nd the most ruthless
executant, of the Republican Government's policy of destructive
suppression of the island's industries, and Don Hermoso's firm
opposition to that policy had created something very nearly approaching
to bad blood between the two; but now, when it was too late, he probably
recognised the disastrous mistake that had been made, for it soon became
apparent that the chief, if not the sole, object of his visit was to
endeavour to regain Don Hermoso's good opinion. But the attempt was not
wholly successful; and he did not repeat his visit. The presence of
Maceo and four thousand very imperfectly disciplined guerrilla troops,
most of whom were coloured men, not too careful in their discrimination
between friend and foe, was a double menace of a very serious character
to Don Hermoso: for, on the one hand, they were certain, sooner or
later, to attract a large body of Spaniards to the neighbourhood, for
the purpose of hunting them down; while, on the other, should the
patriots find themselves hard pressed, it was quite on the cards that
they might take it into their heads to sweep down upon the estate and
destroy it utterly, in order to prevent the possibility of the Spaniards
seizing it and operating therefrom against them. These two
possibilities were anxiously discussed over the dinner-table of the casa
Montijo; and it was finally decided that on the following day steps
should be taken to put the estate into a condition of defence against
both parties.

Now there were three--and only three--possible ways of approach to the
estate, the first being by the main road from Pinar del Rio; the second
by the cross-country route which Jack and Carlos had followed when
riding into Pinar del Rio on the occasion of their intervention in the
_James B. Potter_ incident; and the third by the route which Alvaros
was supposed to have taken on the occasion of his flight, this being the
road from the mountains by which Maceo had travelled. This last was an
exceedingly difficult route, so difficult, indeed, that there were
several spots at which it could be made absolutely impassable with very
little difficulty, the most suitable of all, perhaps, being at the
waterfall near which Alvaros was supposed to have met his death. At
this spot the road--or, rather, path--crossed the ravine by way of an
enormous overhanging rock which jutted out from the hillside immediately
over the place where the stream flung itself down into