, 1889-01-17
IMPRISONED IN CUBA.

TIE mYsrER1o7- PACKAGE.

/ the @ea in ships" and although they often
| lind themselves ''foulcd-' in lis meshes, it Is
generally due to accident. or the machina-
tioHS Of some Land shark or perhaps, in
! lcalinS with unprincIpled people ''alouS
shore TIE sailor may be unwittingly caught
{ n the not spread To ci!Suarc him.
I Although the mariner may he a vcritablc
/ giant wheH gpng the broad, trackIcss ocean,
/ he Is q mere child it placed among mcn whJ
/ have received their training upon terra
/ irma; and the simplicity Of the sailor il
often the cause of his being arraigncd before
! sic lar Of justice.
! = .ery seldom that one VIII find I aca-
| man deliberately committing 4 deed which
Will lay hiEi-.it Iiahlc to arrest. and when
| such a case Is met hjTh it viii almost invGri-
| ably be found that the act was done to assist
/ friend or shield i congctle from the conSt-
| Iucnces of some miSic-l.
! \ few years ago. shortly after the capture
/ If Capt. Frye and crew Of the American
steamer Virginius, and the subsequent excCu-
| lion of a part OF the same by the Cuban
authorities, l becam, cntanGlcd with tho
| spanish soldiers Of the beautiful tropic isle
| II Cuba, and my acquaintance with them
.;srne very near putting an end to my voyage
| If life
was a master of a trim little bark sailing
| from Boston and engaged in the West India
/ radc
One evening while the vessel was lying at
| wharf in the latter port, where she was re
Giving cargo for MatanZsS, l was sitting
Ipon the quarter rail enjoying an after sup
| per smoke when l observed young nan of
perhaps p years of age coming down the
| lock very leisurely.
! As he got abreast of where was seated he
y. oil, fnl
| he good evening and then inquired if VIC
we're not bound to the West Indies. AsSur-
ing him that We We're he stepped aboard, re
marking that he belonged in Cuba and was
looking for vessel i'll which to take passage.
l rather liked the appearance of the
stranger, and seeing Il chance to make few
dollars for my owners by taking passenger,
Is we had plenty Of room in the cabin,
offered to take him and we soon agreed upon
erms the stranger promising to give me
afty dollars in the morning for his passage
% the island.
The following day, while slipping coffee in
| company with the mate, 1 was surprised to
see our prospective passenger with a small
faliSe i'll hand hurryins down the wharf.
There was no one about, as the hour was
quite early.
He stepped quickly on board, and with the
Utmost politeness bid me a very Good morn
ny" After paTtaking of cup of coffee
with US l invited him below and showed him
The room he was to nccupy during the pas
s3ge.
He was very well satisfied with the accom-
| modations, and taking orS 4 well filled wallet
he paid me the price agreed upon, then and
| there.
This bag" he remarked. indicating the
small sachel in his land. contains some
articles OF value, and should be well pleased
if YOU would take care of it for me until we
| reach Matanzas."
OF course l was perfectly willing to accom-
| modate him, and took the bag; he then went
! ashore, promising to be on board in the even
| ing, as we were going TO sea the following
morning.
When left alone I turned my attention to
The bag, which was still in my hand; it was
small and neat, and, 1 judged, quite an e.
peIsive affair.
Turning it over l observed IN address
,ainted in white letters upon the bottom; it
sead: ''Senor Roderiquez Gonzalez, 13 Plaza di
POGO, Matann, Cuba"
The Plaza di POGO / knew quite well, as
lad been Hany times to Matanzas and had
| ruamed considerably about the city.
1t was q pleasant little open squaI ., sur
. mded by the homes of the middle class,
"
However, 1 had not not much time to spend
With the bag, SO I threw it into my bunk and
.losed and locked the stateroom door before
| o.ng ashore.
A master of a vessel is always very busy
II the day before sailing, as there is sure to
| - n great deal of business to attend to. and
y passenger never entered my mind but
| nee and that was when 1 went to Clear at
nc custom house.
1t was quite late when l returned % tho
| -cssel, and on entering my room the presence
| II the bag reminded me of the Cuban, SO call
in; the mate I inquired if the stranger had
| -: come aboard.
NO, sir, I've seen nothing of him." was the
| Ulcers reply.
In the morning everything was bustling
nd active. The crew were aboard and the
,lGboat alongside shortly after daylight, but
| Iothing had yet been seen of our passenger.
| The pilot and the captain of the tug Were
| --.xious to start but was bound to wait TN
4 the last moment to give the young fellow
:. chance.
Soon ourovertaxed patience was rewarded.
| hack dashed down the wharf and drew up
u the vessels side.
1t was not the Cuban who alighted, how
'ver but a telegraph boy waving dispatch
in'his hand and calling for "Capt. Graham,
| bark Rambler
Here, boy, here!n 1 cried, jumping into
he mizzen channels to reach tho message,
which quickly tore open and read:
Capt. Graham, bark Rambler, Constitution
wharf, Boston
| Through unforeseen circumstances it will
&c impossible for Inc TO make the passage
with you Please deliver the little bag left
- the address upon it, and retain the money
paid you for your trouble. GONZALEZ"
Hastily thrusting the bit of paper into my
pocket, called TO tho pilot, ''All right, pilot,
let her go"-and in few moments we were
heading down the harbor, the tow boat puff
| ing away alongside, while the crew were rap
idly spreading the white canvas to catch tho
strong westerly wind that was to give US q
good start upon our voyage, and, as may be
| supposed, there was no thought of the Cuban
| lett behind
The passage down to the island was with
| out event and VIC came to anchor in MAINTAIN
zas after a run of eighteen days.
We We're, of course, boarded by tho full
| force of Cuban oificialS-reyeIuc. military
and naval-and after close scrutiny of our
papers and u rigid search of the bark was
allowed to go ashore TO report TO the con-
signees and ''entern the vessel
| had not thought it necessary to inform
| the customs authorities of the Cuban's trust,
as felt assured that l could any time during
our stay in port deliver il to the address and
nn Iparld
1t is trus that the officers looked ut me
very queerly which l explained tho absence
Of the passenger y.Eosc naIno was on tic
manifest, but he had not been found on
board the vessel, theJ were obliged TO accept
Ivy story; still l noticed t.Iat my movements
were moro closely watched than they had
| ever before been they even went so far as IN
place, beside the regular custom house officer,
a soldier OF the army on board the vessel.
This strict surveillance did not at all please
Inc, and was now determined to deliver the
bag to No l3 Plaza di POGO in spite of all the
Spaniards on the island.
fully realized that it would he no easy
mater to get the bag out OF tho vessel with,
out the officers detecting me, although it was
but q small parcel.
watched my chance, however, and ONO
day 1t came.