pen country again and made more rapid progress.
The Spaniards moved along without any attempt at caution now. They well
knew the Cuban methods of warfare, and did not fear an attack in the
open. Opposed always by much superior numbers, the insurgents had
learned that the only way to successfully cope with their enemy was to
keep under cover and prosecute a guerilla warfare.

As they climbed the top of a small hill the boys were surprised to see
in front of them the outlying buildings of what seemed to be a town or
city of some size and importance. When they approached nearer they found
that these buildings were but poor huts or cabins, and formed a sort of
irregular, narrow street that led into the town, which was situated
about a mile beyond. As they entered the street the character of these
shed-like habitations flashed upon the boys. They were the homes of the
"reconcentrados" of whom O'Connor had told them. The boys shuddered as
they passed them and for a time scarcely dared to look to one side or
the other for fear that they might see some horrible sight, so forcibly
had O'Connor's description impressed them. Most of the huts were without
doors and the interiors were open to a passing view. So hopeless were
the miserable inmates that they did not even care to hide their
suffering from the heartless eyes of the curious. The men laughed and
joked as they passed on and Harry could not but feel that their jests
were pointed by the misery of the reconcentrados.

Finally a horrible curiosity turned their heads and they saw in front of
one of the huts a group of four persons. They were a man, a woman, a
child of perhaps fourteen, and a babe in its mother's arms. The man lay
stretched at full length on his back at the roadside. His eyes, which
were open, were turned upward to the sky. The woman sat with her back to
the mud wall of the hut. Her eyes were fixed on the man at her feet. The
child stood in the doorway looking with expressionless eyes out into
space. The few rags that covered them only served to emphasize the
emaciation of their bodies and limbs. It needed no trained eye to tell
that they were starving. As the party passed, not one of the four
changed position or once turned their eyes. In their mute suffering they
seemed unconscious of their surroundings.

One of the guards looked and laughed brutally.

Harry tugged at his bonds. In his fierce indignation he would have
struck down the man.

Finally they pa