d 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.

"Good! A commissioned officer was selected for this duty, but he is
prevented by illness from performing it. You have been chosen to take
his place on the recommendation of Colonel Roosevelt because of your
knowledge of Spanish, your military record, and because you are a
native-born American. I could have found plenty of Cubans to undertake
the mission, and possibly one of them would have carried it to a
satisfactory ending, but I wanted an American."

"Plain North American Yankee," growled General Shafter.

"As you know," continued General Miles, "a powerful expedition is about
to leave this place for Cuba. Very few persons have any idea where it
is to land; but you must know th