CHAPTER XIX.

I NEVER FANCIED THAT A DAUGHTER OF MINE WOULD BE SO DISLOYAL.

It was a striking tableau in the parlor of the plantation mansion. In the centre stood General Corona, with the crafty Captain Nocolo beside him. Near the door the beautiful Estella swayed--pale, weak, trembling--as if about to fall from the intensity of the emotion she had just experienced. In the doorway was outlined the handsome form of Howard Sherwood, his eyes meeting those of the general fairly and squarely, while his arms were outstretched to support the girl he so loved, should such support be desired.

"The escaped spy!" burst from Captain Nocolo's lips. "Ha! I was right after all!"

Howard paid no attention to him. He was not thinking of himself--of what capture might mean. His thoughts were only of Estella, and what the beautiful girl had suffered, and was suffering, for his sake.

"So this is Howard Sherwood?" said General Corona at last, as he surveyed that manly form from head to foot. He could not conceal from himself the fact that never had he seen a young man who looked so thoroughly honest, noble, and prepossessing.

"Yes, I am Howard Sherwood, the man who has caused all this trouble," responded Howard. "We have met before, I believe," he went on, and a faint smile played for an instant on his face.

"So we have. But I forget where."

"In the streets of Santiago. Several thieves were about to relieve you of your watch and purse----"

"Yes--yes! And you helped me!" cried General Corona. Then his face clouded. He was far from pleased to have such an unpleasant truth thrust upon him in view of the present situation. "I owe you my thanks for that, to be sure."

"You gave them to me at the time," replied Howard, coldly, "so let that pass. If you would do me a favor, treat your daughter more kindly. She does not deserve the anger you have aimed at her."

Estella turned quickly and gave Howard such a grateful look that he felt more than repaid for the words spoken. Then she looked toward her father, but for once the eyes of the old warrior fell. It had remained for his daughter's lover to teach him a first lesson in forbearance.

"Well, well; perhaps I was a little hasty," he said. "But I don't understand all this. Captain Nocolo, since this is the man you are after--" He paused. The captain had moved to the window, and now two shots from his revolver rang out in rapid succession. "What is that for?"

"The guard will be here directly," grinned the Spanish officer. "I do not want this spy to escape us again."

"Oh, Howard!" cried Estella, "you are in imminent peril! Fly! fly!"

Howard stood irresolute for a moment. Then he folded his arms.

"No, Estella, I will remain. Remember--" and his eyes sought the ceiling, to remind her that Lieutenant Mazenas was still a prisoner up stairs.

At this she shivered. There was no time for further words, for up dashed the four soldiers the lieutenant had had in waiting.

"There is the escaped spy!" said Captain Nocolo. "Disarm him, and handcuff him well."

The four soldiers fell upon Howard, and had an easy task, for the young war correspondent deemed it best to offer no resistance. They were in the midst of their work when a crash sounded overhead, and down the stairs rushed Lieutenant Mazenas, his attire in much disorder.

"Mazenas!" cried General Corona and Captain Nocolo simultaneously.

"Where is that American!" howled the lieutenant, wrathfully. "Ha! they have you!" he hissed into Howard's face. "'Tis well. Men, look to it that he does not escape again. He has much to answer for."

"Whence did you come?" demanded Captain Nocolo, while the old general looked on with interest.

"Whence? From an upper closet in which that infernal spy locked me!" fumed the lieutenant. "He is a--a devil in human form!" he went on. "Oh, but you shall suffer dearly for your doings, never fear!" he added, with increased passion, as he faced Howard.

"He locked you up in my house!" ejaculated Estella's father--"in my house! Then he must have--" He paused and looked at his daughter.

"I see it all," burst out Captain Nocolo, maliciously. "Estella aided him to escape, and brought him here. The lieutenant came to hunt him up, and was made a prisoner. We came in just in time to entrap this adroit American."

"That's it!" cried General Corona. He turned to Estella. "Child, go to your room; I will speak to you later!"

"I will go," said Estella, in a low voice. "But," she gazed full at Captain Nocolo, "ere I depart, let me say a word about that man. He is unworthy of your friendship, papa, for he openly and grossly insulted me the night we met near the scene of the railroad wreck."

"You lie!" burst from Captain Nocolo's lips, and scarcely had the words been uttered when Howard's manacled hands struck him such a blow in the mouth that the blood was drawn.

The soldiers promptly knocked down the young war correspondent, and he was about to be subjected to gross maltreatment when the general, who could not but admire Howard's action, interfered.

"Stop!" he commanded. "You had better take him outside and march him back to prison; this is no place for such a scene. As for you, Captain Nocolo, I will interview you in private, after I have had a chance to talk with my daughter. Lieutenant Mazenas, have you anything further to say?"

The face of the lieutenant was a study. He was full of rage, yet he had a part to play, and must play it.

"I have nothing to say against the beautiful Estella," he replied, with affected gallantry. "No doubt this little affair can be amicably settled later on. Sherwood was directly under my care, and I must see him safely back to prison. I may take the privilege of calling again this evening, or to-morrow morning."

He looked at Captain Nocolo meaningly, and bowed himself out. The captain hesitated, then followed him, and thus the entire party moved away, leaving Estella and her father alone.

"We have had strange doings here, Estella, since I went away," said the father, as he began to pace the floor uneasily, while she, sick at heart over Howard's recapture, sank down on a hassock, and buried her face in her hands. "Strange doings indeed! I never fancied that a daughter of mine would be so disloyal!"

"I am not disloyal, papa," she returned, when she could trust herself to speak. "I did what I thought was right."

"To assist Sherwood to escape was a crime, and----"

"In my opinion, it was not a crime," she interrupted. "He was to be shot as a spy!"

"That is the fate of all spies in time of war."

"He is no spy, I repeat. More than that, it is only Lieutenant Mazenas' bitter hatred of Howard that would send him to his death."

And acting on the impulse of the moment, Estella narrated her whole story, from beginning to end, telling how she had first met Howard on the steamer, and of all that had happened since. Still pacing the floor uneasily, the old general drank in every word, but not once did his stern eyes seek his daughter's fair face, now wet with tears.

"I can see very readily that your sojourn in the United States has done you no good," he began, when she had finished. "Your head has been filled with erroneous notions, both of a personal and of a political nature. You imagine that the people of Cuba should do as they please, and that every young lady should be allowed to do as she pleases. Now this is all wrong, and the sooner you realize it the better it will be for you. I do not approve of Captain Nocolo's actions toward you, and he shall either beg your pardon or feel the point of my sword. But he likes his wine, and mayhap he was slightly under the influence of stimulants at the time; therefore, I believe that he will make due amends." The general paused, and she gave a low sob. "But your actions against Lieutenant Mazenas, your future husband, are far from being in accord with my desires."

"My future husband!--I will never marry that man!"

It was a cry direct from Estella's heart.

"In this matter I shall insist upon full obedience, and there's an end of it!" he exclaimed. "I am not so dull that I cannot see through your doings. You would wed this adventurous American. But let me tell you, once for all, that will never be. I will stretch him dead at my feet before I will allow him to claim your hand in marriage, even should he escape death at the hands of the authorities!"

She did not answer, save by a low moan, and again buried her face in her hands. He saw how much she was affected, but his stern heart did not relent. He paced the floor for a moment or two longer, and then abruptly left the room.