brief, Cuba is a paradise for the bush-fighter, and the soldiers of Spain
were none too eager to venture into the rebel haunts, where the flame of
death might suddenly burst forth from the most innocent-looking woodland
retreat or grass-grown mead. The soldiers might search for days for a foe
who could not be found, and as for starving out the rebels, that was no
easy thing to do. There were the yam, the banana, the sweet potato, the
wild fruits of the woodland, which the fertile soil bore abundantly, while
the country-people were always ready to supply their brothers in the
field.

Such was the state of affairs in Cuba in the rebellion of 1895. For a time
the rebels gathered in small bands with none but local leaders. But the
outbreak had been fomented by agents afar, fugitives from the former war,
and early in April twenty-four of these exiles arrived from Costa Rica,
landing secretly at a point near the eastern end of the island.

Chief among the new comers was Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, who had won a
high reputation for his daring and skill in the past conflict, and who had
unbounded influence over the negro element of the rebellion. Wherever
Maceo was ready to lead, they were ready to follow to the death if he gave
the word, and he soon proved himself the most daring and successful
soldier in the war.

He did not make his way inland with safety. Spanish cavalry were
patrolling the coast to prevent landings, and Maceo and his comrades had a
brisk fight with a party of these soon after landing, he getting away with
a bullet-hole through his hat. For ten days they were in imminent danger,
now fighting, now hiding, now seeking the wild woodland fruits for food,
and so pestered by the Spanish patrols that the party was forced to break
up, only two or three remaining with Maceo. In the end these fell in with
a party of rebels, from whom they received a warm and enthusiastic
welcome.

Maceo was a rebel in grain. He was the only one of the leaders in the
former war who had refused to sign the treaty of peace. He had kept up the
fight for two months longer, and finally escaped from the country, now to
return without the load of a broken promise on his conscience.

The new leader of the rebellion soon had a large following of insurgents
at his back, and in several sharp brushes with the enemy proved that he
could more than hold his own. Other patriots soon arrived from exile,--Jose
Marti, the fomenter of the insurrectio