The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-05-01
CHATTER XVI. - Continued

our shipmate Antonio was a striking
specimen) consists of about thirtv
thousand olive-skinned Spaniards and
double that number of slaves and free
mulattoes, all loose, reckless, fiery and
apt to use their knives on trivial oc-
casions.
Ihere was not a ship lying there
Tor England, or any other craft by
which Weston could have sent me
home. A Spanish s~team-packet was
on the eve Of departing for Cadiz. but
being wearied by the monotony of nv
long voyage, l was scarcely in a mood
for the sea again, and wished to spend
a little more time on shore instead of
leaving with her.
However, | wrote to my family by
the Spanish mail, acquainting them of
my safety, with the strange incident
which had SO suddenly torn me from
them, and adding that I would return
by the first ship bound for any part Of
England; IL possible, with the Eu-
genie, which would probably be
freighted for London.
After the packet sailed with my let
ter in her capacious bags, I expert
eneed an emotion Of greater happiness
and contentment than / had ever done
since leaving home, for the sorrow
which l knew all there must have suf-
fered, and would still be suffering,
hung heavily on my heart.
AS we were returning to the brig,
which had nov been warped alongside
the mole, when passing through the
street which contains the great hospi-
tai, we heard the sound of trumpets,
and saw the glittering Of lances with
long streamers above the heads of. a
dense crowd of people of all shades of
~color-black, yellow and brown-and
we had to doff our hats with due re-
spect as they passed, for in the midst,
surrounded by a staff Of officers, epau-
letted and aiguletted, their breasts
sparkling with medals and crosses, and
each Of them riding with a cooked hat
under his left arm, came the present
Captain General Of Cuba. a marshal Of
the Spanish army, Don Francisco Ser
rano de Dominguez, attended by an
escort OF mulatto lancers, all mounted
on Spanish hU es.
He as a s%-,e-looking man, and al
though as@l, had all the bearing Of
what he was, or, l should say, is
a grandee of old CASTLE.
On returning to the Eugene We
found Antonio the Cuban working
among the crew as Justify and as &C
lively as any man on board. Weston
now offered him remuneration for thu
time that he had been with US, will
a hint that he might find a berth else
where; but our castaway evinced tn
greatest reluctance to leave the brig
and begged that he might be permit
ted to remain on board, as three o
our best hands had been sent ashore
sick, to the hospital.
So short-sighted is man that Cap
tain Weston. despite the dislike OF tn
crew and the advice Of Mare HisloK
ordered that the name of Antonio b
entered on the ships books as fore
mast man.
Three weeks after our arrival th
brig was careened to starboard, whe
clear of all the cargo, and had he
-opper scraped and cleaned. an OF
-,ation which the constant rains OF u
season greatly retarded.
There was much in Cuba to Zee
an Imaginative mind, and mine W.
: full of the voyages, the daring adYei
lures and the vast discoveries OF q
lumbus, with the exploits OF the bu
= caneers. whose haunts were amid the'
wild and, in those days saVa'
shores.
i, thought of the gaily plumed al
: barbarously armed caciques whom 9
Iumbus had met in their fleet pirogue
i, or had encountered in the dense 10
, ests which clothe the Cuban mou.
tains-forests. old, perhaps, as u
!, DAYS of the deluge-of the yello'
a skinned mn with their long, mo-
inq black hair and with plates OF pc
a ished gold hanging in their ears q
+ noses: of the fierce warriors streah.
! with sable war paint and armed WI
4 cane arrows shod with teeth or pc
q soned fish bones, that fell harmle
r from the Spanish coats OF mail, Oh I
e Wild Caribs. who devoured their pr
d oners-with whom a battle was but
a precursor Of a feast, and OF the !
n nous fighting women-the term
S Amazons of Guadalupe. !.
t thought of the story OF Column
q writing the narrative of his wonders
1 discoveries. his perils and adyentur
On q roll of parchment, when
, wrapped in oilcloth covered over ",
|, way inclosed in a little cask' ana "a
d cast into the sea, with a prayer q
{ the hope that if he and his crew =
a shed this record of their acme
mants might be cast by the ocean
the shore of some Christian lanu'
As l sat by the sounding sea u i
!, rolled into the bay of Matanzas, W
a would / not have given to nav :,
+ the waves cast that old cash. w.
n with weeds and ~barnaeles' !"
It feeti o,m ting a
!. the rusty merchant trader os