The trip by the railroad lasted about half an hour only.
Ignacio would hardly have had more than time to carry out his dastardly purpose before the train arrived. The car came slowly to a stop and the sergeant got up and opened the door.
"Here we are," said he. "And I am glad."
Ignacio was apparently glad, too, since he had failed in his first plan. He sprang up eagerly and watched the removal of the prisoners.
The sergeant untied the Americans' feet and gruffly ordered them to march. With the soldiers before and behind they were led rapidly through the streets of Havana.
If the arrival of those prisoners in a small town created excitement, one may well imagine that the big capital turned out a crowd to watch them; but there was almost no demonstration against them, for the party hurried along rapidly. And Ignacio did not try any of his tricks; he knew that his chance would soon come, and he waited patiently.
Clif gazed about him as he walked. He was listless and hopeless, but he could not help feeling an interest in the city he had heard so much of and which he had been so busily helping to blockade.
But he had little chance to look about. He was marching down a long street crowded with Spaniards of all sizes and shades. And then suddenly before a dark, heavy-looking building, the guards came to a halt.
There was a heavy iron door in front of it that opened slowly.
"March in," said the sergeant.
And the prisoners, with bayonets at their backs, were forced up the steps and into the building.
The door shut again with a dull iron clang that sounded like a death knell to Clif.
Ignacio entered, too. He seemed to have the privilege of going where he chose; the sentries who were guarding that door asked him no questions.
It was apparently some sort of a military jail to which they had been taken. Down a long stone corridor they were marched, and then halted in front of a door.
The sergeant entered, and Ignacio after him. The rest waited outside.
It must have been at least fifteen minutes before anything more occurred. Then the sergeant came out, and ordered the prisoners to enter.
Clif, as the officer, entered first, and he found himself facing a tall, military looking Spaniard with a resplendent uniform and an air of authority. Who he was Clif had no idea, but he was evidently in command of the place.
He was a dark, savage-looking man, and his brows were drawn down as he frowned upon the prisoners.
And Clif was not surprised.
"He's had Ignacio to tell him about us," he thought to himself.
Ignacio was standing just behind the officer. There was a grin on his face and a look of delight; he rubbed his hands gleefully as he watched what transpired.
The Spanish officer glared at his prisoners sternly. Clif's bearing was quiet and dignified.
"So you are the officer who commanded the Yankee pigs?" growled the man.
"I am an American naval cadet," was the response.
The Spaniard said nothing more for a moment, but continued his piercing look.
"You put on a bold front," he said at last. "You must have looked differently when you were running away."
The remark required no answer, and got none. Clif did not mean to bandy words with the officer; if he wanted to taunt him he was welcome to do so.
"We treat our prisoners more politely," he thought, "but I suppose this is the Spanish way."
Meanwhile the officer went on.
"You will be less impudent later on," he snarled, "when you learn what is in store for you. You've no idea, I presume."
"I understood that I was a prisoner of war," was the American's quiet answer. "And I understood that Spain considered itself a civilized nation."
The Spaniard laughed softly.
"A prisoner of war," he chuckled. "So you really expect to be treated as such—and after what you have done!"
"What have I done?" asked Clif.
Ignacio's eyes began to dance at that; for the officer turned toward him.
"This gentleman," said the officer, "is one of our trusted agents. And I have learned from him of your villainy."
Clif was not in the least surprised at that. It was just what he had looked for.
"I should be pleased to learn also, if I may, what has this trusted agent told you?"
As he said that, he turned toward the grinning Ignacio.
But it was the officer who continued speaking.
"I suppose you wish to deny everything," said he. "But I assure you it will do not the least good in the world."
"I presume not," escaped Clif's lips.
The Spaniard frowned angrily, but he went on without a change of tone.
"You were captured, if I understand it truly, from a merchantman which you ran upon the rocks in order to prevent one of our vessels from recapturing her?"
"That is true," Clif said.
"And you must have thought it quite a smart trick! But according to this man here, you previously had some fighting with our vessel. Would you mind telling me about it?"
"I would not," said Clif. "We were steaming toward Key West, myself and these four men being a prize crew from the gunboat Uncas. We were hailed from the darkness by another vessel——"
"Ah! And what was the name of the vessel?"
"I do not know."
"Did you not ask?"
"I did. But she answered falsely. She pretended to be an American vessel——"
The Spaniard gave a sneer.
"So that is the yarn you mean to tell," he laughed.
"That is what occurred," said Clif, quickly. "If you have heard otherwise you have been told a lie. And my men will bear me out in the statement."
"Indeed! I do not doubt it."
There was fine sarcasm in that tone; but Clif did not heed it.
"Would you mind telling me what this fellow Ignacio has said?" he inquired.
"He says," responded the other, "that the vessel announced herself as a Spaniard, and called on you to surrender. You did so; and then when the boat's crew came aboard you shot two of them and steamed away. Is that so, Ignacio?"
"It is," snarled the "agent." "I will take my oath upon it."
It was of course a lie; and it made Clif's blood boil. The Spanish vessel had deceived them and tried to capture them by stealth. The men of the Spanish boat's crew had been shot while trying to hold up the American.
But Clif had expected that Ignacio would tell such a tale, and so he was not surprised. The offense with which the lad found himself charged was a terrible one, and he realized that he could be hanged for it.
Yet what was he to do?
"I fear," he said to the Spaniard, "that it will do me little good to deny this story."
"That is true," said the other, promptly.
And his cruel eyes gleamed as he watched the prisoner.
"Do you deny the shooting?" he demanded.
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CHAPTER XIII. IGNACIO'S PLOTS.
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