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Page 21
Thus it happened that while the messenger who had been ordered to fetch
Sergeant Norris of the Rough Riders was still fuming over the
unpardonable delay of the trooper, and threatening all sorts of
unpleasant things for him when he did appear, Ridge gained the railroad
wharf without being observed from the deck of the transport. There,
finding an empty train just starting for Tampa, he was able to present
himself in camp half an hour later. From it he was sent to
headquarters, with orders to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt,
who had come ashore early that morning. This Ridge hastened to do,
without waiting to answer any of the eager questions showered upon him
by his recent comrades of the camp.
At the hotel occupied as headquarters an orderly conducted him to the
office of the commanding general, where, upon admittance, he found
himself not only in the presence of his own superior officer, but of a
group of distinguished looking men in uniform, who, as he afterwards
discovered, were Generals Miles, Shafter, Lee, and Lawton, and
Lieutenant Boldwood of the navy, now in command of the despatch boat
_Speedy_, recently arrived.
"General," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, addressing the
commander-in-chief, "this is Sergeant Norris of my regiment, the man
whom I recommended for your purpose, and for whom you sent less than an
hour ago."
"Where were you when ordered to report here?" asked General Miles,
turning abruptly to Ridge.
"On board the transport _Yucatan_, lying off Port Tampa, sir."
"Then you are one of the few men whom I have discovered among our
volunteers who have learned the lesson of _prompt_ obedience," remarked
the general, with a slight scowl on his still handsome though deeply
lined face.
"Umph!" snorted General Shafter, who was a big man, weighing about
three hundred pounds, and whose hair was sadly rumpled, as though by
much perplexity.
General Lee, also a large, fine-looking man, smiled approvingly at the
prompt young trooper, while General "Iron" Lawton, spare of figure and
with a reputation as a fighter, gave him a penetrating glance, that
Ridge knew had indelibly fixed his face upon the soldier's memory. The
naval man also regarded him with interest, and our hero, greatly
confused at being thus observed, was relieved to have General Miles
proceed, to question him further.
"I understand that you speak Spanish like a native."
"I do, sir."
"Have you ever been in Cuba?"
"No, sir."
"Or travelled in Spain?"
"Yes, sir."
"Acquainted with its principal cities?"
"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
were tending.
"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
in your country's service?"
"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
required of him than simply remaining in camp.
"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death. It is
deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba. If his identity
is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
be that of a spy. Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"
"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.
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