"He is ruining himself for us!" Clif exclaimed. "For you! Why he will be court-martialed and shot if he lets us get away."
"I know it," groaned the girl, choking down a sob. "I know it. We talked it all over beforehand. But it was a question of his life or mine."
"Are you sure he is not tricking us?" gasped Clif--"kidnapping us?"
The girl smiled sadly.
"You do not understand the circ.u.mstances," she said. "Wait, and let me tell you."
Clif missed in his friend the old self-reliant manner that she had always had; she was nervous and weak, and it was plain that she was not well.
And Clif was trembling all over with anxiety as he watched her.
"Go on!" he cried. "Tell me. How did you get here, in the first place?"
"You left me with Gomez," began the girl, taking a deep breath. "I did not stay very long, for he was marching about, and I could not stand the strain. He wanted me to go to one of the Cuban villages in the interior where his family was; but I was anxious to get back to the United States. And so I came here to Havana----"
"To Havana!"
"Yes, for I thought no one would know me."
"And Ignacio saw you?"
"Yes, and recognized me. But that was only the other day."
"Where were you meanwhile?"
"I had a letter to the British consul, and I stayed at his home. There was so much suffering in this city that I couldn"t stay idle. I used to go to the hospitals to take care of the poor people, the Cubans. And that was how I met Lieutenant Hernandez."
"Who is he?"
"He is the man who has rescued us. He had been hurt in the Matanzas bombardment, and one of his arms was terribly cut. I took care of him--he was there because the military hospitals were crowded. And, Clif, I--I--I guess he fell in love with me."
The girl flushed as she said that.
"I should not tell, perhaps," she went on, hastily. "But it is your right to know this, and you would not understand if I didn"t tell you.
Clif, he asked me to marry him."
Clif started and turned pale.
"Bessie!" he exclaimed in horror.
The thought of that girl"s marrying the Spanish officer was terrible. It flashed over him that that was the reason why the rescue had been attempted.
"Oh, Bessie!" he cried again.
Clif had never breathed a word of love to her in his life. But all through their trying journey through Cuba he had protected her, fairly worshiped her. And he had thought she understood his feelings.
And now he thought that he had lost her--she had promised to be that officer"s wife! It was no wonder that he felt his hands grow icy.
His heart fairly stood still as he waited for the girl to go on.
"I will tell you," said Bessie. "You must know in the first place that this man is a gentleman, a hero in fact. You will understand it when I tell you what he has done."
"Go on."
"When he left the hospital, as I say, he begged me to marry him--declared he would resign from the army if I would."
The girl was breathing hard as she continued; it was evident that the subject pained her.
"I felt so sorry for him," she said, in a low, trembling voice. "For I think it has nearly broken his heart. I refused him. I told him that I liked him, but I did not, I could not marry him. I had been kind to him because he was ill. He swore that he would die for me--and, Clif, I think he has nearly carried out his promise."
Bessie Stuart choked down a sob.
"I refused him," she said again. "And then came the horrible Ignacio. He saw me on the street. That was three days ago; and that same day I was placed under arrest."
"What for?"
"Why, Ignacio knew that I had been fighting with Gomez; you know we had a fight with some Spaniards when he was along. And so there was no chance for me. The British consul did all he could for me, but there was no hope. I could not deny the charges. And, oh, Clif, I have had a frightful time. I was taken over to those horrible dungeons in Morro.
And I was sentenced to death. I was to be taken out and shot to-morrow."
The girl stopped for a few moments to recover her composure.
"And how did you find out about me?" asked Clif.
"I will tell you," said Bessie. "But first I must go on about this Lieutenant Hernandez. I did not know it, but he was stationed over here.
And when he found out what had happened to me he managed to come in to see me."
And then Clif felt able to complete that story.
"I suppose," said he, "that he offered to free you if you would marry him."
Bessie Stuart smiled sadly.
"You do not know the man," said she. "I will tell you what he did say. I can almost hear him saying it."
"What?"
""Miss Stuart," he said, "you have said you do not love me. And I think you love some one else--I do not know whom; but I will not make you unhappy by urging you any more. I might take advantage of your present position to get you to promise to marry me. But I will not. If you will be ready to-night I will help you to escape, and prove what I said about dying for you.""
The girl stopped and sat silent, too much moved to speak. And Clif was too astonished.
That was indeed the act of a n.o.ble nature. The cadet saw it all then, why the man had freed them and why he and the girl were both so quiet and sad. Lieutenant Hernandez had given his life for hers.
It was fully a minute before anything more was said. Then Bessie Stuart began again, in a low voice:
"About you," she said. "It was the lieutenant who told me, quite by accident. He said there were five Americans captured, one a cadet, and that he was to be killed. When I asked the name and he told me, I fainted dead away. And I think that hurt the lieutenant more than anything."