest. 
 
 ** Do you not thmk our isle looks lonely without 
 the dear old Flying Fish}'' suggests Indra, gazing 
 toward the vacant moorings of the pleasure craft. 
 
 '* Our isle ! " repeats the Don to himself, his eyes 
 lighting up. 
 
 ** By this time Granite must be flying north- 
 ward," remarks Mr. Vanstone. ** And the yacht 
 must be embarking her cargo of fashionables from 
 Palm Beach. They run down from there to 
 Miami by rail, 1 believe." 
 
 " Then we may look for them to-morrow morn- 
 ing, if Mr. Thomas, the captain, who is a cautious 
 man among reefs, drives her," returns Indra, who 
 is leaning against the balustrade, carelessly looking 
 out over the water. 
 
 " She could do it in ten hours, easy," interjects 
 Rex, " if Thomas had any go in him. The Flying 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. T09 
 
 Fish is about the fastest thing in our family, ex- 
 cept " Here he nods his head and winks his 
 
 eye toward Gertie, who is seated near Seiior 
 Varona, in a tete-a-tete which is much more that of 
 young man and young woman than that of patient 
 and nurse. 
 
 ** What the devil do you mean, boy ? " ejaculates 
 Vanstone p&e, scowling at his offspring. 
 
 But before he can get answer, the young lady 
 under discussion comes up and says sternly, 
 " Papa, I'm told there are no more chops in the 
 cold-room. You must send at once to Key West 
 for chops." 
 
 ''And why are chops so necessary for your hap- 
 piness?" 
 
 " Chops are necessary for his health. They have 
 been ordered by Dr. Granite — chops three times 
 a day. Do you suppose I'm going to let my 
 patient die for want of chops?" cries Gertrude, 
 savagely. 
 
 Here the invalid, strolling up, remarks, " I beg 
 you, Sefiorita Gertrude, do not trouble yourself 
 about chops. Anything from unripe bananas and 
 cocoanuts, wild hog's flesh or dried iguana will be 
 princely fare to one who has marched and foraged 
 with Maceo." 
 
 " You fought with Maceo?" murmurs Gertie, her 
 eyes becoming luminous. " You know you have 
 not told us anything about what brought you so 
 near to death, " falters the girl. 
 
 '* That was on account of Dr. Granite's orders," 
 answers the young man. Then he adds vivaciously: 
 " Now I am entirely at your service for informa- 
 tion." 
 
no DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Don't give it yet, my boy," says Vanstone, " if 
 you don't feel up to it." 
 
 " Pooh ! I am no more on the sick list," laughs 
 the convalescent. ** I have traveled for weeks with 
 greater wounds on me than 1 have now. It was 
 not my injuries, but starvation and thirst that 
 brought me so near to death. Besides, in the last 
 twenty-four hours I have eaten four square meals- 
 excuse the Americanism — but I was educated 
 in New York, and would still live there, were it 
 not necessary that I should fight for my poor 
 island." 
 
 " That is well spoken, Varona ! " cries Estrabon 
 heartily. " Were I not of greater use here, I 
 would stand by your side." 
 
 *' Besides," mutters young Varona, " I have a 
 murdered brother " 
 
 '' One killed recently?" falters Indra, under her 
 breath. 
 
 " No ; an elder brother — one of the medical stu- 
 dents of 1 87 1. He was hardly a boy — not much 
 over your age, young Senor Rex — when he patted 
 my head (I could hardly toddle then) and went out 
 to his studies, never to come back. You have 
 heard the story, I presume." 
 
 The young man turns away and walks slowly to 
 the corner of the balcony, leaving his hearers im- 
 pressed. They have all read in American newspa- 
 pers of that awful schoolboy tragedy of Havana. 
 
 A moment later the Cuban returns to them and 
 says : " I don't know why I should burden you 
 with my troubles or those of my island " 
 
 " Which you may be sure are our troubles ! '* 
 cries Gertie, intensely. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. Ill 
 
 '* Ah ! You make me very happy," returns 
 Varona with grateful eyes. " Still it is not ex- 
 traordinary. You are but one hundred miles away 
 from the misery of my land. It would be strange 
 if the people of America, free and happy, should 
 not sympathize with — should not aid — a people 
 struggling for liberty and suffering from a military 
 tyranny as cruel as that of Alva, three hundred 
 years ago." Then he adds, apologetically: '* I do 
 not wish to take your time ; but I suppose, Mr. 
 Vanstone, you should know how I came here." 
 
 " Not if it will inconvenience you in any way,*' 
 returns the American. 
 
 " Oh, tell us ! " whispers Gertie, with under- 
 breath eagerness. 
 
 " Then listen," says the Cuban, sadly, " to the 
 story of the massacre of a hospital." 
 
 ^^ Diablo I Did they do that?" cries Estrabon, 
 attempting great malevolence of voice. 
 
 " Listen ! You know, Balasco, I was born in 
 Havana, of a good and fairly wealthy family. A 
 sugar estate at one end of the island, and a tobacco 
 plantation at the other, gave us our income. I 
 was too young to understand or share my moth- 
 er's despair, my father's agony, when he threw 
 himself on his knees before the Captain-General 
 and cried, * A pound of gold for every pound of 
 the body of my boy, whom you have sentenced to 
 be shot ! ' 
 
 " A year afterward, I was still too much of a 
 child to understand my mother's death in New 
 York, where my father had taken her to try and 
 make her forget the murder of her firstborn. Then 
 I was too young, but I have learned r^ow, of my 
 
112 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 own knowledge, what my brother, my father, my 
 mother, must have suffered. 
 
 *'A few years ago, my father died — a lonely 
 man, leaving me, a more lonely boy, in New York. 
 I had friends among the Cuban colony — dear 
 friends ; but my family estates required my atten- 
 tion in Havana. 
 
 '■^ From the moment I arrived there I was what 
 you may call * a suspect' Though at that time, 
 the island being tranquil, I was simply watched — 
 not molested. Then came the uprising, a year 
 ago. Maceo landed, Gomez landed, Marti landed. 
 The flame of freedom burnt in the island once 
 more. Anxious to join the patriot bands, I was 
 held back, persuaded against it, by an old friend 
 of my father's, Jose Castillo, who whispered, * I 
 have seen that tried before ; it brought to them 
 only death or exile. * 
 
 " For a time, I took Castillo's advice and lin- 
 gered in Havana, where Campos still remained — 
 Captain-General of Cuba, but also a human be- 
 ing to whom humanity could appeal. One day it 
 was whispered to me, ' Weyler is coming ! * Then 
 I knew it was either to go back to America, there 
 to remain placidly watching my country's strug- 
 gle,'" and curse myself forever for being inactive, 
 or to take to the mountains, the swamps, the cane- 
 brakes, and join some insurgent leader. I did 
 so. Maceo at that time was marching into Pinar 
 del Rio, and there I took service with him, but 
 without arms. 
 
 " While there word came to me that Castillo, 
 who had counseled non-resistance and inaction, 
 had been arrested and deported to Cuenta for life. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. II3 
 
 Then I knew what all know now — that in Cuba 
 the non-combatant, the unresisting, i]\Q pacifico^ is 
 never spared. 
 
 " Soon after, the Three Friends made her ap- 
 pearance on the coast. I assisted in making the 
 landing, and, as a reward, obtained what a Cuban 
 values most — arms with which to fight. With 
 Maceo I marched through Pinar del Rio. Under 
 him and Quintin Bandera I fought in half a hun- 
 dred skirmishes, for what the Spanish General 
 calls a battle is generally an affair of outposts, 
 more often the murdering of a few helpless 
 peasants in the fields, whom he says give us in- 
 formation. So on until — what day is this?" asks 
 the Cuban suddenly. " I have lost all reckoning 
 of time." 
 
 " The 25th of April," returns Vanstone. 
 
 " Ah ! Then it was more than two weeks ago. 
 An expedition arrived at Pinar del Rio, bearing 
 arms, ammunition and dynamite. Under Quintin 
 Bandera, I — then an aide-de-camp on Maceo's staff 
 — was sent to assist the landing and receive the 
 goods, for we have generally definite information 
 of both place and time when expeditions from 
 America will reach us. It was at a little beach con- 
 cealed by hills from patrolling gunboats, some few 
 miles east of the bay on which the half-burnt town 
 of Cabanas stands. Under Bandera some five hun- 
 dred of us had marched down from Maceo's camp 
 in the Rubi mountains and made connection with 
 the landing party, even to a day. Our time was 
 exact, but the Spaniards had in some way notice 
 of the landing and attacked us. We protected the 
 goods and the ship got safely away, but Bandera 
 
114 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 lost a few men killed and had some men wounded. 
 Ah ! that is the horror of the Cuban soldier — to be 
 wounded ! 
 
 " From a height we could see Spanish reinforce- 
 ments dispatched from Cabanas. The goods over 
 which we had charge were of too vital import to 
 Maceo's army for us to dare to risk an engage- 
 ment with numbers that might overpower us. 
 What to do with the wounded was Bandera's 
 agony. They could not be taken away. Were 
 they left, it was to be slaughtered like sheep in 
 the shambles. That is what the Spaniards do with 
 our poor wounded boys down there, who by all 
 the laws of humanity — of even war — should have 
 the nurse's tenderness, the surgeon's skill. In- 
 stead of that, it is the machete and the bullet, as 
 they lie helpless on the field of battle or in the 
 hammocks of the hospital. 
 
 " What to do with the wounded ? It was the 
 lives of a few men, or the loss of Maceo's supplies 
 and munitions, that perhaps meant even the 
 sacrifice of Cuban independence. There were not 
 over twenty helpless ones, and they whispered, 
 with fevered lips : * Go on, leave us ! We die, but 
 Cuto lives.' We had only horses enough to carry 
 the landed arms and ammunition. Each wounded 
 man borne away meant the loss to Maceo of two- 
 thousand rounds of ball cartridge, a case of rifles, 
 or a hundred pounds of dynamite. Suddenly to 
 me, who knew the coast well, as our family's 
 destroyed tobacco fields were in that neighbor- 
 hood, came the memory of a hiding place. I cried 
 to the general : ' I know a place of concealment.' 
 
 "* Can you reach it in twenty minutes?' Ban- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. II5 
 
 dera asked hurriedly, for the Spanish columns 
 were almost upon us. 
 
 *' * Yes ; keep the Spaniards employed for that 
 time and I'll save our wounded,' I answered. 
 
 *' ' Then, Varona,* said my general, * I place you 
 in charge of ten men. With them make hospital 
 in the retreat you speak of. But, remember, con- 
 cealment is your best, I think, your only hope.* 
 
 *' To act quickly is the habit of the partisan sol- 
 dier. Bandera held his ground against the Span- 
 ish troops. Within half an hour, in a little cove 
 that ran in from the sea, but was concealed from 
 both land and water by growing palms, man- 
 groves, and aloe bushes, I had the wounded safe 
 from Spanish eyes. Bandera's light line of skir- 
 mishers faded away toward the mountains. I 
 was left alone with ten men, guarding twenty 
 wounded ones, concealed in an enemy's country — 
 and that enemy the Spaniard. 
 
 " With us was a young American, Tom Karrick 
 Lewis, an assistant surgeon, who graduated at 
 Bellevue but a year ago. He had volunteered 
 to remain with a slight stock of medicines and a 
 few surgical instruments and do what he could for 
 the bleeding men who lay about us on the ground. 
 While he ministered to them, my men and I hastily 
 erected sheds of palm leaves to protect them from 
 the sun. A tiny brook, which came babbling 
 down the rocks, gave us fresh water. Behind us 
 was a little hill, covered with prickly cacti, matted 
 thorn bushes, and tropical jungle ; beyond that, a 
 few yards of mangrove swamp, and then the main- 
 land. 
 
 " The wounded^ made as comfortable as our 
 
Il6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 means permitted — some on the ground, a few in 
 hammocks — there was nothing for me to do but 
 watch unceasingly— by day, by night. 1 was a 
 young officer under an awful responsibility. Often 
 in the next week I could have fled with my ten 
 unwounded soldiers, but would have been com- 
 pelled to leave twenty helpless ones. Spanish col- 
 umns at times passed very near to us, and one fear- 
 ful hour we had an awful struggle with a delirious 
 wretch, whose screams would have betrayed us to 
 our enemies had not the surgeon chloroformed 
 him to save the rest. So by day I lurked there, 
 my nights occupied by prowling through the 
 country to get food to keep life in the wounded. 
 
 "At last, one unlucky hour, I wandered to an 
 estate on which lived a Cuban lady who had been 
 a friend of my mother's. To her I told my tale. 
 She said: 'Some time you will be followed, and 
 your wounded men discovered. Each day I will 
 send my boy to your command with provisions 
 enough to keep you alive for twenty-four hours. 
 Return to defend your helpless ones.' 
 
 " * I cannot let you take that risk,' I dissented. ' If 
 you are found aiding us ' 
 
 ** ' I am but a woman,' the lady answered, 'and 
 the boy is only a child — young enough to be spared 
 by the butchers around us for a year or two longer.* 
 
 *' Each day after that, the boy, Tonio, brought 
 food to us by a hidden path through the swamp. 
 While with us the little fellow would often play 
 with the young American surgeon, who was a great, 
 big, jovial boy himself, with a heart as big as his 
 own noble profession, and high spirits that cheered 
 even the wounded and the despairing. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WE^T. II7 
 
 " Then one day, the boy did not come. 
 
 " That evening 1 spied him in a skiff, fishing in the 
 quiet waters just outside of the cove. When dark- 
 ness came, his boat ghded into the glen a few steps 
 from our hospital, which was but a few palm- 
 thatched huts to shelter the wounded from wind 
 and rain and sun. Into my hands Tonio gave the 
 fish he had caught and some ears of corn that he 
 had concealed in a locker in his boat, and said : * I 
 dare not come by the path. They suspect me.* 
 
 "* Leave your boat with me,' answered I, 'and 
 we, after nightfall, will sail along the coast and fish 
 and gather provisions for ourselves. Now mark 
 me ! Come to us no more as you value your 07vn 
 life and that of your dear mother!' 
 
 " * I understand,' answered the boy. ' My mothei' 
 has taught me. When I am old enough, I raise 
 the machete also ! ' 
 
 ** That night I held consultation with the Ameri- 
 can surgeon. ' When will the wounded be ready to 
 travel ? ' I asked. 
 
 " * Three or four could get out now,' was Lewis's 
 reply. * Ten more within two days. Two are 
 already dead, and four, whose legs 1 have ampu- 
 tated, cannot be moved for weeks. Wait two days 
 longer, my dear Ramon,' he added — we had be- 
 come very good friends ; mutual danger having 
 brought us very close together — ' then steal away, 
 taking with you the convalescents. The four who 
 cannot walk I will remain with. Even if they find 
 me, those devils will not injure a surgeon under 
 the Geneva cross.' 
 
 '' But ever since the boy had told me he was 
 suspected, an anxiety greater than before seemed 
 
Il8 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 to be upon me. I went to work, making what 
 preparations 1 could. I had the boat prepared, 
 determined at the worst to put the wounded men 
 m it and try to ship them to America. The Gulf 
 Stream flowed beside us at the rate of nearly four 
 miles an hour ; with a proper breeze it would give 
 the necessary northeasterly direction, and within 
 a day or two my charges might make landing on 
 either the Dry Tortugas or Key West. 
 
 *' That night I told the surgeon that I would 
 wait no longer. The coming morning I would 
 take with me those of the wounded who were able 
 to travel, and with them, through by-paths in the 
 mountains, rejoin Maceo. The balance 1 would 
 place in the skiff with three men to manage it, and 
 they would set sail and try to cross the Gulf 
 Stream to safety. 
 
 '' ' I believe you have hit the best plan,' whis- 
 pered poor Lewis to me. 
 
 ^' But even while we were speaking, there came 
 to us, over the silence of the night, the screams 
 and shrieks of agony unendurable. These awful 
 sounds seemed to me about two hundred yards 
 away, inland of us. 
 
 *' Our patrols were efficient — the men knew 
 their own lives depended on their eyes and ears. 
 Hurriedly I glided to our most advanced sentinel. 
 He whispered: ' The screaming came from just 
 beyond the swamp.' 
 
 " In that direction I crawled, following the trail 
 leading through the mangroves. As I reached the 
 mainland, through interlacing vines and creepers, 
 and trunks of palm trees, I saw a camp-fire. 
 Creeping near it, as I peered out from the thick 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. II9 
 
 chaparral, with machete drawn and pistol ready, I 
 heard a boy's moan, and saw the first horror of 
 that night. 
 
 '' A company of Spanish guerrillas were in a little 
 clearing in the forest. Half of them were lying 
 on the ground beside their stacked arms. Others 
 were standing at ease watching three of their fel- 
 lows torturing the boy who had brought pro- 
 visions to us ; torturing him to make him tell the 
 secret of our hiding place. 
 
 *^ ' Spare me ! ' he screamed. 'Madre mia L I 
 cannot tell ! They are wounded men ! ' and hung 
 moaning from a tree. 
 
 '''Caramha! A hospital! You're in luck,' 
 cried the lieutenant. ' This will make your pro- 
 motion, Capitan V aldez.' 
 
 " 'Diablo ! ' answered his superior. * A victory 
 over a hospital means to me the medal for valor. 
 My dispatch shall read, '' No wounded." Take a 
 new rawhide, Domingo, and give the rebel 
 muchachito another and a stronger turn.' 
 
 " But the gray-headed sergeant saluted respect- 
 fully and muttered, ' He can bear no more ; he is 
 but a child,' and turned away his head. 
 
 " ' Obey my orders or I strip the stripes from 
 your sleeves,' commanded the Captain. 
 
 '' Then the torment began again ! 
 
 *' I cannot describe the scene. I went mad 
 almost myself as I looked at it. It was blows and 
 agony— the victim's screams — the blasphemies of 
 his torturers. 
 
 '' But the boy did not tell. 
 
 *' Twice I raised my pistol to shoot the Spanish 
 captain, but that would have betrayed the secret 
 
I20 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 of our retreat. Twice I raised it, in pity, to still 
 the tortured victim ; but I — I thoug^ht of his mother, 
 and I could not. 
 
 " Suddenly the child suffered no more. Insensi- 
 bility had made him forget. 
 
 *' They loosed his bonds. 
 
 " A few minutes after the boy sprang up, glared 
 about him and laughed — a maniac laugh. The 
 child had been made insane by torment. 
 
 " * Our secret is safe now,' thought I, for an in- 
 stant. But I did not know the cunning of the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 ** * Let him alone now. He is a maniac,* said the 
 captain to his men. * Quiet ! Don't lay hands 
 upon him. Then he laughed: ^ Maniacos always 
 run to their friends.* 
 
 *' To my horror, this became the truth ! 
 
 " The boy fled from his persecutors and ran for 
 protection to those who had been kind to him — to 
 me, the American surgeon and our wounded ones. 
 His insane footsteps guided the Spaniards along 
 the path to — God help me ! — our hospital. 
 
 " 1 stopped them at the first turn by killing the 
 Spanish captain. I checked them again as they 
 entered the swamp, by shooting the lieutenant, who 
 was leading. But by this time another company 
 was behind them, and they still came on. A mo- 
 ment after I was among my sentries. No time for 
 concealment now ! We called down the glen : 
 * Send us every man who can hold a gun or raise 
 a machete !* 
 
 " Then the Spaniards came, and we fought to 
 save the helpless. But numbers swept us down 
 the hill. A bullet and machete wound tumbled 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 121 
 
 mc over, down the little declivity. I lay on the 
 ground and ordered the surgeon to put those who 
 could not walk into the boat. 
 
 '* ' Then you go vi\ first V cried poor Lewis, lift- 
 ing me to the stern-sheets. Two or three — you 
 saw them — with amputated legs, were put into 
 the skiff as the Spaniards, swooping down the 
 hill, slew the last fighting Cuban. And so came to 
 their joy — their triumph — the hospital, the wound- 
 ed, the maimed ! 
 
 **They had fired one hut ; by its light I see Lewis 
 standing in front of them, crying, * This place is 
 protected ! It flies the Red Cross ! I am the 
 surgeon in charge!* 
 
 " ' By your voice an American. That is your 
 death warrant !' " answered a sergeant, and struck 
 him down. 
 
 ** Then it was the torch and the sword ! In the 
 blazing palm-huts 1 see them now. O, Madre de 
 Dios! murdering the helpless, and killing the sur. 
 geon, who, as their machetes hacked him to pieces, 
 waved in the faces of his assassins the flag with 
 the Cross of Geneva. 
 
 " As his death cry broke the air, two fugitives 
 dashed into the water and threw themselves into 
 the skiff. 
 
 " The next instant our sail caught the breeze ; 
 we ran out of the cove, pursued by bullets that 
 struck down those of us who were capable of 
 handling rudder or oar. 
 
 ' Totally disabled by stiffening wounds, I lay 
 there. The night was cool, the sea breeze re- 
 freshing. 
 
 " In the morning no land could be seen. Then the 
 
122 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 sun came up and poured its burning rays upon the 
 few that lived. They cried for water, and there was 
 none. All day the sun, the merciless sun — the sun 
 I had once loved, but now cursed — glared down 
 upon us and drank our blood, and to me came 
 darkness, and then — nothingness. 
 
 '* Then I awoke to find the sea breeze rustling 
 the lace curtains at the open windows of a shaded 
 room ; to find my body, that had not known a bed 
 for months, resting amid pillows of lace and sheets 
 of linen. The fragrant breath of rose flowers 
 floated about me. There was music sounding 
 softly from a piano in some room below me, an 
 angel was bending over me — and for a moment I 
 thought I was in heaven — but it was America !" 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FALSE LIGHTS ON THE KEY. 
 
 The Cuban ceases, leaving a silence broken 
 only by a muttered " Good God ! " from old Van- 
 stone. Rex's cigarette has gone out long ago, and 
 been forgotten. The girls are holdmg each 
 other's hands. Estrabon now becomes the domi- 
 nant element of the scene. 
 
 " Santos y demonios ! " he cries in excited voice, 
 his eyes rolling wildly. " Those Spanish assassins ! 
 They kill an American surgeon ! For that we 
 must demand blood ! " 
 
 " Great Scott, Balasco !" ejaculates Vanstone, 
 with the nervous timidity of the financier. " You 
 are not an American citizen, yet you would make 
 war for us." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY .WEST. I23 
 
 " No ; I am only Don Estrabon," answers the 
 cigarmaker ; *' but esteem it an honor to grasp 
 the hand of a man who fought with Maceo." And 
 he becomes effusively bellicose m his utterances, 
 for Miss Indra's eyes glance at him in the 
 sympathy that women — God bless them ! — always 
 have for the struggling patriot. 
 
 To this young Varona answers, moodily, " Don't 
 let us talk any more about it. If we do, I shall 
 dream of that horrid thing again to-night," 
 
 And Gertie cries, ** For Heaven's sake, don't 
 excite him ! If he gets nervous, I shall have to 
 use hypodermics on my own responsibility ! Dr. 
 Granite has gone away." 
 
 After this the conversation grows languid ; 
 though they are all excited again by old Vanstone, 
 who startles them by suddenly saying : " I am one 
 of the trustees of Bellevue Hospital. I saw young 
 Lewis, the murdered surgeon, graduate, myself, a 
 year ago. This war is comjng very close to us." 
 
 " Close to 2/^?" returns Rex. '* We should go close 
 to it. They murder American citizens, and our 
 State Department Vs^ritQS papers about it." 
 
 " Hush ! my boy," remarks his father, '^ Such 
 ideas disturb Wall street." 
 
 "■ Disturb Wall street ? That's what you are al- 
 ways saying, papa, when anything American 
 comes up," cries Miss Gertie, viciously. Then 
 she goes on, with a philosophy beyond her years : 
 " Besides, I have heard you say that during our 
 great civil war Wall street was m its glory; there 
 was ten times the chance to make a fortune then 
 that there is now." 
 
 " Yes; ten times the chance to lose one also," 
 
124 I>ON BALASCO Of K£Y WEST. 
 
 laughs Estrabon,who has occasionally been slightly 
 shorn in American speculations. 
 
 " And as I have got my fortune," remarks the 
 elder man, " the placid sea of steady interest is 
 more pleasant to me than the raging storm of 
 fluctuating values ; that's what I told young 
 Severance," he adds contemplatively, ^* and so 
 kept that young millionaire out of Wall street." 
 
 '* I think I'll go to bed," observes Miss Van- 
 stone, rising. 
 
 " Won't you stay longer — a little while longer? " 
 murmurs Balasco, anxious for evening tete-^- 
 tete, 
 
 " No, if you'll excuse me, I will say good-night 
 to everybody; Senor Ramon's story has given 
 me the blues," replies the girl rather moodily and 
 takes her way to her own apartments ; where 
 curiously enough she does not goto bed, but sits 
 with her fair cheek on her hand looking out of 
 the open window and gazing toward the North. 
 A moment after tears come into her beautiful 
 eyes. She murmurs " My Billy " — then smites her 
 pretty palms together and addressing herself mut- 
 ters, " Idiot ! Why did I listen to new- women 
 ideas and toss my happiness away ! " 
 
 Downstairs likewise, the story just told by the 
 Cuban does not add to general conviviality, 
 though Vanstone asks in a casual way if Varona 
 has any suspicion of how the Spaniards gained 
 news of the landing of the Three Friends expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 " Of course not," answers the young man, then 
 says reflectively, " The Captain- General has as 
 many secret agents in Florida as he has in Havana." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 125 
 
 '' Spies here — in this country ? " falters Gertie 
 impressed. " Why you may be in danger even 
 now ! ** 
 
 And the girl, as if half frightened, bids the rest 
 of the party good-night, and then goes slowly up- 
 stairs. 
 
 She is met at the door of her chamber by Indra, 
 who apparently has no thought of somnolence. 
 She remarks, suggestively : " Do you think you 
 will sleep, Gertie? That kind of story is not a good 
 thing to go to bed on," and gets a shock in return, 
 
 Gertie puts up a pathetic face, and shudders: 
 '* Oh ! if they had killed Ramon, 1 would have 
 died ; " then darts into her room and would close 
 the door, but her sister is after her. 
 
 " Don't be foolish," the elder says, soothingly. 
 " If they had killed Ramon, you would never have 
 known him." 
 
 " Not known Ramon ? It seems as if I have 
 known him all my life." 
 
 ** Nonsense ! You are too young to talk that 
 way. Miss Gray-hairs. You are not seventeen 
 years." 
 
 *' No ; not seventeen," whispers Miss First-Love, 
 with pathetic voice, " but the awful danger over 
 Ramon is making an old woman of me very 
 fast." Then she shudders: *' Do you think he 
 will go back to battle and to death ?" 
 
 *' Not if Varona knows when he has a good 
 thing," answers the elder sister, looking signifi- 
 cantly at the younger one, for Gertie is as pretty as 
 seventeen can be, and in a year or two gives prom- 
 ise of even greater loveliness. 
 
 As for the object of these remarks, on the ver- 
 
126 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 anda below, surrounded by the gentlemep, he 
 smokes a cigarette contemplatively. And for the 
 matter of that, so do the others. 
 
 But the silence is broken in upon by Rex, ex- 
 claiming, '' By Jove ! That's curious !'' 
 
 " What? " asks his lather. 
 
 " The light on that island ! I never saw a glim- 
 mer on Coral Key before." 
 
 ** Nor I either. Somebody must be fishing for 
 turtle over there," replies Mr. Vanstone. 
 
 " Coral Key?" cries the Don, excitedly, his eye 
 following the boy's hand, that points at a gleam 
 which comes from a torch or lantern some two 
 miles away. For he remembers the tale told him 
 by Mastic in their interview at Key West about 
 Alligator Pete having seen a beacon on this island. 
 
 ''''Caramba r' ejaculates Varona. ''There are 
 three lights now. See them, in a triangle. It re- 
 minds me of the signals we waved to the Three 
 Friends when she made landing near Cabanas." 
 
 Then they all strain their eyes, but the gloom 
 is too intense, and they only see three lights, that 
 finally grow into a line and then disappear. 
 
 But this careless remark of Ramon sets the Don 
 thinking. He has had vague information of a 
 Cuban depot of arms and ammunition in the 
 neighborhood of Emerald Key. " This may be 
 the place." He thinks : " I will sail overand take 
 a look at the island." 
 
 Then gazing at the young man sitting beside 
 him, he gives a start and wonders, " What would 
 Varona do if he guessed that I had been instru- 
 mental in bringing his misfortunes upon him." 
 
 " Well, as the lights have gone out," remarks 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 127 
 
 Vans tone, rising, ** I think I will turn in. Senor 
 Ramon, your story has given us all the blues. 
 But to-morrow morning, my man, we will be in 
 the modern world again. Beauty and fashion are 
 coming to us from Palm Beach." 
 
 "And have you not beauty enough here?" 
 laughs the young Cuban. 
 
 " And to spare ! " cries Balasco. " Senor Van- 
 stone, I cannot permit your slighting your two 
 beautiful daughters. You should be a happy 
 man." Then, with a kindly glance of his eye at 
 the father of the young lady he has decreed shall 
 be his bride, Don Estrabon goes cheerily up to 
 bed to dream a dream, as gorgeous as ever came 
 to opium eater, of the beautiful creature who he 
 has ordained shall come into his life, give him 
 her lovehness and be his very own — a glorious 
 vision, that shall turn to hideous nightmare on the 
 morrow. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PARTY FROM PALM BEACH. 
 
 But not knowing what is before him, Don Ba- 
 lasco sleeps the sleep of the blessed, to awake 
 early the next morning bright, happy, and vi- 
 vacious. 
 
 He sings a gay Spanish ditty as he makes his 
 ablutions, and murmurs, ** Another day with her! " 
 then puts on a childish pout, and says: "Bah 
 Those fashionables are coming from Palm Beach 
 to interrupt our love ! " and goes down to his 
 steam-launch, which is moored to the little landing 
 
128 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 stage, as happy, debonnaire and blithesome a 
 Hidalgo as ever doffed sombrero or kissed the hand 
 ot ladies fair. 
 
 In this cheerful mood he smokes his cigar while 
 his men are getting up steam on the Figaro^ and 
 this being done, and receiving orders for the 
 same, the engineer puts headway on the launch, 
 while Balasco's negro helmsman, under the Don's 
 directions, puts the head of the boat for Coral Key, 
 the island on which the lights have been the night 
 before. 
 
 It is a short journey, and the steam-launch, a 
 pretty quick craft over these quiet waters, makes 
 the trip in about fifteen minutes. 
 
 During this time the Don puts searching eyes 
 upon the island of which he has suspicions, but 
 finds nothing to make him think the lights came 
 from anything more than some wandering turtle- 
 fishers* or sponge-gatherers' boats. Finally, 
 though he gives a mocking grimace at his dainty 
 patent leathers, he makes landing on the key. 
 
 The island is about half a mile in length and 
 five hundred yards in width, running longitudin- 
 ally — north and south. The center of it is sand, 
 in which its few pine trees have contrived to fix 
 their roots. Around most of its shores is a dense 
 thicket of mangroves and buttonwood, though 
 toward the south the sand runs into a low grassy 
 meadow, over which hundreds of snipe are 
 flying. 
 
 In contrast to this, on the north side of the 
 island, for a space of some two hundred feet, quite 
 a prominent reef rises two or three feet higher 
 than the rest of the island. Immediately beside 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 29 
 
 this is a tide channel, in which the current runs 
 deep and strong, having — so the Spaniard calcu- 
 lates — some fifteen or twenty feet of water. 
 
 It is this portion of the island that Alligator 
 Pete had spoken of to his companion a few morn- 
 ings ago as a first-rate docking spot, and here 
 the Don makes his landing. 
 
 Near here he sees traces of man. The ashes of 
 a fire, two or three pieces of half consumed button- 
 wood, and a lot of boot-tracks in the soft sand 
 further inland. These indicate that the day be- 
 fore the island had been occupied, probably by 
 some fishing party or hunting excursion. 
 
 Estrabon searches as well as he is able through 
 the pine trees, but discovers nothing. The man- 
 grove and buttonwood thickets bid defiance to his 
 patent leathers. 
 
 So after a few minutes' investigation, he makes 
 up his mind, if he does anything more about it, 
 to place the matter in the hands of Mastic, who is 
 still under his orders at Key West, and has lately 
 been attempting, at the Don's suggestion, to dis- 
 cover what has become of an American schooner, 
 by name the Competitor, that a few days before had 
 suddenly made mysterious disappearance from 
 the waters of that harbor. 
 
 During his researches, Balasco has partly for- 
 gotten the joy in his heart ; but as his boat on its 
 return rounds the corner of the island, and Em- 
 erald Key comes into view, there is a flutter of 
 white garments in the rose gardens surrounding 
 Vanstone's house, and looking at them, Estrabon 's 
 face glows with delight, and he murmurs : " Es- 
 trella mia I " 
 
130 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 The distance is altogether too great for recog- 
 nition, but his heart tells him it is Indra Van- 
 stone. 
 
 Very soon he has proof of the same, for the 
 young lady, noticing the approaching boat, runs 
 down to the end of the little wharf, waves 
 welcoming hand and puts him on fire with grace- 
 ful gestures, and enchanting voice. 
 
 " Dentro de poco^'' he cries, ^' and I am with 
 you ! " his eyes sparkling with admiration, as he 
 steps on the landing stage. 
 
 For Indra Vanstone is very beautiful this morn- 
 ing, as she stands on the wharf, the sun lighting 
 her face, the breeze playing little tricks with her 
 light, floating summer dress, outlining the delicate 
 yet rounded contours of her graceful form, and 
 giving glimpses of exquisite feet and delicious an- 
 kles. She wears something that is white as snow, 
 with light pink ribbons and pink flowers. Even 
 her pretty feet are encased in little boots of the 
 same delicate color. Her face is roses and lilies, 
 save the blue eyes that beam with kindly gleam 
 on Don Balasco this soft spring morning. 
 
 But it is not her beauty that enchants her ad- 
 mirer entirely. The girl has a charm of manner 
 before which nearly all men bow down, and best 
 of all, it comes from a good heart, noble soul, and 
 generous disposition. 
 
 ** Your boat goes to Key West to-day ?" Miss 
 Vanstone calls from the wharf. 
 
 " It is at your orders." 
 
 " And returns this evening ?" 
 
 " It will come back at any time you like." 
 
 " Then don't let them forget the Cuban musicians 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 131 
 
 who will play for the fandango this evening," says 
 the girl, in happy voice. 
 
 " The musicians shall be here," replies the Don, 
 ceremoniously, from the float on which he has just 
 made landing. ''Your will is my will; your 
 command is my law." And he bows to her with 
 old school formality. 
 
 '' Yes," replies the young lady, airily, as she 
 watches her devotee climb the steps to the wharf. 
 " Every one generally does about what I want 
 them to. It is a way I have." 
 
 And she speaks the truth, for Indra is one of those 
 blessed girls who have their own way with fathers 
 and mothers, and who will have their own way 
 with lovers and husbands ; who have been taught 
 by our modern system, which flourishes in 
 America, that the world is theirs, that it is their 
 place to dominate it, that they are to be wor- 
 shipped and adored by the mother who bore 
 them, the father who begot them, the lover who 
 woos them and the husband who marries them; 
 to which place of goddess and command the 
 beautiful daughters of America take very com- 
 plaisantly and contentedly. 
 
 ** Very well, now that the music is off my mind," 
 prattles Miss Vanstone, as the Don joins her on 
 the wharf, " would you take me to breakfast? I'm 
 very hungry. You must be also, Senor Balasco, 
 after a morning voyage." 
 
 Then, as they stroll toward the house, she asks 
 with some interest: '' What did you find on Coral 
 Key ? I saw a number of men there the other day 
 with my marine glass, from the deck of the Flying 
 
1^2 t)ON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ''What were they doing?" This is an eager 
 question from the gentleman. 
 
 " Carrying lots of things about. I could not tell 
 exactly what, even with the telescope. It must 
 have been turtles or bundles of sponges they wanted 
 to dry," continues the girl, reflectively; then adds, 
 " Yes, I think it might have been turtles. Do turtle 
 shells ever glisten in the sun?" 
 
 " Quite frequently," answers Estrabon, though 
 this information decides him to put the government 
 detective on the matter at once. 
 
 By this time the two have wandered into the 
 house. 
 
 "You have some flowers in your hand," re- 
 marks the Don, suggestively. 
 
 *' Yes. Would you like one ?" says Indra, sud- 
 denly, as her taper fingers extend a dainty rose- 
 bud to the fascinated gentleman. 
 
 In taking it from her, his hand for a second 
 clasps hers, and Miss Indra Vanstone, catching 
 the glance of his eyes, sees something in them that 
 makes her a little bashful — perchance, a little 
 nervous. She suddenly, almost affrightedly, draws 
 back. 
 
 ** What is the matter?" murmurs the Spaniard. 
 
 **A — a thorn pierced my finger," stammers 
 Indra ; then goes on merrily, ** But 1 — I smell the 
 coffee," and leads the way to the dining-room. 
 
 Here the Don is welcomed by the party at the 
 table with considerable cordiahty. Miss Gertrude 
 observing, '* We almost waited breakfast for you," 
 and giving him a kindly glance ; for she remem- 
 bers this Spanish gentleman the night before com- 
 plimented her hero on having fought with Maceo. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 133 
 
 Into this complimentary business the Don now 
 plunges again, saying, as he sips his coffee; *' Lieu- 
 tenant Varona, I presume you go back to the 
 Island as soon as your wounds are healed. Cuba 
 has need of such as you." 
 
 '' Yes ; I must get to work as soon as possible," 
 answers the young man, though his sentence, which 
 begins cheerily, ends with a slight sigh. " It is 
 hard," he continues, *'to turn my back upon civili- 
 zation ; for ours is at best but a military privation 
 of the most severe kind, in the mountain camps of 
 the Cuban army. Still I must do my duty — and 
 ^/r^/^^ of that, Don Balasco, you are interested 
 in fitting out expeditions which land arms on the 
 Cuban coast. As soon as I am in good fighting 
 order, you must give me a chance to join one of 
 them — the Three Friends^ for instance. She is a 
 quick vessel — a lucky vessel. Cuba will some day 
 erect a monument to that ship and her captain. 
 See if you can get me a passage upon her." 
 
 *' I will try," answers Estrabon, softly. "■ I should 
 like very much to know the time the Three Friends 
 sails and where she makes her landing." 
 
 Now this kind of conversation has an awful ef- 
 fect upon poor Gertie. The girl looks pleadingly 
 upon this hero, whom she has nursed to life, and 
 thinks, in dazed horror : " Every mouthful of beef- 
 steak Ramon puts down his throat to give him 
 health and strength takes him nearer to danger 
 and death and — farther from me." 
 
 Her youthful nerves would possibly breakdown 
 under the strain of the breakfast table, for the lieu- 
 tenant has a mighty appetite this morning, and 
 the girl is even now gulping her batter-cakes in a 
 
134 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 pathetic, tear-in-her-eye way, did not Rex, who 
 is on the veranda, put his head through one of the 
 open windows and cry out : '' Hurrah ! The Fly- 
 ing Fish is in sight ! Come and help the ladies on 
 shore ! " 
 
 So the whole party very shortly drift out on the 
 piazza to look at the coming yacht, and a few min- 
 utes after walk to the wharf to greet the coming 
 guests. 
 
 At the landing Don Estrabon, who is in advance 
 of the Vanstone family, occupies himself in dis- 
 patching his launch to Key West, intrusting to his 
 negro engineer a note he has hastily written to the 
 revenue detective. 
 
 *' If there is anything the matter with that 
 island," thinks the putative friend of Cuba, " with 
 my hints Mastic will be sure to discover it." 
 
 Then there come to him in chorus, exclama- 
 tions of greeting in feminine accents, mingled with 
 an excited " Thanks ; yes, I'm still alive ! " from 
 little Vortex, and a manly " How are you all ? " 
 from big Jack Blakely. 
 
 Balasco turns toward the Flying Fish, which is 
 already beside the wharf. Upon her deck are 
 dashing gentlemen and pretty women, who seem 
 to bring to this lonely isle northern fashion and 
 place it in touch with the bustling world. But 
 the Don thinks, with a contemptuous Pish ! 
 " These new birds of fine plumage do not com- 
 pare with her," gazing with all his eyes at Indra 
 as she trips on board to welcome her guests. 
 
 And Estrabon is right, for though Mrs. Ormis- 
 ton, as she steps down the gangplank and extends 
 a daintily gloved hand to old Mr. Vanstone, is in 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I35 
 
 as perfect a yachting costume as man milliner ever 
 designed for the female form, and pretty little 
 Ethel Rivers, of Baltimore, is as piquant an eleve 
 as that beauty-breeding city ever turned out, 
 and Flora Woodbridge, who is of a more magnifi- 
 cent kind, having a Boston primness in her man- 
 ner, is gowned, booted, gloved, and adorned 
 with all the art of modern dressmaking, none 
 of them can vie with the girl who, in simple 
 white summer gown, plays their dainty hostess. 
 
 But the party on the wharf and the steam- 
 yacht — for they are now mingled together — care- 
 less of any emotions they rouse in Don Balasco's 
 soul, are very busy indulging in the greetings of 
 well-bred people who hope to kill time together 
 for a pleasant few days. 
 
 All three of the arriving ladies put interested 
 eyes upon Lieutenant Varona, and grow even 
 excited over him when they hear Miss Gertie 
 announce sotto voce^ '' He is a wounded hero who 
 has fought with Maceo." 
 
 But even as she greets him, Mrs. Ormiston's 
 eyes turn from Ramon and become fixed upon 
 the picturesque figure of Estrabon, who strolls 
 up the steps leading from the little dock, and 
 passing over the wharf, is soon shaking hands 
 with the ladies of the party, to whom Miss 
 Vanstone rapidly introduces him. 
 
 " So very pleased to meet you, Don Balasco," 
 remarks the widow, turning to him. '' You sel- 
 dom come to New York, but I heard of you at 
 Tampa." 
 
 '* Yes," rejoins the Spaniard, '' I rarely visit your 
 metropolis, except on business. Though I had 
 
136 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the pleasure — the honor — of seeing you one even- 
 ing in a parterre box at the Metropolitan Opera 
 House, my lorgnette following those of all the 
 gentlemen about me." 
 
 " Ah, if we had only met in New York ! " cries 
 the pretty widow, her eyes lighting up, she being 
 very well pleased with this compliment from a 
 gentleman whose dark eyes seem decidedly fasci- 
 nating as he stands before her. 
 
 For Amy Ormiston is a widow who is a long 
 way the right side of thirty, and has by no means 
 given up the hopes of a second, yea, even of a third, 
 husband, if Providence will put him in her way. 
 
 *' Ah, that was my misfortune — one I feel more 
 deeply now that I have heard your voice and 
 kissed your hand," lisps Estrabon softly ; for this 
 gentleman is always very polite to ladies. 
 
 *' Very well, then ; we must make up for lost 
 time," observes the widow cheerily, and the Don 
 finds himself, nolens volens, her escort to the house, 
 though he turns his head several times to look at 
 Miss Indra Vanstone, who is now on the deck 
 of the yacht chatting with the other ladies, 
 about whom little Vortex, a young gentleman of 
 vivacious manner, small voice, and exquisite gar- 
 ments, has been darting, iterating every few mo- 
 ments with varying inflexions : 
 
 ** Awfully jolly trip, don't yer know. Nevah 
 saw anything like it nevah before. The deck of 
 a yacht's so romantic, don't yer twig? There's no 
 telling what desperate love affairs Blakely and I 
 might not have had with the young ladies had not 
 Mrs. Ormiston been the most dragon-like of chap- 
 erons," 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I37 
 
 Effusive suggestions that are glared upon with 
 haughty eyes by the two young ladies of the 
 voyage, and greeted by a contemptuous '* Come 
 now, little chap, don't make a bigger fool of your- 
 self than you are," from Jack Blakely, a stalwart 
 Bostonian, who is assisting Miss Rivers over the 
 gangplank. 
 
 But little Vortex is one of the kind of creatures 
 who will not be denied, and who, quite often, from 
 very persistency, gets hold of the belle of some 
 concourse he chances to grace, generally to the 
 fair one's rage and despair. 
 
 This happens now. Miss Vanstone, who is much 
 more affable than the others, finds herself com- 
 pelled to accept the attentions of the little gentle- 
 man, who very proudly escorts her over the gang- 
 plank, Joe Thomas, the bluff skipper of the Flying 
 Fish, gazing after him with evil eye, and remark- 
 ing, with sea-dog frankness, " I'm damn glad to 
 get rid of him ! " 
 
 A few minutes after they are all in the house, 
 where, over the luncheon, which is quite a merry 
 affair. Miss Indra explains her plan of a picnic 
 cruise. 
 
 This is generally received with decided favor. 
 
 " We'll sail all about the islands," she says, 
 *' eastward to Key Largo, and perhaps even as far 
 west as the Dry Tortugas. On some of the islands 
 we can camp at night." 
 
 "■ Out in the open ? That will be bracing and 
 athletic," remarks Miss Woodbridge. 
 
 '' Oh, I could not think of that," chimes in little 
 Ethel Rivers. " There might be snakes !" This last 
 is said with a moue that she knows is catching, 
 
138 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 and is addressed quite pleadingly to big Jack 
 Blakely, who sits beside her. 
 
 '' As to that, you must do as you please. You 
 can have a stateroom on the yacht, or a blanket 
 on the ground. Chacun a son goat ^' suggests Don 
 Balasco. 
 
 '' It will be ah — most exquisitely romantic ! 
 Ladies* eyes around a camp-fire! You mustn't go 
 wandering about, though, at night ; I might mis- 
 take your eyes for dear eyes. There are deer on 
 the islands, don't yer twig?" This is a horrid 
 attempt at wit from little Vortex, who has a pun- 
 ster's and a sportsman's ambition in his small 
 body. 
 
 " If they let you live after that," jeers Rex, 
 " and you're so keen for gunning, I can give you 
 some this afternoon. Don Balasco tells me there 
 are lots of snipe over on Coral Key. Are you up 
 to a try at them this afternoon ? " 
 
 " I would say yes in a moment, my deah boy ; 
 but — er — I'm afraid — er — the ladies may have 
 claims this — er — afternoon." 
 
 " Oh, we can live without you for a few hours," 
 sneers Flora Woodbridge. 
 
 " And then, you know, I'm dying to eat some- 
 thing you have killed," adds Miss Rivers. " Every- 
 body has heard of your shooting, but nobody has 
 ever seen your game." 
 
 "" Nevah seen my game ! " screams Vortex. 
 Then he replies to Rex, " Done, with you, my boy ! " 
 and adds, " Ladies, you shall have snipe for break- 
 fast to-morrow, or my eyeglasses are not true ! " 
 
 So it is hastily arranged that the picnic cruise 
 commences in a day or two, and will be conducted 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 139 
 
 on Bohemian and al fresco principles. At night, 
 those who want to sleep in the open can do so, 
 and those who so elect can bunk comfortably on 
 the yacht. 
 
 '* I never heard of a picnic cruise before," 
 remarks their host, as they rise from the table. 
 " I suppose it is new-fangled, and, therefore, the 
 proper fad. But don't all you girls come back 
 from it engaged. Remember, I'm a widower, 
 and, therefore, in the market." 
 
 ** We've been thinking of that ever since we left 
 Palm Beach," says Miss Woodbridge, with such 
 candid innocence that every one grows merry, 
 and the Spaniard the merriest of them all. 
 
 For as they step from the room his fair young 
 hostess, favoring his coat sleeve with the light 
 touch of patrician fingers, says, confidentially, to 
 him, "As soon as I have made the others comfort- 
 able for the afternoon, come with me and we will 
 run down, inspect the Flying Fish, and make ar- 
 rangements for the picnic cruise ; " then adds, in 
 tones that make Balasco think that even now he is 
 master of this exquisite creature, with all her 
 goods, chattels, and effects, " I am going to leave 
 the details in your hands. You shall be grand 
 master of ceremonies, only be sure you put in 
 lots of Spanish romance." And so trips blithely 
 after her guests, to do what she can to give them 
 a happy afternoon. 
 
 As for the Don, happiness is already his — he 
 smokes his cigarro and whistles merrily, and mur- 
 murs, " Santos ! Estrabon, you are a devil of a 
 fellow." 
 
140 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE DANCE AT EMERALD KEY. 
 
 But being a devil of a fellow has its disadvan- 
 tages. Ladies very frequently demand attention 
 from this kind of a gentleman ; among them Amy 
 Ormiston. 
 
 The fair widow has become interested in the 
 somewhat foreign airs and graces of Don Estra- 
 bon. She knows he is generally considered well 
 to do, having a large factory in Key West and a 
 big branch house in New York. He is handsome, 
 refined, and bizarre, being a tremendous contrast 
 to the gentleman she first called lord and 
 master, who was prim, dried up, methodical, and 
 Yankee. 
 
 Taking possession of the most secluded ham- 
 mock under the broad portico, this lady con- 
 trives to bring about a tite-a-tHe with the 
 Spaniard ; though despite the widow's charms — 
 and she is very attractive — Don Balasco, as he 
 smokes his cigarette, cannot help turning his eyes 
 toward the object of his affections as she trips 
 about, gayly chatting with her guests and trying 
 to make them all happy and at home in their new 
 surroundings. 
 
 Under her influence the party make a pleasant, 
 languid, tropical afternoon of it, for the day has 
 grown quite hot. A few go into the billiard-room 
 to play a lazy game. One or two of the ladies 
 make themselves picturesque in hammocks on the 
 veranda, and do a little flirting in an off-hand, in- 
 nocent manner — a species of game at which la 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I4I 
 
 petite Rivers is an adept ; although this afternoon 
 Amy Ormiston easily takes the lead. 
 
 Despite her fascinations, the Don smokes his 
 cigarette in an restless, break-away-from-the-bit 
 manner that is not very complimentary to the 
 charming widow, who, as she lies in her hammock, 
 knowing she is in the very best position to display 
 the beauties of both face and figure, wonders 
 what is the matter with the man. 
 
 A few minutes after they are disturbed by Rex 
 and Mr. Vortex coming downstairs ; the first in a 
 rough-and-tumble costume of high boots with 
 trousers tucked into them, and blue flannel shirt ; 
 the other in more elaborate sportsman's costume, 
 which looks as if it had never seen powder, but 
 has yellow leather gaiters, and shooting-coat 
 with many pockets. For Mr. Vortex always 
 travels with elaborate wardrobe; his three large 
 trunks having given the captain of the Flying Fish 
 more disgust than all the Saratogas of the ladies. 
 
 Both the young men shoulder d )uble-barreled 
 shotguns, and are apparently bound for Coral Key 
 and snipe. 
 
 Soon one of the little sail-boats takes them on 
 their way, and shortly after Amy permits the Don 
 to go his way, thinking, ** For such a picturesque 
 creature he is decidedly uninteresting." 
 
 Relieved from his thralldom, Balasco very 
 shortly joins the group about Miss Vanstone, who 
 almost immediately makes him very happy by 
 strolling by his side to the big stairs that connect 
 the portico with the great shell walk that leads 
 through the garden toward the landing and say- 
 ing brightly: " Come, Don Estrabon ! I have given 
 
14.2 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 directions for the yacht to be kept at the wharf. 
 We will run down together and settle things with 
 Captain Thomas about our cruise. You are to 
 have full charge of it." 
 
 " I am always under your orders," replies Ba- 
 lasco, gallantly, and no prouder gentleman ever 
 trod gangplank than the gallant Spaniard as 
 he assists his inamorata, who trips blithely be- 
 side him, onto the snowy deck of the trim little 
 steam vessel, to be received by its bluff skipper 
 with a naval salute. 
 
 ** Captain Thomas, we've come on board to tell 
 you that to-morrow we begin our great picnic 
 cruise ! " announces the young lady. 
 
 " Picnic cruise ? What the devil is that ? I beg 
 your pardon. Miss, but I don't exactly understand 
 you," stammers the sea-dog. " I've heard of pic- 
 nics, and I've taken cruises, but I never saw the 
 two mixed. Won't it be something like putting a 
 mounted cowboy on the quarter-deck? One 
 goes for land and the other goes for sea, and it 
 don't seem to me they'll mix!" 
 
 ** My dear Captain," replies Estrabon, " this is 
 an age of invention. " 
 
 *' And this is my invention !" cries Indra excitedly, 
 and then goes on to describe the details of the 
 affair to the mariner, who appears distrustful of 
 the novelty. 
 
 ** Well," remarks the captain, ** you give me 
 good anchorage at night and I'll take care of you. 
 We've got plenty of supplies on board, and a cook 
 that would make a seasick man hungry. Though 
 I suppose we will need some fresh meats in the 
 icebox." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 143 
 
 " Meats, poultry, game and liquors will come 
 on board to-morrow," says Miss Vanstone, au- 
 thoritatively. 
 
 " Yes ; plenty of liquors ! Grog is always neces- 
 sary on a yacht," chuckles the captain, remarking 
 significantly, " No temperance crowd ever sailed 
 on board a vessel of the New York Yacht Squad- 
 ron." 
 
 This is received with such hearty merriment 
 that the sailor of the sea is made thoroughly com- 
 plaisant. 
 
 "As for the fish," he continues, "you can get 
 all you want over that taffrail, by tossing a line 
 into the water. I'm a little short-handed, but for 
 a cruise on this mill-pond, 1 reckon I have enough 
 to handle the craft. Would you hke to figure 
 upon how many we can bunk?" 
 
 **That would probably be best," replies the 
 Spaniard, and under the captain's escort the two 
 make a short inspection of the yacht, which is a 
 very seaworthy and fast craft, and, for a vessel of her 
 size, has a good deal of deck-room, as her deck- 
 house contains only the saloon, which is used as a 
 dining-room, being very prettily furnished with 
 bird's-eye maple. Forward of this and connecting 
 with it is a small pilot-house, though there is 
 an extra wheel at the stern that can be used if 
 occasion demands. Two little brass guns, for salut- 
 ing, are mounted forward. From the deck-house 
 a companionway leads to a ladies' cabin below, 
 from which open three handsomely appointed 
 staterooms, the owner's connecting with a boudoir 
 and bathroom. All these are fitted up in light 
 woods, and have standing bedsteads in them. The 
 
144 ^OU BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 saloon above them can have its lockers transformed 
 into berths for gentlemen. Another companion- 
 way farther aft permits the ladies to enter their 
 cabin without passing through the saloon. Al- 
 together, the yacht can easily accommodate the 
 younger members of the Vanstone family and their 
 guests for a short cruise. 
 
 While this inspection is going on, a little in- 
 cident happens that puts the romantic Spaniard 
 into a fervor of excited bliss. Miss Indra, looking 
 through the pretty state cabins with their blue 
 draperies, remarks, in her careless, offhand, Amer- 
 ican way, " This would be just the craft for a 
 honeymoon cruise." 
 
 '' Great Scott !" ejaculates Thomas. ** You ain't 
 thinking of getting spliced, Miss, are you ?" 
 
 " Not immediately," replies the young lady, a 
 little blush flying over her face as she runs up the 
 companionway into the saloon on deck. 
 
 Balasco, standing below, devours the graceful 
 creature with eyes that shine and glow, as he 
 murmurs to himself, ''Mi querida ! She meant that 
 for me. Ah, these American girls ! They fas- 
 cinate you, they woo you. Duenas do not stand 
 beside them to still the beating of your heart ! " 
 
 These thoughts would give the girl a fearful 
 start, if she knew them, for this gentleman sudden- 
 ly murmurs to himself, "To-morrow morning I 
 shall tell him she adores me and shall demand her 
 hand from her father." 
 
 Perchance Balasco would do it this very day, 
 did not some words the young lady chances to 
 hear soon after they have strolled off the wharf 
 make Miss Indra more retiring, less vivacious, 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I45 
 
 and perchance not so eager for gentlemen's so- 
 ciety this afternoon. 
 
 As they return from the yacht, the young lady 
 and her cavalier pass by Mrs. Ormiston, who 
 is not altogether pleased at being deserted 
 by the Don, though she has not considered him 
 particularly entertaining. As she reclines in her 
 hammock, the widow looks up from a magazine, 
 and, beckoning to Indra, whispers in the girl's 
 ear : " What would he say ? " 
 
 "• Say what? I don't know who you're talking 
 about," returns Miss Vanstone, lightly. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Severance, of course," laughs the 
 lady. ** I have been looking for him to lounge 
 onto the portico at Emerald Key all day. You 
 know I saw him at Jacksonville two weeks ago, 
 and supposed he must then be on his way to 
 you." 
 
 " I have not seen Mr. Severance for several 
 months," remarks Indra, coolly ; though, despite 
 herself, there is a slight quiver in her voice. Then 
 she trips on to join the Spaniard, who is waiting 
 for her, some little distance away on the veranda. 
 But Indra does not remain with Balasco very 
 long. 
 
 On the plea of making preparations for the even- 
 ing, she very shortly withdraws from general 
 society, and going up to her room, sits at her 
 window and gazes toward the north. There are 
 tears in her bright eyes, and once or twice 
 she wrings her pretty hands despairingly, and 
 sighs, " My Billy — my Billy !— God help me ! 
 —My Billy." 
 
 As for the lady who has given her young hostess 
 
146 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 this stiletto-in-the-back information, she looks 
 rather curiously at the girl's vanishing figure, and 
 thinks : " I wonder if I have put a bad finger into 
 Don Estrabon's love-pie;" she having read the 
 Spaniard's heart much more truly than Indra Van- 
 stone. 
 
 So the day drifts along to dinner, after which 
 the invited locals from the neighboring keys will 
 arrive and the dancing will begin. 
 
 To this meal of ceremony the ladies come down 
 in light, delicate, floating, shimmering costumes-de- 
 bal that give full effect to ivory shoulders and 
 snowy arms; and Indra Vanstone glides in to 
 make a sensation. 
 
 " Ah, she is in a class by herself," whispers 
 Gertie to Estrabon. Then she laughs playfully, 
 "Indra's rigged up to dazzle somebody to- 
 night — guess who ? " 
 
 A query that makes the Don stroke his long 
 mustachios, perchance conceitedly, as he looks 
 upon the radiant vision in an astounded sort of 
 way. For the ethereal loveliness of the girl 
 simply stuns him. 
 
 The first time he had met her she had seemed 
 to him as if attired in the waves of the sea. Now 
 she floats about in clouds and rainbows of tropical 
 sunset. Her dress is one of those indescribable 
 ones. No modiste's memoranda can do it jus- 
 tice. It is simply effects — effects — EFFECTS ! — 
 gauzy, floating, cloudlike, of half a dozen different 
 rainbow hues ; each move of the girl's exquisite 
 figure, about which it floats, giving it new tints, 
 new combinations of color. From out it rise 
 shoulders of ivory, that support the fair neck and 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I47 
 
 beautiful head of the girl, from which two eyes 
 gleam like blue stars of purest ray. Her arms 
 are white as snow. Her rounded maiden bosom 
 gleams in the soft waxhghts. In pose she is an 
 ivory statue, draped with nebulas and surrounded 
 by rainbows; in action she is vivacity, mirth, mer- 
 riment, happiness personified, for Miss Indra 
 Vanstone has thrown away the blues — at least 
 for this evening. 
 
 But the other young ladies look very pretty 
 also, the dinner is remarkably good, the wines are 
 excellent, mirth is contagious, and they all get to 
 chatting very merrily, as course follows course 
 and vintage follows vintage. 
 
 ** Though we are not going to have a large 
 dance this evening," prattles Indra to Jack 
 Blakely, who sits beside her, it is going to be a 
 select and rather a romantic one." Then she 
 murmurs to the Spanish gentleman, who is on her 
 other hand : " You have not forgotten the musi- 
 cians, I hope, Don Estrabon ? " 
 
 " They have already arrived from Key West," 
 returns that cavalier. '' I hinted to them to wear 
 the Cuban costume for the benefit of Sefior Va- 
 rona. If he will close his eyes he will think he is 
 dancing the cachucha with some rustic maid of 
 Cuba Libre!' 
 
 ** Machete wounds bar my cachucha, which was 
 considered quite agile in the Rubi mountains," 
 laughs the young man. ** I may hobble through 
 a quadrille, however." 
 
 " That is very unfortunate," says Miss Gertie. 
 ** We are so short of cavaliers." Then her eyes 
 run around the dinner table and she exclaims; 
 
148 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Good gracious ! Where are Rex and Mr. Vor- 
 tex?" 
 
 " They've not come in yet from snipe-shooting," 
 remarks Blakely. 
 
 " Yes, I thought the house was very quiet," 
 observes Vanstone. " They'll be hungry and 
 come in soon." 
 
 Despite the absence of the two sportsmen, the 
 meal draws to a satisfactory finish. 
 
 Leaving the gentlemen to their after-dinner 
 cigars, the ladies step out on the veranda to utter 
 exclamations of delight ; for the grounds are illu- 
 minated with Chinese lanterns, and the billiard- 
 room and bowling-alley, where they will do the 
 dancing, are a blaze of light. From them come 
 the strains of the mandolin, guitar and violins, 
 soft and tropical — the music of love, the music of 
 the dance — the music that has a tenderness and 
 romance peculiar to the music of no other land 
 under the sun — the music of Cuba and of Spain. 
 
 A moment later, Mr. Vanstone, stepping to his 
 daughter's side, remarks, " Our neighbors are be- 
 ginning to arrive." For a naphtha launch comes 
 puffing round a near-by islet, with a merry little 
 party from Matacomba. 
 
 ** It's the Jacksons, of Cincinnati, and of pine- 
 apple fame ! " cries Gertie, who is now beside her 
 sister; then she adds plaintively, "But the 
 Jacksons are all girls ! " 
 
 This plethora of the fair sex is shortly balanced 
 by a snorting tugboat, foaming along with scream- 
 ing whistle, which brings a stag party from Key 
 West, young De Soto, the sponge magnate, and 
 George Jameston, and Rafael Fernandez, of cigar 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I49 
 
 fame, together with a couple of engineer officers, 
 in shoulder straps and military blazonry, from 
 Fort Taylor. Then a fleet of light sailing craft, 
 whose moving lights make the waters brilliant, 
 seem to come from everywhere, bringing lots of 
 laughing girls and dashing young gentlemen. 
 
 A few minutes after they are all in the billiard 
 room, which is changed into a salle de danse , Most 
 of the young ladies are very pretty. All of them 
 have on their " best bib and tucker," and when 
 Vanstone senior, leads off the first quadrille with 
 the young widow, to the music of that delightful 
 little Spanish opera-bouffe called " High Life in 
 Madrid," the ballroom, though its guests are gath- 
 ered from the four corners of the Union and per- 
 chance are not altogether homogeneous, looks 
 gay, vivacious, and busy. The ladies are de- 
 lighted because there are plenty of men — some- 
 thing unusual in Florida ballrooms — and every 
 man of them is dancing. 
 
 The Cuban musicians add to the color and pic- 
 turesqueness of the scene. On a little platform 
 surrounded by palms and adorned by flowers, 
 these exiles of flashing eyes, decked out in the 
 finery of their native island, give out their soft, 
 rhythmic, sensuous music, that '* sets the heart 
 dancing," as Miss Rivers remarks to her partner, 
 young Fernandez, of Boca Chica. 
 
 But of all that laughing, chatting, dancing 
 throng, Estrabon is the happiest. His eyes flash 
 with joy and triumph ; he feels like a conqueror — 
 a conqueror in the game of love — as his arm for 
 the first time surrounds the delicate waist of Indra 
 Vanstone and for the first time her heart beats 
 
150 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 against his. It is a contact that makes him almost 
 delirious, for he feels, as he floats to the music of 
 the Estudiancia, that he holds her who will be his 
 bride within his arms. 
 
 So the ball goes on. After a little Balasco in- 
 sists on showing them all the cachucha, dancing 
 the same with Miss Indra, though there are some 
 bright-eyed senoritas present — an affair which, 
 inspired by love and music, he executes with 
 dashing abandon, being very well seconded by his 
 fair partner, who dances — as most American girls 
 do— very gracefully, and has a deft way of tossing 
 her pretty feet about in perfect time and exquisite 
 motion to any tune that may come along. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LITTLE VORTEX HAS AN ADVENTURE. 
 
 But this scene of revelry is suddenly destroyed ! 
 
 Little Vortex comes striding into the ballroom 
 and gasps " Look at me ! " and the ladies give 
 faint screams and the gentlemen snicker. For 
 little Cortright is a most un-ballroom figure. His 
 shooting costume bears evidence of swamp mud 
 ad libitum. One of his beautiful patent leather 
 gaiters no longer adorns him ; the other hangs by 
 a single button. His agonized face has thorn 
 scratches upon it and dried blood. Altogether he 
 is a figure that suggests desperate adventure and 
 hairbreadth escape. 
 
 "Good heavens! What's the matter?" cries 
 Vanstone. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 151 
 
 " Pirates !" whispers the erstwhile dapper sports- 
 man, a sort of cold sweat in his tones. 
 
 '' Oh, mercy ! Where's Rex?" screams Indra, ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " They have not killed him?" falters Gertie. 
 
 " No ; he's hungry, and has gone to the house lor 
 dinner. But it was pirates just the same." 
 
 " What miserable rubbish are you giving us ?'' 
 sneers big Blakely savagely, turning on the little 
 gentleman, whose eccentricities he knows. ''At 
 Palm Beach it was crocodiles ; here it is pirates. O, 
 shades of Captain Kidd !" 
 
 To this a cocoanut grower from Plantation Key 
 adds, gravely, " Captain Kidd was buried two 
 hundred years ago. We have his grave on our 
 island." 
 
 ** Well, it was pirates or filibusters, just the same ! " 
 asserts Mr. Vortex, who will insist on sensation. 
 "Don't I look like it?" he shrieks. 
 
 "Filibusters? They must be bound for Cuba! 
 Perhaps I can join them," says Varona, excitedly, 
 and brings dismay upon the young lady who has 
 nursed him to life. 
 
 " You would join — that horrid crew ?" stammers 
 Vortex, amazed. Then he goes on decidedly : "But 
 you carn't do it, don't yer see. The Three Friends \^ 
 well on her way to Cuba. That's the name of that 
 awful ship. Gracious! How she did scoot!" 
 
 "The Three Friends f ejaculates Balasco. "I 
 must learn of her. Tell me your story, my little 
 amigoT 
 
 " Of course ! That's what I'm missing my dinner 
 for!" answers Cortright, eagerly, and tells the 
 truth. For this little gentleman likes to pose as the 
 
152 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 hero of extraordinary adventures, and has already 
 opened his mouth several times to break forth into 
 narrative, but excited questions Lave interrupted 
 his flow of soul. 
 
 '* I say ! Could you give me a glass of brandy, 
 first?" he mutters. ** It's quite a longish story, 
 and I'm a little faint " 
 
 " To be sure," laughs a Key West sponge mag- 
 nate, and runs into the room devoted to refresh- 
 ments to bring forth a full glass of eau de vie. 
 
 '' That's rather stiffish," murmurs the little 
 chap, as he pours it down his throat, and begins : 
 
 "You — er — you all know — er — how keen I am 
 for sport," he says. " I have climbed some of the 
 peaks of the Rockies for a chance at big-horns." 
 
 " And never bagged one," interjects Blakely. 
 ** What has your love of sport to do with pirates, 
 anyway ? " 
 
 *' Hush ! Don't stop him ! " is cried by excited 
 feminine voices ; and very bright, beautiful and 
 anxious eyes glare at the scoffing interrupter. 
 
 To them the little gentleman deprecatingly lifts 
 a small but muddy hand and says plaintively : 
 " Have I got to commence all over again ? Well, 
 as I said before, I'm so keen for sport, I've hunted 
 game pretty nearly the world over. To-day I was 
 so anxious to have some to present to you young 
 ladies about here for breakfast to-morrow morn- 
 ing, that I tore myself away and fortunately 
 bagged some. There are no end of snipe over 
 there on Coral Key. We got over there all right, 
 and were having a lovely time ; had bagged three 
 dozen brace ot yellow legs offhand. I had shot 
 up toward the northern end of the island, and was 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 53 
 
 skirting a heavy thicket, when suddenly — you 
 know the place is supposed to be uninhabited — I 
 thought I saw a deer moving in the bushes. With 
 gun in my hand, to see, is to shoot ! — instinct of the 
 sportsman, don't yer know ! In a second I drew 
 up my double-barrel and poured both loads of No. 
 10 shot into the bushes. 
 
 '*Then something awful happened. A wild 
 Irish voice screamed : ' Holy Moses! he's wounded 
 me in, — in the — you'll excuse me, ladies — in the — a 
 — a — hind quarters ! ' 
 
 " The noise of the inferno seemed to suddenly 
 spring up from that silent thicket. The island 
 seemed to be alive with desperadoes. A great 
 big whiskered brute, with long mustachios, 
 sprang out on me, crying * Caramba ! Maldito 
 diablo ! You pepper me wid shoot ! ' 
 
 ** I fled, but ^ after me in hot pursuit were one 
 hundred ruffians who had been concealed in that 
 thicket. I dropped my gun, bounded for life 
 through the jungle, tore through briar patches 
 and, hiding myself in mud and water, lay panting 
 under a mangrove bush while they hunted for me. 
 
 "■ Finally they found me. 
 
 *' A commanding sort of gentleman presented a 
 pair of fists at my head and said in broken Eng- 
 lish, ' Come out of dar! — Dey won't let us carry 
 de arms yet, or I would explode de pistol at you.' 
 
 '' ' Don't frighten him to death,' jeered another 
 in good English. * He doesn't look like a revenue 
 officer or a Spanish spy. He is only a dude 
 sportsman, and has peppered Pat McGuire and 
 Sanchez Esterdillo with a few snipe shot.* 
 
 *' Then I was surrounded by such a brigand- 
 
154 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 looking crowd, regular Fra Diavolo Italian-ban- 
 dit fellows. Most of them were smoking cig- 
 arettes, but not a man of them had a gun in sight. 
 The leader came up to me, and said in perfect 
 English : * I believe I had the pleasure of meeting 
 you up at the Ponce de Leon, Mr. Vortex.' 
 
 *' ' Oh, by Jove ! 1 remember you now ; your 
 name is Alvarez,* I remarked. ' You were the 
 man the government detectives were shadowing 
 at St. Augustine.* 
 
 " * May I take the liberty of asking what you 
 are doing here on this island ?' he asked. 
 
 *' * Yes ; I'm snipe-shooting.' 
 
 " * It is rather unfortunate,' he said, ' that this 
 should have happened to-day. We may have to 
 detain you for a few hours, Senor Vortex.' 
 
 *' ' Good gracious !' I said. * What will the Van- 
 stones say ? I couldn't miss their hop to-night. 
 And what will the young ladies think if their 
 brother doesn't come back?" 
 
 " ' Their brother ! You have some one with 
 you on the island ?* exclaimed my St. Augustine 
 friend. Then he suddenly gave orders, * Get hold 
 of the other fellow before he slips into his boat 
 and gets away.* 
 
 ** So about twenty bandits went down to where 
 Rex was shooting, at the southern end of the 
 island, and after a short interview he came back 
 with them laughing, but quite excited. ' Give 
 you away !* he cried to the leader. ' I wouldn't 
 do it for Grover Cleveland. We Americans are 
 with you!* 
 
 " Then he laughed at me and said : ' So you've 
 been potting Cuban patriots, you old Weyler, 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I55 
 
 you!' It was an unfortunate remark for me. 
 How one or two of them who didn't understand 
 English glared at me. 
 
 '* The leader of them is somewhat of a humorist, 
 for he remarked to me, ' My dear Senor Vortex, 
 the guard who is placed over you speaks only 
 Spanish. Consequently no explanations will save 
 your life if you attempt to escape.* 
 
 " But not a beggar of them was armed. 
 
 " Then suddenly, you know, a most surprising 
 thing occurred. A steamer glided cautiously, with 
 scarcely moving propeller up to the Coral reef at 
 the north of the island. 
 
 " Her description ?" asks Balasco, very eagerly. 
 
 ** Oh, she is a kind of a largish tugboat, with two 
 little masts stuck over her and a cabin on deck 
 running from one mast to the other, and a pilot- 
 house over it, and a single smokestack." 
 
 " The T/iree Friends .^" cries Varona. '* I recognize 
 her. God bless and protect her, the Three Friends .'' 
 
 And the crowd, which is generally Cuban in its 
 sympathies, gives a cheer, the ladies clapping their 
 hands. 
 
 "Then what was done?" mutters Estrabon, 
 hoarsely. 
 
 '* Then you know, she ran right up alongside the 
 reef and was loaded with coal in sacks on all the 
 fore part of the deck. They put a couple of heavy 
 gangplanks ashore. Suddenly all of the pirate 
 beggars became very busy, bearing boxes and cases 
 from the recesses of the thicket on to the boat. 
 Then some of them wheeled cannon — I should think 
 they were — and ran them on board. Every mortal 
 of them toiled like a popular man at the cotdlion, and 
 
156 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 one big, stalwart giant carried two cases of arms 
 or cartridges out of the swamp and on to that boat 
 every trip. The others called him ' The Cid'; he 
 had such a big, hulking, chivalric way with him. 
 
 ** But though they worked mighty hard, they did 
 not work quite fast enough. 
 
 " Suddenly a chap who was perched up on one of 
 the little masts, looking over the surrounding land- 
 scape, exclaimed, 'Ahoy, there, on deck! There's 
 a cutter coming down on us, about three miles off.* 
 
 "*Can you make her out?' screamed the skipper 
 of the pirate craft, a bluff, cut-off, stalwart indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 "'Yes, I think she's the Boutwell' Then a 
 moment after the sailor shouted, * She is the Bout- 
 well, sure ! ' 
 
 '"AH aboard!' yelled the captain. 
 
 "Then how those beggars did work. 
 
 " ' We've not got all the arms on board yet ; 
 there are two dozen cases of cartridges,' cried the 
 leader of the pirates. 
 
 " ' We'll take them next trip ! ' cries the captain. 
 ' All aboard ! ' 
 
 " ' I say ! ' yells the man at the masthead. ' She 
 sees us. The Boutwell is headed for us ! * 
 
 " ' Pull in those gangplanks, and all hands 
 aboard ! ' shouts the skipper from the pilot-house. 
 
 " Gracious ! how the gangplanks came in ! 
 Goodness! how the desperadoes swarmed on 
 board ! They left one man, they were in such a 
 hurry. 
 
 Oh, how I laughed when I saw it was the 
 big beggar! He had two cases on his back. 
 He tossed one of 'em on board as if it was feathers. 
 
DON BALASCO Of KEY WEST. 157 
 
 He was just slinging the other case when I heard 
 the captain ring for steam, and the boat flew out 
 as if she were blue varnish. She was fifty feet 
 from him before he knew it. 
 
 " * Take you next trip ! ' called out the captain to 
 him. 
 
 ** Then the big fellow made a rather astound- 
 ing remark. He said: 'Hang it! I have paid 
 for that expedition, and it has left me ' ; next 
 shook his head kind o' dubiously and muttered : 
 * Will I never get to work ? ' 
 
 ** But I did not pay much attention to him. I 
 was looking at the tug. Good gracious ! how she 
 fled from that island! It was dead dark by 
 this time, and though she carried no hghts the 
 revenue cutter apparently saw the steamer, for 
 she did not pay any attention to us, though I 
 waved my hands and shouted to her as she shot 
 past after the desperadoes. 
 
 Then Rex and I got into our boat, which for- 
 tunately had not been scuttled, and came over 
 here. But those fellows did scoot in a hurry. 
 Rex says he thinks they must have left thirty 
 or forty cases of stuff behind." 
 
 ''Thirty or forty cases of arms for Cuba Libre T 
 exclaims Varona ; then goes on, military decision 
 in his voice : " Those arms are the life-blood, per- 
 haps, of my country. We must preserve them. 
 You, Seflor Balasco, as a patriot, must help me take 
 charge of those arms." 
 
 " What is the use?" says Estrabon, half carelessly, 
 half sneeringly. " That big, hulking fellow that 
 they called the ' Cid ' is over there looking after 
 them." 
 
158 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 " Goodness ! He'll be on the island alone all night," 
 ejaculates Gertie, nervously; '* perhaps without 
 provisions." 
 
 " Oh, the ' Cid ' isn't one of the kind, I should 
 imagine, who'd mind much being out all night by 
 himself," laughs Vortex. Then he adds, " Besides, 
 the chap came over with Rex and me." 
 
 ^* Where is he? ' is a chorus from the ladies, who 
 are rather prepared to make a hero ot this big, 
 hulking, two-case-carrying individual. 
 
 *'Oh, he s in the dinmg-room with Rex, getting 
 something to eat. He said he hadn't had a Delmonico 
 meal for two weeks. Perhaps he didn't care about 
 joining the ladies. Possibly he thought his clothes, 
 big high boots, and gray shirt sort of thing, don't 
 yer know, were not quite the attire, don't yer see, 
 for this gay function. Tm hardly up to festival 
 myself. 1 didn't like to keep you waiting for the 
 news, so just ran over. I'll take a bite, slip into a 
 dress suit, and be back in a moment. Can 1 have 
 the cotillion with you, Miss Rivers? Thanks 
 awfully. Does Jack Blakely lead? Ta, ta, for a 
 minute," and the little man flies off, leaving them 
 all discussing the affair. 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 "MY BILLY." 
 
 But Mr. Vortex does not go alone ; Gertie flits 
 ahead of him. 
 
 Varona says to Balasco, " Come, mi amigo I Let 
 us shake hands with a friend of Cuba." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 159 
 
 " You must go over and greet him and make him 
 comfortable," remarks Miss Vanstone, eagerly to 
 her papa, then suggests, " Don Estrabon, if he is 
 ehgible, we will invite the *Cid' on our picnic 
 cruise with us!" 
 
 So most of the house party, taking hint from 
 their host, stroll over to the great white mansion 
 to greet the newcomer, though a great many of the 
 guests for the evening from the neighboring keys, 
 knowing Cuban sympathizers and embryo filibus- 
 ters very well by sight, take much less interest in 
 the hero,. and, as the band is again playing merrily 
 the strains of a habanero, go to dancing with as 
 much vim as they had displayed before little Vor- 
 tex came in to interrupt their festivity and tell 
 them his story. 
 
 Through the shell paths of the garden, where 
 Chinese lanterns suspended from tropical shrubs 
 are blazing brightly, Balasco walks beside his fair 
 young hostess chatting and happy. Has she not 
 said to him, ** We must take him on our cruise with 
 usf ''Diantre r laughs the Don in his mind. " It 
 is always us, and always we now," and gazes with 
 eyes of possession at the girl as she steps into the 
 dinmg-room, her ball dress floating about her 
 dainty steps. 
 
 At the dinner table are seated Rex and a great, 
 big, easy-mannered giant of a fellow, habited in 
 loose gray shirt, with belted trousers, that are 
 tucked into high campaigning boots that come 
 above his knees. The loose, open collar shows a 
 brawny throat, just becoming bronzed by exposure 
 to the sun and wind. Above this is an honest 
 Saxon face, surmounted by brown curly hair, and 
 
l6o DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 lighted by hazel eyes. Altogether, the gentleman, 
 who is smoking, has rather a bored expression 
 both as to face and attitude. But this leaves him 
 as Miss Gertie exclaims, " Here's Indra ! " and 
 Rex ejaculates, ** Governor, I have brought home 
 Billy Severance." 
 
 " Yes, our Billy is now the ' Cid ' ! " cries Gertie 
 excitedly clapping her hands. 
 
 " Yes, came over to dinner," remarks the gray- 
 shirted Hercules. *' You see our cook went away 
 on the tugboat." As he says this he rises, and bow- 
 ing easily, adds, " Good-evening, Miss Vanstone." 
 
 But the girl does not answer him. Estrabon, 
 who stands beside her, thinks he hears a faint, 
 quick gasp for breath, as the others of the party 
 come into the room. 
 
 Little Miss Rivers cries : *' Why, it's Mr. Sev- 
 erance !" then goes on, excitedly : " He must lead 
 the german. He's a cotillion potentate." 
 
 " You will have to excuse me, I believe, this 
 evening," answers the gentleman, smiling, as he 
 inspects his costume, which needs mending and is 
 covered with swamp mud and coral dust. " My 
 trunks are at Jacksonville, and I am a little too 
 much for Rex's extra dress suit, though he has 
 kindly proffered it to me." 
 
 ** Yes, by jove ! Didn't I keep his name a secret 
 beautifully?" chirrups little Vortex. "1 tried to 
 get him to come over so I could spring him on 
 the ball in jack-boots and filibuster fixings; but he 
 was too blooming hungry, don't yer see ! " 
 
 Here Mr. Vanstone, with outstretched hand, 
 breaks in, crying cordially : " My boy, I'm 
 glad to see you ! " then adds, excitedly : 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. l6l 
 
 " What the devil are you doing privateering and 
 risking your neck like a — a " 
 
 ** Bayard," suggests Flora Woodbridge. 
 
 '* Well, you see, I was told to go to work," re- 
 marks our Billy, quietly. "I was also informed that 
 polo playing wasn't work, and driving four-in- 
 hands was not the proper occupation of man. 
 Politics is not in our set generally considered 
 quite the proper thing. I was too old for West 
 Point, so the American army wasn't open to me. 
 For the same reason the navy was barred to me. 
 I thought of helping the Armenians, but the news- 
 papers said they had all been killed, so I decided 
 to do a little labor for the same cause George 
 Washington fought for about one hundred years 
 ago. I have a general habit of taking the part 
 of the under dog in the fight, you know, and had 
 just a little spare cash at my banker's. So after a 
 little consultation with some gentlemen in New 
 York I came to Jacksonville, invested my spare 
 change in the proper kind of goods, and was going 
 on a trading expedition to Cuba." 
 
 While all this is being said, Don Estrabon, his 
 glance perhaps drawn by some movement of the 
 girl, some fluttering of her fair bosom, or perhaps 
 a panting breath or two, that comes sighing from 
 her coral lips, is looking at Indra Vanstone. 
 
 In her face he sees something he has never seen 
 before — something that turns him deathly sick. 
 
 For it is not her action, it is her face that frightens 
 him as she stands, one little foot advanced, one 
 white arm extended in welcome, and a glance in 
 her eyes that tells of joy returned and passion 
 awakening. 
 
l62 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Just at this moment, she comes to the table, 
 looks the ' Cid ' straight in the eye, then almost 
 laughs in his face and murmurs: "You great, 
 big, foolish fellow, butchering people and cutting 
 throats is not the proper kind of work for you to 
 do !" and her hand has a caress in it as she extends 
 it to him. 
 
 *' No ? " replies Severance, gripping the delicate 
 fingers as he half mutters these curious words : 
 " Would you kindly next time be more explicit 
 in your definition of the duty of man ? " 
 
 ''Did you hear that?" snickers Miss Wood- 
 bridge to Blakely. '' It was Indra Vanstone that 
 gave the 'Cid ' his instructions." 
 
 " Yes. And she's taking them back again ! " re- 
 marks Jack soUo voce. " By Jove ! Fd travel as a 
 filibuster myself for such a look." 
 
 But Indra cannot have the hero all to herself. 
 The other young ladies crowd round him, and he 
 is feted and made much of by Ethel Rivers, Miss 
 Woodbridge, and Amy Ormiston. 
 
 Mr. Severance has always been popular with 
 the fair sex, having a hearty, manly, though 
 sometimes insouciant way with hini that ladies 
 like, to which his present adventure has added, 
 for women are great worshipers of gentlemen 
 with strong hands, light hearts and brave spirits. 
 He is also, curious to say, well liked by men, hav- 
 ing a frank, up-and-down, outspoken manner with 
 them, an open hand and a very full pocket. 
 
 The men also crowd about him and are very 
 glad to see him. Jack Blakely, who is an intimate, 
 slaps him on the back. Varona clasps his hands- 
 and mutters, " Some day we fight side by side ! " 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 163 
 
 Even Estrabon is compelled, when presented 
 by Miss Vanstone, to mutter : " 'A friend of Cuba' 
 is my friend ! " But his eyes have grown 
 haggard and his lip is twitching. He is dazed. 
 He can't, he will not believe ! — though the laugh- 
 ing whispers that come to him make him distracted. 
 
 " Just to think, Don Balasco," says Gertie, 
 playfully, to him, " that foolish Rex told me Indra 
 had put our Billy in the sweet by and by." And 
 she claps her hands and chirrups merrily : '' But 
 Billy has come in out of the wet." 
 
 This is enforced by words he catches from 
 the young lady and gentleman themselves. 
 
 The war talk of Varona is still ringing in Indra's 
 ears. She whispers: "Papa, we must keep our 
 Billy from going fighting again." 
 
 " You know there is only one way of doing 
 that I " says the * Cid ' calmly, though his eyes give 
 point to his speech. 
 
 Then the girl's eyes droop under the glance. 
 She murmurs, picking a flower to pieces : ** I must 
 look after our ballroom guests and keep them 
 dancing." But even as she steps out of the open 
 window she turns love-lit eyes upon him, and says, 
 waving adieu with her hand : " Back in a mmute." 
 
 It is a glance that brings despair unto the Don, 
 for now he believes ! 
 
 He staggers out upon the veranda to get 
 more anguish, for here Rex, in happy mood, taps 
 him on the shoulder, and laughs : 
 
 *' Did you see that ? Romeo and Juliet again. 
 They were spoons before. Indra made a bloom- 
 ing fool of herself, but now I think everything 
 will be all right." 
 
164 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Everything all right means for Balasco every- 
 thing all wrong. He wanders off amid the shaded 
 alleys of the garden, strikes his palms together, 
 and moans : ''Dios mio ! I am so helpless — help- 
 less ! " — and becoming pathetic in his unreasoning 
 misery, mutters : '* God pity poor Balasco, whose 
 soft heart is weeping." 
 
 Then, by evil chance, he hears voices on the ve- 
 randa just above him. They come from Flora 
 Woodbridge and Amy Ormiston. 
 
 " And how about the other one^ the unfortunate 
 Don, now that Sir Lancelot has arrived?" laughs 
 Flora. 
 
 '' Oh ! The romantic Spaniard did very well 
 pour passer le temps. Miss Vanstone likes to be 
 amused," murmurs the fair widow 
 
 With this, into Estrabon's Spanish soul comes 
 that peculiar element of Latin passion which makes 
 it often dangerous, sometimes fatal, to its object. 
 Balasco mutters hoarsely to himself : " Revenge ! 
 Indra, I remember my oath. Thy beauty shall 
 be for me and no other man !" and goes rambling 
 about the paths of tropic evergreens, his brain 
 half-dazed with this despair that has come upon 
 him to turn this beautiful evening, that had seemed 
 to him Heaven, into aWalpurgis-night peopled with 
 the shades of Hades, Mephisto chatting with him. 
 
 In this business he receives but little attention. 
 Everybody, save him, is having a very merry time 
 of it. Music is coming up blithely from the ball- 
 room. The guests have all gone back there and 
 are dancing the farandole, for they are making a 
 Cuban fete in honor of the erstwhile filibuster. 
 
 But though Severance strolls over, he does not 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 65 
 
 go into the ballroom, and sits- on the little veranda 
 looking in. To him the girls come running out 
 during pauses of the german, and they all sing one 
 song: " You won't let your costume bar you from 
 supper?" 
 
 ''No;" replies Sir Galahad, who finds the 
 charms of Venus quite as pleasant as the delights 
 of Mars; *' I drop in with the champagne." 
 
 So the fete goes on very merrily, none of them 
 seeming to miss Balasco very much, though 
 Gertie once says: "Rex, where's Don Estra- 
 bon?" 
 
 And the boy replies: **Oh, he is down in the 
 garden, there, basking in the moonshine. I asked 
 him if there was anything the matter with him, 
 and he said he had the neuralgia." 
 
 " Very well, if he doesn't get better, I have 
 something that will give him ease," remarks Miss 
 Gertie, who hasn't forgotten yet that she has been 
 a Red Cross girl. 
 
 Then they all throng the bowling alley to add 
 the joy of supper to the other joys of this hilari- 
 ous evening. 
 
 Amid uproarious bravos, Ramon offers a toast 
 to the new friend of Cuba, and it is quaffed in 
 foaming goblets of champagne. 
 
 But even good things come to an end. The 
 guests have all drifted out into the ballroom, and 
 from thence gone their way ; some to the house to 
 sleep, others to take boat and return to their 
 island homes. 
 
 The big tug has just gone snorting off to Key 
 West with the last of them, but Billy Severance 
 sits smoking on one of the little verandas of the 
 
l66 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 billiard room, and Indra Vanstone wanders to his 
 side and murmurs, ** Every one's gone!" 
 
 Flanked by shrubbery, and a big awning, the 
 balcony has a good deal of privacy ; though only 
 sheltered on the front by a flowering oleander. 
 
 *' I have been thinking. Miss Vanstone," says the 
 young man, slowly puffing his cigar, " that my 
 life is rather like one of those burnt-out Chinese 
 lanterns you have got slung all about here ; never 
 very brilliant, and if it went out, hardly worth 
 lighting again." 
 
 " You still have thoughts of going to Cuba ? " 
 asks Indra, in a frightened way. 
 
 "Why, yes, I don't see that there is any thing else 
 for me to do. I promised those fellows to go over. 
 I suppose there is only one thing that, could 
 decently keep me away," remarks the young man. 
 
 ** What — is — that ? " The young lady droops her 
 head and looks very bashful and very beautiful by 
 the faint light of the expiring Chinese lantern that 
 hangs above her. 
 
 " You ! " 
 
 - Oh Billy ! " 
 
 " Are you ever going to tell me to go to work 
 again ? " 
 
 " No, Billy ! " 
 
 Then their eyes meet, and the man mutters : 
 " Great Heavens ! You are crying." 
 
 To this the girl falters : *' My Billy ! I've— 
 I've been so unhappy ! " but is so no more, for the 
 great arms she loves come round her, and she is 
 gathered in — ball dress, cloud-effects, and all— un- 
 to the big breast she has longed for, and is there 
 made as happy as a girl can be. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 167 
 
 Now this is a horrible sight for Don Estrabon 
 but the poor wretch chancing to wander this 
 way in his round of agony, sees it, and with it 
 come to him the passions of the damned. 
 
 He staggers away and gazing despairingly over 
 the water, mutters, a little Spanish accent coming 
 to him in his despair : " Mee Billee ! Mee Billee ! 
 He likes to take the part of the under dorg in de 
 fight. How about de upper dorg, eh ? " 
 
 Then some deft hint from his satanic majesty 
 commg into his facile brain, his eyes light up with 
 an unholy joy, and he laughs smoothly, even melo- 
 diously, and his soft Southern voice murmurs : 
 " Mee Billee wanted to go there ! Dios Mio ! He 
 shall go there ! " 
 
 Then Estrabon walks about consulting with 
 Mephisto ; finally his eyes chancing to light on the 
 Flying Fishy and additional suggestion reaching 
 him from below, Don Balasco utters these curious 
 words slowly, a pause between each as if adding 
 two and two and two: ''The yacht — arms — 
 Varona ! That makes a filibuster! " 
 
 Next suddenly uttering a cry of despair he 
 moans : " Mi querida ! Mi alma! That will 
 not give you back to me ! " And the agony of 
 love coming on him again, this picturesque 
 Spaniard of varying moods weeps like a child 
 whose toy is torn from him. 
 
BOOK III. 
 THE PICNIC OF DON BALASCO. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "THE FLAG DID NOT PROTECT.** 
 
 But, overcoming his emotion, the Don mut- 
 ters : '' I must have sleep. 1 must be strong to- 
 morrow. I must conquer myself if I would con- 
 quer them," and so turns from the garden, where 
 he has been holding his communings with Asmo- 
 deus, passes up the broad steps and enters the 
 open portals of the Vanstone mansion, which, 
 though the night is very well advanced, are still 
 open, for some of the guests and most of the 
 servants have not yet gone to bed. 
 
 Politely refusing a suggestion from Blakely to 
 sit down and have a cigar with him, Estrabon 
 passes through the great hall and up the stairway, 
 to be confronted by a ministering angel. 
 
 It is little Gertie, who says : " I heard about 
 your neuralgia from Rex and have brought some- 
 thing to make you sleep," then adds : *' You look 
 as if you need it. Mercy ! How you must have 
 suffered !" 
 
 For the face that she is looking at, bears traces of 
 mighty emotions. Balasco seems to have grown 
 older. His eyes are haggard and have pathetic 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 169 
 
 suffering in them. His lips quiver slightly and 
 his hands are nervous and trembling. 
 
 " I have brought you," continues the girl, *' some- 
 tning that Dr. Granite left lor Lieutenant Ramon, 
 in case he grew nervous and excited. Fortu- 
 nately, he is now becoming a strong man, so it is 
 here intact." 
 
 She holds out to the Spaniard a little hy- 
 podermic syringe and a bottle labeled "Magendie's 
 Solution of Morphine." " This is of a normal 
 strength," she remarks, with the accuracy of a 
 Red Cross girl. '' Ten drops make a third of a 
 grain ; but in case that does not cause rest, repeat 
 it in an hour." 
 
 " How long a sleep will it give me ? " asks Es- 
 trabon hurriedly. 
 
 ** Dr. Granite stated the smaller dose will prob- 
 ably produce six hours." 
 
 '' Ah ! six hours is what I want exactly. Six 
 hours of forgetfulness. Then I am strong to do 
 my work." 
 
 With this he goes promptly to his room, the 
 young lady gazing after him, somewhat surprised 
 by his manner and thinking, ** Do his work ? He 
 hasn't got any ! " 
 
 Then she imagines it must be Indra's picnic 
 cruise to which he will devote his attention, or 
 some labor to assist the patriot cause. " If he 
 should dream of enticing Ramon to go to battle?" 
 shudders the girl, then concludes : " Pshaw ! Ra- 
 mon won't be strong enough to fight for weeks, 
 and weeks, and I'm very glad of it!" A curious 
 expression for a nurse to make. 
 
 In his chamber, Balasco says, " Six hours ! Yes, 
 
1 7© DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 I need it," fills the little hypodermic syringe with 
 ten drops, then suddenly pauses and murmurs, 
 " By Jove ! This is the card ! That pomt will 
 bother my mind no longer — the key to my plan ! " 
 He gazes curiously at the morphine solution and 
 ejaculates, *' Ah, darling little girl, to place it in 
 my hands ! " and kisses his hand toward that 
 part of the mansion in which Miss Gertie is sup- 
 posed to be, blessing her for a thing that would 
 make the little girl's white shoulders shiver and 
 her tender heart grow cold. 
 
 A moment after, jabbing the sharp needle into 
 his arm, and injecting the fluid, this gentleman of 
 plots and devices goes to bed, and, despite the 
 mental tortures that are even now racking him, 
 falls to sleep, with laughter on his lips, and mur- 
 muring: ** They sleep to-morrow night. Carc^iba ! 
 the awakening ! " 
 
 With six hours of refreshment in his body, Es- 
 trabon springs up to encounter a blazing hot day. 
 There is little if any breeze, and the hot sun shows 
 that it is the end of April and Emerald Key is on 
 the border of the Torrid Zone. 
 
 It is almost ten o'clock. 
 
 He dresses hurriedly, vigorously, eagerly, and 
 steps down to the breakfast-room, to find a good 
 many of the gentlemen. Most of the ladies have 
 not yet made their appearance, but Miss Van- 
 stone is there, looking a little bashful, though 
 wondrously beautiful, a new light of happiness 
 gleaming in the girl's eyes ; for is not her betrothed 
 sitting beside her? 
 
 Severance is still in the gray shirt and high 
 boots of the night before, but they have had a 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 17I 
 
 good brushing. In addition he wears a light coat 
 of Mr. Blakely's, though this is too small for him. 
 He is laughing over his costume and saying, 
 " Jack's the only man who came near me ; his 
 coat is a little tight, but as for shirts no one on 
 Emerald Key can help me — with them." 
 
 " 1 am going to Key West to-day in my steam- 
 launch, shall I telegraph for your trunks?" sug- 
 gests Balasco. 
 
 " Yes, wire the St. James Hotel, Jacksonville," 
 says Billy; adding, ** I am awfully obliged to you." 
 
 " And so am I," utters Indra, " but then it is only 
 one of the many favors Don Estrabon has done for 
 me." 
 
 Her eyes are grateful, and she would put coals 
 of fire on this gentleman's head were not this 
 gentleman's head red hot with a Latin passion. 
 Balasco's is not a love that will take refusal and 
 go away, but that kind of an admiration which 
 makes the man who possesses it a terror, a menace, 
 to the woman he makes his idol. 
 
 ** When does the picnic cruise begin, Indra?" 
 asks Mr. Vanstone, breaking into the conversation 
 from his end of the table. 
 
 '* Not till to-morrow; we can't get away to-day. 
 The ladies upstairs are too tired after last night's 
 gayety — besides, Gertie has run out of long 
 dresses." Here Miss Vanstone laughs slyly and 
 looks at her sister, who hangs her head in a school- 
 girl way, blushing delightfully. 
 
 *' Run out of long dresses ?" cries Rex. " Why 
 she has only just run into them." 
 
 " But Annie, our dressmaker, is at work on some 
 new ones," adds Indra. 
 
172 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 *' Well, you, yourself, will be wanting a lot of 
 stuff soon, I presume," laughs Vanstone, then 
 adds in a paternal, bless-you-my-boy sort of way : 
 '' Billy, why does Indra want to take us all up 
 to New York next week?" emphasizing the last 
 with 2i pater familias grin. 
 
 Then words come to Estrabon's ears that anger 
 and irritate him, even as he gazes at his lost one, 
 who looks very dainty and cool despite the heat 
 this morning, and had not his nerves been strength- 
 ened by sleep and brought into very good control, 
 the Spaniard might burst out upon them in some 
 wild, passionate, crazy way. 
 
 For Rex is making jokes that drive him to 
 distraction. He hears the youth in schoolboy 
 heedlessness half whisper into his younger sister's 
 ear : " 1 suppose things were settled last night 
 on the veranda. Gertie, when is Billy to be 
 slaughtered?" 
 
 This is received by a joyous giggle from Ger- 
 trude ; and Balasco echoes, a jeering quiver in his 
 soft Latin voice, though agitation destroys his 
 accent : " When ees our Billee to be slaughtered ? 
 Diantre ! That is a good idea, a novel idea, to be 
 sure! When ees our Billee to be slaughtered?" 
 An awful spasm of hilarious, though yellow 
 laughter, overcomes him. 
 
 But Miss Vanstone is too happy to be disturbed 
 by jokes this morning. She blushes brightly, then 
 looks at the giant who is sitting beside her, 
 and says : *' Billy is not to be slaughtered at all. I 
 am not going to let him go to the war." 
 
 "• He is not going to Cuba to fight ? " asks 
 Varona from the other end of the table. Then he 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 173 
 
 says suddenly : '' But those arms ! There are 
 thirty or forty cases of them over there, I under- 
 stood from Mr. Vortex." 
 
 "Yes. Twenty cases of cartridges and perhaps 
 twenty-five of arms and one rapid-fire gun," re- 
 joins Severance, easily. 
 
 "Then they must not be lost to the cause!" 
 
 " Oh, they won't get injured. Night air won't 
 do them any harm. I saw that they were well 
 tarpaulined myself before I came over here. Still, 
 I imagine we had better do something about them," 
 remarks the American. 
 
 " Why not run over in the yacht and get them ?" 
 suggests Estrabon, eagerly. 
 
 " Yes, that's it ! If we can get your consent, Mr. 
 Vanstone?" remarks Ramon. 
 
 " Oh, do what you like about it," says the head 
 of the family, carelessly. "Only don't get me into 
 trouble with Uncle Sam." 
 
 " That shall be provided for ," replies Estra- 
 bon, significantly. " Then the two other gentle- 
 men arrange that they will take the yacht over in 
 the early afternoon, and put the arms in her for 
 safe keeping." 
 
 " We'll only leave them there for a day or two 
 at the most, Mr. Vanstone. Then I will find some 
 way of making the proper use of them," remarks 
 Severance, with the decision of a man accustomed 
 to do things in pretty much his own way. 
 
 To these plans Estrabon listens with gleaming 
 eyes. The step proposed is one on the road he 
 wishes these gentlemen to take. 
 
 Lighting his cigar, he strolls out, sits down on 
 the shady side of the veranda to pufF one of his 
 
174 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 famous Imperiales^ fan himself and think the thing 
 quietly over. 
 
 Soon he hears a whistle, and, looking up, sees 
 his steam-launch glide up to the landing, bringing 
 his mail from Key West. 
 
 Very shortly his letters and newspapers are 
 placed in his hands by the quartermaster of the 
 boat. 
 
 "Any further orders?" asks the man. 
 
 ** Yes ; keep steam up. I must run back to Key 
 West in person to-day." 
 
 The negro sailor goes away. 
 
 With a " Pish !" the Don, without reading his 
 letters, which are all about the tobacco trade, puts 
 them in his pocket. 
 
 On his lap is a newspaper, the Equator-Demo- 
 crat. Headlines in big black type catch his eye. 
 He picks it up, reads, and grows excited. 
 
 The Competitor^ the vessel Mastic has been look- 
 ing for, has been captured by a Spanish gunboat 
 within three miles of the Cuban coast. She had 
 arms on board ; her passengers were mostly Cu- 
 ban citizens of the United States, though some of 
 them were of American birth ; among them, one 
 Ona Milton, a newspaper man, the editor of the Key 
 West Mosquito. Though the schooner was flying 
 the flag of the United States, and despite the fact 
 that those on the vessel made no resistance what- 
 soever, her crew and passengers have been seized 
 upon, shackled, and, though the Spaniards did not 
 butcher them on the spot, which for a time was 
 their intention, they have been taken to Havana, 
 thrown into the Morro Castle as prisoners in- 
 comunicadoy which means without right of inter- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 75 
 
 course with any one, without benefit of legal coun- 
 sel or even the privilege of communicating with 
 the representative of the American government. 
 They are to be tried by court-martial and will be 
 doubtless shot that very day. At least, so the 
 paper states, adding that Key West is in a ferment, 
 so many friends of the captured live in that town. 
 
 It is very pleasant reading to Don Balasco ; in- 
 cidentally, because it shows that some of those 
 probably trying to assist the Cuban cause have 
 come to destruction, but chiefly because it makes 
 the ingenious plot he has in his head as strong as 
 the Rock of Ages. 
 
 " She must know of this," he thinks, and very 
 shortly he is in the dining-room, surrounded by 
 bright and happy faces, and a great show of fashion, 
 for most of the ladies have at length got down to 
 breakfast, and the thermometer giving them chance 
 for tropic effects are making an elaborate display 
 of beautiful toilets of lightest lawns and gauzy mus- 
 lins, as they chat enthusiastically about the coming 
 yachting picnic Miss Indra has promised them. 
 Amy Ormiston, who is in a spiritual costume by 
 Duprez, remarking: "To-morrow we hunt sea- 
 breezes." 
 
 " Don't forget, Don Balasco, you are to have full 
 charge of the cruise ! " says his young hostess, as 
 she languidly fans herself, looking up at him 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " I am always at your service, Senorita Vanstone," 
 says the Don, a little gasp in his voice, a strange 
 excitement in his demeanor and a wondrous light 
 in his eyes, that roll themselves curiously, even as 
 he speaks, toward Indra. 
 
176 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 For as the girl utters the words, '^Vou have full 
 charge of the cruise ! " into his facile mind has sud- 
 denly sprung the crowning glory of the plot he 
 has been devising. A plan as ingenious in its 
 bizarre and awful effects, as startling in its very 
 devilishness, as ever Satan pictured since sin came 
 to this earth — one which has many details, but at 
 the end of it Estrabon Balasco sees Indra Vanstone 
 in his arms, a bride — perchance unwilling, but still a 
 bride. For, curiously enough, in all its passion, in 
 all its sensuousness, the mind of the Spaniard has 
 never pictured anything but the wedding ring in 
 connection with this young lady, whose myriad 
 graces, fascinating eyes, lovely disposition, ex- 
 quisite features and glorious form, have led him 
 to say to himself: ** I, Estrabon Balasco, will win 
 and wear her ; her beauty shall all be for me and 
 for no other man ! " 
 
 As this flies through his mind, the joy of it is so 
 tremendous he dare not remain in her presence ; 
 he will not be able to control himself. So, 
 casting one sneaking glance at ** Our Billy," who 
 is seated chatting merrily with Am)^ Ormiston, 
 and mentally laughing, ** 1 wonder what he would 
 say or do if he knew — if he knew ! " the Don walks 
 out on the piazza and goes to smoking — happy as 
 the fiend who first invented American diplomacy. 
 
 Even as he lights his cigar, Miss Vanstone comes 
 out to him. She says playfully : *' You seem to 
 desert me this morning, Senor Balasco." Then — 
 perchance because this girl has guessed some- 
 thing — she murmurs : " I have a little secret for 
 you ; something very pleasant has happened to 
 me. A change has come into my life. A week 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 77 
 
 from now we shall leave here. Within a month 
 Mr. Severance and 1 are to be married. We 
 hope you will run up to New Vork for the 
 ceremony." 
 
 There is a kind of apology in the girl's method 
 of delivering this. Perhaps Indra now feels 
 that she has been kinder to Don Estrabon than 
 perchance she ought. 
 
 But he looks up at her and says : "' I shall be 
 present at your wedding, never fear," then laughs 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " I'm delighted to hear that," replies Miss Van- 
 stone. " I have another favor to ask : Take 
 our little picnic cruise off my hands entirely. 
 
 I " 
 
 ''Ah ! That is because you have now something 
 better to occupy yourself with." 
 
 " Perhaps ! " the girl smiles archly. 
 
 " Mr. Severance will be occupied also, prob- 
 ably," laughs the Don. Then he goes on eagerly: 
 ** Take everything from your mind. I, Don Ba- 
 lasco, will relieve you ! " 
 
 ** Very well, then. The whole affair is in your 
 hands — even to liquors and cocktails," laughs the 
 young lady. 
 
 '' Ah ! cocktails ! There I am an expert," chuckles 
 Balasco. 
 
 And the elder Vanstone, chancing to look out of 
 one of the windows, indorses him by saying : " On 
 the cruise don't let any other living man make 
 your cocktails. I have drunk some of the Don's 
 in Key West." 
 
 Glancing at the paper he still has in his hand, 
 Balasco suddenly thinks : " Pest ! I forgot. The 
 
lyS DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 glory of my last conception knocked this Competi- 
 tor news out of my head ! " 
 
 Then he murmurs significantly: "She should 
 know what it will mean to her," and Miss Indra 
 having returned to the breakfast-room, he follows 
 her to give out his news of the capture of Ameri- 
 can citizens and their almost certain butchery but 
 a short hundred miles away from this scene of 
 easy gayety and modern fashion. 
 
 Though the faces of the men become very 
 sober as they hear of the affair, and the ladies — 
 God bless them ! — give out full measure of 
 sympathy unto the unfortunates of whom Balasco 
 reads, the effect is greatest upon Varona. 
 
 " If they shot them down after drumhead it 
 would mean war between America and Spain, and 
 the freedom of your island !" says Blakely, slap- 
 ping Ramon upon the back. 
 
 " Pooh ! " answers the elder Vanstone. " They 
 are not going to kill any of them. Our State De- 
 partment must act. Under treaty they are bound 
 to give every man of them trial by civil court." 
 
 ** Then," remarks the Cuban, solemnly, ** mark 
 my word, the next vessel caught with the 
 American flag flying and arms on board by a 
 Spanish warship will never be heard of. The 
 crew will be butchered, the vessel sunk. They 
 will have no chance to appeal to the American 
 government." 
 
 " I believe you are right — I know you are right, 
 Varona, my friend ! " cries Don Estrabon, his eyes 
 lighting up with an unholy look — some think of 
 anguish, others of patriotism ; but he knows what 
 it means — ^for all the time in his mind is running 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 79 
 
 these curious words : '* The flag did not protect — 
 the flag did not protect ! " 
 
 " Dios ! " murmurs the lieutenant. '* More good 
 men dead for our unhappy island," and mutters 
 maledictions on the Spanish. 
 
 " That poor Milton, the newspaper-man. Why, 
 he was up at St. Augustme doing society articles 
 for his paper two weeks ago," says Amy Ormis- 
 ton. Then suddenly screams, '' Good gracious ! 
 They are not going to kill him ! " 
 
 From this mterview of frowning men and ex- 
 cited sympathetic women the Don goes out very 
 cheerfully and is soon at the landing-stage, where 
 his steam-launch is ready to take him to Key 
 West. He gives some hasty orders to his steers- 
 man and the boat glides out to the Flying Fish, 
 upon the deck of which Balasco soon stands in 
 consultation Vv^ith the yacht's skipper. 
 
 ** I'm all right as regards provisions and liquors 
 now," remarks Thomas. " I wish I was as well 
 off about the crew. The chief engineer I had to 
 put ashore, sick with some fever, at Miami. If I 
 had kept him aboard some of the women would 
 have died of fright and thought it was the black 
 vomit. The mate got drunk last night and I've 
 fired him by schooner. I have only got two deck- 
 hands and two coal passers, one engineer and my- 
 self, along with cook and steward — altogether 
 too few to run this craft, if we've much 
 steaming to do or many passengers to take care 
 of." 
 
 " I think I can help you on a pinch," replies 
 Balasco, very happy at the information. ** The 
 engineer pf my steam-launch, though he is a 
 
l8o DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 negro, is a very good mechanic. He can take watch 
 and watch with your engineer. My helmsman can 
 take a trick at the wheel, and I have two deck- 
 hands on my steam-launch that are at your ser- 
 vice also." 
 
 '' You've got a pretty good crew for a boat of 
 that size," laughs the captain. 
 
 " Well, she is forty-odd feet long," returns Ba- 
 lasco. " Do you want my men ?" His heart is 
 sinking within him. He fears the black skin of 
 his engineer may prove an almost fatal obstacle at 
 this point. 
 
 ** Yes ; bring them aboard to-night. They will 
 do very well for a day or two," says Thomas, 
 easily. Then he adds : " My bunkers are full : 
 I could steam from here to Bermuda without 
 running to a dock." 
 
 " Good coal?" queries Estrabon. 
 
 " The very best. Mr. Vanstone likes to travel 
 quickly, and you can't make speed without you've 
 the proper fuel. " 
 
 '* Very well. I will be back with you at six 
 o'clock." And after a few more minor details the 
 Spaniard goes down the vessel's side, boards his 
 own craft, and steam being put upon the Figaro 
 she glides away, saluting with her whistle 
 some ladies and gentlemen in Mr. Vanstone's 
 garden, a courtesy which is answered by waving 
 handkerchiefs from the ladies and shouts of ** Bon 
 voyage and quick return !" from the men. 
 
 And as the boat drives over the waves for Key 
 West, its owner is singing one happy song : '* The 
 flag did not protect !— The flag did not pro- 
 tect ! " 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. l8l 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 "IN SEARCH OF A SEA BREEZE." 
 
 It is now eleven o'clock in the morning. 
 
 The launch, driven at high speed, reaches the 
 island-town in about two hours and a half. 
 
 At the wharf at Key West Don Balasco orders 
 his crew to keep steam up and wait for him— he is 
 in a hurry about this business. 
 
 He walks up to his cigar manufactory, and after 
 carelessly chatting a few minutes with one of his 
 partners on the business of the house, steps up 
 to the big room where the cigars are in process of 
 manufacture. 
 
 Though work is going on at the moment, he 
 finds his hands, who are all Cubans and patriots, 
 very much excited at the news that is being read 
 to them by their reader, whose business it is to in- 
 terpret and translate the morning papers. 
 
 This gentleman has now an extra in his hand, 
 which produces great excitement. He says 
 hastily to the Don, as he enters : *' They are not 
 shot yet!" 
 
 ** Thank God for that ! " cries Balasco ; though 
 he does not. For he would very much like to 
 have been able to bring over the news to Miss 
 Indra Vanstone that every one of the Competitor s 
 crew had been done to death in Cabanas fortress. 
 
 As Estrabon walks through the room, apparently 
 making a general business inspection, he passes 
 the two men that Mastic had noticed on his 
 journey from Tampa. To them he whispers: 
 *' Meet me at my house as soon as possible." 
 
1 83 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 This is responded to by the big^-eared Juan and 
 the small-eared Pablo with significant glances. 
 
 A moment after the Don leaves the room, but 
 in his office he calls to one of the clerks : " Get 
 me a box of your strongest and blackest Invin- 
 ciblesr 
 
 With this in his hand, and telling his partner he 
 shall be away on a yachting cruise for a few days, 
 Estrabon steps to his cottage. 
 
 Here he finds the two men already awaiting 
 him. Taking them into his dining-room he locks 
 ail doors, and makes hasty inspection to see that 
 no one can possibly hear. Then to the two, he, in 
 low whispers, delivers such a proposition that they 
 are frightened, throw up their hands and say they 
 dare not — not for their lives ! 
 
 To this he answers : " What ! When you are 
 under the protection of Weyler? 1 have in my 
 hands papers from him and from the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment that would make me, and those whom 1 
 designate, as safe as the Captain-General himself 
 wherever the flag of Spain flies. Besides, there is 
 a thousand dollars for you.'* 
 
 But the men still hesitate, and Estrabon repeats 
 what he has said, and makes his offer two thou- 
 sand dollars in gold — a thousand dollars for each. 
 
 This the two, after consultation, agree to accept, 
 though they do it even now in a frightened and 
 reluctant manner — muttering they love their lives. 
 
 "■ Don't I love mine?" he laughs. '' Would I go 
 if I had not the hand of the Captain-General?" then 
 adds: " Report immediately at the steam-launch, 
 where you will act as deck-hands. Your dutieswill 
 be the same on the Flying Fish. Nothing more." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 83 
 
 " What ! Is that alll " asks Pablo, astonished. 
 
 " Everything — save this ! As you value my 
 favor you are to smoke no cigars while on the 
 yacht." 
 
 "No cigars?" queries Juan. ^'Diablo! No 
 cigars." 
 
 '' But all the cigarettes you please," answers 
 Estrabon. '' Now mark me, not a cigar, as you love 
 your lives ! " 
 
 And the two leave him, Pablo whispering to his 
 companion: " Santos ! This is a strange affair ! " 
 
 Next the Don steps hurriedly out to a neighbor- 
 ing apothecary's and makes a purchase of opium, 
 incidentally asking the clerk in charge, who knows 
 him very well, some pertinent questions about 
 Magendie's Solution of Morphine. 
 
 A moment later he is at the telegraph oiice, and 
 wires by direct cable in cipher to Havana a long, 
 curious, yet important dispatch. 
 
 From there he returns to his house, opens his 
 box of strongly flavored Invincibles, and also an- 
 other of his delicious Imperiales, then laughs play- 
 fully : " I wonder if I have forgotten my art as 
 a boy when I was a Concha maker !" and goes to 
 work upon these two boxes of cigars in a very 
 curious manner. 
 
 His hands are deft, and he accomplishes this 
 business quite rapidly, neither of the boxes con- 
 taining over twenty-five of the weeds ; but in 
 doing them up in a special package he taps one 
 and says, laughingly : "• These Imperiales for the 
 swells ; these Invincibles — aha ! — for the crew, who 
 like to smoke." 
 
 Ten minutes after this he is at his steam4aunch, 
 
184 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 where Juan, with the big ear, and his comrade 
 await him. 
 
 Just as the boat is shoving off, a clerk comes 
 running down from his office with a cable from 
 Havana acknowledging the receipt of his message 
 to that place. 
 
 Looking this over, the Don smiles placidly. 
 
 As the boat gets under headway for Emerald 
 Key, he sits under the awning, making a hasty 
 meal that he has had sent from a restaurant, his time 
 having been too precious to waste in eating and 
 drinking. 
 
 As he lunches he meditates. 
 
 One by one he adds incident to incident that will 
 make his plan perfect, and murmurs : "A parallel 
 case, a complete /^r^//^/ case!" Next he glances 
 over the crew. The engineer and the helmsman 
 are Spanish negroes, who have been in his ser- 
 vice for a long time and are devoted to him, 
 as he has been a liberal master. To them he has 
 already spoken. " These men will do as I tell 
 them," he reflects; "the other two know what their 
 duties are and what they will get for doing them." 
 
 'Tis now nearly six o'clock. The day is still 
 blazing hot, which is not unusual in these latitudes 
 in the beginning of summer, for it is now nearly the 
 first of May. Though the sun is getting rather low 
 in the horizon, it is very sultry, and no land- 
 breeze has yet sprung up. 
 
 Proof of this is easily apparent. As the launch 
 darts up to the landing at Emerald Key, Balasco 
 can see the ladies on the veranda of Mr. Vanstone's 
 villa are all using their fans vigorously, though 
 their dresses are light as gossamer. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 85 
 
 He gazes about ; what is happening on the water 
 makes him very happy. 
 
 The Flying Fish, apparently returning from 
 Coral Key, is about to anchor. On her deck he 
 observes Varona and Severance lounging about 
 under the awning, and Jack Blakely seated on a 
 steamer chair, smoking lazily and fanning himself 
 languidly. Estrabon gives command to his helms- 
 man. The course of the Figaro is changed, and 
 the boat runs up to the yacht just as she drops 
 anchor. 
 
 "• You have got them all right ? '' Balasco calls 
 eagerly. 
 
 "■ Yes. The arms, cartridges and rapid-fire 
 gun are in the hold all right enough ! " rephes 
 Severance. 
 
 "All but the dynamite ! " shouts Captain Thomas, 
 " 1 refused to take that on board." 
 
 " Then don't come on shore ! " cries Estrabon 
 earnestly. 
 
 - Why not ? " 
 
 ** I have a surprise for you," he answers. " I 
 will give you a dinner on the yacht. Bnng 
 out some of the ladies and we will go m search of 
 a sea-breeze. There is one outside in the Gulf 
 Stream certainly." 
 
 " It does look as if it is going to be a thundering 
 hot night," replies Billy, languidly. 
 
 To this Varona adds, "There will be no land 
 breeze to-day." 
 
 " Great Scott, you don't mean that ! What 
 makes you think so ? " asks Blakely in languid dis- 
 may. 
 
 " I have lived in the West Indies too long not to 
 
l86 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 know the signs of a tiejnpo calurosoy' answers the 
 young Cuban. " It will be the first of the season, 
 but it is going to be a sweltering evening." 
 
 "That doesn't frighten me much," answers 
 Billy ; " the Vanstones and I are going north 
 soon." Then he adds contemplatively, " But to- 
 night we might just as well make ourselves com- 
 fortable." A moment after he addresses Balasco, 
 whose launch is now at the yacht's side-ladder, and 
 says : '* Hold up a minute ! That's a good idea 
 of yours, Don Estrabon, I'll just step into the Figaro 
 and run ashore with you, and we'll bring those of 
 the ladies who will come with us on board." 
 
 *' Yes, a dinner on the yacht, a breezy sail in the 
 moonlight," replies Estrabon, eagerly. '' Just tell 
 the cook I want to see him," he calls to Thomas, 
 a strange joy lighting his face, for this hot evening 
 has enabled him to very plausibly get over an ex- 
 ceedingly difficult step in the affair. 
 
 To the Captain's command, " Ahoy there, cook ! 
 Send frenchy aft!" that functionary makes his 
 appearance from the galley, and to him Don 
 Estrabon gives orders ; suggesting the courses of 
 a most fascmating meal. 
 
 While this is going on Severance has come 
 down the ladder and stepped into the launch, 
 which now leaves the side of the yacht and darts 
 toward the landing place. 
 
 In the short minute it takes to get there Billy 
 and Balasco have arranged the affair. 
 
 " You get what ladies you can, but I wouldn't 
 make them too numerous, and we will quietly 
 run off by ourselves for the evening," suggests 
 Estrabon. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 187 
 
 *' That's my idea exactly," remarks Severance, 
 who only wants one lady if he can make that ar- 
 rangement, for he is very popular with the others, 
 and they are apt to encroach upon his time that 
 he now thinks should be devoted to Miss Indra 
 Vanstone. 
 
 " Then all goes merrily," ejaculates the Don, as 
 they make the landing stage. 
 
 But even as they do so, a rowboat ties up to it 
 also, and Balasco gives a start of dismay, for out 
 of it steps Mastic, the government detective. 
 
 The arrival of this man will destroy every 
 chance the Spaniard has of success ; he will seize 
 the arms, and then — goodbye forever to Balasco's 
 opportunity. 
 
 The Don says, hurriedly, to Severance: '' Please 
 step up to the house and make arrangements. 
 That man apparently wants to see me," for Mastic 
 has already hailed him. 
 
 A moment later he confronts the Revenue officer, 
 whose words now brmg dismay to the Spanish 
 gentleman. 
 
 ** How are you, Estrabon?" says the detective 
 easily, for he is never very ceremonious with his 
 Spanish confrere. Then he goes on in words that 
 bring despair : " I got your note last night, but 
 there has been no breeze all day, only a blazing 
 hot sun, and Alligator Pete and I have been 
 twelve hours beating up to Emerald Key upon 
 the Gopher. But I guess I'm in time. I got hail 
 from a sail-boat we met off Sugar Loaf Key that 
 there were contraband arms on that island off 
 there." He points to Coral Key. 
 
 " Yes," replies the other, eagerly, " about a hun- 
 
l88 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 dred filibusters and a quantity of arms, ammuni- 
 tion and dynamite. 
 
 " Great gosh ! This will be the making of 
 me!" 
 
 " But you're a little late," continues Balasco. 
 " They all jumped on the Three Friends last evening 
 in a great hurry, and left for Cuba followed by the 
 Boutwelly which is apparently on the filibusters' 
 track." 
 
 ** Great Scott! have I missed them again?" and 
 there is a muttered imprecation from the detective. 
 
 ** A word in your ear," remarks the Don, who 
 has steadied himself now, and is thinking rapidly, 
 " The Cuban desperadoes didn't take away all the 
 arms, the Boutwell was too quick for that. They 
 left about thirty or forty cases of ammunition, etc., 
 behind them on Coral Key." 
 
 " Which the Boutwell gobbled, I reckon," grum- 
 bles Mastic. 
 
 " No, they are there still, I believe," murmurs 
 Balasco, blessing himself for the ready lie. For 
 did Mastic know the arms were on the Flying Fishy 
 he would surely seize them, and that would be an 
 end to all hope of successful machinations. 
 
 '' Then I'll have 'em to-night ! Alligator Pete and 
 I will sail over there at once." 
 
 " Do you think you will get there with this 
 breeze?" 
 
 "Well, I'll try it." 
 
 '* Of course, that is your duty !" says the Don, 
 sternly. " Let me know when you succeed. Is 
 there anything else I can do for you ?" 
 
 ''Yes," laughs Mastic; "good cigars go mighty 
 fast. Alligator Pete and I finished the last of that 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 189 
 
 kill-care box you gave me just as we let go anchor. 
 You don't happen to have any of them about you ?" 
 
 " One or two," says Balasco, shortly, and he 
 produces a few of his wondrous Regalias Im- 
 periales, 
 
 ** Now we are comfortable, I'll get to business," 
 remarks the detective, as he lights up and goes 
 back to his boat, which is rowed by Alligator 
 Pete's boy, the Varmint. 
 
 Gazing after the revenue man, Estrabon sud- 
 denly shudders, muttering : ** It was such a close 
 call. If he guessed where those arms are it 
 might destroy hope. He'll be all night drifting: 
 over to Coral Key — there is no breeze — and to- 
 morrow ! " * 
 
 A great hope lights up his mobile features as he 
 turns toward the house. 
 
 Here he finds Severance, who says to him, a 
 tone of relief in his voice : "■ I could only get two 
 ladies." 
 
 " Who ? " This is very eagerly. 
 
 " Miss Vanstone and the widow. La petite 
 Rivers and Miss Woodbridge are out with little 
 Vortex and old Mr. Vanstone among his pine- 
 apples and bananas. I shouldn't wonder if one of 
 them would like to become my mother-in-law," 
 adds the gentleman, laughingly. 
 
 '' And Miss Gertie? " suggests Estrabon. 
 
 '' Miss Gertie is engaged with Annie, our dress- 
 maker," cries Rex, who comes into the hall at this 
 moment. " If Miss Gertie goes out to sail to-night 
 she will have to wear short skirts again for the 
 picnic cruise." 
 
 ** Rex," cries his juvenile sister, sternly, looking 
 
igo DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 over the banisters, '' remember, please, that I am a 
 young lady !" 
 
 The suggestion is made with a haughty dignity, 
 at which Severance laughs merrily. 
 
 ''You will go with us, Rex, I presume?" re- 
 marks the Don. 
 
 " Oh yes, I'm with you ! Anything for a good 
 dinner and a cold breath this hot day." 
 
 "Then the party is arranged," murmurs Ba- 
 lasco, for this is just the party he wants. 
 
 But Miss Gertie comes running down the stairs 
 crying : " Is Lieutenant Varona going with you?" 
 
 "I think so," replies Severance, who is now 
 taken charge of by his sweetheart, Indra having 
 come down the stairs in the wake of her sister, look- 
 ing very pretty in the lightest of muslins and the 
 breeziest of sashes. At the sight of this young 
 lady, Balasco's eyes flash ; into his mind flies the 
 ecstatic thought : " It is her bridal dress !" 
 
 Mrs. Ormiston, looking exquisite in a very fash- 
 ionably made yachting suit of lightest fabric, with 
 a jaunty little sailor hat on her head, now joms the 
 party, and she and Miss Vanstone walk out upon 
 the porch with Mr. Severance and Rex. 
 
 The Don would follow them. Suddenly he 
 gives a start, mutters " Excuse me !" and runs up- 
 stairs. 
 
 In his chamber he hastily takes from his bureau 
 the bottle marked " Magendie's Solution of Mor- 
 phine" and the hypodermic syringe, laugh- 
 ing : " How near I was forgetting !" 
 
 Then he hastily descends to the main floor and is 
 on his way out, when a little pleading hand is 
 placed upon his arm, and Gertie's soft voice 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I9I 
 
 whispers : *' Don't you think you could spare 
 Lieutenant Ramon ? You'll have too many gentle- 
 men for the number of ladies on the Flying Fish. 
 Tell him I asked him to dine." 
 
 "■ I— I will give him your message," returns Es- 
 trabon, a slight hesitation in his voice. 
 
 '' That will be lovely," says the young girl. 
 " Mr. Vortex, papa and Ramon, and Miss Rivers, 
 Flora, and I, will have as pleasant a dinner party 
 as you on the yacht." 
 
 '' May you have a delightful evening !" As he 
 says this, the Don bows gallantly, and passes out 
 to the others, where Miss Vanstone has been ex- 
 plaining to Severance and the widow that 
 " Gertie's dressmaking is a very serious affair. 
 I gave her all the dresses I could spare," re- 
 marks the young lady, " and she has run through 
 toilet after toilet with the prodigality of " 
 
 " Of a girl in her first long dresses," laughs Mrs. 
 Ormiston. 
 
 *' Yes, if I lent her any more I should have to go 
 into Gertie's short skirts myself," returns Miss 
 Vanstone, with a pretty blush. 
 
 At this moment Rex comes eagerly out of the 
 hall, crying : "Heave ahead, my hearties !" and the 
 party gets under way ; Balasco following them 
 through the shell-walks of the garden, counting 
 them and numbering them and saying, " I have 
 now every one I want." 
 
 Five minutes after they are transferred from Es- 
 trabon's steam-launch to the Flying Fish ; the ladies 
 fanning themselves languidly, and very happy to 
 get under the ample awnings that shade its white 
 deck ; Severance, in his easy way, assisting them 
 
192 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 up the side-ladder ; Rex calling out gayly in nau- 
 tical phrase: " Heave ahead there, Flying Fishes! " 
 
 Altogether they are as happy a party as ever 
 boarded a yacht as they are received on board by 
 Blakely and the young Cuban ; and that is saying 
 a good deal, for what is merrier than a cruise 
 when the ladies are pretty, agreeable, and 
 not sea-sick ; and the gentlemen are gallant and 
 devoted, and there is plenty of wine, liquors, and 
 cigars aboard ? 
 
 But Estrabon is the happiest of them all. His 
 dark eyes gleam with almost a supernatural light. 
 His laugh IS soft, musical, rounded. '* Why should 
 I not be merry," he thinks ; '' am I not going on 
 my bridal tour?" 
 
 Curiously enough, he does not give to Varona 
 the message Miss Gertie has intrusted to him, but 
 walks hastily to the pilot-house, where bluff 
 Thomas is standing at the wheel, and says, an un- 
 called-for thrill of excitement in his voice^ " Do 
 you want the extra hands. Captain ? " 
 
 ** Guess I might as well take 'em, as we are 
 going outside," replies the sea dog. 
 
 "As you please," answers Estrabon. " I will 
 moor the launch at your buoy." 
 
 This he does, directing his men to come on 
 board, and ordering Juan of the big ear, and Pablo 
 of the little ear forward among the deck hands, 
 telling the Captain, his steersman of the Figaro 
 will take a trick at the wheel whenever he wants 
 him, and his engineer will take post in the engine- 
 room under the orders of the engineer of the Fly- 
 ing Fish. 
 
 " I'll let your man take a trick at the wheel 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. I93 
 
 while I look at him, and if he's satisfactory it'll 
 take some trouble off my hands. My engineer 
 can explain our machines to your man and report 
 on his efficiency," answers Thomas, shoving up 
 one of the windows of the pilot-house, which is in 
 immediate communication with the engine-room 
 of the yacht, it being placed pretty well forward 
 to give greater cabin accommodation in the stern. 
 
 From his post of vantage the Captain can look 
 right down into it, and he speaks to the engineer, 
 calling out: ''Sandy, tell me how the new man 
 gets along, will yer?" 
 
 " Send him doon. Skipper ; I'll verra soon tek 
 cognizance of the loon," replies a bright Scottish 
 voice through the open window, and Thomas 
 sounding the bell, for by this time the anchor has 
 been raised, the Flying Fish leaves her moorings 
 to go in search of a sea-breeze in the open waters 
 of the Gulf Stream. 
 
 All this has been watched by a disconsolate 
 young lady armed with a field glass, from the 
 upper windows of the Vanstone home. Miss 
 Gertie is looking for the coming of young Varona, 
 who comes not. 
 
 "Mercy! they are not sending anybody ashore," 
 murmurs the girl in disappointment. " Oh good- 
 ness ! they are hoisting the anchor ! " Snatching 
 up a straw hat the young lady runs down stairs ; 
 though the dressmaker calls to her saying : 
 " I am ready to fit you now. Miss." 
 
 To this she shouts: " Back in a minute ! " and 
 runs hurriedly through the garden to the wharf 
 to see the Flying Fish half a mile away and just 
 passing out of sight behind a low green island. 
 
194 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ** Why didn't he come on shore when I asked 
 him to ? " she ejaculates. Then suddenly flashes 
 through the girl an awful thought. " Ramon has 
 those arms with him, perhaps he will go away 
 with them to death in Cuba ; " and feminine logic 
 coming into her still childish mind, she grows 
 excited and frightened over the matter, and thinks : 
 ** That awful Balasco ! He is such a Cuban patriot, 
 he excites Ramon with the thought of his duty ! 
 Ramon said those arms might be the life blood of 
 the Cuban cause. He will get off at some place 
 with them. He didn't have the courage to say 
 good-bye to me — that would have broken both 
 our hearts. His duty called him." Then she almost 
 faints as she thinks of the Competitor and murmurs 
 with white lips : *' The Spaniards murder all their 
 prisoners." 
 
 But here a ray of hope flits to her. 
 
 She hears a voice at the landing-stage, saying : 
 " All right, Varmint, if you've got that garden- 
 truck safe on the boat we'll go back to the Gopher.'' 
 
 It is the voice of Mastic, the revenue officer, 
 the good detective, the man who has promised to 
 help keep Ramon out of harm and danger. 
 
 She runs to the edge of the wharf and cries, hur- 
 riedly, " Mr. Mastic ! Mr. Mastic ! Come up here, 
 I want to speak to you, quick ! You remember 
 me, Miss Gertie Vanstone, who talked to you at 
 lunch the other day ? " 
 
 " Yes, I remember you very well," replies the 
 government man. *' Be with you in a second." 
 Then he says, *' Varmint, don't you get out of that 
 boat. Keep round here ! " and steps hastily on 
 the landing-stage, runs up the stairs, and still puff- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 1 95 
 
 ing one of Estrabon's cigars, remarks, " Miss 
 Gertie, I am at your service ; what can I do for 
 you?" 
 
 And Gertie tells him her tale and her fears ; at 
 which the detective laughs grimly, and says : " No 
 danger of that; the arms are over on that key 
 yonder, where I am going to seize 'em as soon as 
 we can get over." 
 
 *' On — on Coral Key ? " stammers the young 
 lady. 
 
 '' Certainly ! I had it from Don Estrabon not 
 twenty minutes ago." 
 
 *' Then Don Estrabon does not tell you the 
 truth!" whispers the young lady in a horrified 
 voice. " Those arms are on board that yacht." 
 
 ** What ! " This is a snort from Mastic. 
 
 *' Yes ; Don Estrabon knew all about it ; he ad- 
 vised it ; he was talking with Ramon and our 
 Billy about it this morning. They went over 
 there this afternoon and got them. I could see 
 them carrying them on board with my telescope. 
 You saw the Flying Fish just anchor when she 
 came back, didn't you?" 
 
 " Gol darn it ! Are you sure you are right? " 
 
 " Oh, I am certain. What did they go over 
 there for?" 
 
 " Great snakes ! " 
 
 " You must help me prevent Ramon going to 
 Cuba. What was the good of my nursing him to 
 life ? what right has he to go to be killed there 
 after I have saved it?" murmurs Gertie, wringing 
 her hands. 
 
 ** I wish I had known this about ten minutes ago," 
 says the detective, glumly, gazing at the smoke of 
 
196 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the disappearing yacht. Then he rubs his shock 
 head and mutters : " I can't understand it, the Don 
 is not a " He checks himself here, fearing to be- 
 tray a state secret, and goes on rapidly to the 
 young lady : " I don't think there is anything of 
 that kind you fear in the wind, Miss. I don't see 
 how your young Cuban can have any such wild 
 idea in his head when you say the Flying Fish has 
 got your sister and Mrs. Ormiston on board, 
 besides Mr. Blakely, Mr. Severance, and your 
 brother." 
 
 *' Perhaps, Don Estrabon and Sefior Varona are 
 not going to do anything to-night. But I am afraid 
 Ramon will put those arms onshore at Key West. 
 Then duty will call him and he will go back 
 and take them, and go to fight with the Cuban 
 sympathizers, who are so noble and good, and 
 break my heart,"moans the girl, wringing her hands. 
 
 ** Going over to Key West to put the arms on 
 shore, are they ?" snorts the revenue man. "• Well, 
 I think I can put a stop on that ! I'll teach 'em to 
 try and do me — telling me the arms were on that 
 island !" 
 
 " What are you going to do ?" 
 
 " Watch Mastic !" replies the detective, sav- 
 agely. *' Don't have no more thoughts of yo,ur 
 yoiing man getting into danger ; those arms will 
 be under my nose in two or three hours." 
 
 Then he eyes the smoke of the yacht, which has 
 already got into the Gulf Stream, and says : " She 
 is turning to the westward ; she is bound toward 
 Key West ; now see what I'll do !" 
 
 He runs down to the boat, jumps in, and asks : 
 " Varmint, can you steer?" 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. l97 
 
 " What's been whaled into me for the last three 
 years," cries the Varmint, '' but nor' nor'west and 
 sou '-sou' west and two p'ints on the port bow ? 
 Can I steer ? 1 could steer a crocodile !" 
 
 ** Can you steer a steam-launch ?" 
 
 " I've did it a dozen times !" 
 
 " Well, I think I can contrive to run the en- 
 gines at a pinch," mutters Mastic ; then cries : 
 " Pull for Balasco's boat !" 
 
 And taking an oar himself, two minutes after 
 jumping into the little skiff he and the boy are 
 aboard the steam-launch of the Spaniard, their 
 little boat hitched behind it, and the detective is 
 making preparations to get up steam, which is not 
 difficult, as the Figaro s fires have been hastily 
 banked, and there is enough vapor in her boiler to 
 get the craft under headway at once. 
 
 As they pass the end of the wharf the officer 
 cries to Gertie : *' Don't you have any fear, little 
 missey !" 
 
 And from the top of that structure comes back 
 to him : " I am not a little missey. But I have 
 every confidence in you !" 
 
 Then poised eagerly, like a bird on the top of a 
 pile, she watches the steam-launch now slowly 
 moving away. 
 
 Every minute the revolution of the Figaro's 
 propeller becomes faster; the boat darts more 
 rapidly through the water. She is taking the same 
 course as the Flying Fish. A few minutes after, she 
 disappears round the same island, making for the 
 open Gulf Stream. 
 
 Then Miss Gertie turns slowly and goes up to 
 the house, has her dresses fitted on in a half- 
 
198 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 hearted, tearful way, and wanders down to the 
 dinner-table to tell her father and his guests her 
 extraordinary alarms and suspicions, and to be gen- 
 erally scoffed at ; Miss Rivers, remarking : '' Non- 
 sense, my dear child, this Competitor business has 
 made you nervous ;" and Flora Woodbridge assert- 
 ing, confidently, " Pooh ! Jack Blakely is no fool." 
 
 Here her father comes down on the poor 
 little girl, scoffing, " Stuff, rot, rabid nonsense ! 
 Isn't Severance on board with my daughter? Don't 
 you suppose he will take care of her? This Cuban 
 affair and this Red Cross business have made you as 
 romantically silly as if* you were a Dulcinea del 
 Toboso." Then he utters these terrible words : 
 " But Miss Tricks' boarding-school will take this 
 nonsense out of you ! Next week you go back 
 there, short dresses and all." 
 
 This horrible threat produces a paralysis of the 
 tongue and a crushed, appealing look on the part 
 of Miss First Love during the evening. Even little 
 Vortex's wit and humor cannot bring a laugh to 
 her pretty lips. 
 
 She sobs herself to sleep ; awakes the next morn- 
 ing, and looks out of her window on the water. 
 Then her face grows very pale as she screams, 
 " Oh, merciful Heavens ! The Flying Fish is not 
 there !" 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE DINNER ON THE YACHT. 
 
 The steam-launch, steered by the Varmint, is 
 out on the Straits of Florida. The yacht, five 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. . 1 99 
 
 or six miles away, is leisurely steaming to the west- 
 ward. But even now she is speeding at a good 
 ten miles an hour and cannot be overtaken by the 
 launch. 
 
 Looking at her. Mastic thinks grimly : *^ By 
 her actions, she's going to Key West. If she 
 does, I'll overhaul her there. Any way, she has 
 got to come back to Emerald Key, and to-night 
 those arms are under my nose." Then he goes on 
 grimly: " The Don done me up, if what young Miss 
 Gertie says is true, and if red eyes prove anything, 
 that little girl evidently believes in her yarn. And 
 yet, what reason ? " Then he scratches his ear, 
 and thinks, '' Darn me if I understand it! There is 
 no doubt Estrabon is an agent of Spain ; why the 
 devil doesn't he want me to seize those arms?" 
 The more he thinks of it the less he understands 
 it, and the more enraged he gets at his Spanish 
 confrere. 
 
 Then, a very cunning idea coming into his head^ 
 he cogitates, *' Darn me, I'll play him, too ! I'll 
 pretend I think he doesn't know the arms are on 
 board. I'll startle him with my information, and 
 see how Estrabon acts." 
 
 Therefore, keeping in the wake of the Flying 
 Fish, the launch steams to the westward ; though 
 it is now so dark that were it not for the yacht's 
 lights, Mastic would not be able to distinguish 
 her. 
 
 That pleasure vessel continues merrily upon her 
 cruise after ocean zephyrs. These, the gay party 
 on her deck discover, balmy, but cool and re- 
 freshing, as soon as they get out of the lea of the 
 Keys. 
 
200 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 "A perfect evening ! " remarks Amy Ormiston 
 to Jack Blakely. 
 
 " Yes ; but I don't much envy those who stayed 
 behind. They'll have rather a hottish time of it, 
 though it is just cool enough here to bring appe- 
 tite. And lifting up his voice, he cries : '' Estra- 
 bon, you are the chief cook of this affair. Is not 
 dinner in sight? " 
 
 "All in good time, my impatient friend," replies 
 the Don. " Then we'll have a delicious banquet 
 and afterwards I am going to mix you some of 
 my famous champagne cocktails." 
 
 "Oh, yes! You should have heard Senor Van- 
 stone singing their praises! " adds Ramon. " You, 
 Don Balasco, made one for him at Key West, and 
 he has not forgotten its flavor. I also remember 
 them three years ago." 
 
 Here Severance, who has been seated on the 
 other side of the deck chatting with his sweet- 
 heart, suddenly cries: "Who said cocktails?" 
 " Bring them along now, while we're waiting for 
 the cook ! " 
 
 " I would like to accommodate you," laughs 
 Estrabon, " but I cannot degrade my cocktails 
 into appetizers. Besides, 1 think you are too 
 hungry without them." 
 
 " Perhaps you're right," assents Billy. 
 
 Here Rex, who has been chatting to the Cap- 
 tain in the pilot-house, comes stamping with 
 laughter to the party aft. 
 
 " What are you enjoying ? " says Amy Ormis- 
 ton, beckoning the youth to her side. 
 
 " Well," replies the boy, " one of the deckhands 
 has got the most thundering big ear I ever saw. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST 201 
 
 He ought to quit the sea for dime museums." 
 And he goes into a picturesque description of the 
 wonderful auricular appendage of Juan, with 
 gesticular embellishments that set everybody 
 laughing. 
 
 But Balasco pays little attention to this. He 
 and Varona are now grouped about Miss Van- 
 stone. Ramon has given the Don an opening he 
 has been longing for. He has said : '* You were 
 in Key West to-day. Any further news about 
 the Competitor?''' 
 
 *' A little," replies Estrabon, shortly. " I brought 
 an extra in my pocket which may interest you." 
 He produces a copy of the Equator-Democrat, 
 one of whose columns is headed with very black 
 type, and states that the said schooner was 
 taken on the high seas, as on the morning before 
 the day of the reported capture she was seen near 
 Sand Key Light. 
 
 Pointing straight over the bow of the boat, 
 Balasco remarks : *' Sand Key Light is there ! In 
 half an hour we shall see it. But the Competitor and 
 those on board of her — where are they? Ask 
 the vultures and the ravens of Cabanas." Then, as 
 if to flavor this, he reads a little gruesome item 
 which states that a passenger who arrived this 
 day on the Mascotte reports that he saw about 
 twenty men, one woman, and a child being landed 
 on the dock at Havana, all in chains. 
 
 As Estrabon mentions the manacled woman, his 
 eyes seem to rest on Indra. " You have not forgot- 
 ten," he adds, " what Varona said to-day about 
 the next vessel flying the American flag captured 
 under similar circumstances." Apparently getting 
 
202 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 excited over his subject, he now goes on to show 
 what will surely happen to the next boat laden 
 with arms that the Spanish capture on the Cuban 
 coast under similar circumstances ; that despite 
 the American flag — yea, even perhaps because of 
 that flag — they will be butchered to a man, their 
 ship destroyed, and no officer of Spain will know 
 anything about it — it will be " 
 
 " The act of a murdering, cruel, barbarous 
 despotism !" exclaims Rex in that love of freedom 
 most American boys have, despite American states- 
 men. 
 
 But unheeding him, save by a look that hints 
 that some day Rex may have a practical under- 
 standing of Spanish mercy, Balasco runs on in this 
 strain so long and so vividly, that finally Amy 
 Ormiston gives a little frightened shriek, puts her 
 pretty hands to her ears, and cries : " Good gra- 
 cious ! do you want to spoil my dinner ? " 
 
 Miss Indra, however, receives this blood and 
 thunder oration in a different way. Putting a little 
 hand upon the Don's coat sleeve, she whispers : 
 "■ Stroll with me forward. I have a request to 
 make of you." 
 
 As his arm thrills under the touch of the young 
 lady's fingers, Estrabon's thought is : *' This is my 
 bride — the bride of to-morrow. La Pdloma does 
 not know it; but to-morrow evening she rests in 
 my arms." 
 
 Consequently his mind fs not very intent upon 
 the young lady's confidences, which are to this 
 effect : " Please do not speak of this affair to 
 Gertie as you have done to me, when we return 
 to Emerald Key. The child is now too anxious." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 203 
 
 " Anxious for — for whom ? " he stammers, then 
 laughs and says: ''Oh I understand. For our 
 young Cuban patriot," nodding his head viva- 
 ciously over his shoulder toward the stern where 
 Lieutenant Ramon is now chatting with the widow, 
 adding, ** I will be very careful " 
 
 Here Mr. Severance interrupts everybody by 
 calling vigorously : "The steward announces 
 dinner ! " 
 
 A moment later they all walk into the saloon, 
 which IS a pretty little apartment and occupies 
 the whole of the deck-house, being some twenty 
 feet in length by fourteen or fifteen wide. In 
 it the seven ladies and gentlemen sit down to 
 a very merry and elaborate meal, which has been 
 planned and designed by the Don and the French 
 cook. As they are doing this Estrabon begs them 
 to excuse him a moment and steps into the pilot- 
 house. 
 
 ** How do you find my negro steersman ?" he 
 says to the Captain. 
 
 " First rate ! Could take a trick at the wheel on 
 a man of war," replies Thomas. '' My engineer, 
 Sandy, reports your man below equally good at 
 the tea-kettle and machinery. I can now have 
 time to get my dinner comfortably, and Sandy can 
 take a watch off, if necessary." Then he asks, 
 *' Where do you want to go to pass the even- 
 ing?" 
 
 " Perhaps we had better stop at Key West for a 
 few moments." 
 
 ** Right you are ! " says the Captain, gayly. " If 
 you tie up there for ten minutes it will be a lift to 
 me. I have got some dunnage ashore in a house 
 
204 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 right near the wharf that I would like to overhaul 
 and get out some light shirts this hot weather." 
 
 " That will be perfectly satisfactory," replies 
 Estrabon, whose object now is to prolong the 
 cruise and make the dinner a late one. 
 
 Coming back from this errand to the table, 
 where the first course is just being put on, he re- 
 marks : " I took the liberty. Miss Vanstone, of tell- 
 ing Captain Thomas to head for Key West ; we 
 can then get the latest news about the Competi- 
 tor. There is a breeze in the west channel, and 
 we will be very comfortable in the quarter of an 
 hour that we will be there. The dinner will go 
 on just the same." 
 
 " Don Estrabon, heave ahead with the soup ! " 
 cries Rex, impatiently. '' Don't you see the tureen 
 is in front of you, and we are all waiting ? Indra 
 has not eaten an oyster, she has been so anxious 
 for the soup." 
 
 " Oh, I forgot ! " suddenly cries that young lady, 
 who has been whispering eagerly to our Billy in 
 some delicious confidence of first betrothal. 
 
 Looking at the two as they sit side by side, 
 the Don's hand shakes a little as he handles the 
 ladle, and a few drops of clear turtle soup fall upon 
 the snowy damask of the yacht's table, which is 
 brilliant with cut glass and painted china, and 
 even decorated with flowers ; Balasco having 
 called upon Mr. Vanstone's gardener for the 
 adornments to this yachting fete. 
 
 Then wine begins to flow, and tongues get un- 
 loosened, Estrabon, as Rex expresses it to himself, 
 " doing his prettiest with the widow," who sits be- 
 side him. But Varona seems to be unusually 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 205 
 
 quiet, and now asks why Miss Gertie did not join 
 the party. 
 
 " She could not come," laughs Rex. " It would 
 have been necessary for Gertie to have become a 
 little girl again. She has run out of long dresses." 
 Then the boy babbles on : '' You see, Gertie's 
 grown so thundering modest since she's been in 
 long dresses, these three days, that her ankles have 
 now become veiled and sacred." 
 
 This is received by a little titter from Mrs. 
 Ormiston, whose ankles are quite often unveiled, 
 notwithstanding she regards them as sacred. 
 
 " My dear Rex," remarks Severance, in bachelor 
 philosophy, " since the invention of the wheel, 
 ladies' ankles are a drug on the market." Then 
 he goes on solemnly : *' And I'll be blowed if I 
 like it !" turning a rather amused, yet significant 
 glance on his fianc^e^ who has shown signs during 
 the last season of having aspirations for the 
 bike. 
 
 " By Jove ! That's one on you, Indra ! " cries 
 Rex. " She had even ordered a wheel when the 
 guv'nor came down on her. Yes, and got a bike 
 costume too! She gave me a private view of it, 
 and I tell you what, everybody missed a treat ; 
 it was thundering becoming. She would have 
 looked like a fairy scorching." 
 
 "Anyway," murmurs Indra, laughing, ''I shall 
 soon be out of papa's leading strings, and then 
 Voila, the bike? Eh, Billy?" She looks inquiringly 
 at the gentleman who sits beside her. 
 
 Upon this revelation Balasco turns eyes of dis- 
 approval. 
 
 ** Pooh ! Don't look so cross, my caballeror jeers 
 
206 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 the young lady, tossing a mutin glance on the 
 Spaniard, " or you'll never get a wife." 
 
 '' I'm glad to see you frown, Don Estrabon," re- 
 marks Severance. '' I know what's in your mind, 
 and hang me if I don't agree with you !" 
 
 But if he had guessed, he would have taken the 
 white throat of the gentleman sitting opposite to 
 him in his great, big, powerful hands, and Balasco 
 would have finished his dinner in Hades. 
 
 For this foreign gentleman does not approve of 
 the wheel for one so intimately connected with 
 him ; as even now he regards as his own this young 
 lady, who is blushing very prettily. He is just at 
 this time thinking, savagely : *'After to-morrow we 
 will see, my dove-, my darling, whether you will 
 ride the bicycle." 
 
 Even as he cogitates, the boat runs beside one 
 of the wharves at Key West, and a gangplank is 
 put on shore. But no one pays much attention to 
 it, except Rex, who calls out to Thomas as he walks 
 off, to get any news that is floating about the town. 
 
 With this exception, the company in the little 
 saloon of the Flying Fish devote themselves to 
 knife, fork and conversation ; Estrabon occupying 
 his time in soft whispers with Amy Ormiston, ap- 
 pearing to wish to make a conquest of the coquet- 
 tish widow who sits beside him, and in this is quite 
 successful. He tells her little anecdotes of life in 
 Spain, Brazil and Havana, for this gentleman has 
 traveled a good deal, and delights her with an ac- 
 count of a bull-fight in Seville and some rather 
 piquant anecdotes of high life in Madrid ; to which 
 the lady says, opening her innocent eyes : " My ! 
 You naughty Spaniards ! ** 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 207 
 
 The rest are all eating, drinking, and chatting 
 vivaciously. Everything is going along success- 
 fully and merrily, when Captain Thomas, who has 
 returned from the shore, puts his head into the 
 door of the saloon. 
 
 " Any news ? " cries Rex. 
 
 "Not a word!" answers the captain, "I just 
 popped in, Don Balasco, to tell you there's a 
 gentleman come on deck, who wants to see you 
 immediately on business." 
 
 " Business ! " cries the Don, " Diantre ! What 
 do I care whether tobacco goes up or down? 
 Business on a yachting excursion at this time in 
 the evening? Business! " 
 
 He goes to the door, and steps out savagely, to 
 get a shock. 
 
 It is Mastic, the government detective, who 
 stands awaiting him; the Varmint grinning just 
 behind his shoulder. 
 
 " How the dickens did you get here?" ejacu- 
 lates the Don. '' You did not have time to get 
 over to Coral Key and back here by this time in 
 the Gopher ? " 
 
 " No; I borrowed your steam-launch." 
 
 " Caramda ! You took that liberty ? " 
 
 " Well, yes. It was on your business. But 
 come aft, where I can talk to you private." 
 The revenue officer's eyes gleam cunningly. He 
 leads the Don to the stern of the yacht, where no 
 one is within earshot, and whispers : '^ I have dis- 
 covered the arms are on board this yacht. " 
 
 Then he watches to see what Estrabon will do 
 or say. 
 
 But the Spanish gentleman has his nerves by 
 
'o8 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 this time tuned up to any emergency. He an- 
 swers : '* You surprise me ! You are sure? " 
 
 " Certain ! That Varona is playing us ! " 
 
 " We will ask Captain Thomas about it," says 
 Balasco, " or rather, you ask him. I am only a 
 guest on board this boat, and would not wish to 
 make any trouble for the ladies." Here he calls 
 to the captain, asking him to step aft. 
 
 This the sea-dog does, and in answer to ques- 
 tions from Mastic, replies shortly : " Yes, those 
 arms are right in the hold. What difference does 
 it make to you ? " 
 
 " I am an officer of the Treasury Department," 
 replies the detective, " and by virtue of the 
 authority vested in me I seize those arms as 
 being contraband to the neutrality of the United 
 States." 
 
 " That's all right. Now they are yours ! " inter- 
 jects Balasco, interrupting the captain, who is 
 saying something about " infernal cheek, and in- 
 terfering with the rights of his vessel." Then the 
 Spaniard pours oil upon the troubled waters, mur- 
 muring : '' The arms are yours, of course, Senor 
 Mastic, there is no question of that. But why 
 should you disturb the ladies on this pleasant 
 yachting party ? Let us go back to Emerald Key, 
 where we are bound for. To-morrow morning 
 you can get them as well as to-night. An official 
 seizure here, getting the arms out of the hold 
 and putting them on shore would delay the Flying 
 Fish several hours. She would be so late return- 
 ing to Mr. Vanstone's villa that that gentleman 
 would become alarmed, also his daughter." 
 
 *' Yes ; I'm afraid the little Gertie would be 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 209 
 
 frightened," says Mastic, rubbing his head dubi- 
 ously. 
 
 " You propose to let the yacht go back to 
 Emerald Key this evening ? " asks Balasco, a thrill 
 of anxiety in his voice. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " A-a-a-h-h !" This is a sigh of relief. 
 
 " But I go with them ! " says the detective in 
 resolute voice. 
 
 " What ? On board this yacht ?" 
 
 " If not I HAVE THOSE ARMS OUT OF THE HOLD 
 AND ON THAT WHARF TO-NIGHT." 
 
 Mentally Balasco reels ; outwardly he is calm. 
 A moment after he pulls himself together and says 
 to the captain : " Mr. Mastic's is the best way. 
 No one need know of his being on board. You 
 can make the revenue officer comfortable below, I 
 suppose." 
 
 " Yes ; I can give him the stateroom that the 
 mate I fired to-day had. It's got two bunks in it 
 and is comfortable enough." 
 
 " Very well. That is the way we'll arrange this 
 affair. Now, what do you say, Mastic ?" 
 
 '* I'm agreeable." 
 
 Then, as the captain departs to make arrange- 
 ments for the stateroom, Estrabon says, easily, to 
 the detective: "Is there is anything else I can 
 do for you ?" 
 
 " Well, yes ; as I'm going to be on board with 
 you," laughs Mastic, '' if I might suggest, a few of 
 them cigars." 
 
 " Cigars ? Oh ! ah ! I will get them for you," 
 replies the Spaniard in a voice light, happy, 
 buoyant. 
 
2IO DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 He steps into the dining-saloon, a moment after 
 comes out again, and presents a Regalia Imperial to 
 the detective, saying: "We have not many on board; 
 but if you want another, send for it. Here is one 
 of a stronger brand for you, young man," he con- 
 tinues, presenting one of his dark Invincibles to the 
 Varmint, who is standing near, grinning. *- You 
 smoke?" he asks, eagerly. 
 
 " Does that chimney?" remarks the Varmint, 
 grinning toward the yacht's smokestack. ''This 
 'ere's one of my kind ; big as a sausage and black as 
 a nigger ! " 
 
 Then he and Mr. Mastic betake themselves to 
 the stateroom of the mate and prepare to make a 
 comfortable night of it. 
 
 " You fool !" thinks Estrabon, gazing after the 
 detective's retreating form. Then he mutters 
 these curious words : "• What difference does two 
 more make ?" For now he is very desperate. 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 THE CIGARS OF DON BALASCO. 
 
 Even as this happens, h^ hears Thomas's voice 
 commanding the lines to be thrown off. The 
 yacht gets under way. 
 
 "Now to work!" he says to himself, cheerily, 
 and vStepping into the cabin, calls out, in gay voice : 
 "Ah ! You have got at the champagne ahead of 
 me, mis amigos^ 
 
 " Yes ; this is a part of the meal I never wait for 
 anybody,'* laughs Blakely, and the others chiming 
 in with similar remarks, Estrabon is pleased to 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 211 
 
 note that the gentlemen have all grown a little 
 merrier, somewhat more careless and much more 
 convivial from the wine they have already drunk. 
 Dessert is on the table, and Varona now cries: 
 '' Where are the cocktails ?" 
 
 *^ I shall substitute cocktails for coffee." 
 
 At this unheard-of innovation there are one or 
 two dissenting voices ; but the Don, who has some 
 general toxicological information, remarks, laugh- 
 ingly: "It is a Spanish fashion, and 1 think you 
 will pronounce my brew preferable to Mocha. My 
 champagne cocktails are a work of art," he goes 
 on, enthusiastically. ** Champagne that changes de- 
 spair into hope, that makes men forget there is a 
 Hades and gives to them the joys of Heaven — fleet- 
 ing, perhaps, but still the delights of Paradise — 
 becomes even more celestial, when it has added to 
 it a lump of sugar saturated with the essences 
 that I employ." 
 
 '* Bravo ! " cries Rex, and the widow claps her 
 hands, as Balasco says to the steward, command- 
 ingly : '* Give me the ingredients ! " 
 
 '* What are them ? " asks the servitor. 
 
 " Dry champagne — brut of any kind — and one, 
 two, three, four, five, six — six lumps of crystallized 
 sugar." 
 
 " Hold on ! " shouts Rex. " You're forgetting 
 yourself. Seven lumps of sugar." 
 
 ** Ah ! God bless you, my boy. That would 
 have been a terrible mistake," murmurs Estrabon. 
 Then he adds : '' Preferably the sugar of the beet 
 — it dissolves more slowly — and Angostura bit- 
 ters! The other condiments are my art," he mur- 
 murs. 
 
212 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 What he has called for being placed before him, 
 the Don produces from his pocket a silver flask 
 that contains, perhaps, an ounce or two of " my 
 seci-et," as he calls it laughingly, and proceeds to 
 drop ten drops of the liquid very carefully upon 
 each lump of sugar, one of these being placed in 
 each of the seven deep champagne tumblers, add- 
 ing afterwrard to each glass a small modicum of 
 Angostura bitters. 
 
 "Now, steward," he cries, is that champagne 
 ice cold — not frappe — ice cold ? " 
 
 " To a temperature," answers that functionary, 
 who has been looking with eager eyes upon the 
 Don's operations, hoping to catch Baiasco's secret, 
 which may be useful to him on other cruises. 
 
 The rest of the party, however, pay very little 
 attention to the manufacture. They are content 
 to chat and wait for the coming nectar. The 
 processes of its preparation do not interest them 
 very greatly. 
 
 " It's the effects I want,' says Rex. '* I never 
 care to see a barkeeper mix my toddy. All I 
 want to know is when it hits me that it goes to — 
 to the right spot ! " 
 
 "Hush!" replies Indra reprovingly, for the 
 boy's tone and manner indicate that he is getting 
 beyond the right spot himself. Then the girl 
 adds : " Rex, don't drink any more champagne," 
 and would probably carry her point, did she not 
 make the great mistake of adding to her remon- 
 strance : " You know you're so young." 
 
 " Young ? " cries Rex. " Good Heavens ! Will 
 a man never get old enough to have the enjoy- 
 ments of this world?" And Baiasco's cocktail 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 21$ 
 
 being handed to him by the steward, he gulps it 
 down, smacks his lips over it, and says : " That's 
 prime ! " though in truth it tastes a little bitter to 
 him. 
 
 The other men drink theirs also ; Blakeley and 
 Severance paying but slight attention to the flavor; 
 though Varona remarks : *' I don't think these are 
 quite up to the ones I drank with you in Key 
 West three years ago." 
 
 The ladies, however, after sipping about half of 
 theirs, remark they think they are too bitter and 
 prefer sweeter champagne. This is satisfactory 
 enough to Balasco. He does not care much that 
 Indra and Amy drink any more of his cocktails ; 
 especially as he sees the remains of these as they 
 are taken away, quaffed hastily down in the stew- 
 ard's pantry by that servitor and the cook. 
 
 " Ah ! You like it?" he says, affably, stepping 
 to the door of that room. 
 
 *' Prime ! " says the steward, who is expecting 
 to be reproved. 
 
 " Very well. Take mine and divide it between 
 you. I will brew another for myself later on." 
 remarks Balasco. He hands them his glass, and 
 is pleased to see that its contents trickle down the 
 throats of cook and steward. 
 
 " By the by," says Rex, " where are your won- 
 derful cigars — those Regalias Tmper tales ? " 
 
 '' What ! " Have I forgotten them ? " and the 
 Don places on the table the box he had re-rolled 
 so carefully in Key West. ** I will take one or 
 two for the captain ; I have to speak to him." 
 
 Then, producing from a locker, where he has 
 placed it, the Maduro box of InvincibleSy he puts 
 
214 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 these in his pocket, and going forward, thinks, 
 " God bless that boy ! He reminded me of some- 
 thing I had for the moment forgotten." 
 
 The crew are gathered together near the bow 
 of the yacht, which is now driving south, so as to 
 give any outlying reefs a good offing before she 
 turns to the east. Here, encountering Juan, of 
 the big ear, he gives the major portion of the box 
 of his Invincibles to him, and says, " Distribute 
 these with the compliments of Balasco, among 
 the crew and coal-passers." 
 
 He knows none of his men will touch them. 
 His engineer and steersman only smoke cigarettes, 
 of which, after the Cuban fashion, they carry mul- 
 titudes — besides this, they have all been warned. 
 
 ** I have taken the liberty," he says, as he joins 
 Captain Thomas in the pilot-house, " we being 
 on our way home, to distribute a few cigars 
 among the hands." 
 
 ** That's all right," answers the captain. "• Every 
 mother's son of them smokes like blue blazes." 
 Then he adds, suggestively : '' Haven't you for- 
 gotten something ? " 
 
 " What? " says Estrabon. 
 
 " The skipper," remarks the sea-dog, with a grin. 
 
 " O-oh ! I had forgotten you ! A thousand par- 
 dons?" and the Don smilingly presents to Thomas 
 two of his black Invincibles, guessing a strong and 
 potent weed will probably suit that tar's palate. 
 
 " Thanks ! " replies Thomas, lighting up. A 
 moment after he says : " Sandy is a smoker, too. 
 Don't forget the engine-room, cigarmaker. It 
 don't cost you much ; you're in the business." 
 
 "" Forget the engineer ? " cries Estrabon, with a 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 2fl5 
 
 start. '* Never !" and, opening the window that 
 connects with the engine-room, he calls : " Sandy, 
 would you like a smoke ? " 
 
 '' Wud I lek tae gae tae Heaven ?" replies Sandy, 
 in broad Scotch accent. 
 
 The Don tosses him a couple of his black 
 ones ; then comes back to the cabin again to 
 find the gentlemen, though they are drinking and 
 smoking, are doing it in not quite so hilarious a 
 way as they had been a few minutes before. 
 
 A moment later Mrs. Ormiston says : " Indra, 
 do you know I — I think we had better leave the 
 gentlemen. Our presence keeps them from after- 
 dinner conviviality." This last is embellished by 
 a slight yawn. 
 
 "Well, I'm a little sleepy myself," remarks Miss 
 Vanstone ; next she languidly asks : " How long 
 will it be before we are back at Emerald Key ? " 
 
 "About two hours," answers Belasco. 
 
 " I think we have — we have time for a nap," says 
 the young lady. " Mrs. Ormiston, let us go down 
 to the state cabins." 
 
 " By Jove ! If I feel like I do ten minutes from 
 now, ril turn in myself," observes Severance. " I 
 shall lie down on one of the cushioned settees here. 
 We must have stayed up very late last night at 
 the ball." 
 
 " Yes ; it was four o'clock," says Indra as he 
 assists the ladies down the companionway that 
 leads to the boudoir below. Here, under the light 
 of a single incandescent, she turns and remarks to 
 her sweetheart happily : " You know, Billy, we 
 must wake up early to-morrow morning. We've 
 another happy day before us." 
 
2l6 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 As for her great, big fiance, he looks at his sweet- 
 heart a little sleepily, then mutters : ** Yes ;I — I im- 
 agine it would be a good idea to stay on the yacht 
 all night ; not turn out even after we get to — to an- 
 chorage." 
 
 *' Perhaps it would be as well. What do you 
 thmk, Mrs. Ormiston?" says Indra. '' I'm awfully 
 sleepy ; supposing we go to bed. Our state cabins 
 are very comfortable." 
 
 The only answer to this by the pretty widow, 
 who is usually very vivacious, is a prolonged yawn 
 as the ladies disappear. 
 
 Five minutes after, Indra Vanstone puts her 
 fair head upon a lace pillow in one of the state 
 cabins of the boat, and goes to sleep, dreamily, 
 but happily, and feeling as secure as if she were 
 in her own chamber at Emerald Key, or even in 
 their big town residence in New York. And why 
 should she not ? Bluff and ready Thomas is at 
 the wheel. The craft is as stanch a httle boat as 
 floats. The night is perfect ; the air is balmy. 
 Her brother is in the saloon above ; her chaperone 
 sleeps in the adjoining stateroom ; and above all, 
 is not the man to whom she would most readily 
 trust her young life in all this world, on deck 
 watching over her; do not even now her fair 
 young lips remember the good-night kiss he has 
 placed upon them in the retirement of the ladies' 
 cabin ? 
 
 Balasco, pacing the deck, warily gives a passing 
 glance into the saloon. The men are talking and 
 smoking very languidly. Rex has gone to sleep 
 in his chair. The cook and steward have given up 
 waiting on them, and are smoking two of his 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 21 7 
 
 black InvincibleSy in a lazy, sleepy, half-conscious 
 way. 
 
 He steps forward. One or two of the crew are 
 asleep upon the deck. 
 
 Then Thomas's voice comes to him from the 
 pilot-house, saying : '' Is that you, Balasco ? Send 
 your man here to take the wheel. I'm so infernal 
 drowsy, I can hardly see Sand Key Light." As he 
 steps to him, the Captain mutters : " Here ! Take 
 the spokes yourself. Darn it! I can't see the 
 points of the compass, I'm so dead drowsy. Call 
 your man up ! Tell him to steer back to Emerald 
 Key. He knows the course-as-well-as-I-do." 
 This last is a long-drawn-out yawn. 
 
 '' Certainly," says Balasco, and takes the wheel 
 just in time, for the skipper's head falls forward. He 
 stumbles onto the long cushioned seat at the back 
 of the pilot-house, and a moment after his sten- 
 torian snores keep time to the pulse of the engines. 
 
 But Balasco does not change the course of the 
 yacht, and she drives slightly west of south, 
 straight for the Cuban coast. 
 
 A moment later, his helmsman comes up, and 
 says: " Let me relieve you, Senor Don!" 
 
 And he says to him : " Keep the same 
 course." 
 
 '■'Por Dios ! That will take us west of Havana — 
 we are heading right straight to Cuba." 
 
 " Yes ;" replies Balasco. '' Straight to Cuba. I 
 must be there by to-morrow morning. It is busi- 
 ness of importance, and there's five hundred dollars 
 for you if you do my bidding." 
 
 A moment later his negro engineer shouts up 
 through the open window from the engine-room, 
 
2l8 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 saying : *' Til have to keep watch alone. The 
 Scotch engineer has fallen to sleep." 
 
 " Very good," returns Don Balasco. " Only 
 drive the boat for all she is worth." 
 
 '* That can't be done," replies the man. '* The 
 coal-passers are asleep likewise." 
 
 *' Yes ; but my two men, the deck-hands for- 
 ward, are not," answers Estrabon. He goes to 
 the bow, and, getting hold of big-eared Juan and 
 little-eared Pablo, sets them to work firing the 
 furnaces under the direction of his negro engineer. 
 
 So the boat drives through the night, steering a 
 course well west of south, which, taking into 
 consideration the drift of the Gulf Stream which 
 they are crossing, will take them some twenty 
 miles west of Havana. 
 
 And on the deck paces the Don, sleepless as a 
 cat. And in the cabin lie the forms of his com- 
 panions of the dinner-party, breathing somewhat 
 more slowly than they are wont to do, and 
 sleeping very heavily ; " my secret " having 
 worked with them very well. 
 
 Looking at them, Balasco snarles : " Two are 
 the enemies of my country, and would destroy its 
 glory, and one has stolen her love from me. 
 Why should I not make her ransom their lives ? " 
 But as he gazes at big Jack Blakely, who is snor- 
 ing heavily, he murmurs regretfully : "He is a 
 good fellow — a damned good fellow ! " And for 
 one instant he repents and calls out to the steers- 
 man : '' Put the boat about ! " 
 
 "What? Back to Emerald Key?" asks the 
 man. 
 
 " Emerald Key! where I have suffered the tor- 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 219 
 
 tures of the inferno?" screams the Don, waving 
 his hands wildly. Then his eye chancing to light 
 on Rex, who makes a pretty picture of young man- 
 hood, his fair hair tossing disheveled over the 
 crimson cushion, he murmurs : '' She loves them ; 
 she must redeem them ! " and calls out: "No!" 
 to the steersman, who is already commencing to 
 revolve the spokes of the wheel. " Keep her on 
 her course — drive her. Get us to Cuba ! " 
 
 AH that night Estrabon paces the deck, dream- 
 ing dreams of his coming bride, half deliri- 
 ous with pleasure, and murmuring : " She'll be 
 mine, to-day ! — in all her beauty, her loveliness ; 
 mine, and no other man's ! Her fair cheeks shall 
 be pressed against mine, her red lips shall be mine 
 to kiss, to caress — to make me happy, as long 
 as I live on this earth. Aha ! Congratulations, 
 Balasco ! To-day you are a benedict." 
 
 About six o'clock in the morning daylight comes. 
 He sees the coast of Cuba dimly in the distance ; 
 then gasps suddenly : " If they wake up too soon ! " 
 next cries out triumphantly : '* Ah ! Magendie ! 
 Little Gertie's gift to me ! I will keep her Cuban 
 lover asleep, and this man who would rob me, and 
 anybody who would come between me and the 
 priest and the wedding-ring and the bride : Indra, 
 mi querida ! The captain, the crew — all ! They 
 must sleep until it is too late for them to aid her 
 or aid themselves, if it is, necessary y This last with 
 a sinister grin. 
 
 Then he goes about, overlooking no one. The 
 cook receives a hypodermic injection of ten drops ; 
 the steward likewise. The arm of each of the 
 reclining forms in the saloon that are now 
 
2 20 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 breathing so soundly in the sleep of morphine 
 receives the ten drops ; and he is just in time 
 with one of them. Big Jack Blakely, as he jabs 
 the needle in his arm, opens his eyes in a dazed 
 kind of way, then gazing in Balasco's face mutters: 
 " You infernal villain ! " and reaches out his great 
 arms, but the drug overcomes him, and he rolls 
 over and snores agaiu: The deck hands, the coal- 
 passers, the Scotch engineer, and the captain re- 
 ceive their hypodermic. Then he goes about? 
 saying : " Now, they are bound more strongly 
 than in chains of iron Manacles could be knocked 
 off in a moment ; but these must last until the time. 
 Have I forgotten nothing — nothing — NOTHING ? I 
 have arranged it all in my mind Arms— Varona, 
 Maceo's officer — the yacht — a filibuster on the 
 coast of Cuba — flying the flag of the United 
 States — the flag we despise. 1 have thought for 
 every one. I am correct. Within six hours my 
 darling ransoms these men's lives, or they are dead 
 men! And what will be her answer? Her brother! 
 her lover ! the man her sister loves ! the man she 
 loves ! Ah ! it is really true. To-day the wedding 
 bells — and then the honeymoon cruise ! I have 
 gone over the plan so many times — step by step, 
 man by man — all is certain — nothing is undone. 
 God bless you, Balasco, you who have forgotten 
 nothing ! " 
 
 But he has ! 
 
 He has forgotten to give the ten drops of 
 morphine injection to Thomas Duff Mastic of the 
 United States Revenue Service, and the Varmint, 
 his boy, who are sleeping in the cabin of the 
 second mate. 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 2il 
 
 These men had come into his plan as a side issue 
 — they had been put out of it by a side issue — he 
 had with quick instinct sent them asleep by his 
 prepared cigars ; but now they have slipped his 
 memory — not being in his original plot, which he 
 has worked out over and over by day, by night, 
 ill it has assumed the accuracy of mathematics. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 "THE TRIUMPH OF BALASCO." 
 
 About seven o'clock in the morning, in the 
 stateroom of the second mate, the Varmint wakes 
 up, yawns and wonders why they are not back at 
 Emerald Key; as a glance through the little port- 
 hole shows him the sun is already up. 
 
 ** Darn it, I don't care ! " mutters the boy. " It 
 will keep me a little longer from a larruping." 
 For he fears that Alligator Pete may resent his 
 sudden desertion of the night before from the 
 Gopher. Then he slides out of his bunk, puts on 
 his sea-boots, and goes stamping about noisily, to 
 awake Mastic, who is snoring in the berth beside 
 him ; as he does not dare to return to the schooner 
 without the protection, explanations, and apology 
 of the detective. 
 
 But seeing the revenue man still sleeps con- 
 tentedly, the boy mutters : " Darn'd if I dare face 
 Pete without him," then suddenly says : *' What 
 does it matter, yit. By Hookey, we're not back 
 at Emerald Key, anyway ! " gets into his berth 
 again and goes to sleep. 
 
222 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 . But his slumber is now a light one, and it is 
 very shortly disturbed by the noise of something 
 being done immediately outside the door of the 
 stateroom. Things soft and heavy are being placed 
 in the Httle passage. He can hear the dump, regu- 
 lar and continuous, and the stamp of men's feet. 
 He does not pay much attention to this, as the 
 cook's galley is opposite, and goes to sleep, to be 
 once more awakened by the stoppage of the boat. 
 
 *' Emerald Key ! " he cries, jumps up, and puts 
 his head out of the little porthole, which is on the 
 port side of the vessel. After a moment's inspec- 
 tion, the bgy ejaculates : '' Gol darn it, where are 
 we, anyway? What thunderin' place is this? 
 I'll git on deck and see." 
 
 On attempting to open the door of the state- 
 room, he finds he cannot move it any more than 
 he could stir a coral reef. Something is against 
 it, preventing the opening of the door, which 
 swings out mto the passage to give all possible 
 room in the mate's cabin, which is very small. 
 
 ** It's something as heavy," mutters the Varmint, 
 as he pants with pushing shoulder against it, " as 
 the best bower of a Plant liner.'^ 
 
 Then he calls out once or twice: ** Here ! Git 
 this stuff away, cook! I want to git out!" but 
 receives no answer to this, except from Mastic, 
 who is now looking at him and growling : " Gol 
 darn it ! What are you rousing me up fur. Var- 
 mint ? Can't you keep your tongue in your jaws ? " 
 
 "We can't git out," says the boy. "We've 
 been steaming all night. We've just stopped now. 
 And hang me if I know where we've got to. I 
 wanted to git on deck, and can't git out." 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 223 
 
 " Can't get out?" says the detective, springing 
 up and putting his shoulder to the door, with- 
 out effect. Suddenly he ejaculates : " Been 
 steaming all night?" and pops his face out 
 of the porthole, to bring it back again, aston- 
 ished, and gasp : " By Jove ! This looks 
 like the coast of Cuba." Suddenly he snorts : 
 '* Varona has played both the Don and me. This 
 is Cuba ! He has brought the arms here ! " Then he 
 mutters in chagrin and vexation of spirit: ** Run 
 away with! My heaven ! I'll be jeered by every 
 customs man in the country. Run away with, 
 after I'd made a seizure, and now cooped up like 
 a rat in a trap ! " next goes on savagely : ** But 
 I'll teach him to play tricks on the United States 
 Revenue Service ! " and is putting on his clothes 
 hurriedly and vigorously, when suddenly to him 
 from a little ventilator in the deck above come 
 words of passion and pleading — of a woman's de- 
 spair — of a man's triumph — in a conversation that, 
 as it reaches the detective's ears, is broken up, dis- 
 jointed — yet still makes Mr. Mastic listen and his 
 eyes grow big, and his cheeks grow white, and 
 the hair stand up on his head. 
 
 Then he whispers to the Varmint, whose eyes 
 grow big too, and whose short hair stands up 
 also. For what Mastic says is : " My God, boy! 
 We've been brought here to be slaughtered by the 
 damned Spaniards ! Murdered with no more 
 chance than a pair of pizened 'gators ! " Next he 
 whispers : " Keep quiet ! We must get out of 
 here, or we're dead men." 
 
 But the boy gasps : ** We can't move that door ! " 
 
 Then Mastic suddenly ejaculates: "Great snakes ! 
 
224 I>ON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 It's Don Estrabon who has played us all ! Who 
 means to have every mother's son of us butchered 
 by the coming gunboat ! We must light out of 
 here. See what is holding us ! Cut through the 
 panel ! Work for your life, Varmint ! " 
 
 And the boy does work, with his big sailor- 
 knife, upon the thinnest part of the door; and, 
 after a few minutes, he scratches his head and 
 says : " By sharks ! Darn me, if I don't think it's 
 flour!" 
 
 **By Heaven! Estrabon has had this door 
 banked up to keep us caged ! Work for your 
 blood, body and bones. Varmint! " mutters 
 Mastic ; for sounds now come to him that make 
 the detective more desperate than ever. 
 
 And he has guessed right ! 
 
 The noise that the boy made, as he slapped 
 about in his sailor-boots to wake Mastic at 
 seven in the morning, had been reported to Ba- 
 lasco, and that gentleman had suddenly clapped 
 his hands to his head, and muttered : " I forgot ! 
 Dios mio ! I forgot the revenue man and his boy ! 
 Now it is too late ! " for he dares not go in to give 
 his hypodermic to sentient men. 
 
 Therefore he has had cautiously piled up against 
 the door of their stateroom, what was most con- 
 venient, and, he thought, effective and silent — 
 some thirty odd hundredweight of flour, in one- 
 hundred-pound sacks, that could be brought con- 
 veniently from the cook's storeroom. 
 
 * * * -jf * * 
 
 It is about nine o'clock in the morning, when 
 Miss Indra Vanstone wakes up, gives a pretty 
 little yawn, stretches her white arms over her 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 225 
 
 head and gazing at the blue draperies of the state- 
 cabin, looks for a moment astonished; then ex- 
 claims : " Oh, I remember now ! I suppose Billy — " 
 she sighs out this word in a dreamy, contented 
 manner — '* thought it best not to have me awak- 
 ened when we got back to Emerald Key." For 
 the boat has stopped its motion, but only just 
 stopped it, though Indra does not know it, and 
 the sudden quiet of its machinery has roused her — 
 a very usual thing at sea. 
 
 A moment later, there is a sharp tap at the door 
 of her stateroom, and Estrabon's voice says : 
 " Are you awake. Miss Vanstone ? " 
 
 ** Oh, it is you, Don Balasco, is it ? " 
 
 " Yes; please come on deck immediately. I 
 have something to show you.'* 
 
 " I hope it's breakfast," answers the young lady ; 
 then asks : " Where are the rest ? Have they gone 
 on shore to breakfast at the house? Were they 
 afraid to awake us two lazy birds ? " A hasty glance 
 through the open door mto Mrs. Ormiston's state- 
 room has just shown Miss Vanstone that her 
 chaperone is still enjoying the delights of morning 
 slumber. 
 
 " Yes. Come on deck ! I have something 
 to show you, and then I hope to be able to offer 
 you breakfast." 
 
 " Breakfast first ! " calls Indra, cheerily, and be- 
 ing hungry hurries her toilet. So some fifteen 
 minutes after, Miss Vanstone issues from her 
 stateroom into the ladies' cabm, looking very 
 piquant, bright and fresh in her spotless white 
 muslin of the evening before, which drapes very 
 gracefully her exquisite figure, the pink ribbons 
 
226 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 on it giving it dainty little fluffs of color. It is a 
 sight on which Don Balasco's eyes feast them- 
 selves in an easy, careless way that rather as- 
 tonishes the young lady. 
 
 Just here Mrs. Ormiston's voice comes to her, 
 saying, sleepily : " Please tell the steward to put 
 some coffee for me in the ladies' cabin.*' 
 
 ^* I will attend to it," remarks Miss Vanstone, 
 and closing the door she turns to Estrabon, whose 
 manner apparently impresses her, for she asks, 
 suddenly : " Is anything the matter ? " Then, 
 chancing to look out of a porthole on the starboard 
 side of the vessel, which is headed for the west, 
 she ejaculates : '* Goodness ! Why we're at 
 sea!" 
 
 '* Not exactly," replies Balasco. '' But come on 
 deck. Time is very precious." And he goes up^ 
 the aft companion way, the one not leading through 
 the saloon. 
 
 A moment later, Indra is by his side and looking 
 in rapture about her. 
 
 " Oh, how heavenly ! What a beautiful place 
 you've brought us to ! " exclaims the girl ; then she 
 seizes a marine glass that lies upon one of the sky- 
 lights of the yacht, and feasts her eyes upon a 
 scene that is only possible in the tropics. 
 
 The yacht is in some bay or slight indentation 
 of a tropic coast. Around her are the blue waters 
 of the West Indies — that deep, peculiar, wondrous 
 blue that travelers write about. It flicks in lazy 
 ripples the white form of the yacht, which seems 
 wondrously still, though the dark cloud rising Irom 
 the Flying FisJt s smokestack indicatesher fires are 
 blazing, and the sound of escaping steam tells of 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 22^ 
 
 boilers ready to put immediate and rapid way 
 upon the vessel. 
 
 To the north, on the starboard side of the fairy 
 craft, is nothing but blue water to the horizon. 
 On the port, to the south, the azure ripples 
 last scarce quarter of a mile, then roll in lan- 
 guid swell, which scarcely puts foam upon them, 
 against a low white beach, very narrow, fringed 
 to its edge with all the glorious, luxuriant 
 foliage of a land upon which no winter comes. 
 Palms, ferns, orchids of gay colors, feathery bam- 
 boos, trailing vines, cover a dozen little hills, 
 backed in the distance by blue mountains. A 
 little estuary runs into the bay. On one of the 
 hills, quite near the water, are a few huts, a large 
 white dwelling-house unoccupied and half con- 
 sumed by fire ; beyond more small cottages ap- 
 parently in ruins ; then a village chapel, built, as 
 well as the girl can see, of crumbling adobe brick, 
 and half grown over with vines and tendrils ; in its 
 little belfry, one of whose supports is broken, a 
 time-stained bell of brass or bronze. 
 
 But one human being is in the vision of the field- 
 glass. A copper-stained boy, who has been fishing 
 in a canoe or boat, is doing his best to get away 
 from them, and, succeeding very well, for as Indra 
 puts the telescope down, he disappears round a 
 neighboring point, paddling for his life. 
 
 Above is blue sky. The songs of birds come to 
 her. A flamingo of gay plumage is fishing on a little 
 tide-washed shoal. Everything is calm, quiet, 
 peaceful, and at rest. 
 
 " Is this part of our picnic cruise ?" queries the 
 young lady in happy voice, then cries : *' I must 
 
228 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 run down and show Mrs. Ormiston what a 
 beautiful place youVe brought us to !" next 
 babbles, " Are not the gentlemen up, the lazy 
 fellows?" 
 
 But a detaining hand is laid — somewhat heavily, 
 the girl thinks — upon her soft arm, and a voice 
 that is hoarse with intensity whispers: "This is 
 my part of the picnic cruise. This is Cuba." 
 
 *' Cuba !" Miss Vanstone echoes, astounded. 
 
 For the first part of this interview is all astonish- 
 ment ; afterwards come fright, panic, horror, then 
 despair unutterable. 
 
 Just now something in the Don's manner im- 
 presses Miss Indra. She opens her eyes very wide, 
 and asks : " Why have you brought us to Cuba? 
 We were to go to Emerald Key. Papa and Gertie 
 will be anxious. This is an extraordinary joke, Don 
 Estrabon !" Then suddenly the girl exclaims, in 
 tones more astounded than angry : '' What could 
 Captain Thomas be thinking of ? I will have papa 
 discharge him." 
 
 " Come ; let me show you something." 
 
 " First let me see Captain Thomas." 
 
 ** You shall see him. You shall see them — a/l/'* 
 
 " All? I do not understand." 
 
 *' No ! But you will ! " 
 
 He leads her to the door of the saloon, and look- 
 ing in, the girl ejaculates : " O goodness !" Then, 
 as if not believing her eyes, she goes on : " It can't 
 
 be possible they're all ! Tell me, Don Balasco, 
 
 they're not all drunk? " 
 
 For the attitudes of the four sleeping men, as 
 they have fallen on the settees and chairs of the 
 cabin amid the empty bottles standing upon the 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 229 
 
 table, and the unremoved service of the elaborate 
 dinner of the night before, betoken a banquet that 
 has ended in a debauch of wine. 
 
 ** No ; they are not drunk.'' 
 
 "Not drunk?" exclaims I ndra, astounded; for 
 she is now trying to awaken Rex, shaking the boy, 
 and saying : " I'm ashamed of you, my brother ! 
 Vm astonished at you ! It's disgraceful ! " 
 
 At Estrabon's words she pauses, looks at the 
 fair face whose eyes are closed and the limp form 
 she is shaking, and suddenly screams, apprehen- 
 sion in her eyes, " Heavens and earth ! They are 
 deadr' 
 
 ''No! Not dead." 
 
 " Not dead !" Then she listens at his heart and 
 mutters : " Yes. Thank God ! He is breathing 
 — but how slowly." For Rex, as well as the 
 others, now exhibits all the effects of sleep under 
 morphine, though Indra knows this not, and con- 
 tinues excitedly : " But they're ill. They're breath- 
 ing so slowly ! They're dying/'' 
 
 " They are dying," says the Don. 
 
 *' Oh merciful heavens ! What can we do to 
 save them ? " 
 
 *' / can do nothing ! You can do everything ! " 
 
 " I don't understand you. But do something — 
 do something, quick ! Don Balasco, I implore 
 you! What is the matter with them ? Do some- 
 thing QUICK ! " 
 
 *' There is no immediate danger to these gentle- 
 men. They are safe for an hour or two. In that 
 time you can save their lives." 
 
 " I — ? " On Indra's face anxiety is dominated 
 by amazement. 
 
230 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 *' Sit down. Listen to me," says the Don, in 
 musical voice, from which it is difficult to keep 
 out the note of triumph. '' Here is a steamer- 
 chair," as the girl is commencing to tread the deck 
 excitedly. " Permit me " 
 
 '' Don't talk ! Do something ! " 
 
 "To save their lives, you must listen to me. 
 Oblige me by being seated." 
 
 " O-o-h ! " and Indra does his bidding. 
 
 " You see how you are delaying things. Listen 
 to me. This is Cuba ! " He speaks this slowly, 
 eyeing the girl curiously all the while. " This 
 vessel is one with arms on board — arms smuggled 
 to aid the insurgents, presumably by Varona, an 
 officer of Maceo's staff, who is in that cabin: 
 Seven miles away, at Cabanas," he points to the 
 east, " there is probably a Spanish gunboat ; if 
 not, certainly at Muriel, twelve miles further. 
 The officers of these boats doubtless know by this 
 time — if not, in a few minutes will be signaled, of 
 the landing of a filibuster." 
 
 " A filibuster ! What are you talking about ? " 
 
 "This vessel — the Flying Fish ! " 
 
 " A filibuster ? This is a yacht ! " cries the girl, 
 "protected by the flag of the United States." 
 
 "The United States!" he laughs. "Did that 
 flag protect the consumptive boy shot on the Yan- 
 kee schooner twenty-five years ago ? " He points 
 mockingly to the American ensign that is now wav- 
 ing at the peak, and goes on, a jeer in his voice : 
 " It is the flag that Spain hates — nay, more, de- 
 spises. Ask your dead captives on the high seas ; 
 the thirty-two of the Virginius; the Competitor s 
 crew and passengers of to-day ; the traveling 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 231 
 
 newspaper correspondents whose passports have 
 be»n torn up in their faces as they have been 
 macheted in the fields over yonder!" his gesture 
 indicates the beautiful shore. '' Ask any one 
 whose death Spain really wished whether that flag 
 ever protected them, away from the very hands of 
 your consuls, and sometimes even not then." 
 
 "■ Yes, I know," sighs the girl. " But still, I 
 cannot understand " 
 
 " I must show you more !" 
 
 But she does not listen to him and goes to 
 crying, excitedly : '' Captain Thomas ! Captain 
 Thomas! Dear Captain Thomas! Please come 
 to me !" 
 
 ** Thomas will listen to you no more than all the 
 others. He is there in the pilot-house. Do you 
 see him? — asleep — the sleep of opium! Look for- 
 ward ! This vessel is now armed ! " 
 
 And the girl, glancing toward the bow of the 
 boat, sees in position the rapid-fire gun that Sev- 
 erance had spoken of, which has been brought on 
 deck and mounted, and she gasps : ** Impossible ! " 
 then mutters : '* I do not understand." 
 
 " Observe, we are a true filibuster, just the same 
 as the Competitor^' laughs the Don. "You know 
 what happened to her crew — her passengers? 
 Only this will be worse ! " 
 
 " Worse! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean the slaughter will be immediate. No 
 Spanish officer will again bring in filibusters 
 alive." 
 
 To this the girl cries out sternly, though her 
 lips grow white : " These men are not filibusters ! " 
 ''Our government would know and avenge!" 
 
232 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Her eyes, however, are growing very frightened. 
 
 '' By a protest, that will be answered by an 
 apology, and the promotion of the Spanish officers. 
 It is the usual formula. For further particulars 
 see the cases of the Virginiiis and the Grapeshot^' 
 Balasco sneers; then goes on decidedly: '* But 
 apology will not bring our Rex and our Billy back 
 to life. Besides, you remember what Ramon pre- 
 dicted : The next will be a silent massacre ; the 
 vessel destroyed, the crew butchered and thrown 
 overboard." 
 
 "■ Then get us away from here ! Call to the 
 engine-room! Where's Sandy, the engineer? 
 Here, Sandy I " screams Indra, springing up. 
 *' Sandy!" 
 
 But getting no answer, she turns eyes in which 
 horror is taking the place of astonishment upon 
 this man who seems to jeer her fears and mock 
 her perturbation. 
 
 " It will be useless to call him," remarks Estra- 
 bon. " Sandy is asleep also." Then he utters, in 
 tones of sinister suggestion : *' They all went to 
 sleep last night, at my request." 
 
 " You — have — done — this ? " whispers the girl, 
 slowly ; then suddenly cries out : " WHY ? " 
 
 "Because I want you to buy these men's 
 
 LIVES FROM ME." 
 
 " My Heaven ! What do you mean?" 
 *' I stand here on deck. My negro engineer is 
 in that engine-room. This vessel is not even 
 anchored. Within ten minutes, if I, Balasco, give 
 order, we are beyond the three-mile limit ; within 
 an hour, we are far away out on that blue sea. 
 The yacht has speed enough to distance any 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 233 
 
 Spanish gunboat. You have but to grant me one 
 little favor, and then the propeller is in motion, 
 and we are all safe. Won't they be grateful to 
 you — Rex, Varona, Blakely, Our Billie, whose 
 lives you have saved ! You will be the heroine 
 of the yacht." He laughs out the names tri- 
 umphantly. 
 
 '' I hardly think I understand you," falters the 
 young lady, who is still dazed with astonishment. 
 This curious thing has come upon her so like a 
 thief in the night. Then her voice becomes sud- 
 denly hoarse — her blue eyes have dread in them. 
 She whispers : *' What do you mean ? What 
 favor? " 
 
 *' Be my wife ! " 
 
 " You are mad ! " 
 
 ''Be Dona Balasco!" 
 
 '* My Heavens ! Don't you know that I am 
 going to marry the man I love?" 
 
 "You are going to marry me/" 
 
 " Never ! " answers the girl, and darting into 
 the cabm she throws her arms around Severance's 
 big bulk and cries : '* My Billy, wake up and pro- 
 tect me from this man ! Wake up and save your 
 own life ! " — for now the subtlety of the Spaniard's 
 design comes home to her. 
 
 But the eyes she loves do not open to her, and 
 the form she tries to fondle into action still sleeps 
 and falls back upon the cushion of the settee on 
 which it lies. 
 
 " You see t/iey can do nothing, but j/ou have 
 many to save. Their lives are forfeit to Spain. 
 In an hour from now they will be butchered. You 
 may be in chains, like the woman landed the other 
 
234 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 day. You remember I read about it last evening 
 to you!" 
 
 '' And you ? " suddenly jeers Indra frantically. 
 "You — and your coward engineer and dastard 
 deck-hands ! " and she points to Pablo and Juan, 
 " and your coward steersman, who have not raised 
 a hand to aid me, what will become of you? " 
 
 " I am safe. I have here," observes Estrabon 
 " such papers signed by the Captain-General, and 
 am so well-known by description to all Spanish 
 officers — besides I have made such arrangements 
 — that I and those over whom I place the asgis of 
 my protection will be as safe as if there was not a 
 rebel in Cuba ! " 
 
 " Then place it over these men who were your 
 friends of yesterday — with whom you supped 
 last night ! " 
 
 " That is impossible. Varona is a rebel officer. 
 Did not your Billy's money fit out an insurgent 
 expedition to this island, of which these arms on 
 board are the relics ? Do you suppose that I, 
 who am the agent of Spain, would save t/iem f 
 
 " The agent of Spain ? " whispers the girl, aghast, 
 and puts her hands to her eyes as if dazed — but 
 this is only for a moment — then she breaks out: 
 " You played the friend of Cuba to betray them ! 
 Ah, the drugged wine ! I understand you now — 
 traitor ! dastard ! " 
 
 " That was part of my arrangement. But I 
 need hardly remind you, Miss Vanstone, that 
 every moment you spend in idle words with me 
 adds to the danger of those you love. Every 
 moment is bringing a Spanish gunboat nearer to 
 give to those you love death !" 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 235 
 
 " Then give the order to leave here, for God's 
 sake, Don Balasco \— please ! — please ! Tell your 
 engineer to put on steam. That is all I want — 
 just a little steam — -just to hear the machinery 
 move — just to know that they are moving toward 
 life. My Billy! Rex, my brother! Ramon, 
 whom my sister loves ! Mercy ! " and she is on 
 her knees, kissing his hand, and sobbing : ** Have 
 I not always treated you kindly ? " 
 
 *' Too kindly," says the Don, solemnly. Then 
 his eyes blaze in fervid passion, and he whispers : 
 " You have taught me to love you so that I have 
 sworn that no other man shall win you ; that your 
 beauties, your loveliness — Tndra, mi querida I mi 
 paloma I — shall be for me, and for no other man." 
 And he would put his arms down to caress her 
 and lift her up and fondle her. 
 
 But the girl, rising haughtily, shudders from 
 him, and awes him by becoming a white statue of 
 despair; for she now begins to look like fair 
 young brides who, in ancient days, have seen 
 their bridegrooms slain as they have looked on 
 pirates* love and lust on this same sea. Her hat 
 has fallen from her head, unheeded. Her hair 
 has come unbound, and floats about her like a 
 golden web, its long tresses adorning her exquisite 
 figure and decking her face to give her new 
 beauties in the eyes of this man ; to give her less 
 chance of winning mercy from him ! " 
 
 *' You see," observes Balasco, "what you are to 
 ransom. All those you love." 
 
 Then he goes on, in words that strike her heart : 
 " It is not my hand I offer you, but their life — 
 or their death ! " 
 
236 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ** Marry you ? " Indra falters, with white lips, as 
 if she cannot realize the proposition. 
 
 "Are not the lives of those you love worth a 
 few words at the altar ? — a wedding ring ? Is not 
 my love worth something?'' There is a wail of 
 anguish in the Don's voice, for as he looks upon 
 her wondrous beauty, he would give almost his 
 triumph for one tittle of her heart. 
 
 '* Why, marry you? " stammers his victim; '* cer- 
 tainly, Don Balasco," as with attempted archness 
 she murmurs : '* Take me back to my father and I 
 will say the words ; " and the poor, tormented 
 thing thinks her pitiful ruse has won. 
 
 " Bah ! " sneers the Don. " When I take you 
 back to your father he will be 7ny father; you 
 shall be then my wife. See ! the boat is at 
 the gangway. In five minutes we are on shore. 
 The priest in that little chapel is waiting. Do 
 you hear the church bells ringing? I sent 
 a message. The padre is now ready. Come 
 with me. Let us kneel before the holy father 
 and have his blessing and come back — it will 
 take scarce twenty minutes — and you are Dona 
 Balasco. The state-cabins will not be uncom- 
 fortable for a honeymoon cruise. You said that 
 yourself, you remember, two days ago. But 
 then you thought of ' Our Billee ; ' now you 
 think of M^. Ha! ha! Me! Now you think of 
 Balasco, eh? Esposa mia f 
 
 And the Don's eyes light up with fervid passion 
 as he gazes on the beautiful being whose very 
 despair makes her more lovely. For Indra's ges- 
 tures have now a peculiar nervous grace, her eyes 
 are radiant and flashing ; her rounded bosom is 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 237 
 
 panting as if it were the waves of the sea. Then, 
 with a quick move, his arm would go round that 
 dehcate waist, he would caress and fondle her, he 
 loves her so ! 
 
 But with a shuddering shriek she staggers from* 
 him and gasps : *' No ! My God ! I cannot do it!" 
 Then great sobs without tears come from her. 
 She goes to pleading as if her heart were break- 
 ing : '' Have pity ! Have mercy ! These men 
 were your friends ! You supped with them last 
 night !" — next mutters hoarsely, wringing her 
 hands: " And you gave them that accursed decoc- 
 tion that has taken their senses from them and will 
 take their lives from them !" 
 
 "No ; it will be you who will take their lives !" 
 Then he continues : *' You have so little time ! If 
 you knew how little time you have you would 
 fly to the priest to become Dona Balasco. The 
 padre could not say the church service over us too 
 quickly." 
 
 '* I cannot do it ! I cannot do it ! How can you 
 ask this of me ?" begs the girl, frantically. " You 
 know how I love him ! Do you think in one mo- 
 ment I can pluck my love out of my heart and 
 give it to you ?" 
 
 To this he suddenly cries: " See!" and points. 
 And Indra, following his hand toward the east, 
 gives out an affrighted, unnatural scream. 
 
 For away in the distance is a thin, black cloud 
 of vapor just discernible, and she knows what it 
 means, and he knows what it means, as he whis- 
 pers: ** The coming gunboat ! The coming death ! 
 These decks will soon be a shambles ! Rex, he 
 dies, and I take care that he shall wake up to know 
 
2 3** DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST 
 
 his sister sacrificed him ; Billy, ' me Billee ' shall 
 cry out : 'You have murdered me !* " 
 
 " Billy !" mutters the victim. '' Billy ! If it de- 
 pended upon him, I'd let your Spanish murderers 
 kill him and kill me rather than marry you, be- 
 cause this will break my Billy's heart and mine. 
 But it is Rex, papa's darling !" and she sobs. " My 
 fathers gray hairs! Have mercy on him!" 
 
 " Have mercy on him yourself. It rests with 
 you ! Only yon have so little time. I am always 
 trying to impress on you you have so little time. " 
 And the glory of winning lights Balasco's face. 
 Since the smoke of the gunboat the Don sees she 
 is yielding. 
 
 For Indra is now panting out : " The smoke is 
 coming nearer! That gunboat is steaming very 
 fast ! My God ! Tell them to start the ma- 
 chinery ! Just the machinery ! I want to see that 
 screw moving 1 " Then ends this with a piercing 
 scream, and she is on her knees to him, kissing his 
 hand and fondling it, and begging him, *' I will 
 marry you. Quick ! As you hope for mercy, re- 
 scind that order ! Call to your man to stop ! He's 
 letting out their life-blood ! " 
 
 For the Don has suddenly said : " I am tired of 
 paltering," and has called sharply to the engineer: 
 '' Put out the fires ! Let the steam in the boilers 
 off! The yacht stays here ! Tell the deckhands to 
 anchor /*' 
 
 Then, to the sound of the hissing vapor that 
 means the death of all those ab )ut her that she 
 loves, the girl goes through her litany of despair ; 
 she whispers : *' I consent." 
 
 " You will marry me ? " 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 239 
 
 ** Yes. Now ! Quick ! Stop that escaping 
 steam ! " 
 
 *' And be my wife ? " 
 
 " And be your wife ! Tell the engineer " 
 
 *' Until death do us part? " 
 
 " That won't be long ! That won't be long ! " 
 
 "Until death do us part?" 
 
 *' Until death do us part ! " 
 
 " Ah ! If this were New York, we were wedded 
 now," says the Don, gayly. Then he calls: 
 " Pedro, shut off the steam. Keep up your fires. 
 I have changed my mind. We sail within a few 
 minutes." 
 
 " And now, Indra — my dream that is reality 
 
 " He turns, with passion in his eye and a 
 
 thrill in every vein, and would, perchance, have 
 placed a betrothal kiss upon her ; but the girl is 
 not beside him. She has flown into the saloon, 
 and is fondling Severance and begging him to for- 
 give her; and is crying, " My Billy ! It is to save 
 your life! " 
 
 But she is plucked from this dalliance by a stern 
 hand, and for the first time, looks up and sees her 
 lord and master, and he says: "Remember! L 
 Estrabon Balasco, am a jealous man. Your lips 
 are for me — your husband. Let us haste to the 
 triumph of Balasco's love ! " 
 
 At this she mutters to him : " Coward !" but the 
 lovely eyes seem to droop under his fiery glance, 
 for now he gazes at this beauty as if he owned 
 her. 
 
 " Aha ! My pretty one ! Don't call your 
 future husband names," he laughs; then mur- 
 murs : " Forgive my exultation — forgive my strat- 
 
^40 
 
 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 agem ; you will in time. I'll be so doting a 
 husband !" And he pats reassuringly her fair 
 shoulder that gleams so white beneath the muslin 
 of her dress. 
 
 But suddenly the girl commences wringing her 
 hands and crying out to him : '' That gunboat is 
 coming. The smoke is so near ! We won't have 
 time ! We won't have time !" 
 
 "■ We will have ample. The Spanish vessel can- 
 not get here for an hour and a h. If," murmurs 
 Estrabon, placidly. " That smoke is still well 
 beyond Cabanas ; she must have come from Mu- 
 riel. We shall have plenty of time for the wed- 
 ding — my own — my pet — my dove ! " And he 
 would place a kiss on her lips. 
 
 But Indra breaks from him with unnatural 
 strength and shudders : '' Not yet ! NOT YET !" 
 then mutters, commandingly : '* I have not for- 
 gotten him — the man I love." She runs to the 
 senseless thing lying on the settee and talks to it, 
 taking its hand and sobbing : ^' My Billy ! I can't 
 give you up ! " Just here, chancing to notice 
 Estrabon's eyes, an awful doubt comes to the tor- 
 tured girl. Will even her sacrifice ransom those 
 for whom she gives herself? She cries out, 
 hoarsely : '' If I keep my bargain, you keep yours 
 — save every hair on the heads of those I love. 
 You hear me — save every hair ! " 
 
 For a strange tinge of fear is mixed with the 
 ecstasy of Balasco's face. As he looks upon the 
 big sleeping form of Indra's adored, he knows this 
 man will not let him live to enjoy the beauty that 
 his art has won. Even now he has planned : 
 '' After the wedding at that little chapel on the hill, 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 241 
 
 we come not back to this boat ; we journey safely 
 to Havana. She will be at Cabanas when the 
 holocaust commences. My dove will not know — 
 she will not know!" 
 
 Noting his hesitancy, Indra whispers with 
 threatening eyes : ** These lives for my hand, or 
 you don't get it ! " 
 
 ** I — I promise." 
 
 " Swear it ! " 
 
 " I swear ; if you will be my wife truly. My 
 own. To sit by my fireside ; to be the mother of 
 my children — to be my wife ! ** 
 
 " Oh God ! " shudders his victim, wringing her 
 hands at his picture of domestic bliss. 
 
 "Ah ! You did not mean it. It would have 
 been ruse against ruse ! At the last there would 
 have been no honeymoon for poor Balasco. Well ; 
 have your will." He turns away, then remarks, 
 slowly, shading his eyes and pointing eastward : 
 " How quick that gunboat seems to be coming ! " 
 
 Then Indra is under his hand again, and is beg- 
 ging him and praying him and saying : ** I will be 
 your wife ! " 
 
 " My true wife ? " 
 
 " Your true wife." 
 
 " As you hope to see God ? " 
 
 "As I hope to save their lives ! Oh, Heaven 
 and Earth ! Let us get to the priest quickly, so 
 we can come back and save them in time ! " 
 
 " Ah ! Now we are speaking to the point ! " 
 he says in strident tones. Then commands : 
 " Indra, step into the steward's pantry, bathe your 
 face, and put your hat on again. The bride must 
 not look as if she had been crying. The priest 
 
242 BON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 might think I had not treated you well ! But 
 you shall see — Mi qiierida — a kind husband — a 
 loving husband — a reigning husband ! You shall 
 look upon me as your God, and have no other 
 gods, or thy Balasco will be jealous — eh ? " And 
 he takes her delicate little ear in his fingers and 
 pets her pale cheeks, till they blush crimson, and 
 his eyes are very big, black and flashing, as he 
 looks on the wondrous loveliness that is even now 
 within his hand — to pet, to caress — to make his 
 very own. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ''HUSH, MY BOY, YOU'LL FRIGHTEN WALL 
 STREET." 
 
 Into this scene of despair and triumph comes 
 the commonplace. 
 
 Mrs. Ormiston, stepping on deck, daintily 
 arrayed, says, crossly : "Where is that lazy steward ? 
 He did not bring my coffee !" then looking around, 
 suddenly cries : " Oh, what a lovely place ! 
 Where are we ?" 
 
 " In Cuba," replies the Don, " and you — you 
 shall be the bridesmaid. My dear Mrs. Ormiston, 
 this is my future wife. Miss Vanstone will make 
 me happy within ten minutes !" 
 
 *' Ten minutes?" screams the widow, and for one 
 instant is angry. She would have married this 
 man herself. 
 
 Then she sees Indra's face and gasps — for she 
 thinks she sees upon it death ! Then, the affair 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 243 
 
 being explained, in very short words, to her, Amy 
 suddenly begins to shriek and scream, falls on her 
 knees, and frantically beseeches Don Estrabon to 
 get her away quickly, sobbing : " I shall die if you 
 keep me here — the gunboat ! — the gunboat that is 
 coming to murder us ! Indra, be his before we are 
 lost !" 
 
 Gazing at this, the girl, passing her hands through 
 her hair, she is hastily arranging in a dazed, care- 
 less manner, jeers hoarsely : '* Don't be afraid, Mrs. 
 Ormiston, I have ransomed you — as well as the 
 rest." 
 
 And the widow cries: " God bless you, you dear, 
 brave thing!" then babbles: ''The Don is very 
 handsome, and when you tire, there are divorces 
 in America." 
 
 To this Estrabon answers, savagely : "No divorce 
 until after the honeymoon !" and looks at his com- 
 ing bride, till the blushes are too heavy for her fair 
 head, and she droops it. 
 
 " But these men, when they wake up, what will 
 they do to you, naughty Balasco ?" laughs Mrs. 
 Ormiston, whom fear has made foolish. 
 
 " These men will not wake up ! I will give 
 them ten hours more sleep. Do you suppose I 
 would let those great, big, burly fellows arise 
 and see what I have done, and toss me about and 
 throw poor Estrabon Balasco to the hshes ?" laughs 
 the Don, triumphantly. " Oh, no ! Another hypo- 
 dermic. They will still be sleeping, when we 
 reach the Dry Tortugas, where I will put them on 
 shore — the captain, the crew, everybody save my 
 own men. Then a honeymoon in the Florida Keys, 
 and then we return for papa's blessing. We are 
 
244 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 both rich ; it is a good match. You shall be happy, 
 Indra, dear one ! You will have for husband a man 
 who loves you well enough to risk your hate to 
 gain you." 
 
 And he gazes at the beauty that is before him, 
 who is with trembling hands trying to pin her hat 
 on her head for bridal festival. For in her despair 
 the girl looks more glorious than she did in her 
 joy of the day before; she has become more 
 spiritual. Her eyes shine through their tears with 
 a supernatural gleam. Every move of her exquis- 
 ite figure indicates grace ethereal, despairing per- 
 haps, but still beautiful as a Peri's agony when 
 cast out of Paradise. 
 
 Looking at this, Balasco cries : ''Juan ! Pablo ! 
 Jump into the boat! The bride is coming!" and 
 begins to hum the Wedding-March, in a crazy, 
 Italian, foreign manner. 
 
 *' Remember !" mutters Indra, and strides up to 
 him to whisper in his ear : '' If you want your 
 bride to live — these men live also !" 
 
 *' I will remember — when you are mine," he 
 answers ; then cries : " Hurry !" for even he now 
 thinks it is time to move. 
 
 Juan and Pablo are in the boat. 
 
 *'Let me assist you down, Mrs. Ormiston," mur- 
 murs Balasco, at the side-rail. " Let me assist you 
 to the boat. And now, my bride — Indra — quick ! 
 The priest to make us one !" 
 
 His hand is extended to his prize, who comes 
 faltering toward him, her sweet eyes full of hope- 
 less agony, her fair limbs trembling with despair ; 
 but even as he seizes the delicate fingers, that 
 shrink from his, Estrabon starts back ! 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 245 
 
 A hoarse voice comes from the saloon, crying : 
 ** Two men in the boat ! We've got him now, 
 Varmint!" and from the door of the deck-house 
 issue Mastic, his clothes covered with flour, and 
 lookmg like a miller, and the Varmint, a mass of 
 white, like a miller's boy ; only, unlike miller and 
 his boy, each carries a big navy revolver, cocked 
 and ready for use. 
 
 ** I arrest you. You are my prisoner ! " cries 
 the detective. " You, Don Balasco. I'm speak- 
 ing to you ! Let go that girl's hands ! I'm going 
 to manacle you." And he is producing hand- 
 cuffs. 
 
 " Arrest me ! Here, in Spain ! For what ? " 
 
 " For piracy ! " 
 
 " These are not the high seas ! " 
 
 " This vessel is in my charge. You stole it 
 from me. I seized those arms last night. Sur- 
 render ! Throw up your hands for the ' darbies ' ! " 
 
 " Manacled— before her ! " shrieks the Don, de- 
 stroyed in the moment of his triumph. Then he 
 utters a hideous cry, calls to his men, draws a 
 stiletto, springs like a wildcat at the officer, and 
 dies like any other vermin — shot through the 
 head ! 
 
 To his master's scream, Estrabon's steersman 
 comes running out of the pilot-house, and the Var- 
 mint shoots him as he comes, but does not kill, 
 only wounds him. Juan and Pablo in the boat 
 would spring upon deck, but they are warned off 
 with revolvers, and the wounded man is thrown 
 down to them. 
 
 Then Mastic, picking up the body of Balasco, 
 says ; '* He is dead. I think I will chuck the re- 
 
246 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 mains of this bridegroom overboard. Miss Van- 
 stone, I hope you won't have hard feelings agin 
 me for having robbed you of a husband. Some 
 girls do." 
 
 But this hideous joke is ill-timed. Indra Van- 
 stone is in hysterics, begging them to put steam 
 on ; sobbing ; " The Spanish gunboat is flying to 
 butcher those I love ! " 
 
 Mastic, taking this view also, exclaims : *' By 
 gosh ! There's an engineer down in that hold. 
 You can steer, Varmint! Catch hold of that 
 wheel !" 
 
 "Try me ! ' cries the boy. " I'm working for my 
 gizzard !" and is into the pilot-house just in time. 
 
 Even as the Varmint speaks, men are seen com- 
 ing through the undergrowth near the beach; 
 a moment after the sharp rat-a-tat-tat of Mausers 
 is heard; and rifle balls, singing like insects, fly 
 over or patter against the yacht. 
 
 Here suddenly Mastic shrieks: " By the Eter- 
 nal, we're trapped !" For a great black smoke is 
 coming round the point to the westward from 
 Bahia Honda, and the gunboat from Muriel is 
 now well past Cabanas. 
 
 The next instant the detective is hustling the 
 ladies down the companion way, saying : *' Get 
 into the hold, below the water line!" and en- 
 couraging them with : " You'll be safe there. I'll 
 be on deck to take care of you, or die doing it." 
 
 Then he springs into the engine-room, and clap- 
 ping a revolver to the head of Balasco's af- 
 frighted negro engineer, says to him: ** Turn on 
 the steam ! If that engine stops after it is moving; 
 if it don't go fast as it can fly; if this boat don't 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. ^47 
 
 make fifteen knots an hour, your brains leave your 
 body ! You know me, — Tom Mastic." 
 
 The darky, putting out affrighted hands, moves 
 the valves, steam enters the cylinders, and the 
 propeller commences to revolve. 
 
 ''Look out!" cries the revenue man, shoving 
 up the window connecting with the pilot-house. 
 " Look out. Varmint! Steer straight out to sea ! 
 Don't give the coral reefs any chance to scrape 
 the craft's bottom ! " — then asks anxiously : " Are 
 we going ? " 
 
 " Yes ; a little,'* says the boy ; " but darned 
 slowly.'* 
 
 " Get way onto her ! " cries Mastic, turning on 
 the engineer. *' Get way on her ! Put steam on 
 her ! Turn it into the boilers till ye blow 'em up ! 
 You darned fool, don't you know you're working 
 for your own life ? What will the Spaniards do, 
 if they catch you ? If you were old Weyler him- 
 self, they'd shoot you down and chop you into 
 pieces, before you could tell them who you were ! 
 Get a move on you ! " 
 
 This suggestion seems to have great effect 
 upon the engineer, for the propeller commences to 
 churn around, and the boat to jump through the 
 water. 
 
 Suddenly the man mutters : " Caraniba ! Who will 
 fire the furnaces ? " 
 
 "• ril do it, for my life," says Mastic, and he 
 passes up his revolver to the Varmint in the pilot- 
 house, commanding : " Mark him ! If he moves 
 from his engines, or if they slow down, blow out 
 his brains. I can't attend to him; I'm fireman 
 now." 
 
248 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 Then bringing all his brawny muscles into play 
 the detective shovels coal into the furnaces, for- 
 tunately finding the near-by bunkers full. 
 
 Every now and then the revenue officer pauses, 
 and, looking up at the Varmint, who is handling 
 the wheel above, asks : " How do we move ? " 
 
 '' Prime ! " answers the boy. " We're scooting." 
 
 " Have we left the bay ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Are we beyond the boundary reef? " 
 
 *' I think so." Then the lad suddenly cries 
 out : " Two gunboats ! One to port, one to starb'd. 
 
 " Jumping snakes ! How far off ? " 
 
 " The starb'd one, three miles ; on the port, a 
 little less than two. But they're comin'." 
 
 ** Are they farther out than we ? " 
 
 " Yes ; half a mile." 
 
 " Let her go. I guess we'll dodge them safe 
 enough ! " 
 
 Three minutes after, the boy speaks down into 
 the engine-room and says : " The gunboat to 
 west'rd looks as if she's goin' to fire." 
 
 ** I can't help it. Let her blaze !" 
 
 And, as if in answer to Mastic's suggestion, a 
 shot comes whistling through the air over their 
 heads. 
 
 This has a great efifect upon the negro en- 
 gineer, who has ducked to the shot. He now rises 
 to urge his engines, and the boat, trembling in her 
 frame, plunges through the water, which fortu- 
 nately is very calm, thus aiding the smaller vessel. 
 
 " We've got 'em behind us !" cries the Varmint, 
 as another shot flashes just astern. 
 
 "Then keep 'em there! Stay! I'll jump on 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 249 
 
 deck. We must be near the three-mile limit 
 now !" and Mastic springs up. For he no longer 
 fears the negro engineer, being satisfied that 
 worthy thinks his life will not be safe under the 
 guns of the Spaniards. 
 
 Then the detective commences to curse, saying : 
 ** Darn it ! We're outside the three-mile limit, 
 and yet they're peppering away at us. We're on 
 the high seas!" and, looking at the ensign of his 
 country, mutters : '' You don't seem to be much 
 good anywhere! Spain peppers you wherever she 
 sees you. The Stars and Stripes are like a red rag 
 to that Spanish bull. Our only chance is to drive 
 her — drive her!" 
 
 And drive her they do — straight on, into the 
 open Florida Straits ! 
 
 The Flying Ftsh is now making fourteen knots 
 and leaving the Spanish gunboats slowly and 
 surely astern of her. The shot of the one from 
 Bahia Honda is falling short. The gunboat from 
 Muriel has never even been within good range. 
 
 Then Mastic suddenly steps into the pilot-house, 
 and whispers, pointing ahead : " Do you see that 
 smoke away down on the horizon? If she's an- 
 other Spanish gunboat " and consulting the 
 
 compass, he commands: "Steer nor' nor'east ! 
 That, with the drift of the Gulf Stream, will take 
 us near Key West. Only keep yer eye peeled to 
 see if that fellow with the black smoke to the 
 north of us tries to head us off." 
 
 But here both the Varmint and Mastic star. 
 A deep bass voice from behind them roars in their 
 ears : " You boy and black devil there, what are 
 you doing with my craft ? " 
 
250 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 It comes from Captain Thomas, who is just now 
 awakening from his opium sleep. 
 
 " That's all right, Cap'," says the detective. 
 '' You know me. Wake up gradual, and I'll tell 
 you all about it." 
 
 This he does, and by the time the bluff sea-dog 
 has thoroughly got command of his senses, Thomas 
 is cursing Estrabon up hill and down hill. Get- 
 ting to the wheel, he says : " Hand those spokes 
 over! You go down and pass coal. Tell that 
 engineer if he don't do his duty I'll kill him from 
 the pilot-house. As for you, Mr. Mastic, perhaps 
 you'd better go down, put the ladies out of their 
 fright, and bring them on deck again. The 
 
 Spaniards have quit firing — only " Here he 
 
 guffaws horribly: ''You're not exactly the chap 
 to do the polite." 
 
 For Mastic, first covered by flour, as he broke 
 out of his stateroom, and then powdered over with 
 coal dust as he has toiled in the bunkers, is a pic- 
 ture in black and white that would defy even cari- 
 cature. 
 
 "Oh, ain't I a beaut?" laughs the detective, 
 grinning in a mirror. " You see, the Varmint and I 
 had to cut our way out of that stateroom. Say, what 
 a whittler that boy is ! He chopped up that panel 
 with his jack-knife in precious little time, and then 
 we had to cut every sack of that flour open and 
 shake the stuff out of them ; because we couldn't 
 move 'em, and couldn't get our hands far enough 
 out to lift them. Why, your cabin and the mate's 
 and Frenchy's pantry look as if they'd been mixed 
 up in a cyclone with a Minnesota flour mill." 
 
 " All right," says the captain, grimly. " Get the 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 2$1 
 
 ladies on deck, and see if you can't rouse up some of 
 of them lazy beggars of the crew. Draw water 
 and swash it over 'em. You'd better do that first ; 
 it's more important." 
 
 This Mastic does, aided by the Varmint, when 
 he can get time from the duties of the stoke- room. 
 Under pails of sea-water, the Flying Fishes begin 
 to regain their senses. Sandy, the engineer, 
 is aroused in the engine-room. The two deck- 
 hands and coal-passers commence to discover that 
 they have something else to do but sleep, for the 
 captain's voice is calling them : " Lazy beggars !" 
 " Sleep-heads !" and he is making other nautical 
 but pertinent allusions to their slumbers under the 
 cigars and hypodermics of Balasco. 
 
 The Spanish gunboats, hull down upon the hori- 
 zon, have given up the chase, as Mrs. Ormiston 
 comes on deck, and says : " Miss Vanstone will 
 not be up immediately," then utters, almost as if 
 affrighted: " Why, you're awake at last ! " 
 
 For the gentlemen in the saloon are now 
 out of the power of morphine, and have been 
 listening to the detective's story in a dazed, 
 uncertain way. As their senses come gradu- 
 ally back to them, Blakely remarks, astoundedly: 
 ''By Jove' This is a wondrous story ! " Then 
 suddenly adds: *' I — I recollect now. I believe I 
 was half conscious when that infernal scoundrel 
 jabbed me with his hypodermic syringe." Pulling 
 up his shirt sleeve, he finds a wound, the others 
 do the same, and something is explained to them 
 that Mastic has not elucidated. 
 
 '* That's how we slept so long. Don Aqua 
 Tofana gave us a double dose," remarks Rex, 
 
252 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 savagely ; then cries : *' Oh, Lord, how hungry 
 I am," adding nervously, '' 1 hope the Spanish 
 poisoner has not killed poor Frenchy, the cook." 
 
 Here Severance asks, suddenly : *' You say he 
 did this to force Indra to marry him ? " 
 
 " Sartin ! " answers the detective. " Hasn't he 
 been loving her for a long time ? Didn't the Don 
 have her picture before he'd ever seen her?" 
 With this he tells them the curious story of the 
 photograph at Key West. 
 
 '* And you killed him ? " mutters our Billy. 
 
 ** Dead as a doornail ! " 
 
 "Then I am sorry for it! " Severance remarks, 
 slowly, and astonishes the Custom-house man, 
 who has expected to be thanked. *' Yes ; and 
 I'm not grateful for it at all ! By Heaven ! I'd 
 have liked to have seen Don Estrabon Balasco — 
 just a few minutes before he died." 
 
 A moment after he leads the detective aside, 
 and asks, chewing his mustache nervously : " She 
 was going to marry him to save our lives?" 
 
 '* I — I think she was." 
 
 But Mastic has no time to say more, for Sever- 
 ance is down in the ladies' cabin and is rapping 
 on her stateroom door, and crying : " Indra, my 
 loved one ! Indra ! " 
 
 To his voice the girl answers : " Thank God ! 
 Awake ! Oh, Billy ! " As her door opens, his 
 arms go round her, and she looks at him as if he 
 were arisen from the dead. 
 
 Then seeing in her sweet face things that had 
 not been there before. Severance mutters : " My 
 God ! How much you must have suffered ! " and 
 begins to swear and rave, and would call down 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 253 
 
 curses on Balasco, did not her white fingers close 
 his lips. Finally, gazing at his betrothed rather 
 curiously, he asks : " You would have married 
 him, to save my life ? " 
 
 *' Yes." 
 
 '* Good Heavens ! He had just as well have 
 killed me! " 
 
 " I feared you would grieve for me, Billy, but I 
 hoped you would forget me. I knew I could 
 never be the same to you ; that no divorce could 
 make me the Indra you had loved. But there 
 was Rex ! I thought of my father's gray hairs 
 going down in sorrow at the loss of his only son. 
 I thought of Gertie, who loved the young Cuban 
 who would have been butchered with you. Then 
 there was good old Captain Thomas and the crew. 
 Besides, Estrabon would have had no triumph 
 over me; you need never have been jealous of him, 
 Billy. I should have died after I had saved you — 
 this evening ; after he had put you all on shore, 
 safe, in the United States. But he is dead," says 
 the girl, dreamily, "and I live, and you live — and 
 he never kissed me! " 
 
 Then, noting something on the face of her 
 sweetheart, Indra suddenly murmurs: "What! 
 Jealous of the dead ? " 
 
 " No, no ! " mutters Severance. " Only I didn't 
 know quite until now how much I — I really loved 
 you." 
 
 " Nor I you ! till I bid you farewell as you lay 
 senseless, and I heard him humming the Wedding- 
 March ! Oh, mercy ! I hear him now — and then 
 the smoke of the gunboat coming to slaughter — 
 and then he cried : ' Put out the fire ! ' and struck 
 
254 I>ON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 my heart ! my heart ! Billy, oh heaven ! how my 
 heart has wept to-day! — Shall I ever forget?" 
 And she is in his arms, and her fair head is on his 
 shoulder, sobbing as if her spirit would leave her 
 body. 
 
 Six hours after this, just about evening, the Fly- 
 mg Fish runs up to the wharf at Emerald Key, 
 and is boarded by Mr. Vanstone, who has anxious 
 eyes, and Gertie, who has run down ahead of 
 her father's less agile footsteps. After them 
 come little Vortex, Ethel Rivers and Flora 
 Woodbridge, and there is more to tell them than 
 they ever dreamed — this strange, curious story 
 of Spanish love and death; to hear of which makes 
 Mr. Vanstone's face grow white, and Gertie gaze 
 affrightedly at Ramon, and little Vortex think he 
 would like to go North immediately. 
 
 * * ¥: * * - * 
 
 It is not until a day or two after, that they can 
 discuss the affair calmly. 
 
 But they do this one hot morning, in the pres- 
 ence of Mr. Mastic and the Varmint, both of whom 
 have been summoned from Key West; the de- 
 tective bringing with him an extra published in a 
 newspaper of that day, containing a dispatch from 
 Havana, which reads : 
 
 "The defeat of another filibustering expedition. Glorious 
 gallantry of Captains Burriel and Santiago, of the Spanish 
 gunboats Fernando Segundo and Infanta Maria. 
 
 "These officers, with their gallant crews, assisted by a com- 
 pany of Rodriguez's guerrillas, attacked a large vessel loaded 
 with men and armed with cannon, and after a most desperate 
 combat, drove them away, probably sinking the ship — as she 
 has not been seen or reported since the fight. The filibusters 
 lost forty killed, among them the Cuban, Don Estrabon Ba- 
 
PON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 255 
 
 lasco, who has been the leader of the Key West rebels, and a 
 thorn in the side of Weyler and of Spain. His body, together 
 with thoseof three more insurgents, of names unknown, but one 
 of them having an enormous ear, has been brought to Havana, 
 and 2ifcte is now in progress over the victory. The captains of 
 the Spanish gunboats will receive medals, and probably pro- 
 motion. Rodriguez, the captain of the guerrillas, will be ad- 
 vanced to a majority. On the Spanish side there were no cas- 
 ualties, their attack was so dashing and irresistible." 
 
 Over this extraordinary bit of news the detective 
 has been chuckling ever since he left Key West. 
 
 ^' By gum ! Do you know those Cubans in his 
 tobacco factory are going co have a mortuary pro- 
 cession in honor of Balasco, the patriot ?" he guf- 
 faws to the party on the veranda at Emerald Key. 
 
 But the others do not laugh. 
 
 The traces of that morning in the tropics still 
 linger on Indra's fair brow, though they are dis- 
 appearing under the hands of Cupid. She sits 
 and looks at " Our Billy " as if she were hardly 
 sure of him now, though the flowers and cocoanut 
 trees of her own garden perfume the air about 
 her, and the Flying Fish rests lightly on the waters 
 at her anchorage and looks as much the pleasure 
 vessel as if Spanish bullets had not pattered on her 
 sides and Spanish shell gone screaming over her. 
 
 The click of balls from the billiard-room, where 
 little Vortex and Rex are playing, comes merrily 
 to her. Her father's voice is in her ears, and 
 Gertie has got one of her hands and is petting 
 it. The family are going north in a day or two — 
 then she will forget. 
 
 ** Mr. Mastic," remarks Severance, " I have 
 something to say to you. *• Varmint, here's a 
 check for you ! " 
 
 "What's that?" asks the boy, looking dubi- 
 
256 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 ously at the piece of paper the gentleman extends 
 to him. 
 
 " It's more money than you ever had or dreamt 
 of having, m your hfe." 
 
 ** Crackle ! 1 don't want that ! I war only work- 
 ing for my own blasted skin," says the Varmmt, 
 " and just a little for her. She'd been kind terme." 
 
 " And I don't see as 1 need anything, just for 
 saving my own Vife," says the Government man, 
 for Mr. Vanstone is proffering him something. 
 
 '* You will not take anything ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't exactly say that ! If you've got 
 one of those boxes of Regalias Imperiales — Estrabon 
 sent you five hundred of 'em — I think 1 might be 
 persuaded." 
 
 '' Take all I have ! " cries Vanstone. " Their 
 smoke nauseates me ! " 
 
 " They don't me !" guffaws Mastic, as he takes 
 his departure, and with him the Varmint, both 
 puffing a Regalia Imperial^ to row back to the 
 Gopher. 
 
 From this interview Mr. Vanstone leads the 
 young Cuban, whispering " Lieutenant Varona, a 
 word with you. You are going back to Cuba? " 
 
 " Of course I I must do my duty." 
 
 " You have another duty besides fighting, even 
 for your country." 
 
 '' What is that ? " 
 
 '* Living for those who love you ! I take this 
 liberty, my boy, because my little daughter Ger- 
 trude, who nursed you to life, somehow thinks 
 your life belongs to her," 
 
 "And it does!" cries the young man. "But 
 under the circumstances it would not have been 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 257 
 
 honorable for me to speak. If I come back alive 
 from the trouble and death of my unhappy island 
 1 shall tell her that 1 have been always her 
 slave and adorer." Then Ramon, with the ex- 
 cited gesticulation of the tropics, murmurs : ** She 
 will be very beautiful. If I live " 
 
 '' Yes , I would not wish to marry her immedi- 
 ately," says the elder man. *' But if you went 
 away from her, Gertie's life would not be happy. 
 Every breath, every telegram from the island 
 would be an anxiety, a menace to her. She knows 
 the Spaniards take no prisoners. She knows a 
 wound and capture means either death on the field 
 or execution in the Cabaiias. She knows it is not 
 war, but massacre, that is taking place over there. 
 You yourself have said that it was not men that 
 Cuba needed, but arms. Would not this— I am 
 rich ; don't shrink back — contribution to your 
 cause, to buy munitions for Cuba Libre^ be of more 
 aid than your own individual services? Take 
 your choice. Do what you think will aid your 
 island most. Present this to the Cuban Junta, or 
 yourself." 
 
 " The money will aid my country most, I am 
 sorry to say," remarks the young man. 
 
 ** Very well. I think a year or two of quiet up 
 North will do you good. I'll get a position for 
 you in a bank," says the American with business 
 promptitude. " The thing is settled !" then mut- 
 ters, " God bless you ! You have taken a weight 
 off my mind. You had better tell Gertie you are 
 not going. The child is getting thin." 
 
 "For me?" ejaculates Varona, with joyous eyes. 
 
 And he goes off hastily through the beautiful 
 
258 DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 
 
 garden to find Miss Gertie sitting under a cocoa- 
 nut tree. 
 
 Coming into the parlor from his interview, Mr. 
 Vanstone remarks to a question from Blakely: 
 " Yes, we are all going north. I want to get 
 away from this place. Here we are too close to 
 the fire that is burning up that island." 
 
 " Some day," replies the young man, " we will 
 have to put it out ! It is too near for us to let it 
 burn ! 
 
 " It is a curious fact," Vanstone observes, " that 
 of all the Americans who have been done 
 to death in Cuba, not one life has been atoned 
 for. Of course I am not speaking of those of our 
 citizens who go to fight the Spaniard. They 
 battle with a cruel people and must accept the 
 chances of barbarous war. But the innocent ones, 
 those whom the very contiguity of the island has 
 thrown into Spanish clutches; the consumptive 
 boy ordered from Massachusetts to a warmer 
 climate, by his doctors, twenty odd years ago ; 
 the captives of the Virginius, taken on the 
 high seas in violation of all international law ; 
 Speakman of Indiana, Wyeth of New York, and 
 half a hundred others, butchered in defiance of 
 our consuls' protests. For none of these murders 
 has Spain made such explanation or expiation as 
 would have been accepted by any other first-class 
 power upon this earth! They kill us! We pro- 
 test ! They apologize — and kill again ! * 
 
 " Yet we are not a coward people ; we've done 
 some fighting in our day ! " mutters the Bos- 
 tonian. 
 
 " Yes, and will do it again !'* cries Rex, who has 
 
DON BALASCO OF KEY WEST. 259 
 
 just come in from billiards. ** Some day or other 
 the people will take the bit in their teeth, Ameri- 
 can diplomacy will go kiting, and " 
 
 " Hush, my boy ! ** says his father, with the 
 shiver of the financier. ** You'll frighten Wall 
 street." 
 
 Finis, 
 
That Frenchman! 
 
 Now in khe One-Hundred-and-Twentitth-Thousaud, 
 
 American Edition. 
 
 By the Author of "Mr. Barnes of New York." 
 
 PAPER, 50 CBNTSt OLOTH, •l.Mw 
 
 ** The work exhibits the wonderful resources of the 
 author's mind and the richness of his imaginative powers. 
 The characters are forcibly drawn, the details worked up 
 with surprising exactness, and the plot unraveled with 
 scrupulous care." — San Francisco Post^ May 25, 1889. 
 
 How I Escaped. 
 
 By W. H. parkins. 
 Edited by Archibald Clavering Guntbr. 
 
 PAPER, 60 CENTS ; CLOTH. .LOa 
 
 The best story of the war yet written." 
 
 "'Atlanta Canstittrtim 
 
OPINIONS OF 
 
 THE GREAT NOVEL, 
 
 Mr. Barnes 
 
 of New York. 
 
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 "There is no reason for surprise at *Mr. Barnes* 
 being a big hit** — The Referee, London, March 25th. 
 
 ^^ Exciting and interesting** — The Graphic, 
 
 *' 'Marina Paoli' — a giant character — just as strong 
 as * Fedora.*** — Illustrated London News, 
 
 "A capital story — most people have read it — I 
 recommend it to all the others." 
 
 — James Payne in Illustrated London News. 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 "Told with the genius of Alexander Dumas, the 
 Elder." — Amusement Gazette. 
 
 " Have you read * Mr. Barnes of New York ? ' If 
 no, go and read it at once, and thank me for suggesting 
 it. ... I want to be put on record as saying * it is 
 the best story of the day — the best I have read in ten 
 years.* ** — Joe Howard in Boston Globe, 
 
 But at that time Mr. Howard had 
 not read 
 
 "Mr. Potter of Texas." 
 
THE LADIES' 
 JUGGERNAUT 
 
 A HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED 
 NOVEL ! 
 
 Containing the following extraordinary episodes of 
 American life: 
 
 ^QQ^ '' The Flirtation in Florida. 
 ^^^ " ' The Bargain in London. 
 E22EiII' The Frenzy at Narragansett. 
 
 BY 
 
 Archibald Clavering Gunter, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 **Mr. Barnes of New York," etc. 
 
 Paper, 50 Cents. Cloth, $1.00. 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING COflPANY 
 
 3 East 14th Street 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
Baron Montez 
 
 of Panama and Paris. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " Mr. Barnes of New York," " Mr. Potter of Texas," etc. 
 
 " Here, certainly, is a rattling story." 
 
 — N. Y. Times ^ June 5th, 1893. 
 
 " Mr. Gunter has written nothing better than the 
 volume before us, and that is high praise indeed, for 
 his writings in recent years have had a world-wide 
 reputation." 
 
 — Ohio State Journal, Columbus, May 29, 1893. 
 
 " With the merit of continuous and thrilling interest." 
 — Chicago Times, May 27, 1893. 
 
 " The latest of Mr. Gunter's popular romances will be 
 read with interest by the many who have already followed 
 the fortunes of * Mr. Barnes of New York,' and * Mr. 
 Potter of Texas.' " 
 
 — The Times, Philadelphia, Pa., May 20, 1893. 
 
 " This is a story of thrilling interest." 
 
 — Christian Leader, Cincinnati, June 6, 1893. 
 
ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS. 
 
 Miss Nobody 
 of Nowhere. 
 
 BY 
 
 ARCHIBALD C. GUNTER. 
 
 *' Full of incident and excitement." — New York Herald. 
 
 "The popularity of Mr. Gunter will now be greater 
 than ever." — Tacoma Globe. 
 
 "A story that will keep a man away 
 from his meals.*' — Omaha Bee. 
 
 ** There is not a dull page in this volume." 
 
 — Daily Chronicle^ London, Jan. 14, 1891. 
 
 ** Gunter scores another success." 
 
 — Morning Advertiser y London, Dec. 16, 1890. 
 
 "Well worth reading." 
 
 — Galignani, Paris, Nov. 24, 1890. 
 
 " Nothing could exceed its thrilling interest." 
 
 — Glasgow Herald y Dec. 25, 1890. 
 
 " Gunter's latest remarkable story will not disappoint 
 his numerous admirers." 
 
 — Newcastle Chronicle^ Dec. 4, 1S90. 
 
Ladies First! 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. DOMINIQUE FRANCOIS VERDENAL 
 
 ' A dashini? novel." — Buffalo Courier, March 22, i8g6. 
 
 "A light, crisp, breezy novel." — The Alameda Argus, Alameda, 
 Cal. 
 
 " A charming story." — Town Talk, San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 "Abounds in thrilling adventures." — N. Y, Press, Feb. 26, i8g6. 
 
 "The descriptions of the stock excitement, the panic in Peer- 
 less, and the ups and downs of the market indicate that the writer 
 was a witness of the scenes so faithfully drawn." — S. F. Daily 
 Report, March 2j, i8g6. 
 
 Paper, 50 Cents. Cloth, S I -CO. 
 
 FOR SALE EVERYWHERE 
 or sent post-paid, on receipt of price, to any address. 
 
 THE HOniE PUBLISHING DOniPflKY, 
 
 3 East 14th Street, New York. 
 
What the Press Say of 
 
 His Cuban 
 
 Sweetheart 
 
 BY 
 
 Col. RICHARD HENRY SAVAGE 
 
 (Author of "MY OFFICIAL WIFE," Etc.) 
 
 AND 
 
 Mrs. ARCHIBALD CLAVERINQ QUNTER 
 
 **If you have a leisure afternoon it will send the 
 hours flying."— iV<ra/ York Herald, Feb. 8th, 1896. 
 
 /'At this time the pictures of Cuban life and Spanish 
 tyranny will be particularly interesting." 
 
 — Daily Advertiser, Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 ** Thoroughly interesting, full of glowing color, 
 artistically handled. " — Boston Ideas, Feb. 28th, 1896. 
 
 **The reader will not be willing to put it down 
 until it is finished." 
 
 — Picayune, New Orleans, Feb. 9th, 1896. 
 
 Paper, 50 Cents. Cloth, $1,00. 
 
 Sent postpaid to any address on receipt of price. 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
Miss Dividends 
 
 GUNTER'S GREAT NOVEL 
 
 NOW m ITS NINETIETH THOUSAND 
 What the English Press Says of It 
 
 ** The reader desirous of being taken out of him- 
 self, can hardly do better than be introduced by 
 * Miss Dividends* into a succession of scenes full of 
 startling interest." 
 
 — London IPost, Nov. 30th, 1892. 
 
 •*The characters are so full of nervous energy 
 and physical stir that they soon get to the reader's 
 nerves.** 
 
 — The AthentBum, Nov. 5th, 1892, 
 
 *• Carries us breathless from first page to Iast« 
 
 --London Globe, Dec. 2d, 1892. 
 
 ^'Especially fascinating and absorb- 
 
 -^Jjondon Literary World, 
 
 Oct. 98th, 1891. 
 
Small Boys 
 
 in Big Boots 
 
 A STORY 
 
 BY 
 
 ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "Mr. Barnes of New York," etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 DAN BEARD, A. D. BLASHFIELD, JOHN LYTH 
 AND C HILLS WARREN 
 
 And including a portrait of the Author. 
 
 CMK $100. Paper, 50 Cents. 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 3 East Fourteenth Street 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
My Official Wife. 
 
 BY 
 
 Col. RICHARD HENRY SAVAGE. 
 
 What America says of it. 
 
 ** One of the most entertaining books of the season. 
 It reads strangely like one of Gunter's masterpieces." 
 
 — Rochester Sunday Times ^ June 14th, 1891. 
 " In it the most exciting complications arise, making 
 the story one of absorbing interest." 
 
 — Cleveland Plaindealer^ June 14th, 1891. 
 
 " It would be hard to find a more exoiting 
 story than * My Official Wife/ A series of events 
 and situations which increase in excitement, 
 mystery and danger. A book through which the 
 reader will dash with wild eagerness." 
 
 —NEW TORK HERALD, J^une 2l8t, 1891. 
 
 What Europe says of it. 
 
 *' Far beyond the average. Exceedingly powerful 
 and exciting." — Newcastle Chronicle , July loth, 1891. 
 " One of the ablest of its kind." 
 
 — Carlisle Patriot^ July nth, 1891. 
 " Deserves to be one of the most popular tales of the 
 season." — The Morning Post^ London, July 15th, 1891. 
 "Plenty of dash and go." 
 
 — Saturday Review^ July i8th, 1891. 
 
 "Wonderfully clever," 
 
 —LONDON TIMES, August lOth, 1891. 
 
 "A delightful story." — Tauchnitz^ Leipsig. 
 
 FOR SALE EVERYWHERE. 
 
 IfiE HOME PUBLISHING CO., 3 East 14tli Stieet, IL I. 
 
THE FIRST 
 
 OP ™b ENGLISH 
 
 Mr. Gunter's latest historical novel deals with the wonder- 
 ful adventures of the English Captain sent by Queen Elizabetii 
 as a spy, to examine the doings of Alva in the Netherlands, 
 for her protection against the plots of the Spanish Viceroy to 
 poison her and place Mary, Queen of Scots, upon the throne of 
 England. 
 
 The story of this gallant English seaman, one of the same 
 breed as Drake and Hawkins, when he took his life in his hands 
 and entered the Spanish Netherlands disguised as a Dutch Beggar 
 of the Sea, is extremely curious, and reveals many new inci- 
 dents in history. These have been carefully sought out by the 
 author in ancient Dutch chronicles. " The Battle on Skates," 
 the " M3^tery of Alva's Statue," and the adventures of Anthony, 
 the patriotic Dutch painter, seem stranger than fiction, yet they 
 are facts attested by the records of men who lived at that period 
 and are fully certified by manuscripts in old-time Dutch. 
 
 The author's treatment of the subtle policy of Elizabeth as 
 dictated by Cecil, Lord Burleigh, gives a new and very curious 
 point in regard to her ordering the Gueux away from England 
 without provisions or water, thus compelling them to go back 
 and renew their fight with Alva. The true reason for this 
 masterly stroke of policy has been overlooked by every histori- 
 an of the time, including even the great Motley. 
 
 These startling historical facts are happily blended with the 
 adventures of the English hero in his love affair with the daughter 
 of the Duke of Alva, and contain that wondrous mbcture of 
 comedy, romance and dramatic situation that has made " Mr. 
 Barnes of New York" not only the most popular novel of 
 its day, but one that is read again and again by many of its 
 numerous admirers. 
 
 For Sale Everywhere 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 3 EMt 14th Street, New York 
 
READ 
 
 A Princess 
 
 Of Paris 
 
 Dealing with the earlier adventures 
 of the characters in 
 
 The King's Stockbroker 
 
 BY 
 
 Archibald Clavering Gunter 
 
 THE HOME 
 PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 3 E. Mth St., New York 
 
*Xhe King's 
 
 Stockbroker" 
 
 A SEQUEL TO 
 
 "A Princess of Paris" 
 
 BY 
 
 Archibald Clavering Qunter 
 
 Author of **nr. Barnes of New York," "fir. Potter of 
 Texas," *• niss Nobody of Nowhere," etc., etc. 
 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 3 East 14th Street. New York 
 

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