CHAPTER XXXIV.

"FORWARD, FOR CUBA AND FOR JUSTICE!"

When Howard Sherwood left General Corona's side he felt a strange lightness at the heart. At last he had succeeded in placing himself in a proper light before his sweetheart's father; henceforth the two would be warm friends.

Yet there was no time now to think over this satisfactory turns of affairs. The old man was seriously, if not fatally, wounded, while Estella, the idol of both of their hearts, was in the power of that exposed villain, Lieutenant Mazenas.

From the stern but now broken-spirited general the young war correspondent obtained the particulars of where he had left his daughter in the lieutenant's charge. Then he lost no time in sending for the best physician in the captured city. This gentleman soon arrived, and made an immediate examination of the sufferer.

"The wounds are very serious," he said. "Whether they will prove fatal or not depends upon the man's constitution."

Tomasso had escaped, as had Cara, and both now set to work to nurse their master, so he was assured of the best care during Howard's absence.

It must not be supposed that the young captain neglected his duties as a Cuban officer, or as a press representative. He brought his men together and gave them instructions for the future, and also sent a long letter to New York, by the way of Key West, the only port to be reached at the time.

His work about the city at an end, Howard rode off alone for the spot where Lieutenant Mazenas had taken charge of Estella, his object being to look over the battlefield, now deserted and silent, in hope of finding some trace of the movements of the pair. He was satisfied that Mazenas had not been captured by the rebels, nor was he near Puerto Principe with his fair charge.

"I will find him," murmured the young man, "even if I have to follow him into the Spanish stronghold."

And he set his teeth sharp and examined his pistols and his sword.

The battleground reached, Howard presently fell in with an old negro whose cabin was but a short distance away. The old fellow was bemoaning the loss of several pigs and some tobacco, but Howard soon cheered him by throwing him a piece of silver, and this induced the negro to talk readily.

"You is a gen'man, sah," he said, as he took the money. "Moah of a gen'man dan dat Spanish officer wot brung the lady to mah cabin las' night."

At these words Howard pricked up his ears. He began to question the negro closely, and soon reached the conclusion that it was Mazenas who had taken shelter at the cabin with Estella.

"And where did the pair go?" he eagerly asked. "You must have heard them talking."

"'Deed I did hear 'em talk, sah. De lady was mighty tearful like, an' de man--he was a brute, if eber dere was one."

"What did he do--did he strike her?" demanded Howard. "Did he dare to do that?"

"Well, he most a-struck her, sah. But she pulled a dagger, an' she said she would stab him if he put his hand on her. He wanted her to go to a place he called the Red Valley House. She wouldn't, nohow."

"And how did the scene end?"

"He called in help, an' de las' I see, two soldiers was a-carryin' her off, an' de brute stalkin' along behind. Dey carried her to a wagon over in de field, an' drove off like de debbil was after 'em!"

"The Red Valley House!" mused the young war correspondent. "Where is that?"

"De Red Valley, sah, is about fifteen miles west ob de ribber. I calkerlate the house am a werry old place dat was built by de Indians years an' years ago. I sp'ect de Spanish soldiers am goin' ter use 't fer a fort if de rebels push 'em too hard."

"Ah!"

Howard drew a long breath. He had heard of this old Indian structure before. Captain Martinez had said the Spaniards might utilize it.

"It would be a daring thing to make an attack," he mused. "I wonder if I can induce Martinez to join me in the movement?"

In hot haste he rode back to the city, and searched out the captain. Martinez listened with interest to his story, but at the conclusion shook his head.

"It would be foolhardy," he said. "We have suffered too great a loss to make an immediate aggressive movement. Besides that, the local sympathizers tell me that the old stone structure is a formidable fortress. Wait a few days, and I'll see what can be done about an attack."

"A few days!" cried Howard. "I can't wait a day--not an hour. You don't realize the importance of the matter."

"Yes, I do--to you--but not to the cause of Cuban liberty," and Martinez smiled good-naturedly, and Howard had to admit that from his point of view Captain Martinez was right.

Yet he did not intend to give up. He called Tomasso to him, and sent the faithful man out to drum up volunteers. General Corona heard of the move, and offered a good round sum to every man who took part in the attack, provided the place should be captured and his daughter saved.

The call was quickly responded to by over sixty men, all anxious to win prize money, as they called it. They were trained soldiers, and in half an hour Howard had them enrolled and drilled as a company, with himself at their head, and Tomasso as his first lieutenant. Then, without so much as the tap of a drum, they marched out of the city, crossed the river and struck out on the route for Red Valley.

The day was warm and oppressive, as nearly all days are in Cuba, but Howard paid no attention to this nor to the fact that the hard work of the past few days had well-nigh exhausted him. His whole mind was concentrated upon saving Estella, the pride and joy of his heart.

"I will rescue her or die in the attempt!" he said, not once, but many times. "There must be no such word as fail!"

Three hours after crossing the river the outriders announced that they had reached the border of Red Valley. The old stone fortress, if such it might be called, was half a mile away.

"We will have to go slowly, capitan," said one of the men to Howard. "The Spanish spies are out. I saw one just ahead."

"We will leave the road," returned Howard. "We can do better by stealthily advancing through the woods. It is likely their vedettes guard only the road."

His order was obeyed, and they proceeded for a quarter of a mile further. Here two Spanish soldiers were encountered, but ere they could give the alarm one was killed, and the other made a prisoner and gagged.

At noon Howard found himself approaching the edge of a cliff that overlooked the fortress. His soldiers were behind him and he motioned them to halt. Then he took a pair of field-glasses and surveyed the situation.

That the Spanish troops had taken possession of the stone structure there was not the slightest doubt. Sentinels stalked around the walls and a camp-fire was burning brightly in the open square where the soldiers' dinner was being prepared.

As the young war correspondent gazed upon the scene he allowed the field-glasses to roam along the grated windows in the upper portion of the fortress. As he looked keenly at one of the windows he started. Beyond the grating he saw the pale, agonized face of Estella!

That she had suffered greatly was self-evident. He tried to obtain a better view of her, but at that moment she disappeared. A second later the well-known form of Lieutenant Mazenas took her place!

The thought that the scoundrelly Spaniard was keeping his sweetheart a prisoner in that upper chamber of the fortress maddened Howard beyond all endurance. He dropped his field-glasses and sprang back to his men.

"Forward!" he shouted. "And remember, give no quarter to Lieutenant Mazenas! He must not escape, nor must Estella Corona be harmed. Forward! for Cuba and for justice!"

"Cuba libre! Cuba libre!" was the cry of the men and then they swept down the cliff in a solid body and charged upon the gates below!