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Page 8
Should the Spanish attack them, they have no means of defence; the
Consulate is an unprotected building, and Consul Lee has no men at his
disposal to protect them.
Gomez appears to be advancing toward Havana.
From the last reports a large body of insurgents was seen at Cienfuegos.
They mustered about 5,000 men, and were supposed to be commanded by
General Gomez himself. The news was brought by bands of Spanish soldiers
who had fled at his approach.
They said the army was marching in long lines, two foot-soldiers abreast,
with the cavalry covering them on the two sides, one horseman behind the
other.
Cienfuegos is about two hundred miles from Arroyo Blanco, where Gomez won
his great fight. To reach this place he has crossed the great Eastern
Trocha, and is now but a hundred and fifty miles from Havana.
It is reported that General Weyler came back to Havana suddenly and
unexpectedly, and it may have been in consequence of the approach of
Gomez.
* * * * *
The filibusters are busy again.
Word was sent to the Treasury Department the other day, that a large
steamer, supposed to be carrying arms and men to Cuba, had left Barnegat,
on the Jersey Coast.
It was reported that this steamer was the _Laurada_, the famous
filibuster, about which we spoke in Numbers 6 and 9 of THE GREAT ROUND
WORLD.
The _Laurada_ came back from her Spanish trip, and appeared to be
conducting herself like a good, peaceable steamer; but, if reports are
true, she has suddenly commenced her tricks again.
She took on coal and provisions at Baltimore, pretending she was going to
Philadelphia, but she has not yet been heard of at that port.
A steamer answering to her description has appeared off Barnegat, taken on
quantities of arms and ammunition, and about a hundred men, among whom it
is supposed was General Carlos Roloff, the insurgent Minister of War.
The little revenue cutter _Manhattan_ was ordered out of New York Harbor,
to arrest her; and loaded with arms, and with four United States Deputy
Marshals, she hurried off in chase of the naughty steamer.
She made all haste to Barnegat, having to make her way through heavy seas
that tried the nerves and the stomachs of the passengers.
When she arrived, there was no _Laurada_ in sight; that saucy vessel had
made the most of her opportunities, and was a hundred and fifty miles down
the coast. The marshals got nothing for their trouble but a chilly trip
and a bad attack of sea-sickness.
It seems that the secret of the expedition was ferreted out by some
Pinkerton detectives, who are in the employ of the Spanish.
These worthies heard about the expedition, and hired a boat and went out
after the _Laurada_. They came up with her as she was taking on her cargo,
but she was far enough away from the coast to be what is termed "on the
high seas," too far out for interference from anything but a man-of-war or
a revenue cutter.
The story goes, that the tug which carried the Pinkerton men circled round
the _Laurada_ several times, and saw the men being transferred from the
barge to the steamer. These men, in their pleasure at having outwitted the
Spanish detectives, beguiled the moments of waiting by making ugly faces
at the Pinkerton men, and calling them various foreign names, until the
detectives finally steamed off to give information, and get revenge.
There are rumors that two other expeditions have sailed for Cuba, or are
about sailing. The _South Portland_ is supposed to be already on her way,
and the _Bermuda_ to be waiting off Long Island for a large party.
It is supposed that the filibusters hope the change in the Administration
may have made things a little easier for them. They appear to have waited
for President McKinley's election to try once more to help their friends.
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